Rangers?

[jokiemastah]

Where are the Rangers? i've heard alot about Special Forces in this campaign and almost nothing about Rangers, where are they?

[Vance]

I beileve they took airfields H2 and H3 with the Special Forces.

[David]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/887947.asp?cp1=1 article about rangers and sf in iraq... and remember, ranger is a qualification so some of the airborne guys and sf guys are rangers, just not in the 75th.

[PSYWAR1-0]

The Tab is an award, the scroll is a way of life. Just because you have completed a school does not make you a ranger.

[stolidude]

Jackr is that you????

[David]

gee psywar you talk like youre a ranger..and i disagree, if you earn the tab then you are a ranger.

[PSYWAR1-0]

Jackr is that you????

No, Mehoff

[Recce-det]

Earning the Ranger tab makes you ranger qualified,not a Ranger. U.S Army Rangers are those who have served in the 75th Ranger Regiment. You know it makes sense don'tcha? At least, that's the answer someone who has served in batt would give you.

[JiJoMacLE45]

And correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not need to go through Ranger School to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. You just must complete RIP.

[David]

i wonder what somebody that earned the ranger tab and didn't serve in the 75th would say..

[SFontaine]

You need to complete RIP and Ranger School (Which is a leadership course more than anything) and you get your Tab. Then if you got a Ranger Contract you're almost garunteed to get into the 75th Ranger Regiment and THEN you're a Ranger.

I intend to be a Ranger tabbed Special Forces soldier :)

[David]

good luck trying to get a ranger contract...do you know how many slots are available per year for rangers? i'm just curious. i know there are 600 special forces street enlistment slots this year and somehow i got one. i feel special.

[SFontaine]

I hear it isn't hard to get Ranger in your enlistment. You just gotta be firm and direct and just get your recruiter to put EVERYTHING down in writing. And I'm going Special Forces the old fasioned way. After 2+ years of serving with Airborne/Rangers.

[David]

yeah who told you that it was easy to get it in your contract, your recruiter? unless you wanna be a cook i doubt they'll have any slots open.

[SFontaine]

Rangers who served before.
They said normally if you go through RIP and Ranger School there is a fair chance of getting in, so long as you have a contract.
And in the end though even if I don't get into the 75th I'll just take my Ranger Tab and go to the 101st or the 82nd till I'm ready for Special Forces.

[David]

alrighty then. i don't see why you just don't go for special forces right off.

[David]

"...civilian recruits coming through SOPC now hold a 76 percent graduation rate from SFAS, while soldiers coming from active duty into SFAS have only a 40 percent graduation rate. "

the statistics are in your favor if you do.

[PSYWAR1-0]

Dam this is SWAG central this evening. If you get a Ranger Contract that does not mean that you are going to Ranger school. It means that IF (notice the IF) you pass basic, AIT, Airborne and RIP you will be assigned to Regiment. If you make thru your provie time at Regiment and can at least find your culo with both hands you will get to attend Ranger School.

[yellowking]

Out of curiosity, in Black Hawk Down, Blackburn (the ranger who fell from the Blackhawk) is stated to have not attended Ranger school. How is that possible? What was he doing there?

Page 4, "Private First Class Todd Blackburn was the baby on Eversmann's bird, a kid fresh out of Florida high school who had not yet even been to Ranger school."

[SFontaine]

Ranger school doesn't make you a Ranger. RIP does. Ranger School is a leadership course. Not the whole thing.


And David.. I want some experience before I jump in. I'd hate to charge head on into Special Forces not ready. 2 years of Airborne or Ranger would prep me pretty good I believe.

[JohnJohn]

RIP does not make you a Ranger. It is an introduction and a way to weed out those who are not motivated enough and are just wasting space.

You are expected to spend at least four years in Bn if you wish to come away with any experience, 2 years, whats the rush?

[SFontaine]

Ah thank you John. I too am new to this whole process. Heres the exact process to be a Ranger.

http://www.airborneranger.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000027

All clearly laid out by the good Ranger Bell. Helluva MB right there too if you have any questions.

[GhillieOps]

RIP does not make you a Ranger, nor does a "RANGER" tab on your shoulder. Being at Bat. from RIP or ROPE serving your time before and after RANGER School makes you a Ranger. Thus the saying "the tab is an award, the scroll is a way of life. Ask anyone in or from the Bat. and I know that is what you will hear. Many who wear the tab feel that they are a Ranger, but that is a leadership badge from a school, not a designation patch of the unit you are with. The scroll means day in and day out you live that life. For many it means two years of low rank, no rank, to weed out the weenies, then RANGER School, and usually two more years to finish out the ever popular 4 year 17 week RGR enlistment package. At least in my day that's what it meant a few years back. God Bless and BEST wishes for OUR troops and coalitition troops. I wish they didnt have to experience this, but I support them, and am greatly thankful.
~brad

[SFontaine]

Yup.
Getting to the 75th is a long hard road, and I'm still considering whether I should take it prior to Special Forces or just go to Special Forces soon after Airborne School.

