Thank you Sir for your dedicated service. I'm a navy veteran. I wanted to become a navy seal in the early 80's. I was denied to go to Coronado, because of race and jealousy. I was stationed in Japan for 3 years and when i went to Norfolk, Va, they put a label on my back as oh here is the super star that played sports when he was in Japan and a few people didn't like that, especially certain officers in my department. I did meet a couple of seals & e.o.d.'s that tried to help me with some training. So i personally trained for about a year and a half on my own. I swam in the ocean by myself off the shoreline. Ran on the sandy beach and did a lot of things to get ready. I submitted a chit to go train and was a denied a few times because a warrant officer & commander didn't like me. I got frustrated and decided to get out of the navy when my time was up. I still think about the what ifs. If i would or would not have made it. I just wanted the opportunity to just try. I am now in my 60's and that still stings me to this present day. I would enlist today to go try out for navy seals. My passion and motivation still burns but now I'm an older man and that ship has definitely sailed. Lol. But believe me that fire still birns as if i was in my late 20's , esrly 30's. I call myself a spec ops fan and historian. I salute everyone of all ranks and jobs in the military that are veterans and are active duty but my real heart and appreciation goes out to the special operation, special warefare community. Keep up the great work! I salute you for a job well done.
I wish more black operators across the SOF spectrum can come online and educate black youth and similarly other black adults with abilities and attributes that'd be beneficial to the armed forces of the country protecting their daily living. I know Remi Adeleke, Jake Zweig from the SEAL community have a presense here & Jean Dorleus from the Green Beret community also have a good presence here with different message contents that cuts across their areas of focus, but we need MORE. And beyond talk, we need youth bootcamps to bring the youth and agile black kids into the world's most powerful armed force to lead in the most elite units.
I agree. I know Remi and spoke to him. I’m currently halfway through the police academy and I don’t want to see young black youth in body bags and handcuffs. My goal is to promote your abilities and not your negative attributes.
For me it was just awareness. By the time I knew about anything special warfare and special operations, I had already graduated college, had bad knees and ankles from sports, and already in a bad job. Had I known about being a CRO or STO before hand, I would have skipped sports and went into AFROCT or straight to officer school after college.
I'm a Retired Airborne Ranger (IIBH3V) Jump Master, and Special Forces (18ZFBV) MSG/E-8 [Ret.], the training was easy due to the fact a grew up hunting, fishing, and playing sports (football, baseball, track). Check your history the first All Black Airborne Rangers who made a Combat Jump was the 2nd & 5th Ranger Company during the Korean War. Also, a lot of the Rangers, Special Forse, and LRRPs during the Vietnam War were Black men, you know whiteboys can't handle the heat and humidity in the jungle. The Same reason that 3-5 of the Cowboys coming out of the big cattle drives of Texas were black men. But black people were more rural back then and had father, coaches, and teachers who were male. Also, most black Vietnam Vets I know, said they didn't see any whiteboys in the jungle from 1965-1970. Let shit get real (WWIII) and see how many brothers they let out of jail to join the military. Books to Read- Black Rangers of the Korean War, The Triple Nickle (555), Soul Patrol, 173rd ABN, Charlie-Mike, The Last Run, and The Soul Patrol.
I served in the Marines from 2005 to 2009 and wanted to try SF at the age of 32 in 2019. I got rejected by a black SFC because of a domestic that I caught 3 years prior that wasn't disqualified by the Launtenburg amendment. He could have put in waivers but he was a B. A. N. about it. It wound up being a good thing because after that, series of events followed that doesn't really need discussing. I wasn't going to comply with those mandates. I plan to try again after I get myself back together before I turn 40 in 3 years.
I was in the Mechanized Infantry in Army from 97 to 02. Speaking from this angle of experience, the racism subtle, but ran deep. When I got to my unit in Germany as a buck Private, I started noticing something over time in my unit. It didn't matter if the Black soldier was an E-5 or below, we were all thrown to be Bradley operators, while all the new white soldiers (unless they were completely ate up) were thrown to be dismounts. And when I talked to other Black soldiers in other Companies, they got the same deal too. So I asked my Platoon Sergeant when I was going to be switched out to do time as a dismount. He dismissed me saying we already have pretty solid teams. The same was happening to the Asian and Hispanic soldiers too. I talked to a few E-6s I befriended about this as well with plenty of years on their belt and they knew the same thing and they were powerless. Then when it came to troop realignment to even out the Companies, since I wanted to be a dismount, they moved me to the worst Company of the Battalion. I lasted only 2 months, because the Battalion later decided to eliminate on Company to build up the others. So what happened? To keep Black soldier out of being dismounts, they packed S-3 (Headquarters Company) with as many Black Infantryman as possible (me included). In Black Infantryman that remained in a line Company was locked into being Bradley drivers and Gunners if they weren't already E-6 and up. If you were Black and E-5, you were pushed to HHC or a hummer driver for 1st Sgt, XO or the Company Commander. They literally did their best to lock everyone non-white out of training doing the Infantry part of their job. Why? Because when you Bradley crews spend 5 days a week in the motorpool trying to catch up on maintenance, while all the dismounts spend those same days during work hours "training" in the barracks. The only time as a crewmember we got any cross training (which is a one-way street, because dismounts to train on learning the Bradley) is in the field playing as OPFOR. And on the rare occasion that was a dismount as an E-4 at the time, typically, the greater the rank, the lighter the weapon. They gave me the SAW, while an E-1 was given an M16. Even my late older brother who did the exact same job during Desert Storm confirmed this practice among the Mechanized Infantry. By the time I made E-5 at Fort Irwin, I was determined to get out of the Infantry. I tried out for the Green Berets in 2002, because I wanted to do ALL of what I signed up for. But I didn't make due to a back injury that ended my military career thanks to Infantry NCOs exploiting "I can raise the standard (of physical fitness)," injuring their subordinates in the process, even though we've always maintained passing our PT with flying colors.
