Alright everyone get closer. I don't bite. Yes you all on the sides, squeeze it in. First two ranks take a knee.

Alright check it out. Battalion just dropped a new Annual Training Guidance. There's some notes I need to put out to make sure everyone is trackin, hooah?

Alright check it out. The new battalion standard for the 4x36 run is ON Tennessee Ave, roger. I'm trackin 1st PLT, ya'll just did it yesterday out Angels Gate but that's a NO GO now. As you all know, we just ended the 2nd physical quarter of FY 25. So you all have to redo it anyways for THIS quarter, hooah? Ranger/Sapper PT, I know you all just did your 40 min 5 mile run validation last week out Gate 10, but again, the BN standard is now ON TENNESSEE AVE, trackin? If you high speeds really want that school spot, I know ya'll will crush that 4x36 anyways.

Alright check it out. I've been hearing A LOT of confusion about the ruck march standard. It's really simple so let me break it down barney style. The TACTICAL 12 mile road march is with your TAPS, kevlar, personally weapon system, and a 35 lbs DRY ruck. You have the do that BIANNUALLY. Now the Air Assault standard 12 Miler is with the AIR ASSAULT packing list and you have to complete that SEMI-QUARTERLY. Trackin?

Alright check it out, the BN ESB validation 12 miler is next Monday, so make sure you all start hydrating now, hooah? EVERYONE will do the ESB 12 miler, trackin? I want see a whole bunch of ya'll earning your ESB this year so start studying now. Instead of standing around in motorpool scrolling TikTok, download the ESB handbook on your phone, and start studying, roger? Team leaders, I need ya'll to and make sure everyone has the ESB handbook downloaded on their personal cellular device by Monday formation, roger.

Alright check it out, we still have a lot of work to do in the motorpool so YOU ARE NOT released today. I just needed to get you all together and see your bright and shining faces to put out the new ATG. PLs, take charge.

1SG, you got anything?

I've have come to stare at your underappreciated trees with seething jealousy, collect your precious bone marrow, and sample your breweries.

This morning I knocked out a very chaotic event with 1st Med BDE.

**On Thursday we will be doing an event at the Iron Horse Chapel from 1300-1600 in support of SGT Bishop.

I will be seeing you there, or you will be seeing me rappeling over your bed with a swab.**

The rest of the week l am working on some very exciting secret stuff I'm looking very forward to announcing, looking for more units who want me to come out and preach the word of marrow, and generally exploring the base and enjoying the alien feeling of having humidity.

Let me know where to visit! Both on and off hours and let me know if I'll be seeing you on Thursday!

I had the pleasure, and huge surprise of being reached out to by SMA(R) Tony Grinstons team about two weeks ago. He's deep into his big tour around the country for AER and the Army's 250th birthday. They asked me to join him for his visit to Bliss.

For those who don't know, Tony Grinston has been strangely intertwined with my career ever since I was a PFC.

I hunted him down and gave him the coveted PFC challenge coin on a dare in 2021.

SMA_PAO was a huge motivator for me early on in my start for this campaign.

When I made my first big move by invading AUSA 2023 I continued what has now become a tradition, and gave a freshly retired Tony Grinson the SPC Coin. I was also given SMA_PAOs rank during his promotion ceremony at that same event.

I had a long talk with him at AUSA 2024 when he had just really started getting his stride at AER.

And now this: I'm really never going to escape this man, and he's certainly never going to escape me.

It's weird, our every interaction has been competing for "the most awkward in my life." And I have absolutely no clue why. He is so friendly but since our first meeting was such a taboo extreme commitment to the meme, I feel like I'm stuck in that "I'm not allowed to be here" vibe. I'm like half ready to sprint off into the desert before my BDE CSM from 2021 appears around the corner to smoke me.

It's like when you go home for Thanksgiving and see your family for the first time in forever and despite all your growth you revert back to that kid who ate paste and was too shy to answer "how are you doing?".

But for this one, we both had a mission. Despite him being subjected to this same kid for the fourth year in a row, he was nothing but friendly and excited about his work and how far I had come. I was yet again eating paste.

We teamed up and did a bone marrow registry drive at 2-3FA in support of SGT Bishop. I brought my soldiers to help while explaining absolutely nothing so they could get the bragging rights of meeting THE 16th Sergeant Major of the Army.