[96B]

Im not an expert but I think that it should be REQUIRED that you have prior experience whether it be 75th, 82nd, 101st etc before going to SF. Until computers can be so realistic you are literally convinced you are in real life, training cant completely replace actual combat experience. Thats not to say the training isnt very good and doesnt prepare you for war, I just think that combat seasoned operators are so much better suited for SF than people coming straight out of bootcamp training. An example of this is the Marines. If you are hard enough to pass the screening program and training to be a Reconaissance Marine, you rarely go straight to Force. Most guys at least that I have read about or heard about go to Batallion Recon first to get experience and later move up.

I'll admit after 8 years of Clinton, the military these days is stretched fairly thin with manpower and we probably need to fill in some gaps in certain areas such as SOF because the missions of today require those kinds of guys so thats probably why you see more direct recruiting into SOF.

[David]

whatever experience that the street recruits might lack most of them make up for it with their motivation to their training and from what i've read it goes a long way.

back to the original subject--i saw on the news "In a raid of an Iraqi commando headquarters responsible for operations in the western desert, Army Rangers captured 50 fighters, weapons, gas masks and a large cache of ammunition, he said." they said that and they had a small amount of night vision video of them fighting.

[JiJoMacLE45]

MSNBC had the footage. They were pumping some 40mm from a Mk19 into a target and driving around in their Hummers.

And about the 18X guys, when the program was around in the early 1980's its purpose was to train and cultivate unconventional soldiers raised exclusively in SF w/o the outside influence of the conventional Army.

Another reason behind the program was to provide operators who could serve longer with the ODAs. The average SFAS candidate has had about 4 to 8yrs of Army experience. So for the sake of this let's just say 6yrs. Add on another year of training and now you have about 13yrs left until they are eligible for retirement. If you factor in a tour as an instructor at Bragg or another sundry staff/training assignment you have another 4yrs, now you are looking at guys who will spend around 9 years on a team of about one half to two thirds of that will be spent working up and training for deployments. Now you are left with about 4 or 5 years where that SF guy will actually be ready and fit to deploy down range.

[ilxAudrey]

I'm glad the Army has introduced the 18x program. IIRC, Special Forces had a long history of taking civilian recruits. There were a great deal of "SF babies" in Vietnam.

[gdog]

Folks...after service in 1/75 and RHQ from 83-99, I can tell you with a definitive NO, that going to Ranger School (amongst those of us who have served honorably in the Regiment) and earning your Ranger Tab DOES NOT EARN YOU THE RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELF A RANGER!!! "The tab is a peice of cloth the scroll is a way of life" addiage that has been posted on this forum DOES reflect the sentiments of those who serve and have served honorably in the Regiment. This does not mean that going to Ranger School and being awarded the Ranger Tab is by no means a small task that should not be held in high regard. On the contrary, Ranger School is an exceptionally tough nut to crack. Having said that, Ranger School last for 58-63 days (depending on your era of attendance and your success). Life in the battalions is a day in day out process that involves an extension of the microcosim of committent that is required at Ranger School--comparatively speaking. Regardless, both honorable service in the Ranger Regiment and successfully completing Ranger School are incredible accomplishments that shouldn't be diminished by comparing service in a unit to accomplishing a school.

[gdog]

Further...to dispell any myths and ideas about the process of becoming a Ranger in the Regiment...there are three methods for enlisted personal, 1) direct enlistment for a Ranger Contract--once you complete basic training and AIT you will attend Airborne School. Once that is completed you will attend RIP. If you graduate RIP, at your graduation ceromony, we will pin on your scroll--of the Battalion you are being assigned too--and award you the Tan Beret. You will then arrive for service at your assigned Battalion, be assigned a job and serve. Once you have proven yourself--the process can last up to 14 months--you will then be selected to attend the Ranger Regimental Pre-Ranger Course. Upon successful completion of PR you will then attend Ranger School. Upon successful completion of RS you return to your BN and begin adopting leadership positions. 2) You can serve for 1 year on a regular enlistement contract and then apply for a PCS to Regiment. Once DA approves you will attend RIP and assuming you graduate RIP you then follow the same track as listed above. 3) You apply for service as an NCO in which case once selected (depending on whether or not you are Ranger Qaulified--if not Ranger qaul'ed then you might be sent to Ranger School in route to ROP/RASP or you might come to serve for a while and give us the opportunity of seeing whether or not we want to risk a Ranger School slot on you) you then attend the Ranger Orientation Program/Ranger Assessment and Selection (ROP/RASP). If the latter happens because you are a Ranger qual'ed NCO, once you complete ROP/RASP you will then assume a leadership position in one of the Battalions and begin your service. You DO NOT GO TO RANGER SCHOOL DIRECTLY AFTER BASIC/AIT/AIRBORNE SCHOOL!!! If you want to be Ranger in the Regiment your Army contract WILL NOT GUARANTEE RANGER SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. Only a chance to attend RIP and serve in the Regmient

[TacoDelRio]

Hello folks.
I am going to RIP next year, in summertime I think. I have not yet hammered out the details. Could someone tell me how RIP goes, as opposed to Ranger School?

I am just making sure that I am as ready as possible when I go there. I guess I'll never know if I'm ready until I graduate. (If I graduate, I am confident, maybe too confident!)


Thank you all very much!
Hooah p-)