Pass Ranger School!

(Today's update:  running and GPS watches!)

Whether you are a Private or a Colonel, you're here to find out how to earn your Ranger tab.  This page will give you all the info you need to start off on the right foot and to finish Ranger School with a first-time GO.  Here you'll find:

• The up-to-date official packing list with hyperlinks to suggested items and real-world advice on what to buy that isn't on the list
• Ranger Training Brigade physical training plans with videos explaining each exercise
• Videos and sites with advice from past graduates of Ranger School
• Links to informative books that past graduates swear by
• And a discussion board you can use to get the latest information or ask questions

And for when you graduate and earn your tab:

• Great gifts for new Rangers
• Books and movies about US Army Rangers past and present
• And more . . .

Good luck, God speed, and RLTW!

Running to Ranger -- the GPS watch

At the end of the day, Ranger students need to be able to run -- and a key part of your training should be mixing up a variety of distances, times and terrains.

First, regular running will turn whatever body type you have into the "lean-and-mean" variety, which is exactly what you want for the low-calorie, high-output days you'll have to handle for two (or more) months.  If you have a ton of muscle, expect to lose much of it during Darby, and expect to feel the loss.  Once you start smelling the ammonia in the field, you'll wish you had leaned up more beforehand and made your muscles as efficient as possible.

Second, running prepares your body for the stresses of long days on your feet, and for the slow but consistent energy output that Mountains will demand from your legs.  You want to build up the stamina of your lower body, and a combination of rucking and distance running is just the thing to do it.

Third, running is an easy metric to keep you on a training schedule.  As you follow the training schedules on this site, you'll see that they require regular runs of different durations and distances.  Rather than just run on a track or a fixed path, why not get out, mix up the terrain, and explore?  This is where a GPS watch comes in.

Although there are tons of GPS watches to choose from (Garmin, Timex, and Nike are the top brands), I strongly recommend the Nike+ Sportswatch.  The simple reason is the online tracking program.  After each of your runs, you can sync the watch to Nike+ Online, and it will track everything about the run -- the path you followed, the average pace, the distance, etc.  You can even add notes to each run, and can export the runs to share the path with others.

Even as you run, the watch can provide you with positive feedback, letting you know when you have set new distance or pace records.  For the Ranger student in training, this can be helpful during those long solo runs that none of your buddies want to do with you.

At the end of the day, a GPS watch is not a necessity -- but it sure is a helpful tool.

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE:  You cannot bring a GPS watch to school with you!  Check this packing list for recommendations on items for school.

Terrain Model Kit for Ranger School

Why do you need a Terrain Model Kit?

Standard Sand Table

  During the planning phase before every mission, you have to prepare and brief your entire Warning Order (WARNO) and Operations Order (OPORD) to your Soldiers.  During the Execution paragraph, you will spend a long time going through every single step of the unit's movements and tasks -- and you'll do it on your sand table.

A Terrain Model Kit is a portable map set you use to setup a model of the terrain you'll be covering during your mission.  It has to have everything you need for every type of mission, as well as additional pieces that help you to model obstacles and terrain features you expect to see.

What should be in it?

• A complete set of laminated, colored cutouts for every type of squad and platoon unit.  You have to laminate them to write on them, and to protect them from the elements.  Here are a few starter options:
• ROTC LDAC kit -- PDF format
• Lower quality option -- Powerpoint format
• An extra set of alcohol markers and eraser -- keep them in the kit and don't use them for anything else or you'll lose them.
• Ten feet of colored yarn -- at least five different colors.  You can use cord, which is thin but durable, or knitting yarn, which tends to fray over time.  I recommend going to a craft store (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.) where they sell the yarn on arge spools and you can cut off and buy only what you need.
• Thick sticks of sidewalk chalk -- you'll scrape these with your knife to fill in water, greenery, etc.
• Index cards, cut into quarters and laminated.  You can use these smaller squares to show landing zones, linear danger areas, target reference points, and a heck of a lot more.  I would make at least 20 of them.

Have additional ideas?  Put them in the comments below!

Developing Mental Toughness for Ranger School

Ranger School is, above all else, a test of your mental toughness -- your ability to lead your men and complete the mission despite your hunger, lack of sleep, frustration, and physical exhaustion.  A common misconception is that you have to be in the best physical shape of your life to pass Ranger School.  While that is true (and you need to be on a focused PT plan like one of these), physical fitness is only half the preparation.  In fact, I believe the majority of guys that fail RAP Week do so because they haven't built up their mental toughness.

So how do you do it?

First:  check out the Ranger Training Brigade brief called  "Developing Mental Toughness for Ranger School" -- it's a great overview of what they mean by mental toughness, but it's also heavy in confusing charts and graphs that won't mean much to you now.  What you need is some concrete advice.  Which leads me to . . .

