An Army of one

[cyberskydive 0]

Ok this caught me by surprise:
I live in Georgia, and today I got a letter in the mail from the Department of the Army.

Dear fellow skydiver,
I would like to take this opportunity to offer you a unique invitiation to be a part of an "army of one" with a chance to become a Golden Knight - a member of the United States Army Parachute Team.
etc etc...

Did anyone else get this letter yet?
And what is with this "Army of One" stuff? What ever happened to the teamwork theme?
D.Chisolm C-28534
webmaster@sunraydesigns.com
http://www.sunraydesigns.com

[zelda 0]

I got it, too; probably every member of USPA got it. I had to laugh, though; the Army's pretty hard-up if they're sending recruitment material to a 30 year old female AFF student! I think I'm too old to join even if I wanted to!
blues
-zelda

[Zennie 0]

Quote

And what is with this "Army of One" stuff? What ever happened to the teamwork theme?

Hey, this is the "It's All About Me" generation. Guess they needed to ditch that teamwork crap and catch up with the times.
Seriously, though. I wonder if the Army is checking the USPA rolls and sending out letters to people within a certain age range.
------------
Blue Skies!
Zennie

[mountainman 0]

I believe that the "Army of One" is their new marketing slogan. It's been on all the commercials showing these little life stories of homegrown boys going to the Army as their own little "army of one".
As far as the letter goes, what would happen if EVERYONE showed up for it!MORE SKYDIVING PHOTOS ADDED!!!
http://home.woh.rr.com/brandonandlaura/

[Greg 0]

Yeah, I got one too. I "almost" took it seriously, but like someone else stated already, they surly dont want a 32 year old enlisting, could they?
It almost seems like a varriation of the old "bait and switch" to some degree, because you wont go in and then skydive, you will have to go through basic, then job training, and only if you are lucky enough will you actually get to put your skydiving skills to work. If that were the case, enlist, and then skydive for free, I would be there in a heartbeat!!
Greg A-37958

[cloud9 0]

Well they didn't send it out to us 46 yr old, over the hill ex-Marine skydivers.
But then again no Marine would join the army even to skydive!!
But I'm still insulted!! Ok 8-10 free jumps everyday!! Hey it might be worth it.Where can I get one of those?
Some fun eh!

[cyberskydive 0]

Quote

As far as the letter goes, what would happen if EVERYONE showed up for it! MUHAHAHA!!!

Better yet - lets send them all BACK!!!!
Dont get me wrong..... who wouldnt want to skydive all day, get free gear and jumps, and an un beatable exersize program :) as well as get to be good!-LOL
I decided while I had a broken ankle from jumping in 96 that I was not going to go into the military, as I had been planning to do the year before. Sometimes I question that choice.
But "spamming" skydivers with hoop dreams is low
this will make for a good prank for my whuffo girlfriend though
D.Chisolm C-28534
webmaster@sunraydesigns.com
http://www.sunraydesigns.com

[freeflyer49 0]

I am not sure that I like the USPA selling our personal info to the Army....Or is this some black project that the Army has going???

[what42 0]

Quote

I believe that the "Army of One" is their new marketing slogan.

The "Army of One" replaced the old slogan of "Be All You Can Be." I personally liked 'Be all you can be' better but maybe that's because I was inundated with commercials since I was a kid.
Wesley
--
I want to fly!

[ramon 0]

I'm 32 engineer and I resigned (warrant officer) out of that Bizatch with 10 years in service.
My records are in every damn federal agency in exisitence but, recruiters will dangle a doughnut in front of a list of names of skydivers to see who bites.
The USPA obviously gave them a list of names and addressed, the army Offices that still send me correspondence send it to my house.
The Parachutist comes to my work address where I got "the Army of One" letter.

yawn
ramon

[Keys 0]

Now hold on a second, free gear, free diving, all day........ I hate to say it but this may be the most brilliant marketing scheme ever. It's like getting a list of crackheads and telling them that if they volunteer for medical research they can have all the crack they want (in small print: while we fractionate your brain).

[mattb 0]

Try reading the fine print of the letter - after enlisting and training in one of the "specialties" you can then apply to transfer to the Golden Knights.

