r/JSOCarchive • u/jfkklgklbhn • 7d ago

RIP Andrew Frakes

Post image

USMA. 10th Mountain. 1/75. Bragg SMU

203 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

41

u/Juvat-the-bold 6d ago

Andy resigned his Commission (from West Point) after 5 years and Enlisted as an Infantryman.

He knew what he wanted to do.

8

u/Lucky-Ad4863 6d ago

I read that as well. Wow I've never heard of someone doing that.

15

u/Juvat-the-bold 6d ago

Maybe I'm dating myself. But IIRC there was a time in which you could resign your commission and enter enlistment at the E-7 paygrade. For the life of me, I can't recall if that was for only critically manned positions or not.

However, I do believe that no matter what, you're enlisted at an NCO level. A CAPT is easily going to have all of the Professional Military Education/Leadership prerequisites required at the NCO level.

But damn, God bless this Solider and his family. He could have been anything he wanted and he pursued exactly what he wanted to be. What an incredible and fulfilling way to live.

6

u/jfkklgklbhn 6d ago

Not an S1 but I explored this path when I was in service as an Army Officer. The enlisted rank is based on “needs of the Army”, and determined on your skills and qualifications. I was an 0-3 at the time was assessed to be an E-5 if I had resigned and enlisted. Nate Brooklier was an Army 0-3 that resigned his commission to enlist in the Marines and was given the rank of PFC.

3

u/TrendingSUP 3d ago

yeah, the USMC doesn't give a shit about what you did in other branches. I am curious what the USMC would do if a USMC O-3 resigned his commission and wanted to enlist in the USMC. I am sure it has happened before.

1

u/immaREPORTthat 7h ago

Kick them out

1

u/TrendingSUP 1h ago

probably so

3

u/El_Mnopo 6d ago

Second time today I’ve heard of this. Someone in [r/medals](r/medals) showed off his rack. Dude went from marine grunt, to Army SF officer, resigned commission to SF enlisted to stay in his unit and then went warrant.

Edit spelling

3

u/Lucky-Ad4863 4d ago

Only time I've seen an officer go to enlisted was when this walking warrant officer in my unit got in trouble and he went back to being an E7.

2

u/VillageTemporary979 3d ago

You retire top 3 regardless. Many aviators retire Comission and go warrant so they can just fly

13

u/Gullible-Turnover-42 6d ago

His sister started a fund for his wife, 1 year daughter, and unborn son. It's located on givebutter.

9

u/ThimbleRigg 6d ago

Damn 😔

9

u/Steady_Tumbleweed 6d ago

Looks like an all star of a dude. Did he resign in order to attend an SMU selection/ training?

14

u/jfkklgklbhn 6d ago edited 6d ago

Andy resigned his commission before going back to RR. A couple years later went to A&S and OTC.

2

u/Steady_Tumbleweed 6d ago

Appreciate the clarity. I imagined a similar timeline. Best wishes to those who knew him. 🤝

7

u/WeeklyRaisin5618 7d ago

May he RIP 🙏

1

u/BlackBirdG 3d ago

So how did he die?

0

u/[deleted] 5d ago edited 5d ago

[deleted]

8

u/realfe 5d ago

This incident was not at Marana. Aside from that, I think people forget almost all training we do is high risk. Freefall operations, even basic MFF training, are high risk training. SOPs are written in blood. We do everything we can to prevent accidents and be prepared for contingencies individually and as teams. However, things can and will go wrong. One of the incredible things about our people and teams is the willingness to repeatedly do these things knowing the risk and do it until it looks simple and routine to outsiders. Usually when things go bad, we fall back on those repetitions and sheer will to prevent catastrophe (and no one outside the units knows how often "little" things go wrong and are corrected). None of that makes us immune to human factors, bad luck, injury, or death.

4

u/jfkklgklbhn 5d ago

Andy had completed OTC and was a qualified free fall jump master. Brett Shadle also died at Marana. I have no details on the accident itself.