Army Rangers

So you think you want to be an Army Ranger, eh? You've been hearing about them for the last eight or nine years more than ever with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But do you really know what it's like to be one? Let me take a few minutes to fill in some of the stories not told on CNN.

To being with, the training is very tough. You spend weeks in Infantry school, then you go to Airborne school, then you might go to Air Assault School, then you go to the Ranger Indoctrination Program (known as RIP) then if you make it through all of that, you get to go to Ranger School and be tormented and abused. Historically, many Ranger students don't make it all the way through (when I was in training in the 80's, the average was 60% fail rate).

After you make it through Ranger school and if you get assigned to one of the Army's Ranger Battalions, then your "operational tempo" is greatly increased. You'll be deploying to places you can't talk about, doing things you can't mention, and if you have a family, leaving them behind to wonder when, and if, you're coming back. Many married Rangers experience marital issues, including divorce. It is very hard on the family, and the soldier needs to have his head on straight during a deployment and not worried about things back home, lest he won't make it home. Both sides of the equation trying to balance their needs and wants, with the realities of what the other is going through, is almost impossible.

If by some crazy twist of fate the Ranger is able to keep his family life together, and return to the civilian world, he then faces a whole new set of challenges, one that no training course can ever fully prepare him for. To start with, the people he will work with or call his new friends will not have the same outlook as he once had. Their loyalty can sometimes only be measured in quantitative measures that include "what's in it for them", something the Ranger hasn't had to live with while with his military buddies. He may also find himself in a position where someone younger is his boss, and someone who is always trying to prove he's the boss and in control. Keeping your temper in check and keeping your attitude right is a very difficult thing to do at times.

Lastly, we'll look at how the life of the Ranger affects your body. You're on an accelerated aging plan physically, with all the days of not eating as much, not drinking as much and not sleeping as much as your body wants. Then you couple that in with carrying 60-75 pounds on your back, jumping from helicopters, airplanes and whatever else is thrown at you can see how your knees, ankles, hips, shoulders and back can finally catch up to you at the ripe old age of 40. So if you become a Ranger, then you leave the service, make sure to stay active. A couch potato will really suffer.

So you think you want to be an Army Ranger, eh?