BOLC Community,

After a bit of a break (longer than anticipated… overseas PCS), I’m back, and we’ll jump into a big topic… Ranger School. As is my style, parables. Prepare for parables. I am NOT going to cover specific Ranger School preparation plans, but only because it’s too easy to answer the mail on that question very quickly. This is going to be more of a lessons learned and philosophy of Ranger School post.

Training Plans: literally just Google it. IBOLC Ranger Prep Reddit, Prep Plan from Benning, RASP Training Plan, Mountain Athlete Plan

Stuff: You need a packing list for Ranger School. I genuinely like what Ranger Packs is doing. So, if you’re going, probably save yourself some money, definitely save yourself some time and set aside the pile of bones to pick up what this team is selling.

Okay, on to the lessons to be learned… I was a Winter Ranger and gosh geez almighty mountains phase in the cold was miserable. Two times that I recall we were allowed warming fires. As much as I thought mountains phase was miserable in the cold, the Florida swamps were worse… nasty freezing water up to your neck. My buddy was lucky, he went in the Summer. So, he only dealt with all the mosquitoes (too cold for mosquitoes in the Winter) and the heat and humidity, obviously. Oh! and prickly heat, WAY more prickly heat. Gosh geez almighty, then came the swamps of Florida… the water moccasins come out in the Summer. So, now that I think about it, I guess the only good time of year to go to Ranger School is early Spring or early Fall, but, then again, I heard it rains more during those months. Okay, okay, I’ll tell you a secret, EVERYBODY knows about seasons. It’s not a secret. Do not delay Ranger School because you are targeting a certain time of the year. It’s an ignorant strategy.

True story, I ate a pint of ice cream every night in the two weeks between IBOLC and Ranger School. I wanted to “load up” before I lost all that Ranger School weight. I really hope you’re thinking to yourself, “holy eff, that sounds stupid.” Yeah, it was stupid. Sometimes it’s easier to see that from the outside looking in. In my mind, it made sense at the time. For lots of physiological reasons that you could Google if you care, this is also an ignorant strategy. Go to Ranger School at a healthy “fighting weight.” Adding a few extra pounds of fluff will just make you slow.

Why is Ranger School SO gee-dang important? It is important for precisely the same reason that young Warriors ask this question. Because you’re nervous, anxious, maybe even scared about it. Overcoming those mental obstacles produces personal and professional growth. You have those concerns about going because you know Ranger School will make you extremely uncomfortable for a relatively long period of time. Overcoming that discomfort also produces personal and professional growth. But! I’ll tell you a story. I came up on a good buddy of mine in the swamps of Florida. I’d known him for years and he was a really solid dude, but also admittedly could be a little weird. My homeboy was struggling HARD, took a stumble and ended up @$$ skyward in chest deep swamp water. I helped to pull him back on his feet and noticed his pack was heavy as eff. There’s Ranger winter packing list heavy and then there’s, “bro, what the eff are you carrying?” heavy. Turns out, his squad told him they were going to peer him unless he carried everything… like EVERYthing. Final phase of Ranger School and the lazy SOBs have one dude carrying ALL of the squad equipment. Claymore, AT-4, AG bag with ammo… Long story short, the incident makes me angry to this day, like, really angry. So, I didn’t wear my tab when I got to my first unit. It didn’t represent what it was supposed to for me. I had it, but I didn’t covet or admire it anymore. That changed after a conversation with my 1SG. He pulled me aside one day and asked me, “Hey, Sir, you have a Ranger Tab, right?” “Yes, 1SG” “Then, why aren’t you wearing it…?” I explained the whole thing and pulled out my soapbox about how my Soldiers can judge me by my daily character and not by what’s on my sleeve… My 1SG’s response was simple: “The Tab still represents something aspirational for many of the Soldiers, and the only way it continues to be something aspirational is when they see quality leaders wearing one. Also, you can be daggone certain the dirt-bag Rangers all wear their Tabs, and since I can’t take their Tab away, the best I can do is wear mine and help to show there are good Rangers.” It did not matter what the Tab meant to me anymore; I was wearing it for what it represented for my Soldiers. This is why the Tab is important. It does not make you a good leader, but for your Soldiers it helps to establish your reputation as someone willing to suffer to become a good leader, and that’s an important character quality to have on display.

Finally, let’s talk about quitting. I quit during Ranger School. One night. In Mountains. We were on a LONG movement and I got pissed and I just sat down… until my buddy came up from behind me and said, “dude, where’s the group?” and I said, “effing up there somewhere.” and he said, “man, that’s effed up” and walked past me. I got up and started walking again. I had been prepared to let myself down and quit. I had not been prepared to let down my squad. So, I kept going. Ranger School is designed to break you. You will break. Then, find a reason to pull yourself back together and keep walking.
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~Jeff
JOF “BOLC” Topic Lead