Army Rangers question

new boss at work went to West Point and was a captain in the Army Rangers. How does an officer get assigned to a Ranger company? Do they need to go through Ranger school and qualification like ordinary Rangers?

Yes you do

My brother-in-law was an Army Ranger. He was one of the first 10 to parachute into Grenada in the 80’s

Yep everyone who goes through. Not uncommon go have majors and private in the same platoon from what the Rangers in my unit have told us.

Yes as an officer he would have to make it through Ranger School to earn is Ranger tab plus make it through RASP to be assigned to a Ranger Battalion or Regiment and take command of a company.

This - plus he had to command a regular Infantry line company first, before he can command in the Regiment.

Had a good friend who was in the very first Ranger Unit

Well, anyone can be a ranger now. Obama ordered combat jobs open to females and now we have girl rangers. Can’t be that hard to pass ranger school anymore.

Yeah they do. But if they went through just basic Marine boot camp they would be a lot tougher than any Army Ranger.

Ordinary Ranger, that's funny. I turned 50 in Iraq in the NAVY, I also served in the Army back in the early 70's. The war fighter's technology and methods have changed, so has their profiles. I have seen many War Fighter Women over there, linguists Interagators and other skill sets working with operators in very remote assignments. Remember 3rd world indigenous 'bad guys and girls" have been holding their own in AFGN Iraq, the Horn, Pakistan and SE Asia: Asymmetric warfare has changed the world, I sent female sailors into Iraq working with Army assets and I know their skill sets and how lethal they are and can be. I have seen women with CIB and Bronze Stars (I think if you do a little research you will find a couple silver stars out there also) So ordinary, and women and others issues dont hold water when it comes to mission. Good luck with your ego's.

My youngest brother, the vikings season ticket one, went through west point when I was in NY in 85-87

Your welcome to go to Ranger school anytime you'd like since it's so easy now. There are about four or five female Rangers and each one earned it. The attrition rate for males is still around 50%. Much higher for females.

My Brother also went to Grenada. Some call it ego, I thought of him as very self confident.

Don't confuse Ranger Q course with RASP.

Officers in the ranger regiment go through a selection process very similar to RASP. While my son was going through RASP he was required to assess and do a peer review on officer candidates going through the process. It is very demanding but the reality is that the spec op units are really run by non coms. My son had several officers in his Ranger days. Several were fantastic others merely ladder climbers hoping for stars.

Most of our Green Beret and Delta force operators come from Rangers. If I am not mistaken the Rangers rescued Marcus Latrell. Nothing easy about beating feet for miles with a heavy pack and they are known to lead the way. I am very grateful for their service.

If you look at the regular ranger qualification physical test you know these fine men are in the best physical condition. Pretty sure they have to do a dozen heel claps non stop as one part of the regular qualification.

Heel clap:

Hang on bar with both hands so that your shoulders are at a right angle to the bar above your head. Raise feet above and around the bar and clap your heels together...repeat a dozen times.

SEALgrinderPT - Hanging Core Exercises-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZkiFAe_tGw

Been there..and done it.
Also went to Recondo School in Nha Trang conducted by the 5th SF Group. There's never been any unit as gung-ho as those guys.
The school was open to all branches (US and Foreign) to train LRRP Team Leaders. Two of the "students" were Navy SEALS. My buddy and I overheard them complaining about how tough and demanding the school was. When they noticed we were listening, one of them said - "Well... tougher than the Army is supposed to be." We just smiled at them.
The Recondo School was designed to train Team Leaders for the Long Range Recon Patrol and Pathfinder teams which were all volunteer units.

I think it was in '69 the U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), reorganized all U.S. Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) units under the 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger). All of the Army "students" were members of either Pathfinder or LRRP units and were there to train as team leaders. The school was three weeks long, with the last week being a patrol in a hostile area. One of the "student" teams actually captured an NVA officer. Rank had no place in the school - everyone was a student.
The Recondo School was also known as the in-country Ranger School. Soooo... at that time you could volunteer to be a Ranger. But that was a long time ago.

You got that right. There is a few good books that describe the warriors of that time on LRRP. Hunting the Jackal by Bill Waugh. He fought from Korea through the Second invasion of Iraq. I have a signed copy of his book. Reflections of a Warrior by Franklin Miller, Ranger who went into SOG and earned a Metal of Honor and the book, Across the Fence, another member of SOG.

I didn't go to Ranger School, but IIRC they had a desert phase. Don't believe they do that anymore. It was back in the early 90s when I was in.

Sounds like stuff from 'stealth patrol' which is one of my favorite books. Kudos to you and thank you for what you did. Those were difficult times and it is my understanding that the lrrp's were the cream of the crop in many ways. Balls of steel.

Heel claps are a tough exercise if your not kipping and start each one from a dead hang....also much tougher if you bring your feet up over the bar rather than to the bar. Up over you can tend to 'clap' more toward the front of the foot rather than the heel. But it is still harder...real good hip/core exercise especially if you do the raise/lower slow and hold the clap for a bit. Toe to bar is harder, imo, if you do it strict and each one from a dead hang rather than using the pendulum motion to help you.

Many people can not do 1rep of either of those exercises from a dead hang. Nice video.

Big difference between going to the school and being in a RGR Bn. School is just a gut check.

Shawnee
My brother went to that school back in 69

I fought 3 rangers at once when I was in the Army. The first one couldn't take me so two of his buddies joined in. Wasn't even my fight. I got drafted into it by the first one and it wasn't his fight either.
In the end, they kicked my butt, butt it took them quite a while seeing as they were quite a bit scared of the dude who was fighting 3 of them. In the end I looked really good to my chain. They did not. One of the guys I was stuck with had a weapon and the entire building got in a world of poop over it.

Uhhh - not really - just weak minds.
My take away was being able to stalk deer and get close to them - so I guess it all worked out. LOL!!
Today's 75th Infantry is more like the MIKE forces that MACV-SOG used during the war. They are what you might call a heavy duty strike force

Of all the training I did, that was the best!!
They can say whatever they want about each military branch's Special Ops unit - The U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) are the ones that trained them,
They have my utmost respect.

Like most good men you are modest. Thanks again.

Learned alot in that video. Thank s Marty.

Gosh - look at all those scary "assault rifles"... LOL!

Thanks Marty - much appreciated!