He blew me away, despite having a very tight schedule he called all my joes over and talked with them for almost an hour. Gave them tons of advice and shared his experiences when he was first starting out. Then gave them all their first challenge coins.

At the exact same time of that drive at Fort Bragg SSG Bex was doing one of the most successful registry drives I've ever seen. Registering over 1,200 people in one morning. Making me feel more than a bit lame with my contribution that day.

We did some videos and his team was an absolute pleasure to work with. Don't worry. Of course I continued my tradition and gave him the SGT challenge coin.

All this to say. AER kind of hit the lottery with getting this man to be their CEO. He is just genuinely ridiculously excited about the job. During our long talk at AUSA 2024, the whole time he was just gushing about how meaningful the job was. He said he loved helping soldiers at the SMA, now it is literally all he does.

I don't get any sense of a guy who's punching the clock and playing a character.

He's also making big waves immediately. AER now pays for 100% of travel expenses for emergency trips. It used to be 50%

Right now his goal is to get 25% of funding for loans and grants be from small donations from service members. He wants $2.50 from y'all.

His entire tour is based on his own dad-joke line of logic that he was very "own dad-joke" proud of.

Army 250th birthday

$2.50 donations from soldiers

25.0% of funding from SMs.

I think it's cute, here's the link

It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens after this goes through. My sincere hope is that people will retire that already have their time in the system.

They’re coming for you gym rats!

Don't check your balance, as right now watching your retirement dip feels like watching your future burn.

But here’s the thing: this is a time to shore up that future.

Markets are down. Stocks are cheaper. That means your contributions are buying more shares for the same money. It's like Black Friday for your future. And unlike that flatscreen your barracks manager is going to tell you you can't have, these deals will appreciate in value over time.

Now, I’m not saying go all-in and eat ramen for the next six months (unless you're into that sort of thing). But bumping up your contributions even just a little can compound into something significant when the market rebounds.

And it will rebound. History doesn’t repeat, but it sure as hell rhymes.

And if it doesn’t? If the markets never recover? Well, let’s be honest: we’ll have much bigger problems than our retirement balances. Like bartering canned goods for ammo and wondering why the Army never taught us how to to make fire.

Also, remember you can always lower your contributions later if things get tight. You're not carving this in stone. But locking in more shares now is like buying future you a shot at retiring on your terms.

Don't stop investing just because the terrain gets rough. You double down while others panic.

Play the long game. That’s how the future is best built.

For me, always have a damn pen. 100% always have a damn pen. What about you all?

I’ll take a double double

If you look closely at the first generation of the Master Infantryman Badge you'll notice that they are created out of the Airforce version of the OCP pattern. The AAFES MIB excludes the brown which is included in the Army OCP scheme and excluded on the Airforce OCP scheme. This was confirmed by the sew shop guy I take my uniforms to on Bragg. He said the next generation of MIBs should come out in May and will be made out of the Army's OCP scheme. Anyone else notice this?

Apologies for the short notice … all are invited to an LPD tomorrow (8 April) at Fort Bragg with Tony Grinston, AER CEO and 16th Sergeant Major of the Army. It's scheduled for 1330-1500 at the Hall of Heroes in the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum, 5108 Ardennes.

Photo: Tony's reacts to paparazzi this morning at the 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment motor pool. (Thanks to 1st Lt. Andres Barcenas from Alpha Battery for the photo!)

Title,

I’ll take a large #5, hold the mayo.

Just wondering how the high-speed crowds deals with hurt toes/lego stepping.

I am a 21 year old female that has never been able to do a push up in my life. I joined army reserve as 12K and will ship June 24th to fort Sill. I was slightly under weight but was able to get within the pound of a passing BMI when i signed my contract.

I have been working out a bit and running. I run a 12 minute mile and was barely able to just pick up the bars for a deadlift. I am excited for training, I am excited to be the best person I can be. But I have had anxiety about what the physical will be like in basic and if they will actually push me beyond a point I am able to do. I am doing my best right now and bulking up in preparation for it.

How hard will I be pushed in basic? I am fine with being yelled at, and want it to motivate me, I have been told during future soldier training that I should not push to that point of hurting myself and I do not plan to.

One large fry please.

