АҚШ Армиясы Рейнджерлер мектебінің тарихы мен дайындық бағдарламасы

United States Army training course
the United States Army school

The Ranger School is a 62 day United States Army small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training was established in September 1950 at Fort Benning, Georgia (now called Fort Moore). The Ranger course has changed little since its inception. Until recently, it was an eight week course divided into three phases. The course is now 61 days in duration and divided into three phases as follows: Benning Phase, Mountain Phase, and Swamp Phase. Those graduating from Ranger School are presented with the Ranger Tab, which is worn on the upper shoulder of the left sleeve of a military uniform, according to U. S. Army regulations Wearing the tab is permitted for the remainder of a soldier's military career. The cloth version of the tab is worn on the Army Combat Uniform and Army Green Service Uniform; a smaller, metal version is worn on the Army Service Uniform.

Ranger Training had begun in September 1950 at Fort Benning Georgia "with the formation and training of 17 Airborne Companies by the Ranger Training Command". The first class graduated from Ranger training in November 1950, becoming the 1st Ranger Infantry Company. The United States Army's Infantry School officially established the Ranger Department in December 1951. Under the Ranger Department, the first Ranger School Class was conducted in January–March 1952, with a graduation date of 1 March 1952. Its duration was 59 days. At the time, Ranger training was voluntary. In 1966, a panel headed by General Ralph E. Haines Jr. recommended making Ranger training mandatory for all Regular Army officers upon commissioning. On 16 August 1966, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Harold K. Johnson, directed it so. This policy was implemented in July 1967. It was rescinded on 21 June 1972 by General William Westmoreland. Once again, Ranger training was voluntary. In August 1987, the Ranger Department was split from the Infantry School and the Ranger Training Brigade was established. The Ranger Companies that made up the Ranger Department became the current training units—the 4th, 5th and 6th Ranger Training Battalions. Desert Phase was added in 1983 and the length of the Ranger course was extended to 65 days. The duration was again expanded in October 1991 to 68 days, concurrently with the reshuffling of the Desert phase from the last phase to the second. The 7th Ranger Training Battalion was added to administer this phase. The most recent duration change to Ranger School occurred in May 1995, when the Desert Phase was removed from the Ranger course. Ranger School was reduced to its current 61 day length of training, at 19.6 hours of training per day. The Ranger Assessment Phase, the first five days of Ranger School, was added in 1992. In 2015 Ranger School was permanently opened to women.

Ranger School is open to all Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs) in the U. S. Army, although—as of April 2011—an Army combat exclusion zone still limits some from attending. Ranger students come from units in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and from foreign military services. However, the two largest groups of attendees for Ranger School are from the U. S. Army's Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course (IBOLC), and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Ranger students typically range in rank from Private First Class to Captain, with lieutenants and specialists making up the largest group. The average age of a student is 23, and the average class consists of 366 students, with 11 classes conducted per year. Brigade Command Sergeant Major Curtis Arnold described Griest and Haver as "tough soldiers" In 2019, First Lieutenant Chelsey Hibsch became the first female Air Force officer to graduate from Ranger School.

Ranger School training has a basic scenario: the flourishing drug and terrorist operations of the enemy forces, the "Aragon Liberation Front," must be stopped. To do so, the Rangers will take the fight to their territory, the rough terrain surrounding Fort Moore, the mountains of northern Georgia, and the swamps and coast of Florida. Ranger students are given a clear mission, but they determine how to best execute it. The purpose of the course is learning to soldier as a combat leader while enduring the great mental and psychological stresses and physical fatigue of combat; the Ranger Instructors (RIs) – also known as Lane Graders – create and cultivate such a physical and mental environment. The course primarily comprises field craft instruction; students plan and execute daily patrolling, perform reconnaissance, ambushes, and raids against dispersed targets, followed by stealthy movement to a new patrol base to plan the next mission. Ranger students conduct about 20 hours of training per day, while consuming two or fewer meals daily totaling about , with an average of 3.5 hours of sleep a day. Students sleep more before a parachute jump for safety considerations. Ranger students typically wear and carry some of weapons, equipment, and training ammunition while patrolling more than 200 mile (322 km) throughout the course. In this phase, training is separated into two parts, the Ranger Assessment Phase (RAP) and Squad Combat Operations. The Ranger Assessment Phase is conducted at Camp Rogers. As of April 2011, it encompasses Days 1–3 of training. Historically, it accounts for 60% of students who fail to graduate Ranger School.

