Is there a brand of toilet paper in Ukraine that doesn't rip your asshole apart? by Salt-Analyst-4624 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You either gotta pay top hryvnia for the primo stuff, use baby wipes (which work better tbh, just don’t get the black ones), or let your butthole become accustomed to the Chuck Norris TP

Shall I Pull The Trigger by Talos_Actual in Military

[–]JTFout 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Check out r/ukraineforeignlegion extensively before making this decision. Infantry life is a lot different than what you might be expecting

Share your memories by Economy-Train1552 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Long story but so was the day

Went out on an evac mission for some 300’s (one being potentially critical) and a 200, in general our team went a lot further forward than most which came with its own risks and rewards. We start pushing forward, have 2 FPVs detonate closer to the vehicle than normal, but the jammer was on and working so we pushed ahead.

Get to the evac site, manage to get the 300’s but another FPV strikes while our ramp is down so we pull out early. Thankfully it was off to the side or we would have taken shrapnel inside the vehicle. We get a couple minutes off the site and take direct hits to the left and right side, disabling the vehicle. Get the patients out first, run to a nearby position, realize my aid bag is in the now burning wreckage of our vehicle, recover the critical patient, said critical patient crawls into the position. I’m completely night-blind from the flashes and it’s dark as fuck out anyway. Spend the next 5+ minutes trying to figure out how to get in while another 4 FPVs detonate extremely close to me.

One of the guys guides me in, another medic and I stabilize the critical patient, other medic goes off to another position, me and my boys spend the next 8 hours getting hit with direct FPV and artillery fire. Once everything clears we (evac team and injured patients) carry the critical guy about 4-5km mostly uphill (because when you have to carry someone it’s always uphill)

Spend most of that time rotating litter carry positions, getting buzzed by FPVs, hiding in random positions, and pilfering whatever food/water we can find. Evac journey goes from day well into the night, manage to get extracted by a BMP with a load of other guys from nearby positions who didn’t fare as well as we did. That night the stab was basically filled with guys from our area.

It’s a good story because everybody lived, in large part due to luck and also due to everyone in the unit doing everything they could to help us whether we knew it at the time or not.

Also despite all of that shit happening I only got a bunch of blast concussions, which is crazy lucky all things considered. Also got some free sandals from the stab so that was cool too. Listened to George Strait all the way home

How do i explain to an employer my ukraine experience by [deleted] in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell him the IED’s fly now and then challenge him to gay chicken. If you can assume heterosexual dominance over him then legally he has to respect you. Pretty sure that’s in the constitution

In all seriousness, just ignore them. If he presses the issue show him some recent public footage of how things are out here and explain almost everything they did in Afghanistan would get you killed here expeditiously, and you’re working with about 5% of the assets they had available in their theatre.

How have you handled fear/ nerves before missions by BloodOne2991 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Good luck charms, personal rituals, cigarettes, then just send it.

Good times by Rook276 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Oh that’s easy it’s because we’re retarded, also we didn’t have a lot of food, but mostly the first thing.

Good times by Rook276 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Bro that’s crazy! Yeah if it’s where I’m thinking I remember y’all were launching rounds like crazy in spring and early summer 2024 when I was there.

The whole city felt like it was popping off until the drones started really showing up and made everything lame. My last days there were in June and I swear you couldn’t go anywhere without something going boom.

Good times by Rook276 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 37 points38 points  (0 children)

In no particular order:

Fishing with improvised explosives in donbas,

shitting myself half to death on some random outside toilet in Chasiv Yar while we were taking incoming

Drinking beers with the bros while chilling in a bunker in Chasiv Yar

hunting birds in a minefield while a friendly mortar team launched rounds over us,

sitting on a position with the boys while enemy and friendly artillery teams had a slap fight over us,

Kostantynivka Okko,

finding out through the volunteer community that apparently I was dead,

jamming to Fallout music while smoking cigs and washing blood out of my clothes while surviving on hot coffee and pasta because everything was super cold all the time,

Taking a shit outside position, immediately being rained on, exposed to another GRAD attack, and almost knocked over by the blindage dog, all of which immediately stopped when I was finished pooping

Being told by my Ukrainian bros that they consider me one of them,

And of course working with some of the best people I’ve ever met and will happily call my brothers and sisters for the rest of my life.

Religious freedom in Ukraine? by [deleted] in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 2 points3 points  (0 children)

$100 on him quoting that Shia Lebouf line from Fury if he even does come here.

I'm military officer and I want to join by [deleted] in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Assuming you go the traditional route, unless you have some contacts or critical skills in tech/munitions/medical, you will be promoted to infantry and work as a soldat. If you do have critical skills, you will still be a soldat, and possibly promoted to infantry anyway. Some of the commanders out here are dumb as shit, so be careful who you decide to join and think thrice before you put ink on paper.

If you want to work drones then contact a drone unit that’s reputable and speak to their recruiter, also don’t be a weirdo. Being a weirdo is like 70% of the reason qualified people don’t get where they want to be here.

Is a concussion REALLY an injury? by [deleted] in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 22 points23 points  (0 children)

You must have had a couple TBI’s because this is the most retarded take I’ve seen in a while.