@@PhDarien Yeah, there are plenty of untold stories on the Infantry side. If you didn't know, "dismounts" are just Infantrymen who rides in the back of Bradleys. The MOS was formerly known as 11M before it was phased out to be 11X some time after I left. This may have (or may not) have solved the issue I spoke of, because its easy to go from E-1 to E-9 as an Infantryman without touching the ground as a grunt. And when it came to combat arms jobs, I mostly saw Black soldiers as Abrams crewmembers. Don't know what the attraction was, yet I never asked.
I grew up in the 1960s-1970s, living in the deep south. Getting to my unit (2/75 Ranger Bn) Ft. Lewis, WA was the first time seeing mixed race couples. Yes, I was abit shocked, but so be it, didn’treally care then - nor now. In the Battalion, we had men from all kinds of races and cultures. It did NOT matter whether they were white, black, brown, red, etc. What mattered/matters is: Can they perform the necessary tasks to complete the mission! It is unfortunate, but with all of the "woke" BS, in the military today, I do not recommend anyone joining the military. It is sad, but true, especially if you are conservative and Christian, like I and my friends are.
Considering my age, I didn’t have to see this as much as you, but I can say that our performance was what we were graded on. I’ve heard of a few people wanting to claim the race care throughout the selection process, but I cannot say it was the norm.
Thank you Sir for your dedicated service. I'm a navy veteran. I wanted to become a navy seal in the early 80's. I was denied to go to Coronado, because of race and jealousy. I was stationed in Japan for 3 years and when i went to Norfolk, Va, they put a label on my back as oh here is the super star that played sports when he was in Japan and a few people didn't like that, especially certain officers in my department. I did meet a couple of seals & e.o.d.'s that tried to help me with some training. So i personally trained for about a year and a half on my own. I swam in the ocean by myself off the shoreline. Ran on the sandy beach and did a lot of things to get ready. I submitted a chit to go train and was a denied a few times because a warrant officer & commander didn't like me. I got frustrated and decided to get out of the navy when my time was up. I still think about the what ifs. If i would or would not have made it. I just wanted the opportunity to just try. I am now in my 60's and that still stings me to this present day. I would enlist today to go try out for navy seals. My passion and motivation still burns but now I'm an older man and that ship has definitely sailed. Lol. But believe me that fire still birns as if i was in my late 20's , esrly 30's. I call myself a spec ops fan and historian. I salute everyone of all ranks and jobs in the military that are veterans and are active duty but my real heart and appreciation goes out to the special operation, special warefare community. Keep up the great work! I salute you for a job well done.
I wish more black operators across the SOF spectrum can come online and educate black youth and similarly other black adults with abilities and attributes that'd be beneficial to the armed forces of the country protecting their daily living.
I know Remi Adeleke, Jake Zweig from the SEAL community have a presense here & Jean Dorleus from the Green Beret community also have a good presence here with different message contents that cuts across their areas of focus, but we need MORE.
And beyond talk, we need youth bootcamps to bring the youth and agile black kids into the world's most powerful armed force to lead in the most elite units.
I agree. I know Remi and spoke to him. I’m currently halfway through the police academy and I don’t want to see young black youth in body bags and handcuffs. My goal is to promote your abilities and not your negative attributes.
For me it was just awareness. By the time I knew about anything special warfare and special operations, I had already graduated college, had bad knees and ankles from sports, and already in a bad job. Had I known about being a CRO or STO before hand, I would have skipped sports and went into AFROCT or straight to officer school after college.
I'm a Retired Airborne Ranger (IIBH3V) Jump Master, and Special Forces (18ZFBV) MSG/E-8 [Ret.], the training was easy due to the fact a grew up hunting, fishing, and playing sports (football, baseball, track). Check your history the first All Black Airborne Rangers who made a Combat Jump was the 2nd & 5th Ranger Company during the Korean War. Also, a lot of the Rangers, Special Forse, and LRRPs during the Vietnam War were Black men, you know whiteboys can't handle the heat and humidity in the jungle. The Same reason that 3-5 of the Cowboys coming out of the big cattle drives of Texas were black men. But black people were more rural back then and had father, coaches, and teachers who were male. Also, most black Vietnam Vets I know, said they didn't see any whiteboys in the jungle from 1965-1970. Let shit get real (WWIII) and see how many brothers they let out of jail to join the military. Books to Read- Black Rangers of the Korean War, The Triple Nickle (555), Soul Patrol, 173rd ABN, Charlie-Mike, The Last Run, and The Soul Patrol.
