Thoughts from Ranger School

[Grumble and Grunt]

I made this post at armyocs.com concerning some of the things I learned there.

Quote:
what was the most challenging part of RS?


It is different for everyone. I went in good physical shape, tactically and technically comfortable enough from IOBC to get my head around squad and platoon ops, and confident in all of this to make decisions.

The hard part for me was being a good follower all the time. As an LT. I am not really used to being yelled at and talked down to (which IMO isn't good leadership anyway). At RS, especially the first part, the course structure is intended to have clear tasks, conditions, and standards to the minute detail. As a subordinate leader or even rifleman it seems obnoxious at times. For independent type A personalities this will frustrate you. Its absolute control in the field and in garrison. Mountains loosens up a bit to the walk stage and I enjoyed it more when we developed our own SOPs. Florida, especially in C Co, we were "given the rope" with enough room to play or hang ourselves and with competent leadership the platoon was really moving. You are always going to get the grabass who is on his third or fourth patrol who is not as good as others. He is going to make mistakes that you want to save him from, that you know are wrong, but you can't always. You have to be a good follower and grin and bear it. Also if your patrols are good and you have a strong "go" they will make you FO, RTO, or Medic so you can offer continuity to the mission when the leadership changes over mid-mission. You are also intended to offer advice and coaching sometimes to a weaker leader or someone less confident, it is also frustrating to watch them ignore sound advice and bone up a mission.

My strongest advice is to have a soundtrack/aggressive mental state. Metallica's "The Four Horseman" was playing in my head the whole time. You will make errors, you will forget things, you are tired, hungry, and at times so angry and miserable that your patience is nill. This can lead to bad decisions and inaction for some and can trip up even the most experienced.

No matter what you have to be aggressive, decisive, push violence of action, maintain control and accountabilty, USE YOUR SUBORDINATE LEADERS, and confident. Don't stop moving. Do things on the fly. Keep your squad and platoon off their knees and bellies cause then they get bogged down and pissed off. Have a clear, disseminated, and simple plan at all times. Execute, Execute, Execute! You must feel that you and your platoon are the baddest MFs in the valley and you can deliver superior firepower, manuever, and violence wherever you want. Treat the mission like it is real. Act like the company really depends on this coordinated raid and your guys depend on you and you will do the right thing.

[Nomad]

STFU and start giving yourself a Dog-X every four to six hours Ranger!

Good job Brother and some excellent points brought up!

[Horned Toad]

I
The hard part for me was being a good follower all the time. As an LT. I am not really used to being yelled at and talked down to (which IMO isn't good leadership anyway). At RS, especially the first part, the course structure is intended to have clear tasks, conditions, and standards to the minute detail. As a subordinate leader or even rifleman it seems obnoxious at times. For independent type A personalities this will frustrate you. Its absolute control in the field and in garrison.

Remember that when you get somewhere and you want to micro manage guys that have been doing their job long before you got there and will be doing it when your gone

[Grumble and Grunt]

Remember that when you get somewhere and you want to micro manage guys that have been doing their job long before you got there and will be doing it when your gone

Roger that.

I vaguely remember a quote that sounds like: Tell someone what needs to be done rather than how to do it and you will be surprised with what they come up with.

I much prefer to follow someone who gives me a task and the general parameters and then leaves me to accomplish it. To do that a leader must know his subordinates and thier capabilites. I hope to have the good fortune to work with those kind of professionals.

Would you agree that sometimes you don't find that and some need more supervision and guidance than others?

[Horned Toad]

Would you agree that sometimes you don't find that and some need more supervision and guidance than others?

thats what NCO's are for

[Grumble and Grunt]

this post is at armyocs.com concerning physical condition and prep for RS:

A 330 (APFT) certainly gave me cushion. Think about it. My buddies and I were running under a 35 minute 5 mile on our own. I was at about 31-32 minutes average and a bunch of other guys who I went straight through with were around that or better. Having the physical endurance keeps you healthy and keeps you from getting too tired. You don't need to be Lance Armstrong by any stretch and having a little body fat gives you a reserve to draw on but you will be glad to have a good solid base not just to get through RAP week but for the whole course.

You are going to get broken down and exhausted. At times you will drive forward on guts not just physical conditioning but being in good shape gets you MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY ready to push yourself. Think running around the mountains on an objective trying to manuever your squads, or running around as RTO with a 115lb ruck, or carrying your "wounded" buddy.

You should KNOW FM 7-8 and KNOW the Ranger Handbook. You should PT your ass off because it is what a combat arms leader, especially an Infantryman does. You want to be the guy who can hump the balls off of the 240 and make it your bitch. You owe it to your buddies when they are sucking cause guess what you need them to suck it up when you are in charge.

Being at the top of your game physically and mentally will help you keep your endurance when it is 0430 after the Weaver and you need to lead a platoon of men who are brokedick and just want to rucksack flop and go to sleep.

You also want to rest before RAP week. Athletes don't go hard right before an event, they let their bodies heal. Same for soldiers. You won't get rest during RAP week. You need to do the PT test, then wake up and run 5 miles, then do a 2.5 mile buddy run with LCE and rifle, then do Malvesti, then do land nav, and so on and so forth. You want endurance. I saw guys who played college football get their ass kicked out there because they weren't used to the grinding down endurance required. You want to strive to be athletically balanced. Endurance running, swimming, upper and lower body strength. Middle weight wrestler types do well. You can be tall and lanky or short and stocky just have the drive and conditioning to reach your personal best.

And then be prepared to watch it go to shit in the 2 or more months it takes you to get through.

[Guest]

really all you need is fear of failure and having to explain to SFC PURDY why you fucked up..however as a PVT/E-2,I thought Ranger school was a vacation from the op tempo of 1/75 in 1981.

[SupplyRanger]

Grumble and Grunt
You also want to rest before RAP week.

Those of us that went through Regiments Pre-Ranger don't know what rest is... I remembering coming back from Cole Ranger and packing up to leave for Ranger school with no time to rest. We had to stay awake and work and do extra curicular training.. Bubba must have been awfully nice to let you get rest.

[AbnRgr289]

Grumble and Grunt
You also want to rest before RAP week.

Those of us that went through Regiments Pre-Ranger don't know what rest is... I remembering coming back from Cole Ranger and packing up to leave for Ranger school with no time to rest. We had to stay awake and work and do extra curicular training.. Bubba must have been awfully nice to let you get rest.

We went to JOTC in Aug of '88, we got back late on Saturday and I started Pre-Ranger on Monday, and straight to School from there.

It sucked.

I got my shit though! :D

[Ndog275]

Went to school after I got off the boat in 94, all fat dumb and happy from 40 days worth of Navy chow 4-5 times a day. There is always a chow hall open on a carrier. There was no tan ops on the boat either, when we saw 2/75 in Gitmo it was like bizzaro world. 2/75 was conducting tan ops every day and 1/75 was all pasty from being below deck on the ship

In retrospect the most valuable thing that I learned in school was that you can't lead if you can't truly follow. I don't mean play the school game, but really and truly serve your unit and Ranger buddies.

[Grumble and Grunt]

Either way I got through with high peers. That was my personal challenge and I did my best to rise to it and seek self-improvement. We all learn things brother.

[Ranger Bill]

Being a bit humble never hurts.

[Grumble and Grunt]

My challenge in growing as a leader is in being a good follower. I am a little behind the power curve and need to figure it out. This was the gist of my intial post and there has been a misunderstanding. Humility is not a strong suit either, that I will also commit myself to learning.