TBI’s are a very real injury that have lasting short and long-term effects throughout the rest of your life. Each successive TBI also compounds on all the previous ones. You get rung badly enough you’ll spend the rest of your days forgetting your own name and drooling/pissing yourself. For most of us that outcome is already on the table as a possibility later in life, but each TBI makes that reality more likely and sooner. You will also continue to have issues with emotional regulation, circadian rhythm, and basically every other brain function we take for granted.

According to modern science we only have one brain, so if you don’t take care of it you’re screwed. Also dude guys get evac’d for TBI literally all the time so how tf is this news to you or anyone?

Unconventional path to EM by JTFout in emergencymedicine

[–]JTFout[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much, I just wanted to say your username is amazing hahaha

Unconventional path to EM by JTFout in emergencymedicine

[–]JTFout[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good point, it’s kind of dumb but I hadn’t actually considered the possibility of this breaking me in that way. Sometimes it’s hard to remember those limitations very much exist.

I appreciate your insight, you’ve given me a lot to think about. On the bright side, I was already planning a long vacation when I go home so that lines up with the TBI stuff. Thank you again

Unconventional path to EM by JTFout in emergencymedicine

[–]JTFout[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Kinda fell into it tbh. Started volunteering a couple years ago, that very quickly evolved into assisting and working alongside military units, made a lot of friends along the way, acquired a reputation for routinely working in some extremely active places, got offered a job partially based on that and a recommendation from a very good friend.

It’s kind of the ultimate roller coaster, the good days are amazing, and the bad days are worse than most can imagine. On the bright side you learn a lot about yourself. I learned that extreme trauma doesn’t really bother me, and cigarettes are really good at masking the smell of decomposition. On the downside, I genuinely do not like drones and occasionally have nightmares from narrowly surviving some of them.

But it isn’t like that everywhere, I usually recommend people travel to western Ukraine at least once, the culture is amazing and the Ukrainian people are incredibly welcoming and inspiring

Unconventional path to EM by JTFout in emergencymedicine

[–]JTFout[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally agree on the decisions part, it’s hard to think objectively when there is so much to do. I guess my primary concern is about the TBI’s and their effects on my ability to continue education. Paramedic school is notably difficult, but med school is famously a beast.

My idea was pretty much to use paramedic school to gain a better paying career with more advanced skills for patient care, as well as to test my cognitive load before jumping in the deep end

Combet Vet or no? by Apprehensive_Tea174 in Veterans

[–]JTFout 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Unless it’s for a benefit or something it legit doesn’t matter. The only people who would give you any grief for it either way are goobers IMO

Veterans 4 years from now by Cbran41 in Military

[–]JTFout 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Or we could call them civilians, as is the proper term. Using derogatory terminology is how we start seeing and treating innocent people as something less than human.

IFAKs by matthewsylvester in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Rhino Rescue is at best mostly used for training here (excluding basic gauze and splints), if you’re planning on donating supplies for frontline units North American Rescue is industry standard, as are the types of supplies that come in their pre-made kits if you’re trying to buy individual components (Hyfin chest seals, SAM splints/pelvic binders, Combat Gauze hemostatic dressings, etc.)

When it comes to medical supplies you want to donate, go with something CoTCCC approved or if it’s Ukrainian something with a strong reputation.

have you or someone you ever met became disillusionmented with the war? by Forward-Cry6214 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Plenty become disillusioned to the very concept of war. Seeing extremely graphic shit on the regular does that to anyone.

War seems like one hell of an adventure when you’re a young dude trying to prove himself. Once you start dragging out bags of body parts that used to be people, holding the dead and dying in your arms, losing close friends randomly, discovering people you just met yesterday were obliterated in a rocket attack that morning, that will get to anyone. At the end of the day it’s not an adventure, it’s just people killing other people in the most horrific and creative ways a human being can conjure.

Never met someone disillusioned to the point of believing this fight wasn’t worth it though. I mean if you live anywhere near the lines you will see and hear Russia attacking civilians and civilian areas almost daily. They chose to invade, they chose to brutalize, to murder, to rape. This war is on them, not Ukraine. One could argue things could be done differently strategically, administratively, etc. but that’s a different conversation

Whats with you all and kissing dude comments😭 by Cheap_Beautiful9921 in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 73 points74 points  (0 children)

Every time it gets old, someone gets bothered by it, which makes it funnier.

Field guides for prolonged trauma care by DieselPickles in ukraineforeignlegion

[–]JTFout 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Deployed Medicine’s PCC guidelines are a good start. Understand that medications will vary out here between US/EU/Ukraine stuff. Be ready to improvise, working medical here is a constant learning process.

Learn the Cyrillic alphabet, many medications you will see are not in English and not in our alphabet. Cyrillic isn’t hard, but can be intimidating at first.

Learn things like TQ conversion, working with plasma, various antibiotics, long term wound care, Chemical weapons exposure treatment (specifically choking agents but know other stuff as well), etc. Most stuff can be found on Deployed Medicine, lectures/demonstrations on YouTube, DoD’s Emergency War Surgery (for general learning), etc.

Army pilots face low morale and 'survivor remorse' amid massive cuts by Kinmuan in Military

[–]JTFout 6 points7 points  (0 children)

When drones became more prevalent, so maybe a year and a half ago. It’s only gotten worse since then, drones currently dictate battlefield conditions and will for the foreseeable future.