Army Ranger thread

[The Ranger]

Let us not forget the Air Force CCT and PJ's....two very skilled groups, and a nice way to enter Special Op's...IMO.

Ranger

 

[Longhorn85]

But what is involved in being an officer and a Ranger? What is Ranger School like? How hard is it to get in? Once a Ranger, how much time is spent deployed? What is a typical day back at home like for a Ranger?

I spent 4 years as an officer in two differerent Ranger Battalions. I will address your questions later this pm when I get back from this meeting I have to run off to right now...

 

[manny78]

Green Berets are US Army Special Forces, they are the one that will do contact with the locals and train them fot subversive war yadda yadda.

Rangers: Are the Elite Parachutist and are shock infantry.

Delta Forces are a unit from the Green Beret, but they are specialized in Counter Terrorism and in operation similar to UK SAS.

Navy Seals: Are sailors that got bored of cleaning ships aboard USS Nowhere and they are Hyped a bit too much: They are the one responsible for seaborne ops(in theory)

Devgru is the Delta of the Seals.




In my humble opinion the US has too much Spec Ops, and they created a new one again YEAH

fun to see what will happen if the right hand will know what the left does.

Oh my God the Delta of the Seals..... lol Damn I'm lost but anyway. Very different from us poor Canadians with our JTF2...

The Ranger, by best I meant if you guys had to choose one group to go ? What would be your pick ? My understanding is the Delta seem to be hardest to get in and the one with the most difficult tasks.

 

[3Vandoo]

USMC are considering a special force unit to be associated with SOCOM,
not sure if its official or not. I was sent the news last week, did a quick read, but deleted it.

 

[The Ranger]

Oh my God the Delta of the Seals..... lol Damn I'm lost but anyway. Very different from us poor Canadians with our JTF2...

The Ranger, by best I meant if you guys had to choose one group to go ? What would be your pick ? My understanding is the Delta seem to be hardest to get in and the one with the most difficult tasks.

Delta or SEAL Team Six, Red Cell is no more...as for the civi world, the FBI HRT Teams are pretty damn good too, and less red tape for certain things...

Ranger

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

I know there's a lot of military guys on here so I wanted to start a thread dedicated to the Army Rangers (and possibly all special forces).

I should know within the week if I've been accepted to OCS. I definetly want to get into Ranger School too. But what is involved in being an officer and a Ranger? What is Ranger School like? How hard is it to get in? Once a Ranger, how much time is spent deployed? What is a typical day back at home like for a Ranger?

Fro,

With all apologies due to "The Ranger", no one can answer this more accurately than I can.

First, Ranger school is just a school. It is not affiliated with the Ranger Regiment, instead, it is run by teh Ranger Training Brigade. However, soldiers in the Ranger Regiment must complete the school prior to becoming NCO's, and all officers in the Ranger Regiment must be Ranger Qualified prior to joining. (even supply types).

Conversely, going to Ranger school does not earn you a spot in the Ranger Regiment.

Any officer can go to ranger school.

During OCS, you will be assigned to a branch, such as infantry, field artillery, armor...there are 17 of them. After OCS, you attend the officer Basic Course for your branch. Depending on your branch, and in some cases your performance at the Officer Basic Course, (OBC) you will be "slotted" for certain Army schools after OBC. You will still be a second lt. - that is OK to go to Ranger school.

If you want to go to ranger school, request infantry as your branch. You will go to Airborne and Ranger school if you are an infantry officer.

If you can't get infantry, you can get Ranger school coming out of Armor OBC, engineer OBC (combat engineer not civil), Field Artillery OBC, and Air Defense Artillery OBC. Those branches are collectively known as Combat Arms (along with infantry). However, onmly as an infantry officer is it highly desirbale, and you can get a second chance if you fail out / get hurt.

if you get assigned to a non-combat arms branch, you won't get Ranger School after OBC unless you pay someone (or pull out teh knee pads). The Army doesn't deem Ranger School worthwhile for their non-combat leaders.

Now, as The Ranger said above, to get into the Ranger Regiment as an officer, you have to be a First Lt., and a lot of them are prior enlisted.


What is Ranger school? 61 days of food deprived, sleep deprived infantry training, interspersed among Ft Benning, the mountains of Northern GA and the swamps of Northern Florida. It isn't super hard, but it really really really sucks.

