Watch?

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gill0610

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Apr 22, 2016
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I know there are several threads on which watch but DS doesn't think he needs one. " who wears watches anymore"? So... reasons to wear one?
Thanks for your input.
 
gill0610 said:
reasons to wear one?
Click to expand...

For Army ROTC:
  • Land Nav,
  • Field exercise (meet back here at 08:45),
  • timing your APFT
.....and much, much more.

Do NOT get one with built-in GPS as cadre will not allow you to use it.
Don't be fancy, as watches will be subjected to immersion, mud, and shock.
A cheaper tactical watch will do the trick. (Casio, Armitron etc.)
You can get more fancy after commissioning.
 
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I'm fond of my watch, but it's a generational thing. I say let him figure it out for himself. Much will depend on what he does in the military down the road.

If he relies on his phone for time... There are Service regulations about when, where and how communications devices can be used and worn in or on various uniforms. There are some office and work spaces into which you cannot take your personal device for info security reasons. There are times in the field where you need both hands to do other things while checking the time, or where the screen of a phone is a security risk compared to a Luminox SEAL watch. And if you're at a meeting run by your boss, it's usually easier to casually glance at your wrist then break out the phone, which is probably bad form to have out anyway at a meeting where your eyes are expected to be engaged elsewhere...
 
My son is in AF Rotc. When they are running around doing something and they tell them to get back in one minute (choose your number of minutes), they arent going to have their iphones handy to tell them. They need a watch especially when they go to their respective training camps where no phones are allowed.
 
AROTC-dad said:
For Army ROTC:
  • Land Nav,
  • Field exercise (meet back here at 08:45),
  • timing your APFT
.....and much, much more.

Do NOT get one with built-in GPS as cadre will not allow you to use it.
Don't be fancy, as watches will be subjected to immersion, mud, and shock.
A cheaper tactical watch will do the trick. (Casio, Armitron etc.)
You can get more fancy after commissioning.
Click to expand...
Wait you can't use a GPS watch? I'm a rising freshman for college and I have a Garmin Forerunner as my watch (I'm a cross country/track runner). Why couldn't you use a GPS watch? It doesn't tell you direction and it's not even always on, I'd have to activate the GPS part to get any effect from that.
 
CavSon said:
Wait you can't use a GPS watch? I'm a rising freshman for college and I have a Garmin Forerunner as my watch (I'm a cross country/track runner). Why couldn't you use a GPS watch? It doesn't tell you direction and it's not even always on, I'd have to activate the GPS part to get any effect from that.
Click to expand...

You can use your Garmin, but just not during Land Nav assignments. My MS-II son was told by cadre before their most recent field exercise that no GPS watches were allowed for land nav. Most everyone in the battalion owned a Casio G-Shock or similar tactical chronograph anyways. Get a simple $40 Armitron or Casio and you will be good to go.
 
@clarksonarmy (ROO from Golden Knights Battalion) posted the following on his blog regarding technology and land nav:

"Even with today’s technology a soldier still needs to know how to tell which way is North and which direction the GPS is telling them to go. They still need to know how to analyze the terrain and place all their weapons systems, or engineer their radio shot, or determine where best to emplace the wire obstacle. Now a days the chance that all 30 GPS’s in the Platoon will run out of batteries at the same time are slim, but you are right that there is more to map reading than just moving around the battlefield from point to point."

Source:
https://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/land-navigation/
 
AROTC-dad said:
You can use your Garmin, but just not during Land Nav assignments. My MS-II son was told by cadre before their most recent field exercise that no GPS watches were allowed for land nav. Most everyone in the battalion owned a Casio G-Shock or similar tactical chronograph anyways. Get a simple $40 Armitron or Casio and you will be good to go.
Click to expand...
Ah okay that makes sense. I guess the Garmin could help you calculate distance walked now that I think about it. I don't want to take it into the field with me anyway cause it'll break so a simpler watch I'd a good idea. I was just worried about not having it for daily use or PT.
 
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