Weird PM this morning...

[Jedi]

Give him Iggys number!

Umm... shouldn't he already have his own number?

[-hanko]

A calguns member, obviously in the military, has made him self available to contact us.cavalry.scout.

I'll post the conclusion if/when I know about it. If either the calguns member or us.cavalry.scout want the thread to die here, that's fine too.

-hanko

[Army]

He will NOT deploy until AFTER his AIT is complete. As a Cav Scout, he will get plenty of range time in. Not to mention, the ranges here are available at any time the unit requests them.

I have no word on the 1/18th deploying anytime soon. They returned from GITMO in 2005.

[apbrian112]

trust me... we got plenty of time behind m16's during basic... just wish they gave us more time behind the big guns. and since i was in a light scout platoon, the biggest we got was ma dueces and mk19's. no tow's or 30mm's... ah well... maintanence on the hmmwv's was easier than on the bradleys. SCOUTS OUT!

[apbrian112]

He will NOT deploy until AFTER his AIT is complete. As a Cav Scout, he will get plenty of range time in. Not to mention, the ranges here are available at any time the unit requests them.

well since 19d's have OSUT and not separate basic and ait it's not uncommon for scouts to just say "basic"... easier to explain to civvies than OSUT. most civvies don't even know about AIT. at least it was OSUT when i went through *2000 so i'm not sure if things have changed out there at ft. knox... wonder if it's still the 5/15th
-brian-

[MrLogan]

Yeah, as a 19D he should have plenty of range time. Very unusual. Like I said, I looked up the guy on AKO, and PV2 Pasten is a real member of the NG. But whether or not PV2 Pasten is the same guy PMing the OP remains to be seen.

[JesseXXX]

Hmmm.....

[Kestryll]

Someone else got that exact PM as well, at least one other that I know of.
I did some checking up.

The phone number does exist, I didn't call it but I did check out it's validity.

His IP tracks to either NJ or Texas depending on the service I use. This looks like an IP pool type ISP.

I did find a MySpace page that corresponds to his listed birthdate here and to his USANG story as well.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=48641383

The more I look in to this the more I suspect he is actually what he claims and just does not know what's legal or not or how to get range time with his unit.

[MrLogan]

Get him to post a public thread, and confirm if he really is PV2 Pasten. He's not too far from me, and his unit is in Ontario. Heck, I'll take him for some range time if he checks out, soldier to soldier.

[CavTrooper]

Look fellas, allow me to put in my 2 cents here.

I am a SGT in the US ARMY CAVALRY, I currently am stationed at Ft Knox, KY, home of Cavalry and Armor. I am an instructor here and if this Soldier came through anytime in the last year, he met me at least once.
Cav Scouts go through 16 weeks of training, its called OSUT (one station unit training) where all the basic training and AIT (advanced individual training) skills are taught. When Soldiers leave thier IET (initial entry training) they are trained in thier BASIC Soldier skills and thier level 1 MOS (military occupational speciality) skills, in other words, they just know enough to be dangerous (to themselves, the enemy and to anyone within max range of thier weapons systems!). Training doesnt stop there, the advanced skills are learned at thier units and through experience, herein lies the disadvantage of NG and Reserve Soldiers. Not taking anything away from those Soldiers, they are just as dedicated and competent as thier RA counterparts, however due to the fact that they only train 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year, they do not have the experience and skills of those that train everyday. However, before the NG or AR Soldiers deploy overseas, they spend alot of time training stateside for whatever thier mission will be in country, but until then, its still just 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year.

What I think you all are missing is that this Soldier, who is new to the Army is most likely kinda nervous about deploying, not very confident in his abilities (because he has not yet been "battle tested") and wants to get as much time in behind the trigger as he can, to make him feel more confident. As far as trigger time the Soldiers get in training, yes they get alot, is it enough? I dont think so. Why? Because I belive you can NEVER send enough rounds downrange in training! How much range time is enough for YOU to feel ready for combat?

This Soldier, who has made the sacrifice of service to this country and to its people, was reaching out to some folks he thought might be able and willing to get him hooked up with some help, his fellow Californians, fellow Americans, the ones he has taken an oath to protect. But due to the suspicious nature of the folks here, he was probably made to feel unwelcome and has probably decided to move on. Maybe next time yall could be more receptive, engage someone new, who is asking for help, find out who they are and what they are all about, instead of going and questioning thier credibilty and thier motives. You might just find that there are people out there who are genuinely interested in the things you folks already know about and are genuinely in need of some knowlege. Instead of all the secret squirrel BS that some folks like to expound on this forum, yall should be shouting this stuff from the tops of the mountains! The things you all know here are things that everyone needs to know. Good and bad, you might just have more supporters than you think, there might just be more folks out there that agree with your assesments of the laws, the government, the police, etc, etc, they just dont know it yet!

So basically all Im saying is, dont be afraid of being legal. Dont be afraid of engageing someone new. Dont be the high and mighty, know-it-all, smart-***, keyboard commandos that I see refered to in so many posts.