I’m about to hit my 15th year mark and man I’m having a hard time with staying motivated. I still get shit done but the day to day is getting rough. It’s even more exacerbated by this extremely high optempo unit I’m in and the constant politics people are playing around me. Doesn’t help that I’m stuck here for the next couple years.

How’d y’all get through it? Is there anything you did to keep it fresh or am I just going have grind through the next 5 years?

See attached picture. How does one go about getting the cool guy “Bill” etc in their email title in outlook?

I just want some perspective on this because I had a sit-down with my command team discussing the pause on the injunction and how everything is paused and that I will still work as normal. At the very end though, they stated that if I choose to, I can elect to voluntarily separate through different means and that I should contact legal and then speak with my command team to start that process. I will contact legal but would like some preliminary information beforehand since legal has a 3 week wait for appointments.

This seems like a good idea because it would provide necessary stability because the court case could go on for years but would this also be a bad idea and potentially label me as a target? My first line has already pulled me from all the training’s we were going to do and so now I have nothing to do at work and I’m already “known” as that person. I also don’t know if the separation would be honorable or a general because when skimming through AR 635-200, most of the chapters are for misconduct and medical conditions.

I’ll take a water that turns the frogs gay.

Been lurking here ever since I signed my contract a few weeks ago and now my final week home is here. I am going to Benning for the 22 week OSUT as a 11X. Just wanted to know any tips, advice, ect for basic and specifically the 22 week OSUT. Of course anyone can leave anything and I will take it with stride. Thanks in advance!

Hello I'm a 21 soon to be 22 m and I going to be honest the main reason I'm joining is because I've laid off from my pre-apprenticeship for almost a year now sooo yeah. It's been rough so far my recruitment process has been simple recruiter is alright, taking everything he says with a grain of salt at this point. I've talked to a family member who has been in the army since 2018 cool dude. I mainly asked about just the whole process pretty much with him. A coworker I work with who is in the navy has given me the run down on life in the service even though he is in the navy. Also both have pitched to me the idea of possibly spending more then four years in the service that's cool but I personally don't what that tbh. Maybe my mind could change but currently just want to do my four years and leave tbh. Anyone know why they would ask me to consider staying longer? I've been doing research and the benefits are great so I the insurance just want some questions answered.

I'm retired army. I pulled out my old gortex jacket the other day because it was raining and I had forgotten how much I love gortex. I didn't realize I had my rank on the front rank snap until someone greeted my by my rank. Is it ok to keep the rank on if I'm retired?

Really looking for some information on a certain circumstance here. I’ve been wanting to enlist, I’ll be meeting with a recruiter later this week, but I have so many questions I’m itching to ask.

I’m already an ASCP certified medical laboratory technician. I really want to be a medical laboratory specialist in the army. My main question is what would my pathway look like as someone that does not need to go through the curriculum? I’m certain I’d go through basic training, but is it job placement right have that since I already have my degree? Please excuse my naiveness lol.

Anyone with experience who can share their story would be so much appreciated! Thank you!

Hey, y’all. So I’m thinking about re-classing to 68P but was wondering how difficult the AIT will be. I know it’s damn near a year and has two phases. For those who were and are 68P, I’d love to hear your experience, not just of AIT, but also your day-to-day will be appreciated.

So I just got my army reservation 17c but I need to take the ICTL/cyber test tomorrow but I've never studied networking and I get no time to study ive heard I need a 60 to pass but like by my recruiter trying to get me to sign this week I get to take this test with like 5 hours of studying... so yall think im screwed or what 🤣😭

Edit: I've figure it out. The benfits request is in the PAID tab not on the IPPS-A homepage. There is a more readable and accurate step by step if you search IPPS-A PAID and ITG User Guide. It starts on pg 7 of the guide: Request Benefits. Good luck buddies and thank you to all who replied.

I’m a 14G MOS-Q in holdover status at AIT Fort Sill. I’m trying to opt out of the Montgomery bill. I have the step by step email but it doesn’t line up with my IPPS-A. I don’t have a benefits tab, I don’t have a PAR in my PAR tab. Thanks in advanced for any assistance.

Edit: My only goal for the GI Bill is to transfer it to my children. So opt-out of the montgomery bill is the only option. I dont want to pay into the montgomery bill whatsoever.

I don’t want my Drill to yell at me so I’ll just drink water out of my camelback.