Army Ranger school: and I thought the submarine force sucked...

[Nords]

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:

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...

 

[dex]

Nords,
I say this with the seriousness I have said to the few women that I said "I love you" - not many because I don't say it if I don't mean it.

We as a country really do not deserve people like you and your nephew.

The vast number of us sit at home - fat, dumb, worrying about petty little things, we talk about inconsequential subjects. While people like you and your nephew work hard to keep us safe.

My wish is that the people such as your nephew will one day lead this nation.
Thank you

I am humbled by your nephew's service.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I have respect for anyone who has served in combat. I have a very close relative who served in Iraq 101st infantry. Those people go through things the average person will never experience. I am for one very thankful for the duties other American's have done. It is a volunteer military. Hats off to them

 

[Eagle43]

Your nephew's one tough dude. He should be respected and admired. I wish him well.

 

[Buckeye]

Nords - do you know why your nephew says most of the course depends on luck when he talks about getting recycled? Do you think he was talking about injuries affecting the outcome?

 

[One-Zero]

Buckeye:"Nords - do you know why your nephew says most of the course depends on luck when he talks about getting recycled? Do you think he was talking about injuries affecting the outcome?"

Forgive me for jumping in, I know you directed this at Nords...but his Nephew's letter is so similar to so many I've seen the past 25 years or so.
Yes - injuries can set you back in a heartbeat, even a mere sprain from a morning run can turn into something major due to the stress of daily activity at the school and we had to turn many students back on med-recycle to ensure they didn't screw themselves up, even though they wanted to drive on.
Another factor is "Ranger Instructor (RI) Roulette" which he referred to as the difference in standards you may encounter from one day to the next with an Instructor. The students face quite a bit of uncertainty with each new graded event, not only because of the challenge of the task itself - but because each RI may have his own twist on how that task should be accomplished...This is a good thing as each RI has different experience with the application of a task depending on where he may have previously served, and the student comes out better rounded for it.
He should have no problems - being an Infantryman prior to attending is a big plus as far as the skills part, and being a recent grad from USMA means dealing with BS is fresh in his mind as well. I wish him the best and hope he doesn't lose aspiration for going SF, there just isn't any other experience in life that compares.

Sua Sponte / De Oppresso Liber!
One-Zero

 

[redduck]

Nords (or, anyone else).

It seems like Ranger Training is exceptionally tough. And, I can picture it through your nephew's descriptions. But, while I don't doubt submarine training is also tough, I can't picture it. Could you describe it a bit? Thanks.

 

[Dreamer]

Nords: It sounds like your nephew is mentally prepared for it. I just hope that his shoulder holds out for him and that luck is on his side. I have read Dick Couch's book on the Navy Seals and I hope that your nephew forces himself to eat, even when he does not feel like it. I can not imagine what motivates someone to put themselves through something like the Seals or the Rangers. As you know my son-in-law started the Seals, but dropped out after injuring himself and I think that his desire had waned. Your nephew sounds like a tough minded individual. I hope that everyone in his family writes to him frequently to show their love and support. I would also like to thank you and your nephew for your contribution to our country.

 

[laurence]

Wow, so after he heals from this training, I'm going to put my money on him in a family feud, I don't care how many head kicks you've practiced!

What a great read, let him know the Internet(s) is rooting for him!

 

[frayne]

Good luck to your nephew. FWIW, I successfully completed Ranger School back in 1970 and after a 30 day leave, recieved an all expenses paid vacation to the Republic of South Viet Nam. Ranger School is one of the toughest things I have ever done but I believe the training kept myself as well as a number of troops under my command alive. Our class started out with approx. 300 and some odd students and come graduation day there where about 120 that graduated.

Rangers lead the way !

frayne
A Co. 75th Rangers (ret)

 

[ls99]

Concur with One-Zero's excellent comments. Drive and "intestinal fortitude" gets you a very long way in overcoming pain and mental stress, especially near total physical exhaustion. Luck factors in with the nature of injury.

It is not common that a USMA grad will undergo a round of physical and mental challenge of this nature.

Clearly he has the drive and initiative, wish him luck and success.

 

[Nords]

Thanks, all, I'll pass on the kudos. (Hey, I'll get at least one letter out of this thread alone!) One-Zero is right about the element of luck-- my nephew's last shoulder dislocation was caused by stumbling on a staircase with an armful of books and trying to recover. It probably would've gone better if he had not been totally sober.

I've spent nearly eight years teaching at training commands, a lot of time with Navy divers, and I have a more balanced view of what goes into the selection & training of high-risk instructors. What a student sees as "RI Roulette" may also be the one time that student displayed a fatal flaw that has to be rectified before their training can continue. In my nephew's case he may still be marginal on the shoulder strength and if he's recycled then he'll understand it gives him that much more time for rehab. He's just happy to finally be in the show, and it's mutual-- they're not gonna throw him away for one or even two very bad awful days.