Who knows, you might just make a friend.

[MrLogan]

Look fellas, allow me to put in my 2 cents here.

I am a SGT in the US ARMY CAVALRY, I currently am stationed at Ft Knox, KY, home of Cavalry and Armor. I am an instructor here and if this Soldier came through anytime in the last year, he met me at least once.
Cav Scouts go through 16 weeks of training, its called OSUT (one station unit training) where all the basic training and AIT (advanced individual training) skills are taught. When Soldiers leave thier IET (initial entry training) they are trained in thier BASIC Soldier skills and thier level 1 MOS (military occupational speciality) skills, in other words, they just know enough to be dangerous (to themselves, the enemy and to anyone within max range of thier weapons systems!). Training doesnt stop there, the advanced skills are learned at thier units and through experience, herein lies the disadvantage of NG and Reserve Soldiers. Not taking anything away from those Soldiers, they are just as dedicated and competent as thier RA counterparts, however due to the fact that they only train 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year, they do not have the experience and skills of those that train everyday. However, before the NG or AR Soldiers deploy overseas, they spend alot of time training stateside for whatever thier mission will be in country, but until then, its still just 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year.

What I think you all are missing is that this Soldier, who is new to the Army is most likely kinda nervous about deploying, not very confident in his abilities (because he has not yet been "battle tested") and wants to get as much time in behind the trigger as he can, to make him feel more confident. As far as trigger time the Soldiers get in training, yes they get alot, is it enough? I dont think so. Why? Because I belive you can NEVER send enough rounds downrange in training! How much range time is enough for YOU to feel ready for combat?

This Soldier, who has made the sacrifice of service to this country and to its people, was reaching out to some folks he thought might be able and willing to get him hooked up with some help, his fellow Californians, fellow Americans, the ones he has taken an oath to protect. But due to the suspicious nature of the folks here, he was probably made to feel unwelcome and has probably decided to move on. Maybe next time yall could be more receptive, engage someone new, who is asking for help, find out who they are and what they are all about, instead of going and questioning thier credibilty and thier motives. You might just find that there are people out there who are genuinely interested in the things you folks already know about and are genuinely in need of some knowlege. Instead of all the secret squirrel BS that some folks like to expound on this forum, yall should be shouting this stuff from the tops of the mountains! The things you all know here are things that everyone needs to know. Good and bad, you might just have more supporters than you think, there might just be more folks out there that agree with your assesments of the laws, the government, the police, etc, etc, they just dont know it yet!

So basically all Im saying is, dont be afraid of being legal. Dont be afraid of engageing someone new. Dont be the high and mighty, know-it-all, smart-***, keyboard commandos that I see refered to in so many posts.

Who knows, you might just make a friend.

Here, here. Excellent point. Like I said, find out where this guy is, and I'll make sure he gets to a range for some good range time.

[thedrickel]

CavTrooper, I don't think the PM would have been a big deal if he hadn't specifically asked if -hanko knew anybody with an M4 or M16. Us civilians gotta be on the lookout for gov't trolls on a board that is known to be frequented by DOJ & ATF personnel and because unlawfully possessing one of those items brings 10 years in club fed.

[metalhead357]

Simple Solution.....

PM him back and tell him to "Step up" into the light and outta the shadows...if everything is on the up and up then it is all good as Cavtrooper says and we ALL might have someone to converse with.

Unless/until he steps into the light......No keyboard comado here....I calls it like I sees it and IIRC I said very well COULD be true just sniffs/smells really baaaaaad........ But hey- What grunt that been training Doesn't Smell bad right?

If its legit...we could get him and his unit hooked up with what was it...? Operation BoreSnake? and the sort and really make him and his unit feel like they ARE welcomed nad ARE serving thier country for good

[-hanko]

Look fellas, allow me to put in my 2 cents here.

..........snipped..................

So basically all Im saying is, dont be afraid of being legal. Dont be afraid of engageing someone new. Dont be the high and mighty, know-it-all, smart-***, keyboard commandos that I see refered to in so many posts.

Who knows, you might just make a friend.

As I pm'd you last night, thanks CavTrooper for stepping forward. I'd have no issue providing a little range time for the guy, but I'm not anywhere near CA.

You're a class act!!

-hanko

[MrLogan]

CavTrooper, I don't think the PM would have been a big deal if he hadn't specifically asked if -hanko knew anybody with an M4 or M16. Us civilians gotta be on the lookout for gov't trolls on a board that is known to be frequented by DOJ & ATF personnel and because unlawfully possessing one of those items brings 10 years in club fed.

True, we do have to be wary. Lot of gov't trolls on here. But if he's like a lot of people fresh out of IET, other than BRM, a lot of these new guys don't have a lot of civillian firearms experience. It could just be that he doesn't know the civillian nomenclature of the M16/M4 and just referred to them as what he is familiar with, which is the military name for those weapons.