My nephew the Army Ranger served nearly three years before deciding that college was easier than Afghanistan & Iraq. Plebe year was a little different because he was one of only three veterans wearing a Combat Infantry Badge.
But all he's wanted was to get back to a Ranger battalion. For West Point's extracurricular fun, he chose the Combat Weapons Team and the Sandhurst military-skills competition. He dislocated his shoulder rapelling with the CWT (6'3" and 225 pounds) but he managed to stay qualified for Ranger duty. Unfortunately he dislocated the shoulder again last Thanksgiving and is just finishing rehab. However his e-mail 10 days ago announced that this 26-year-old 2LT has finally made it to Ranger school. I haven't heard from him since then so he must be "surviving".
I thought some of you would appreciate what goes into Ranger training. He enlisted as a Ranger but officers get no credit for prior experience. Most of you will be reassured that the school is keeping its standards, and a few veterans will despair at how soft it's become:
When he was in Afghanistan & Iraq, even in the field they'd have an idea what was happening in the world. This time he's totally cut off from electrons:
In his book "Hog Pilots & Blue Water Grunts", Robert Kaplan calls submariners "the most driven people I have ever known". I agreed with him last year, but now I wonder if he's spent enough time with Rangers. I've written plenty of sea-duty letters (and received dozens of familygrams) but this is the first time in over a decade that I'll write 3x/week. And we've never discussed his musical tastes but I doubt he's talking about classic-rock lyrics.
For those interested in further reading, he passed on other links about Ranger School:
We've also read Dick Couch's "Chosen Soldiers". I think my nephew is developing Special Forces aspirations, but he says he'll burn that bridge when he comes to it...
But all he's wanted was to get back to a Ranger battalion. For West Point's extracurricular fun, he chose the Combat Weapons Team and the Sandhurst military-skills competition. He dislocated his shoulder rapelling with the CWT (6'3" and 225 pounds) but he managed to stay qualified for Ranger duty. Unfortunately he dislocated the shoulder again last Thanksgiving and is just finishing rehab. However his e-mail 10 days ago announced that this 26-year-old 2LT has finally made it to Ranger school. I haven't heard from him since then so he must be "surviving".
I thought some of you would appreciate what goes into Ranger training. He enlisted as a Ranger but officers get no credit for prior experience. Most of you will be reassured that the school is keeping its standards, and a few veterans will despair at how soft it's become:
After nearly five years of trying to get there, tomorrow evening I will finally report to the school. I just want to clarify for everyone exactly what I'll be going through and to beg you to send me mail.
Ranger School is an intense, nine-week-long combat leadership course, oriented to small-unit tactics, and conducted in three separate three-week-long phases: Camp Rogers and Camp Darby here on Ft. Benning, Camp Merrill in the mountains of northern Georgia, and Camp Rudder at Eglin AFB in Florida. The purpose of the course is learning to lead while enduring mental and psychological stresses and physical fatigue. Daily training averages 20 hours, two or fewer meals, and 3-4 hours of sleep. It's typical for a larger person like myself to lose 30 pounds.
The Ranger Instructors (RIs) are notoriously unsympathetic and use drill-sergeant methods to enforce strict discipline. However, unlike the mandated sleep and food given at basic training, we'll be pushed to the limits of our endurance. We'll burn thousands of calories in the field on foot patrols and simulated combat missions. A week-long field training exercise (FTX) may cost ten pounds.
Ranger School has three phases: crawl, walk, run. The Benning Phase will assess our physical ability and basic soldier skills. This is when I have the greatest chance of failing as I am still recovering from my shoulder injury. The second week starts squad-oriented training, ending in an FTX where every student is tested as a patrol leader. I have to pass at least half of my patrols and the grading is hit-or-miss. It depends on my actions and those of everyone else in the platoon. It depends on the RI's individual grading style; he may be looking for something entirely different from the previous day's instructor. It even depends on the RI's mood; if he's having a bad day then I'll end up having a VERY bad day.
Each Ranger student is also assessed by all of his peers. Every person in the squad ranks every other person from first to last; if you are consistently ranked at the very bottom of your squad then it can be just as bad as failing your patrols.
At the end of the first phase I'll learn whether I am proceeding to Mountains Phase. The school's attrition rate is only 40%, but about 80% of all students will recycle at least one phase. I've seen excellent performers recycle more than once and absolute dirtbags go straight through; much of this course depends on luck so I'm already mentally prepared to recycle at least once. Recycling two isn't uncommon.
Mountain's patrols become harder and the skills become more specialized. We learn military mountaineering: not only patrolling difficult terrain but rigging personnel & equipment on cliffs & trails. Patrols are platoon-oriented and far more complex than the first phase. Standards become harder, while the routine takes its toll on the mind and body. Even in the middle of summer we may find freezing temperatures at altitude. Fatigue mistakes and hallucinations are common.
Florida phase has the highest recycle rate; the missions are the most demanding and people are extremely broken down. We practice wilderness survival and small boat movements, and even do foot patrols through the swampy terrain of Eglin AFB. The missions are technically company-size, but attrition has shrunk the company down to the size of a platoon. The final FTX is 10 days. The constant immersion is a mixed blessing; the water may cool us off but it also weighs down our already heavy loads and causes chafing in all sorts of interesting places. With immune systems weakened by lack of food and sleep, the swamp has also been known to cause some nasty diseases and infections like cellulitis. We always have medics on hand but there are only so many things they can prevent.
When he was in Afghanistan & Iraq, even in the field they'd have an idea what was happening in the world. This time he's totally cut off from electrons:
But now we come to the really important part of this over-long message: please send me mail! A simple letter is often the biggest difference between having a terrible day and having a great one. It doesn't have to be long or involved. It can be hand-written, typed, or done in crayon for all I care. But please send me mail as often as you can; inane things, what's going on in the world (we'll be totally cut off from the news), even song lyrics! (The music deprivation can really get to people; students often get together to sing classic songs everybody knows - or thinks they know.) The written word would be greatly appreciated, and oftentimes they'll even deliver it while we're out on an FTX!
In his book "Hog Pilots & Blue Water Grunts", Robert Kaplan calls submariners "the most driven people I have ever known". I agreed with him last year, but now I wonder if he's spent enough time with Rangers. I've written plenty of sea-duty letters (and received dozens of familygrams) but this is the first time in over a decade that I'll write 3x/week. And we've never discussed his musical tastes but I doubt he's talking about classic-rock lyrics.
For those interested in further reading, he passed on other links about Ranger School:
Official website: https://www.infantry.army.mil/rtb/rtbmain.asp.
Wikipedia entry: Ranger School - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The writing is much better than on the official RTB website. I shamelessly cut and pasted some of their sentences in this letter.
Ranger School forum: ArmyRanger.com :: View Forum - About Ranger School - In Honor of Ranger BattleBoar - RIP. This site is run by current and former Rangers. They focus on getting updated info about how to prepare for Ranger School, but if you have questions then I'm sure someone will take the time to answer a forum post.
We've also read Dick Couch's "Chosen Soldiers". I think my nephew is developing Special Forces aspirations, but he says he'll burn that bridge when he comes to it...