He's had good mentors, too. When we were at my nephew's graduation I watched an old buzz-cut battle-scarred (literally) SF colonel (wearing more medals than most soldiers have ever seen, let alone worn) limp over to chat. The guy also had the face of a predator, the body language of one of the world's more dangerous humans, a voice like a gravel crusher, and probably spent most of his time in a wall-mounted storage case labeled "Break Glass In Case Of War". You could see that he really cared about my nephew and there was as much respect flowing down the chain of command as there was up. I think the word got to Ranger school long before my nephew did.

Nords (or, anyone else).
It seems like Ranger Training is exceptionally tough. And, I can picture it through your nephew's descriptions. But, while I don't doubt submarine training is also tough, I can't picture it. Could you describe it a bit? Thanks.

I'll start another thread on that. It's a lot less physical (nukes are too) but much more mental.

 

[Nords]

Here you go, Redduck.

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...ing-where-nuke-can-nuke-36112.html#post664823

Never had to summarize this part of my life before in quite that way...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

My dad was a combat engineer and worked with Rangers in the Pacific in WWII.

In those days, they were strange men. Unbelievably tough. Mountain men. Solitary, quiet, invisible. He talked more about them than he ever ever talked about himself.

The guy also had the face of a predator, the body language of one of the world's more dangerous humans, a voice like a gravel crusher, and probably spent most of his time in a wall-mounted storage case labeled "Break Glass In Case Of War".

That's them, all right.

I am happy to see that we still have Rangers. A little different than they used to be, but still so vital to have when the need is there.

Please give your nephew my best regards. I know my father would say the same.

Ed

 

[Nords]

Update: He started the May class with their qualification test. He missed by one pushup.

After some debate (the instructors wanted to keep him in the class and get on with it) it was decided that he'd roll to the next class. He spent another month of rehab & government-sponsored exercise.

It must've worked because he started the July class and just finished the first three-week phase on Friday:

I don't have much time to write - I am on my eight-hour pass between Camp Darby and Camp Merrill and only have a few minutes to take care of personal matters. I got straight through this cycle, exceeding my own expectations. I received a "GO" on both of my graded patrols, including one on the first day, which is extremely difficult to accomplish. I had a very bad case of cellulitis in my right leg; not uncommon for Ranger School, but because our schedule prevented me from getting to sick call for two days it progressed further than normal. I spent two more days in the sick call bay, meaning I came close to being recycled for time away from training, but I healed enough to get back out into the field in the nick of time.
I got very lucky with my squad mates, who have a much greater depth of experience than average, and whose personalities have allowed all of us to mesh quite well. Only one of the fourteen of us is not moving on to the next phase, which is an amazing collective performance. Assuming this trend continues, I should be able to cruise through the next two phases and graduate with the rest of class in September.

Only six weeks to go...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

a good friend's kid became a ranger. signed up before discussing it with his parents. was very upsetting for a while but the parents, not a military family, have seemed to at least gotten used to the idea, even though they remain nervous. their kid is now stationed in korea where they accidentally set a village on fire during field practice.

 

[Nords]

I got a snail-mail letter that he dashed off during his transition. He passed the second phase (he's now halfway through the third phase) and, barring injury, he expects to graduate in another week.

Here's some quotes:

"Ranger savings program"

They've been living in the field for nine weeks but almost everything is "free". They're still getting base pay of at least $2555/month plus allowances. They're not spending anything on food, commuting, or clothing-- and certainly not entertainment or toilet paper.

"Ranger weight loss program"

They're given one or two MREs per day (whether they need them or not) with plenty of physical activity and adrenaline-inspiring exercises. They can also eat whatever they can catch. But the local critter & insect population is way down as students from earlier classes have attempted to maintain their protein intake.

The sleep deprivation can get bad after a few days in the field, but since we spend most of our time doing something physical it only affects us when we stop. It also makes it noticeably harder for our bodies to recover from the punishment they're taking. They say the course puts about two years of wear & tear on your body in nine weeks, which is giving me a bad case of buyer's remorse.

Sure, my knees ache and I haven't been fully clean in weeks, but I really do enjoy 90% of the stuff we're doing. We spent most of last week climbing rock faces & rappelling, and the terrain around here is absolutely beautiful. This forest is nearly pristine and full of "old growth". Trees are routinely larger than I can wrap my arms around, and our training area is criss-crossed with picture-perfect streams and "babbling brooks". Of course I'll have to wait until after our first four-day exercise to see if I truly appreciate this terrain.

This was written in the vicinity of Dahlonega GA.

If I decide to remain in the infantry/Ranger career path rather than the SF one, I would seriously consider an instructor tour here.

My squad got hammered in second phase-- we lost one to a negligent discharge and seven of fifteen to patrol failures. Some of that was the infamous "Ranger Instructor Roulette" but mostly it was our weak platoon. My squad was moved in from another company and we pulled the weight of the platoon most days. I think we were great subordinates for the other students to lead but had no such support when we were the leaders.

Attrition has taken its toll, so squads have moved all over as platoons and even companies have been combined & reorganized. I think his "negligent discharge" comment means that the offending student was dropped from the course. At least that's what I think it means-- I hope no one was using live ammo.

He also says that he's really really looking forward to graduation. I don't know yet what his next schools will be (if any) or if he's going straight to a Ranger unit.