Second:  start identifying your mental weaknesses and addressing them head on.  Here are some weaknesses and fixes.

• PT'ing in your comfort zone.  Start finding ways to push yourself extra hard during PT.  The very best way is to get a training buddy who has been to Ranger.  My buddy used to add on extra "surprise" exercises at the end of a session.  I remember doing a full-on sprint workout to the point I thought I'd puke.  The second I finished the last sprint, he made me drop down and do Ranger push-ups to failure.  The point wasn't to test my push-ups -- it was to test my mental toughness and my ability to go beyond my comfort zone.  The feeling you get doing that will be quite familiar once you get to School, and you'll know how to handle it.

• Fear of the water.  No matter how great of a swimmer you are, you need to spend some time in the water in ACU's and boots.  Try treading water for 15 minutes.  Try swimming 200 meters with a weapon.  Try jumping in the deep end, going to the bottom, and coming back up five times in a row.  And don't skip the awesome swim/push-up/sit-up workout on the 90-day PT prep page (day 25).  Unlike the normal Combat Water Survival Test, you will fail the Victory Pond day at Ranger School if you show fear or hesitation.  Pushing yourself past your comfort zone now will making you look and feel more confident when you have to do the Slide for Life, gear drop, etc.
• Rucking like you're walking.  This is a big one -- Ranger School is not Air Assault, or the German Proficiency Badge, or your "hardcore" unit ruck.  Don't get lulled into thinking you can do what you've always done.  By the time you get to the ruck march in RAP Week, you'll be physically and mentally exhausted -- and it's the mental part that will make you fail.  When you are rucking in training, mix it up and push your limits.  Ruck with a weapon and force yourself to keep it at the low ready the entire time (I would switch from right to left-handed when I got tired).  Hit the woods and ruck some shorter distances on steep terrain.  Do a few rucks alternating rucking with jogging (but watch your body -- don't break yourself before you get to Ranger!).  If you find yourself zoning out and slowing down, you're doing it wrong.  If, like me, you genuinely feel like you might start crying on the 16th mile -- good stuff.  You're developing mental toughness.
• Big ego.  Many people fail out of Ranger because of big ego -- ego with Ranger Instructors, ego with peers, and ego with self.  As you train up, now's a good time to start humbling yourself.  Take that hard-charger attitude that got you this far and shift it a bit -- keep the fire but lose the arrogance.  Stop checking out the mirror in the gym and focus on your true fitness.  Don't talk about Ranger all the time -- just silently prep for it and show your unit you're the best by acting that way.  Help out the guy at your unit who you find the most annoying -- it's good practice for the annoying guy in your squad who you'll be stuck with for months.  The more you genuinely convert yourself into a team player now, the easier that adjustment will be when you get to Ranger School.  You'll do better on peers, and you'll actually be a better peer -- which is what a Ranger should be.

I'll post more on this topic in the future, but I hope you'll head over to the completely empty and unused Discussion Board and post some thoughts, ask some questions, etc.

Prepping your Ranger Handbook

Insert laminated "cheat sheets"
with index cards.

You made it through RAP Week, and now you're actually at Darby -- ready to start Ranger School for real.  If you haven't prepped your Ranger Handbook by now, you are behind the curve.  The earlier you get your book ready for the field, the more useful it will be for you and the longer it will last.








Here are the steps:

1. Laminate both covers.  You can use overlapping packing tape, but even better is a solid sheet of Lamination Paper.  That way there are no seams for water to leak in (even though it will eventually get soaked, this will keep it in better condition for longer).
2. Wrap the entire outside in 100 Mph Tape.  Be careful not to cover the inside of the front cover, since you'll need it for the Ranger Creed (which you definitely should have memorized already).
3. Use a pen to poke through the tape and lamination paper covering the two holes at the top of the handbook.
4. Run 550 cord through the holes, tie each strand into a loop, and cover the knots with 100 Mph Tape or Electrical Tape.  NOTE: don't burn down the 550 cord so much that you can't untie the knots.  You will need to untie the cord later to insert Index Cards in your handbook.



These plastic tabs hold up
through anything, but bring
extra just in case.

5. Tab the sections you will need with color index tabs.  Make sure you get plastic tabs -- they'll hold up when your handbook gets soaked (as it will).
6. As you drink from the firehose of classes the first few days, make time to prepare index card inserts for each class.  At this moment, making these cards is far more important than getting sleep.  You will use them every time you brief and every time you are in leadership -- for the rest of Ranger School.

Pre-Ranger

If you are heading to Pre-Ranger, you will get a copy of the Ranger Handbook there.  You can't bring this copy with you to Ranger School.  I still strongly recommend you follow the steps above, and treat Pre-Ranger as if it is actually Ranger School.  You'll figure out how you want to prep your book, and maybe make some mistakes you'll learn from.

Good luck!