I started Ranger School on Feb. 4th (Super Bowl Sunday) after going through the pre-Ranger School course twice -- that's when I proposed to Lori. The whole time we in-processed the RI's wouldn't give us any details about the game, and generally enjoyed messing with us. All of the Benning - Rogers phase is a game, it's called RAP week. During RAP week you take a standard pt test, land navigation, a 2 mile buddy run -- Malvesti obstacle course at the end of the run -- and a standard 12 miler with a 35 lb ruck in under 3 hours.
The biggest things that make guys drop during the Rogers phase is the pt test and land navigation. Malvesti is disgusting, Georgia clay/mud that guys have crawled through for years. All kinds of nasty things inhabit the Malvesti pit but we get through it. Then we go out to camp Darby.
Camp Darby is the first real test. Your soldier will find out what he's made of generally while getting rained on for several days straight with a few uniforms. Eleven days in a field environment being wet, hungry, and tired will challenge him to dig deep and find what keeps him in this horrible place. I got rained on for nearly the entire time I was at camp Darby. I remember several nights where we got no sleep after coming back from our mission because we didn't clean our weapons to the standard. We stood around watching other platoons eat, and go to their sleeping area. We couldn't go because our weapons weren't clean enough so tell him to clean the crew served weapons until he can't clean it anymore.
Finally I got my 8 hour pass after finding out I got a go, one of my happiest moments in Ranger School. On my pass I bought a new set of boots, and did 4 loads of laundry with one of my squad mates. We ate and I spent $500 between food and refitting to go into mountains. In the 75th Ranger Regiment, privates have to elevate their feet when doing push ups because we haven't been through the Mountains phase of Ranger School. I knew this would be the hardest phase and felt a bit anxious, when I came back I prepared myself mentally for the hardest 21 days of school -- if I only knew what awaited me. We got on the bus the following morning, got an MRE and drove up to Dahlonega Georgia.
Ranger School is a funny thing, because if your soldier goes straight through he will have a hard time remembering small details about the day to day activities in each phase, and the specifics of who did what. The first time I went through the Mountains phase I got through the first 3 days of the FTX. That means I did all the stuff at the beginning of Mountains until I went into the field, basically the first two weeks. In the field I remember walking with my ruck at night under nods and hallucinating that I was walking down the hallway to my parents bedroom. Every time we stopped I'd fall asleep standing up, and nearly get left behind when they started walking again. In winter we walked through water a few times in one night when the air temp was 33 degrees (F). We got tents after the walk but it took me an hour to change out of wet clothes into a new and dry uniform when we got the chance I was so lethargic. The next day I got caught eating Gatorade powder (without water) and got an SOR, or Special Observation Report, and would be pulled out of the field the next morning to recycle. It's crushing to find out you're getting recycled, especially for something that's pretty gay and undeserving like eating Gatorade powder. The 2nd time through Mountains I failed patrols. I neared the end of my rope the night we came out then and told myself, "I can't keep doing this" but I stuck it out for Lori.
What you need to know as a wife/fiance/girlfriend about Mountains: it sucks donkey dick. I'm not joking, straight sucks. Any encouragement you send will help tremendously, generally in the form of smells and pictures. No I'm not saying send obscene pictures, just something of yourself so he can snap back to the reality that people outside of Ranger School support him because there will be times when he will think about quitting. He may not act on them, but the thought will cross his mind I guarantee it. Now that care packages with food in them are not allowed in Mountains, if you want to send anything T-shirts and socks are good. Gum is also a good thing to send more of in letters and most of the RI's don't care about it as long as its a reasonable amount in the letter.
Also, what not to say is, "just do what the RI's say and you'll be fine" when I heard that I just wanted to scream into the phone, "bitch! you don't know anything about this school, that's not how it works!!!" (Lori didn't say this) I was so frustrated when I heard that. Ranger school is all a dice roll, it's not about doing what you're told, so when you're soldier gets recycled just tell him you love him and you'll be there no matter what happens and how long it takes to get through it. Come back with your tab, or on it.
I got out of Mountains with the 3rd attempt and got down to Florida. We jumped into the Florida phase, I got drug about 50 meters before I got free and then it was on. Your soldier won't get any mail until after he gets out of the FTX because he will go into the field on day 6 of Florida. The field experience is 9 straight days. Here's what happens: he'll go to Florida, get a class on reptiles, class on boat movements, get a class on 1 rope bridge, he'll discover how awesome French toast is every day, do some practical exercises, and then go to the field. Out of the 9 days in the field, nothing extremely challenging will happen until day 7 (a Tuesday) when he goes into Boiling Creek, the first swamp movement. Anything valuable he owns he needs to waterproof 3x, because the swamp destroys everything and he will never forget the smell of the swamp. After boiling, he will go on a "long walk" depending on how much of the swamp movement he did, either way he will be walking about all day either through the swamp, or on a road. He's gonna be suckin for a little while, and not happy with life. All of Mountains and Florida are raids, ambushes, and Movement to Contact so every day there will be a movement to chance contact, and then a mission. The day after boiling (Florida) will be more difficult due to the movement, then he'll go into the Weaver. If your soldier is about to go into Florida, tell him the Weaver will suck, its only 400-800 meters for the entire movement depending on the day. The factors that determine how far into the weaver they go depends on the water temp (winter) heat, and water levels. There's a possibility he could see some topless women if he goes through at the right time of summer though. They're generally swamp hill billies.
Patrols generally go well for about 70-80% of guys that get down to Florida and if he recycles the phase he has a high chance of graduating. It's not always the case though, so he can't slack off or stop trying.
I have a hard time describing what it feels like to get peered after coming out of the FTX in Florida, I felt crushed, like someone had cut me off at the knees with an ax. I lost all motivation to go forward, but your soldier needs something to keep him motivated. I kept Lori's pictures in my pocket ALL the time, there was never any time when her picture was not on me. She kept me going when I couldn't see the light forward. You will provide more inspiration to your soldier than you think. Keep him inspired every opportunity you get and he'll get to the end.
I guarantee whatever pain you and him are going through while he's away, it ends. It will feel like forever some days and you may want him to quit so he can come home and kill spiders for you -- or whatever -- but it will end and you will appreciate your relationship ten times more than you did before.
Good Luck, Rangers Lead The Way