Last time he mentioned duty stations he was looking at Fort Hood because he likes warm weather...

 

[Leonidas]

Glad to hear he's doing well.

A son of a good friend and former coworker went through Ranger school last year, or maybe two years ago. He lost so much weight that when his dad picked him up at the airport he didn't recognize him.

He's currently in Sadr City, where things are nearly peaceful compared to how they were just a couple of years ago, but he's lost a couple of his troops to shape charged explosive attacks.

My friend said that he commented in email to his son that he seemed to be dealing well with the circumstances. His kid wrote back, "Compared to Ranger School, except for the people trying to kill you every now and then, Sadr City is almost a vacation spot."

 

[RustyShackleford]

Nords, I'd be very interested in anything you can pass along about the rock
climbing part of his training. I've been doing it recently and trying to get
better. I've been trying easy routes with a heavily-laden backpack, and it's
one of the hardest things I've ever done. But obviously can't compare to
what he must be doing ...

 

[Texas Proud]

Quote:
Sure, my knees ache and I haven't been fully clean in weeks, but I really do enjoy 90% of the stuff we're doing. We spent most of last week climbing rock faces & rappelling, and the terrain around here is absolutely beautiful. This forest is nearly pristine and full of "old growth". Trees are routinely larger than I can wrap my arms around, and our training area is criss-crossed with picture-perfect streams and "babbling brooks". Of course I'll have to wait until after our first four-day exercise to see if I truly appreciate this terrain.



Not to say anything bad about what he is doing.... but I doubt there is a single 'old growth' tree left in Georgia...

My sister lives in Oregon and when we went to visit they had pictures of trees with the base that looked like it was 15 to 20 feet in diameter... maybe more... now they only have 5 ft being the big ones...

 

[soupcxan]

Why is there such a wide variance between instructors? Aren't they supposed to have a relatively objective performance standard that students have to meet to pass? If you have a bunch of capricious instructors, you're going to fail students who deserve to pass, and pass students who deserve to fail. Not to mention that students are frustrated and discouraged when expectations for them are not clearly defined. This is not to say the instructors shoudln't be tough - but they should be uniformly tough.

 

[REWahoo]

Last time he mentioned duty stations he was looking at Fort Hood because he likes warm weather...

Further evidence of how sleep deprivation can impair judgment.

 

[Leonidas]

Not to say anything bad about what he is doing.... but I doubt there is a single 'old growth' tree left in Georgia...

My sister lives in Oregon and when we went to visit they had pictures of trees with the base that looked like it was 15 to 20 feet in diameter... maybe more... now they only have 5 ft being the big ones...

I grew up in North Georgia and there were thousands of acres that were national forests and wilderness areas. It seemed like half the northern part of the state belonged to one or the other. It's been years since I've gone up in those hills, but barring some kind of disease or pest, I have to believe that most of that land is still covered with trees. America's first gold rush was around Dahlonega in the late 1700's or early 1800's, that combined with early timber cutting had some impact on the area. But the feds bought up a lot of the land across the northern part of the state sometime in the late 1800's or early 1900's.

It's beautiful country, but very rugged in some spots. If you remember the movie Deliverance, much of the movie was filmed in the forests of North Georgia at Toccoa Falls and the Chattooga River. Some of the waterfalls are wonders to behold.

There are a lot of trees there, or were anyway, huge majestic things. The CCC was pretty active there during the depression and I would bet that tree planting and conservation activities in the forests were some part of their accomplishments.

I would really hate to find out that something had happened to the trees there.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Why is there such a wide variance between instructors? Aren't they supposed to have a relatively objective performance standard that students have to meet to pass? If you have a bunch of capricious instructors, you're going to fail students who deserve to pass, and pass students who deserve to fail. Not to mention that students are frustrated and discouraged when expectations for them are not clearly defined. This is not to say the instructors shoudln't be tough - but they should be uniformly tough.

I'm going to guess its because thats how it works in the real world. If one comes to expect fairness and uniformity, one is going to make a lousy soldier.

 

[lets-retire]

Why is there such a wide variance between instructors? Aren't they supposed to have a relatively objective performance standard that students have to meet to pass?

At the Ranger level the soldiers are taught the art of war. They already know the theory and application, anybody can learn that. The art side is full of fuzzy intel, decisions taken while exhausted, etc. This side of war is very difficult, if not impossible, to set down in a one, two, three set of objectives, just like teaching someone to be a great artist. These men have already proven they know what they are supposed to do in a perfect war world, similar to teaching someone to paint a decent picture. Now they are being taught their craft to the next level, similar to teaching someone who can paint a decent picture to paint like Picasso.

Sure, my knees ache and I haven't been fully clean in weeks, but I really do enjoy 90% of the stuff we're doing. We spent most of last week climbing rock faces & rappelling, and the terrain around here is absolutely beautiful. This forest is nearly pristine and full of "old growth". Trees are routinely larger than I can wrap my arms around, and our training area is criss-crossed with picture-perfect streams and "babbling brooks". Of course I'll have to wait until after our first four-day exercise to see if I truly appreciate this terrain.

Spoken like a true warrior.