I can’t think of a better way to kick off your Monday morning.
A day in the life of U.S. Army Rangers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, as they hone the skills needed to succeed in the world of Special Operations. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, August 2019. (U.S. Army video by Sgt. Jaerett Engeseth)
Rangers Lead the Way!
I love the Regt, formed my manhood and part of my dna! But let’s be honest, nsw makes better videos, if we want to recruit the best then let’s make the most compelling campaigns…RLTW
I’m a little curious about the drone being used – pausing at 2:20 it really looks like a DJI controller. Which, according to articles here, were banned from DOD use.
Being a Ranger qualified paratrooper with experience in 82nd ABD, and 25th ID, this video only makes me want to drive the point home that – this equipment and standards should be Army wide throughout the Infantry. And I would bet the budget and ability is there to have similar skill set established across the Army’ Infantry, is we cut a few F35s from the overall DoD budget. If it means going to a 7 x man squads that are of higher quality so be it. It will also take the Regiment rotating out NCOs the way it does the officer corps. Any and all battalions led my Ranger Regiment CDRs from what I have experienced have always had a tactical edge over the battalions not commanded by former Ranger Regiment Officers.
Why would we cut F35s? The Air Force manages its capability priorities and is probably already short on F35s.
If you want to trade something, what Army capability would you give up?
Scott,
You suggest, “It will also take the Regiment rotating out NCOs the way it does the officer corps.” First, that rotation of officers happens because we have many more infantry officers specifically that want jobs in Regt then there are slots. That is not the case for NCOs. Are you under the impression that the RR has excess capacity and SHOULD continuously bleed NCOs to the Army to improve other units training standards? I must respectfully disagree. I am afraid all that will get is a degradation of the RR’s capabilities because of increased turnover in their ranks.
In the infantry, when we had 11 man squads, on average we only had 9 soldiers on hand. Then, the Army tried to make a virtue out of necessity – and assured everyone that a reduction in doctrinal squad size would result in “full” squads. So we went to 9 man squads… and only had 7 soldiers on hand. If – as you suggest – we go to 7 man squads, based on history, I can assure you that we will only have 5 on hand. In other words a fireteam instead of a squad.
We don’t get better by robbing Peter to pay Paul. Big Army infantry won’t get better by taking away from the Rangers or the Air Force. Be careful what you ask for.
TLB
The Regiment is feeding talent into the Army. It’s part of the payback and why the Army continues to invest heavily in it. E.G. maintains a pipeline that sends the best of limited resources its way.
There are less squad leader slots than there are team leaders. Less platoon sergeant slots than squad leaders etc. A portion of these leaders serve in conventional units. Most make HUGE contributions to the conventional units they serve in.
Unfortunately, a sub-culture in Reg’t (and across Army SOF in general) is, “Big Army is not my Army.” A second order effect of that attitude is that it makes it harder to retain the type of personality drawn to Reg’t/SOF let alone work together.
The Army has to do a better job of retaining that talent and those units that have the best might want to reconsider adjusting the mindset that in effect sometimes bites the hand that feeds them.
To be fair, the way SOF does business is vastly different, and should be, than the way Big Army does business and with that, comes an attitude many aren’t willing to accept.
Will,
I agree, there has always been that friction. It is why SF and Aviation became Branches. To have more control over their own destinies and have a better chance of finding and retaining the right kind of talent for specific and specialized jobs. The kind of guys and gals who go to SOF, thrive and STAY generally do not want to serve in a mech unit at Ft Hood. Likewise, almost no Tankers ever go to any SOF selection. As we talked about, forcing people to take assignments they don’t want or are not well suited does not ultimately help the Army – it just tends to makes them leave service sooner.
TLB
Understand and agree. There is and must be a difference. It’s not unique to SF or aviation. I would not have been interested in serving in non-combat arms. I also didn’t make others fell less because they were the rear echelon. Pardon me stating the obvious but the reality is these branches ARE part of the ARMY. E.G. I’ve never met an aviator deny he was part of the Army.
One can be special and still be part of/contribute to the larger organization.
For the longest time SOF was treated like the red headed stepchild. Treatment was often petty, unprofessional and did not contribute to the mission. I didn’t like it or condone it. Seems with the ascendance of SOF some things aren’t better. This is not helpful.
There are exceptions but that’s the problem. They are exceptions.
Keep in mind I’m only trying to make the case for a synergy beyond operational between the “Big Army” and SOF with US ARMY on their left chest. E.G. we don’t see MARSOC members denying they are part of the Corps.
We don’t have to take anything away from anyone, modernizing and increasing the lethality of the Army’s combat formations is a priority. Which means we must invest in all of the warfighting functions. We can’t ignore fires capabilities, or increased lethality in our mechanized forces to make sure every 11B gets the Crye and Patagonia gear the regiment gets. Instead of taking away from someone, the infantry should look at building capabilities, you can use the regiment as a model but without replicating their selection and training process, and decades of institutional memory you won’t have the same product. Master the fundamentals where you are, and ensure the people you train master them before you move on. The gear will bleed down eventually, but fitness, discipline, and most importantly rehearsals are free brother.
Awesome! Loved my time in.
RLTW
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JBLM > *
I’m a Marine and have trained, served, and deployed with Army Rangers. Through and through top shelf people. Commenting on the above and knowing SOF’s are used in situations that a well trained Big Army unit could do as well with the proper training. I’m not letting the ” Camel’s nose to get under the tent,” but, it doesn’t take Rangers to do all unique missions.
For example: policing uses SWATeams to do things regular patrolman and detectives used to do. I’m not advocating “Mission Creep” but I might say increase the Ranger Bat or have super grunts in the Big Army who can take on some of the missions Rangers have.
The Corps is much smaller, consequently, grunts do more than regular Big Army soliders. If so, why not train specific companies, platoons from 82d, 173rd, 101st, 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th to do unique and low level special missions?
Only a thought. Semper Fi.
Can we get that shirt he was wearing at the start of the video somewhere or was it just a one time company purchase?