A student's graduation is highly dependent on their performance in graded positions of leadership. This leadership ability is evaluated at various levels in various situations, and is observed while they are in one of typically two graded leadership roles per phase. The student can either meet the high standards and be given a "GO" by the R. I., or can fail to meet this standard and receive a "NO GO". The student must demonstrate the ability to meet the standard in order to move forward, and can thus only afford one unsuccessful patrol. The student's success will lie in his ability to essentially manipulate those directly underneath their charge of leadership. At times, this will be as few as two to three people—and at other times the student may be required to lead up to an entire 45 person platoon. The student's success can be dependent on the performance and teamwork of these individuals, whom they must motivate and lead. Missions are typically broken up into four stages: planning, movement, actions on the objective, and establishment of a patrol base. The Platoon Leader position (in Mountains and Florida) will be rotated throughout the mission, and the same is true for the platoon sergeant position. The squad leader position is on a 24 hour rotation which is the same for all of the ungraded key leadership positions: Medic, Forward Observer (FO) and Radio Telephone Operator (RTO).

Another part of the evaluation of the student is a peer evaluation; failing a peer evaluation (scoring less than a 60% approval rating from your squad) can result in disqualification, though usually only if it happens twice. Due to unit loyalties, certain individuals within a squad who may be "the odd one out" will sometimes be singled out by the squad arbitrarily. Because of this, someone who has been "peered out" or "peered," will be moved to another squad, sometimes within another platoon, in order to ensure that this was not the reason the student was peered. If it happens within this new squad, however, this is taken as an indication that student is being singled out because they are either lazy, incompetent, or cannot keep up. At this time the student will usually be removed from the course.

If a student performs successfully, but suffers an injury that keeps them from finishing, they may be medically recycled (med recycle) at the discretion of either the battalion or the Ranger Training Brigade commander; the student will be given an opportunity to heal and finish the course with the next class. Students recycled in the first phase are temporarily assigned to Vaughn's Platoon (informally known as the "Gulag" to Ranger students). Recycled students typically receive classes on Ranger School tasks and perform a variety of general tasks for their respective Ranger Training Battalion. While marking time at Ranger School is not always pleasant, those who have been recycled typically perform well when reinserted back into the course, with pass rates well over 80%. Students can also be recycled for a variety of other reasons, including failing their patrol evaluations, peer evaluation, collecting 3 or more bad spot reports in a phase, or receiving a Serious Observation Report (SOR). Students may receive SORs for actions including, but not limited to, negligent discharges, safety violations involving demolitions or mountaineering, not looking through their sights while firing, or throwing away ammunition to lighten their load while on patrol. If a student fails a phase twice for the same reason (patrols, peers, etc.) they will usually be dropped from the course, but may possibly be offered a "day one restart," and will restart on Day 1 of the next Ranger School class. In rare cases, those assessed of honor violations (lying, cheating, stealing) and SORs may be offered a day one restart as opposed to being dropped from the course.

While Ranger School is designed to physically stress students to a point short of death, some fatalities have occurred during training. In the winter of 1977, two students in class 2 77 died of hypothermia while on patrol in the Florida swamp. In 1985, in the Swamp phase, a soldier drowned crossing a stream against a strong current. In March 1992, a student with sickle cell trait died after exposure to high altitude and stress in the mountain phase. The Ranger Training Brigade did not know about his medical issue until after his death. In March 1992, a Ranger student died from a fall on the Slide for Life. On 15 February 1995, the "worst incident in the 44 year history of the school" occurred during the Swamp Phase of class 3–95. Captain Milton Palmer, 2LT Spencer Dodge, 2LT Curt Sansoucie, and SGT Norman Tillman died from hypothermia. Investigations of the incident were conducted by the U. S. Air Force, the Ranger Training Brigade, and the U. S. Army's Safety Board. The results were determined to be a result of a combination of human errors exacerbated by "unexpected weather conditions". Nine Ranger Instructors were disciplined and the 6th Ranger Training Battalion commander was relieved. As there was no basis for criminal charges, none were court martialed. The four dead Ranger School students were posthumously awarded the Ranger Tab. As a result of the 1995 deaths, 38 new safety measures were implemented in the Swamp Phase. According to John Lock,

On Thursday, March 25, 2021, Cpl. James A. Requenez, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, died due to drowning during an unspecified training incident at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Officials with Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade, out of Fort Moore, Georgia, said. Requenez was transported to Eglin AFB hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the release, which added the incident was under investigation. On Tuesday, August 9, 2022, Staff Sgt. George Taber and 2nd Lt. Evan Fitzgibbon were killed while conducting mountaineering training in the north Georgia mountains. Both students were both struck by a portion of a falling tree while sheltering during a weather induced training hold. Three additional students were also injured during the event and treated at a hospital.