History Being Made.....

According to The Army Times, the entry of women into an April Ranger School class is a "one-time integrated assessment" (i.e., an experiment).

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/2015/01/15/women-ranger-school-assessment/21708147/

Will April be the cruellest month?

April is not a bad month to start Ranger school. Not cold, not hot, vegetation hasn't turned green yet.

Many bench marks to give us some indication on what will happen. The article talked about two week Ranger indoctrination program before hand. Perhaps two to four weeks before starting Ranger school, than any female applicants should attend RIP is February. If so hopefully, the Army's plan was not let's open up and see who applies as we are talking about less than 30 days or so before RIP. Folks don't get into road marching shape in a short time. Sometimes blister will knock some Ranger students out as there is no time to heal by staying off of your feet. Typically, something like 30% attrition during first week - APFT, land nav, water survival test. I don't remember how many from my class failed the 12 or 16 mile force road march, but that sucked. For me it was more mental than physical as I had no idea when the road march was going to end. From what I remember, we did the Darby Queen, obstacle course, the day after the road march. I believe we got a demerit if we failed an obstacle. Too many demerits got you kicked out. Some of the obstacles put short folks at a significant disadvantage.

Best wishes to all Ranger students.
 
Wishing them strength, an abundance of determination, and success. Go get it ladies!

Eight of the 19 women who started U.S. Army Ranger School this week have survived the first four grueling days known as RAP Week. This rate of 42% is only slightly below the 48% survival rate for the 280 men who began. Standards were the same for all, including pushups, situps, five mile run, 12 mile timed ruck march; land navigation and other tests.

No matter what happens going forward, history has been made.

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/04/23/3684449_eight-women-soldiers-survive-first.html?rh=1
 
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Again, best wishes to all Ranger students. Looking back, the first week was easy. Now the wear and tear on the body builds up.
 
Makes one wonder how they'll handle recycles... Both for candidates and observers. If the pattern is consistant with males, this initial wave will likely get spread across 2-3 different courses.
 
More power to all of them lord knows I couldn't do it.

Is ranger school open to other branches like the AF? I remember seeing both in the past, it used to be but now it's not.
 
More power to all of them lord knows I couldn't do it.

Is ranger school open to other branches like the AF? I remember seeing both in the past, it used to be but now it's not.
I think there are a small number of slots open. A year or two ago, I provided some training support to some AF guys doing an AF-internal screening program for them trying to get into Ranger school.
 
Thanks Raimius.

I also assume upon completion they would be authorized to wear the tab on their uniform. It be nice to see one on an AF uniform it'll stand out like a sore thumb (in a good way).
 
According to Military.com's article, along with all the day-to-day grind, they're only allowed to sleep 3-4 hours a night and eat two meals a day! I think for most people the loss of sleep is the biggest factor . . .
 
Lack of sleep is tough. Lack of food is also hard. My son lost 30 pounds. We got him the night before graduation. We took him to restaurant where he ate three entrees. It was was not pretty.
 
Your son made it through Ranger school? Congrats on such an achievement! When do they move to the phase at Camp Merrill?
 
Your son made it through Ranger school? Congrats on such an achievement! When do they move to the phase at Camp Merrill?

Thanks, he graduated over two years ago. Generally IBOLC(Infantry) graduates are expected to go. Some of the other combat arms have their own selections and allocations. He looked like a skinny scarecrow afterward. It is very dangerous, stressful and debilitating. Best Wishes to the men and women there now. His advice to those going is always follow the rules no matter how trivial. If you don't you will fail. Good Advice to follow throughout your career.

Each phase including Merill is 21 days, not sure of their exact start date.
 
According to Military.com's article, along with all the day-to-day grind, they're only allowed to sleep 3-4 hours a night and eat two meals a day! I think for most people the loss of sleep is the biggest factor . . .

If it hasn't changed (my experience goes back t0 1995), each phase was divide into instruction and field training. During the instruction phase, we stayed in barracks (except at Benning in GP medium tents), got three meals, and probably slept about 6 hours, but once we went out on the field training, yes about 3-4 hours of sleep, 2 MREs a day during the winter phase and 1.5 MREs a day during the non-winter phase. About 1/2 way through the field training, came back to the barracks for a day to refit. Additional challenge for the field training was that we carried everything.
 
If it hasn't changed (my experience goes back t0 1995), each phase was divide into instruction and field training. During the instruction phase, we stayed in barracks (except at Benning in GP medium tents), got three meals, and probably slept about 6 hours, but once we went out on the field training, yes about 3-4 hours of sleep, 2 MREs a day during the winter phase and 1.5 MREs a day during the non-winter phase. About 1/2 way through the field training, came back to the barracks for a day to refit. Additional challenge for the field training was that we carried everything.

Do you remember how much weight you lost?
 
This may not have quite the same production values as the new Army commercial in the other thread.


It was taken in the middle of RAP Week. The point of the fun and games is to wear the soldiers down physically and test their resolve to keep going. What you don't know is that they are operating on little sleep.
 
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