[ramon 0]

Yeah it is a great gig, but...
1. You have to apply after you've signed your life away to be a wire dragger, shed painter, hole digger, or maybe staff puke. Officers if they are pilots.
2. You have to be a civilian skydiver also (airborne don't count for squat)
3. There has to be an opening.
4. You have to try out...in other words you better be an RW or CREW skygod becuase they want you to do demos (you need a pro rating) or compete against Arizona Airspeed.
5. If you don't know some Colonel or above that will transfer you, your current command has to agree to let you go (which they probably will unless you are critical to your unit, or they don't like you).
Good luck
ramon

[freaksister 0]

What a crock of shit! That's fucked up man!
I haven't gotten one yet, which surprises me, since I took that test, I don't remember what it's called, to see if you qualify to enroll for the armed services and made like the top score on it...I got assloads of letters for at least two years after that! Whatever! I don't even know why I took the damn test, the LAST place I want to go is the army or any other armed service. No offense to all those out there who are serving, good on ya for that! I would make a good one but have no desire to do so.
Sis
"What we're all really seeking is something where we can feel the rapture of being alive."J.Campbell

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

In response to "But then again no Marine would join the army even to skydive!!"
You will be very surprised to find out that you are wrong on that one. SSG Mark Hogue, the guy in charge of the Golden Knights Tandem section (and up until then a U.S. Marine), enlisted into the Army to take over that section. Also, to the person that said that the Army wasn't looking for 32 year-olds: They would take you too. There have actually been a surprising number of civilian skydivers that have been recruited to the Army Parachute Team in the past decade. Also, you can attend Golden Knights tryouts as a member of the National Guard and Reserves. If you pass, you enlist full-time and go straight to the team. The current team leader of the Gold Demonstration Team, SFC Johnny Mulford, did exactly that.
Chuck

[Keys 0]

Well, somebody better start mentioning this at the DZ's, I can think of about 20 jumpers who wouldn't get to the fine print. Heck, getting people to sign current waivers took half a minute. 50 initials and a signature without even reading the thing.
Jumping all day for free! Cooooooooooool. Boot Camp? Like that TV show? Do I get $500,000? Does the Army jump eliptical? Man, I could swoop right over that mine field........

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

In response to: "Jumping all day for free! Cooooooooooool. Boot Camp? Like that TV show? Do I get $500,000? Does the Army jump eliptical? Man, I could swoop right over that mine field"
Well, jumping 10 times a day and packing for yourself (if you are on the S&A or RW team). S&A team guys have their accuracy rigs with foils, plus two Javelin Odysseys with Stilettos for Style and CISM. RW guys jump Jav Odysseys and Stilettos.
Chuck

[Keys 0]

What did you just say? Helicopter jumps?

[Keys 0]

Ok, now on a serious note. I'm not all that familiar with the Golden Knights except the RW stuff I read. They do Tandems? Like civilian or other military? Do they run a military DZ? How extensive is this group?

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Last time I cared to ask, they had around 80 men and women. My wife spent six years on the team as a demonstrator and assistant team leader. All the competion team and demonstration team slots are filled with enlisted personnel. The only officers on the team are the Commander, Operations Officer, XO, and some of the pilots.
Yes, they do Tandems now. It is a fairly new program that they use (very successfully I might add) to get publicity for the Army's recruiting command. The recipients are mostly high-level VIPs and media personalities (Joan Lunden, Army Generals, etc.) They also use the section to give tandems to local area recruiters at airshows. The section used to use Vector II tandems, but are now switching to Sigmas I believe. Hopefully, our club (the Green Beret Parachute Activity) will get some of the leftovers! There are some very talented Tandem masters and video men on the Tandem team.
Chuck

[wingnut 0]

i sure hope i don't recieve one or those letters, cuz the "army of one" can kiss my a$$, the airforce has had me for 3 years now, and "no one comes close"..........man i don't like these new slogans!!!....

"if dreams are like movies, then memories are like films about ghosts"-counting crows

[wingnut 0]

okay i just wanted to show ya guys what ya might be into if ya don't make the golden knights but are stuck in the army.....this is air force related so please forgive me but the general idea is true through out the military for the lower ranks......i think it's funny as hell myself.... http://24.234.165.129/humor/Military/airforce.asf ..... it's about a 2.5 meg download, but well worth it!!!
Edited by wingnut on 5/9/01 03:26 AM.

[jtval 0]

im with ya wingnut! army of one? what happened to the team objective(zennie hit that on the head)

i'm trying to find out about the A.F. jump team. i know they aren't hugely known but we got one . i wanna find out how to jump with em!!!
im guessing they're just an expedition team , like the knights. shit free jumps, getting out of the workcenter, off the flt line, travel to all the events. yea id have to say that it would be better then what i do now!!!
either way im gonna;
have fun live free.& SKYDIVE!!!!!
JT
Edited by jtval on 5/9/01 06:24 AM.