I served in the Marines from 2005 to 2009 and wanted to try SF at the age of 32 in 2019. I got rejected by a black SFC because of a domestic that I caught 3 years prior that wasn't disqualified by the Launtenburg amendment. He could have put in waivers but he was a B. A. N. about it. It wound up being a good thing because after that, series of events followed that doesn't really need discussing. I wasn't going to comply with those mandates. I plan to try again after I get myself back together before I turn 40 in 3 years.
That’s wild.
God bless you ! Thank You very much for your dedicated service!
Thank you. 🙏
Thank you for this insight man I’m really motivated to get into the navy and be a aircrewman your words of wisdom and experience helps .
I was in the Mechanized Infantry in Army from 97 to 02. Speaking from this angle of experience, the racism subtle, but ran deep. When I got to my unit in Germany as a buck Private, I started noticing something over time in my unit. It didn't matter if the Black soldier was an E-5 or below, we were all thrown to be Bradley operators, while all the new white soldiers (unless they were completely ate up) were thrown to be dismounts. And when I talked to other Black soldiers in other Companies, they got the same deal too. So I asked my Platoon Sergeant when I was going to be switched out to do time as a dismount. He dismissed me saying we already have pretty solid teams. The same was happening to the Asian and Hispanic soldiers too.
I talked to a few E-6s I befriended about this as well with plenty of years on their belt and they knew the same thing and they were powerless. Then when it came to troop realignment to even out the Companies, since I wanted to be a dismount, they moved me to the worst Company of the Battalion. I lasted only 2 months, because the Battalion later decided to eliminate on Company to build up the others. So what happened? To keep Black soldier out of being dismounts, they packed S-3 (Headquarters Company) with as many Black Infantryman as possible (me included). In Black Infantryman that remained in a line Company was locked into being Bradley drivers and Gunners if they weren't already E-6 and up. If you were Black and E-5, you were pushed to HHC or a hummer driver for 1st Sgt, XO or the Company Commander. They literally did their best to lock everyone non-white out of training doing the Infantry part of their job. Why? Because when you Bradley crews spend 5 days a week in the motorpool trying to catch up on maintenance, while all the dismounts spend those same days during work hours "training" in the barracks. The only time as a crewmember we got any cross training (which is a one-way street, because dismounts to train on learning the Bradley) is in the field playing as OPFOR. And on the rare occasion that was a dismount as an E-4 at the time, typically, the greater the rank, the lighter the weapon. They gave me the SAW, while an E-1 was given an M16. Even my late older brother who did the exact same job during Desert Storm confirmed this practice among the Mechanized Infantry.
By the time I made E-5 at Fort Irwin, I was determined to get out of the Infantry. I tried out for the Green Berets in 2002, because I wanted to do ALL of what I signed up for. But I didn't make due to a back injury that ended my military career thanks to Infantry NCOs exploiting "I can raise the standard (of physical fitness)," injuring their subordinates in the process, even though we've always maintained passing our PT with flying colors.
Dang! What a story. I have to do some more research on this Bradley and dismount thing.
@@PhDarien Yeah, there are plenty of untold stories on the Infantry side. If you didn't know, "dismounts" are just Infantrymen who rides in the back of Bradleys. The MOS was formerly known as 11M before it was phased out to be 11X some time after I left. This may have (or may not) have solved the issue I spoke of, because its easy to go from E-1 to E-9 as an Infantryman without touching the ground as a grunt. And when it came to combat arms jobs, I mostly saw Black soldiers as Abrams crewmembers. Don't know what the attraction was, yet I never asked.
Understood. Thanks for that feedback.
@@Murderface666damn. That's wild
Love you brother! Keep killing it!
That’s the plan my boy! We need to link up again
I grew up in the 1960s-1970s, living in the deep south.
Getting to my unit (2/75 Ranger Bn) Ft. Lewis, WA was the first time seeing mixed race couples. Yes, I was abit shocked, but so be it, didn’treally care then - nor now.
In the Battalion, we had men from all kinds of races and cultures.
It did NOT matter whether they were white, black, brown, red, etc.
What mattered/matters is:
Can they perform the necessary tasks to complete the mission!
It is unfortunate, but with all of the "woke" BS, in the military today, I do not recommend anyone joining the military.
It is sad, but true, especially if you are conservative and Christian, like I and my friends are.
Considering my age, I didn’t have to see this as much as you, but I can say that our performance was what we were graded on. I’ve heard of a few people wanting to claim the race care throughout the selection process, but I cannot say it was the norm.