I am all typed out. If you have more questions, PM me. I'll give you my number and you can call if you want. the rest of your questions are more pertinent to life in the Ranger Regiment, which I'd be happy to discuss with you too. although, it will be a few years before you can get there.


Matt

 

[The Ranger]

Thank you Matt, a much better answer than I could give....heh heh heh...In the 1st Bat. I worked for a living...heh heh heh

Just digging on ya Bro....Go with Matt on this Fro....

Ranger

 

[3Vandoo]

Oh my God the Delta of the Seals..... lol Damn I'm lost but anyway. Very different from us poor Canadians with our JTF2...

The Ranger, by best I meant if you guys had to choose one group to go ? What would be your pick ? My understanding is the Delta seem to be hardest to get in and the one with the most difficult tasks.

No, The D boys or the Dark Sides are not different from the Canadian they have both permanent liaison officers between the two units. And often the Cat nuts will go some fun at the lil house of horror at Braggs. Delta is yes the hardest because it is the creme de la creme of the US Army Special Forces, in theory. There also the creme de la creme de la creme which is SAS (Special Action Staff) that is own by the CIA and recruited from all the elements of USSFGs.

Anyway wont go over there because US Spec ops give me headaches, there too much of them,
ok they have all a "particular" raison d'être, but ............

To go Delta you must be either be a US SF operator or Ranger, and pass all the batteries of test from Psy tests to the Cooper Test. Then you switch a complete and new mentality.


sheez now I have an headache

 

[Longhorn85]

Re: Re: Army Ranger thread

With all apologies due to "The Ranger", no one can answer this more accurately than I can.

However, soldiers in the Ranger Regiment must complete the school prior to becoming NCO's, and all officers in the Ranger Regiment must be Ranger Qualified prior to joining. (even supply types).

If you can't get infantry, you can get Ranger school coming out of Armor OBC, engineer OBC (combat engineer not civil), Field Artillery OBC, and Air Defense Artillery OBC.

if you get assigned to a non-combat arms branch, you won't get Ranger School after OBC unless you pay someone

Now, as The Ranger said above, to get into the Ranger Regiment as an officer, you have to be a First Lt., and a lot of them are prior enlisted.

I respectfully beg to differ Matt, you are not the resident expert here. A few minor corrections from someone who has more recent experience as an Officer in the Ranger Regiment:

Only 11 and 13 series (infantry and forward observers) are required to complete Ranger School before becoming an NCO, although it is encouraged/desirable for all, to include cooks,etc.

Not all officers are required to have a tab either. The Battalion Surgeon is not required to, and neither is the Chaplain or Commo Warrant, although again, it is highly encouraged and most at least try.

It is difficult to get into Ranger school unless you are an infantry guy, even coming out of a different combat arms obc. It is a cost issue for most of these non-infantry branches. It is hard to justify sending a LT to Ranger school if he is an Air Defender or Engineer. Field Artillery (my branch) is a little easier because the Regiment always needs Fire Support Officers.

Speaking of non-combat arms branches. You neglected to mention Military Intelligence and Signal. There are a lot of these officers in the Regiment, and they all are tabbed.

Finally, it is not unusual to see a 2LT in the Regiment. Every Battalion Chemical Officer I've ever seen there was a 2LT, and often times a guy with prior Ranger Regiment experience as an enlisted guy or someone coming from their first assignment in Korea will arrive as a 2LT.

 

[Longhorn85]

Once a Ranger, how much time is spent deployed? What is a typical day back at home like for a Ranger?

You can expect to be deployed away from home about two weeks a quarter (every 3 months). Also local training will keep you out of your bed about a week a month.

A "typical" garrison day at home would start with challenging PT including running 3-6 miles at a 7 min mile pace or so, spending time lifting weights in the gym or a 10-12 mile road march with 50lb ruck.

After a hearty breakfast in the mess hall you might do some training with special equipment, do an airborne operation, teach or attend some type of military instruction, or go to the range to fire various types of weapons.

Your duty day will likely include some type of counseling with soldiers, and will be over at a reasonable time, probably around 1800. Most Rangers know how to have a good time after work too.