New Character; US Marshall

[hidufel]

I'm working on creating a character for Origens game, one he'll run FtF here at ho3g, the group consisting of me, Dr. Mercury, Dai Oni, and Blastum.

My concept; I'll be playing a character thats working on joining the military while still in highschool. He'll be 17 to start, and will be just about ready to head to basic, in between his junior and senior year of highschool. He'll be Army national guard to start.

The concept i have here for this character, is basically to play myself, though taking diferent paths then i did in real life. So I'll be diverging almost from the start... the only part that will be the same will be origin story.

the focus id like to take the character, I'll be changing over to full time army rather then national guard, and im unsure exactly how to proceed from there. My end result will be as a US Marshall. Origen wants us to focus on some organization... so weve got navy seals, rangers, FBI agents, CIA field Agents... I'm going to go for US Marshal, via Army Rangers. I'd like to get a background in criminology, and investigative areas too.

Heres how i see that playing out. Basically joining army full time rather then weekend warrior. I considered a possible move would be airborne MP's, going to college part time and getting a degree in criminal justice, getting a comision, joining the rangers, and springboarding into the US Marshal service.


Thougts?

[TinSoldier]

I'm not as familiar with the MPs, but I just read a fiction book where it was implied that the Army CID (which is the MP version of plainclothes detectives) are Warrant Officers.

Interesting book and maybe an interesting idea for your character.

Otherwise I got nothing. Sounds pretty good.

Eidt: The name of the book was "A Private War" written by Patrick Sheane Duncan who also wrote "Courage Under Fire" and "Mr. Holland's Opus". It was a pretty good book. Except for a couple of glaring (non-plot related) errors I really enjoyed it.

[Mouser]

I'm not as familiar with the MPs, but I just read a fiction book where it was implied that the Army CID (which is the MP version of plainclothes detectives) are Warrant Officers.

Some are, some aren't.

One of the things that annoys NON-CID's is that they can't tell what rank the CID's are because they're not in uniform.

[TinSoldier]

Some are, some aren't.

One of the things that annoys NON-CID's is that they can't tell what rank the CID's are because they're not in uniform.And that's the point isn't it :th_salute: ?

[Mouser]

And that's the point isn't it :th_salute: ?

I have a friend (an E-6 who eventually became a warrant officer) who was being interrogated by one of these guys and demanded to see his ID so he could call him by his rank.

The guy was a corporal.

The interrogation did NOT go well for corporal dumbass.

[TinSoldier]

I have a friend (an E-6 who eventually became a warrant officer) who was being interrogated by one of these guys and demanded to see his ID so he could call him by his rank.

The guy was a corporal.

The interrogation did NOT go well for corporal dumbass.I think we're getting a little OT, but if I had been corporal dumbass, I probably would have gotten one of my superiors to handle that.

Those guys have to be able to work without the people being interrogated being aware of their rank. Or at least treating people like that. It's like being on guard duty -- I don't give a rat's ass what your rank is if you aren't on my access list you are not getting in. Period.

Then again I've seen other situations where a corporal dumbass in uniform could dress down a higher-ranking person because that higher-ranking person had no authority in the situation at hand. Of course, it takes a pair of cojones to do that...

[Mouser]

It's like being on guard duty -- I don't give a rat's ass what your rank is if you aren't on my access list you are not getting in. Period.

I know Marines who, when asked what their job is, give a two word answer:

"Shoot Squids."

They guard doors-that-shall-not-be-opened on US Navy Ships.

In this case, the interrogation had to do with an investigation of someone else, something my friend knew nothing about, and the CID dude was rude to him.

My friend went on LRRP in Vietnam and was offered a paper flash, but decided to earn his flash the hard way. He was a small arms specialist, and gave me some nice pointers on how to practice with a pistol.

"It's simple, really. Just point and shoot."

[hidufel]

Warrant officers fill quite a bit of roles that normal officers normally fill... When i was in the army, most of the helicopter pilots were warrant officers,. though tthats the only place i saw them.

It doesnt seem to me like the CID parts are strictly for WO, it seem s there shgould be plenty of room for regular officers.

What would be a good springboard into rangers and eventuall US Marshal?

[Blastum]

Warrant officers fill quite a bit of roles that normal officers normally fill... When i was in the army, most of the helicopter pilots were warrant officers,. though tthats the only place i saw them.

It doesnt seem to me like the CID parts are strictly for WO, it seem s there shgould be plenty of room for regular officers.

What would be a good springboard into rangers and eventuall US Marshal?

Hidufel,

How about :
1- Starts as Guard Reserve (17-18)
2- Transfers to regular army after he graduates(18)
3- Two years regular Army(19-20)
4- Gets transfer excepted to Rangers (20)
5- Spends 2 years plus training time as a ranger (20-22 maybe 23)
6- Gets comedation for leadership in Rangers and referral to OCS, studies criminal justice on three year accelerated course schedule (22(23)-25)
7- Two years a Lt in MP's (25-27)
8- either ops out at 27 or takes two more years as Captain/MP's this is (at least in the marines which I am more familiar with) a fairly high (well more than medium) rank for an MP officer, I am not sure about Army though.
9- This give him plenty of experience to make the US Marshall's inlcuding a preferred College degree for a field agent in the marshall's.

Just my 2 cents,

Blastum

[hidufel]

that looks like a solid career track, and seems to cover most of the basics i had in mind. Thabnks for the input.. i was looking for something like this.

[Blastum]

Now that you have an idea on what you want to play, what do you think I should run?

I was thinking maybe a SWAT Sniper, Body Guard, or how about something odd like a cleaner.

Suggestions?

Blastum

[hidufel]

The swat sniper sound slike it has some interesting potential... do what interests you, then we canwork out a character. not sure how a cleaner could work though.. dont those usually work for the bad guys?

[TinSoldier]

Regarding Ranger School and other Army "Hooah!" schools:

One thing that stood out to me is that a lot of commissioned officers saw getting a Ranger Tab and Airborne and Air Assault as essential career stepping stones. It looks good on their OER and I don't remember any officers above the rank of 1st Lt. in my National Guard infantry battalion that didn't have these schools. Very important for getting promotions and command slots. Well, I think our first Battalion Commander didn't have it but he was the exception.

But even if it is seen as ticket-punching it is still an elite school and the individuals who earn a Ranger tab are understandably proud of it.

I notice a lot of enlisted do it too but probably more for the "Hooah!" aspect of it than for ticket-punching. Still, senior enlisted were more likely to have these schools than not and it probably led to faster promotions.

I don't know much about Ranger units without researching (which I suppose you could do yourself).

I don't really know anything about US Marshals, either.