Ranger School

nofodad

nofodad

10-Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Messages
554
DS begins Ranger School in August, anyone communicate with their DS/DD during school? We'd love to send mail, not sure how it works and DS hasn't found out anything yet.
 
He will get a mailing address to which you can send him stuff
 
Sent you a pm. Mail is tricky when it comes to Ranger School. There are are some things which you may not send. Until about a year ago they used to allow care packages of food at the end of the second and third phases. No more.

On another matter, nearly half of those who start a Ranger School class are dropped during RAP Week. Check out this video on pushups.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qb40vktn582vst9/Perfect Pushup.mp4?dl=0
 
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EDelahanty said:
There are are some things which you may not send. Until about a year ago they used to allow care packages of food at the end of the second and third phases. No more.
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Care packages of food? And they still called it Ranger School?

When I went through in the early 80's they made us open our packages in front of cadre and confiscated any food or other unauthorized items. I had someone send me 3 canisters of "Wet Ones". Two contained Wet Ones, the third was stuffed with Snickers Bars. :)
 
Just got a note from our DS. He made it through RAP week! Of the 40 armor Lieutenaints that started only 6 remain. Definitely the most difficult thing he's ever done, but he says he's learning a ton. Had one hour sleep and 3 minutes to ear before a the 12 mile ruck. We'll see what the next 46 days bring.
 
nofodad said:
Just got a note from our DS. He made it through RAP week! Of the 40 armor Lieutenaints that started only 6 remain. Definitely the most difficult thing he's ever done, but he says he's learning a ton. Had one hour sleep and 3 minutes to ear before a the 12 mile ruck. We'll see what the next 46 days bring.
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Congrats! Make sure to plan to go to graduation once he passes Mountain. He will call you then. You can't miss it. It is a great show! You can also watch him eat three meals at the same time the night before(absolutely no alcohol) and afterwords. Book your flights but take the flight insurance to allow you to reschedule or cancel up to the last minute. He will still have Florida to go through. You never know if he gets recycled at the last minute on any phase.

Follow every rule. The night before my son's graduation we went out to dinner. He momentary thought of ordering a beer. He realized it was against the rules and did not. 5 minutes later one of the Sgts from Ranger school walked by us in the restaurant. He was so relieved he was drinking water. With the lack of food(lost 30 pounds) and sleep deprivation my son was a little off the wall. Just roll with that and go with it. He will be ok a few days later.
 
Another thing from Ranger School. Hurricane Sandy hit our area when my son was in Mountain Phase. Our state had quite a bit of damage. They took him and all the other soldiers from our area out to call home. I always thought that was really nice. I know they have done this the last couple of days with those at Ranger School who are from Texas and Louisiana.
 
Went to Darby pass this past weekend, unfortunately DS needs to recycle Darby phase. He has a great attitude and is looking at this as a second chance. He started with 40 Lts. from his ABOLC class, 6 remain and only 2 went to Mountain phase.
 
nofodad said:
Went to Darby pass this past weekend, unfortunately DS needs to recycle Darby phase. He has a great attitude and is looking at this as a second chance. He started with 40 Lts. from his ABOLC class, 6 remain and only 2 went to Mountain phase.
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No shame in recycling any phase of Ranger School, even multiple recycles. The majority of those who graduate have recycled at least one phase and for many this is not their first time at Ranger School. The important thing is to persevere. At graduation the ones with the biggest grins are usually the double tabbers - soldiers who recycled each phase at least once.
 
I think my son had a couple of weeks when he recycled and then went back out. Some people can be there for a good part of their initial commitment. I posted this story before. My son's roommate at Norwich was a great kid. Very type A though. Hurt his shoulder in mountain and was in medical for weeks. He begged them on and on to let him go again. He finished Mountain and Florida. The last night they had a very long ruck march. He broke his foot right before and carried his pack, hobbling, to the end of the march. The Ranger cadre, never to compliment anyone, thought he was the best thing since ice cream was invented. The crowded around him(he was in crouches) at graduation. This guy was there 6 or 7 months maybe. Passed even a greater test last year.
 
theroyz71 said:
@nofodad Any updates on your son?
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Yes. He recycled Darby, so he basically had a week to study, sleep right, eat and then went back in after the 11-17 class finished RAP week. We got a note on Friday where he says that he can't believe he struggled with patrols the first time around, he is feeling much more confident after recycling. We will head down to Benning on 9/28 and hopefully see him for his passon 9/29, if he recycles again, it'll be 9/30. Hopefully he'll go on to mountains. Thanks for the interest. :)
 
Well, things did not go as planned. DS was dropped from the course last Thursday. He failed patrols on two consecutive Darby's. He was disappointed to say the least, some of the grading is subjective, but there is definitely some things he needs to work on. Looks like he'll PCS to Fort Campbell, do Air Assault and then at some point next year return to Benning and give Ranger School another shot.
 
No need to hang his head. He made it further than a lot. I'm sure next time he'll conquer it.

Being a dad I know it's times like this you wish you could say something profound or at a minimum give them a hug.
But I'm sure he knows you are still overwhelmingly proud of him.
 
nofodad said:
He failed patrols on two consecutive Darby's. He was disappointed to say the least, some of the grading is subjective, but there is definitely some things he needs to work on.
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And/or get lucky. All patrols are different - if it rains, if your graded patrol is at the end, if the illumination is low, if your squad is full of BFs, and so.
 
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