# Boasting About My Soldier Daughter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378 "2016-04-28T23:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/41 "2016-09-14T17:11:14Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I’m going to bump this…Ivygirl has done her first few real world medicy stuff!.. Outstanding! Glad it went well for her. What kind of boat, if you know and can say? One of these, maybe?: [Special Operations Craft – Riverine - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Craft_%E2%80%93_Riverine_(SOC-R)) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/42 "2016-09-14T18:05:29Z")
I don’t think that’s it. It’s a boat that goes out into the ocean for a few days so soldiers can get their AIT training. She’s there just in case someone gets hurt. When she told me about the cut leg, I told her to write it down in a casebook (doctors still do that, right? My gyno does.) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/43 "2016-09-14T18:18:01Z")
Congrats to **ivygirl**! **Shodan** Jr. did the same path - he was a combat medic. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/44 "2016-09-14T18:31:00Z")
Crap, I just realized I wrote AIT training. That’s like saying ATM machine. :smack: Ivygirl throws so many acronyms at me I have to remind her she’s talking to a civilian and she needs to explain herself. **Shodan** , is your son still in the Army? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/45 "2016-09-14T19:42:24Z")
Ft. Eustis is AIT site for Transportation Corps so it could be one of the Army’s Landing Craft Utility or Coastal Tug classes, being used to give the MOSs involved in boat transport their training cruises. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/46 "2016-09-14T19:55:47Z")
Last time she was on the boat for four days, so there must be sleeping accommodations. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/47 "2016-09-14T20:12:43Z")
Hooray for **ivygirl**! > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Here’s how I compare military vs civilian training. > > Consider in a civilian university/college a 5 credit hour course. It meets 5 days a week for one hour for 10 weeks in a Quarter system. But those classes aren’t really 1 hour long, they’re 50 minutes. So, that works out to 42 2/3s hours of instruction per quarter. When I was an instructor in the CG, I had the class for 37 hours of instruction per week. So, I figure your daughter got 259 hours of training. Classroom and Lab. > > The training is intense in that, unlike, say an associate’s degree program, they’re not taking any other courses, no humanities, social sciences, or electives. They’re just concentrating on medic stuff. I don’t think your comparison is accurate. I am not an EMT so it’s possible I’m not understanding things, but [this site says > [@](#): > > The first of the training requirements to be a paramedic is to get certified as an EMT-B, which is the first and most basic level of EMT training. The EMT-B training is available through many community colleges and other institutions. It usually takes about six months to complete the 120 to 150 hours of training. ]([http://www.ems1.com/careers/articles/1058465-What-are-the-requirements-to-be-a-paramedic/](http://www.ems1.com/careers/articles/1058465-What-are-the-requirements-to-be-a-paramedic/))I don’t know if classes are structured the way you say; I seem to recall when I was in college that many 3 Credit Hour classes would meet for more than 3 hours per week. Also, the College of Southern Nevada lists 3 classes and 9 Credit Hours necessary to complete the first tier of EMT training before testing for certification, which is almost double what you said was necessary. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/48 "2016-09-15T01:41:54Z")
woot **ivylass** Good to hear an update about ivygirl. Makes us all vicariously proud through you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/49 "2016-12-14T18:38:46Z")
Bump to announce she’s been pinned an E-3 now! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/50 "2016-12-14T19:18:17Z")
I’ve been checking this thread, too. Such great news (well, everything except the zit videos!! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/51 "2016-12-14T23:08:04Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Bump to announce she’s been pinned an E-3 now! Non American here. What does E-3 signify? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/52 "2016-12-15T05:32:55Z")
There’s this crazy thing all the kids these days are calling “Wikipedia”: [Uniformed services pay grades of the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._uniformed_services_pay_grades#Enlisted_pay_grades) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/53 "2016-12-15T09:34:55Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Non American here. What does E-3 signify? The third **E** nlisted grade, counting from the bottom; Officers get the letter O. Depending on country and branch of service they’ll have different names. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/54 "2016-12-15T13:30:10Z")
She’s Private First Class now. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/55 "2016-12-15T14:58:05Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > She’s Private First Class now. Cool. Does that mean she’s fully combat ready? Was her time on the training vessel considered a real (for lack of a better term/I don’t want to sound dismissive) assignment? The Finnish army doesn’t have a private first class. Conscripts get promoted to private (or jäger in my case) after basic. If you aren’t selected to squad leader or reserve officer training, you then specialise in a specific combat role where if you’re good enough you get promoted to corporal. Before you’re dismissed from service you get your wartime assignment and are considered combat ready. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/56 "2016-12-15T15:13:22Z")
Private is E-1, don’t need to make a higher grade to be considered combat ready. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/57 "2016-12-15T15:14:16Z")
She’s a medic, so I don’t know about combat ready. Maybe a Doper with better experience with US Army can weigh in. I don’t think she’s allowed to carry a weapon per the Geneva Convention. I could be mistaken though. She was on the training vessel not to train herself, but to be there in case a trainee got hurt. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/58 "2016-12-15T16:05:10Z")
Right, she was already at her first duty post. She is fully qualified for her duties. If she were to be assigned to a unit to be deployed on the battle line, she would first join it and train with the rest of them until the unit was deemed ready for deployment. In the Army, if you enter as an Enlisted Soldier being a HS graduate you enter as a Private, E-1, and upon completing a certain time of satisfactory service and training stages you are promoted successively to Private, E-2, and to Private First Class, E-3. If you have had college/university education, depending on number of credits you already have accumulated,you may enter as E-2 or -3. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/59 "2016-12-15T16:35:40Z")
She had some college, so she enlisted as an E-2. It’s been about a year, so time to be an E-3. I don’t know if she has to meet qualifications to be an E-4 or if that’s automatic too. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378/60 "2016-12-16T02:44:35Z")
medics carry a pistol as a defensive weapon only. they are not allowed to carry an offensive weapon (rifle). There are qualifications for E4, it is quite common for promotion qualifications for E2 E3 and E4 to be waived (company commanders are granted a certain number of waivers each month? year? don’t remember) depending on the needs of the Army to fill slots at certain pay grades for various MOS’ otherwise it is pretty much automatic once time in service and grade requirements are fulfilled. Heck sometimes Finance promotes a soldier before the chain of command does. I was promoted early to E2 by Finance waived to E3 and E4 and missed a lateral promotion to Corporal only because my MOS didn’t officially have provision for that rank (I had fulfilled all of the time in position/duty qualification requirements, it had been done before for the squad leader I replaced, my new CO was just being a pissy West Point stickler) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boasting-about-my-soldier-daughter/753378.md?page=4)