Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA. (April 23, 2022): So, you want to see if you’re ready for Army Ranger training? You are going to have to be ready.
There are a limited number of opportunities to join one of America’s elite forces, the Army Rangers, and those who want to survive Ranger School attend these Ranger Assessment sessions to prepare themselves what they will encounter in week one of Ranger School. Termed the “Ranger Assessment Phase” or RAP, week one of Ranger training is so intense, it is where most students drop out. Only the thoroughly prepared are accepted.
Ranger Assessment sessions attempt to give students the grit and endurance they will need survive Ranger School including doing proper bear crawls (just what it sounds like), tire flips, pushups, flutter kicks, sprints and the all too familiar “low crawl.” Students are expected to make tough decisions and act quickly even under extreme stress.
To graduate, students must pass the infamous Combat Water Survival Course, the Ranger fitness test and pass a brutal obstacle course. The program ends with a land navigation/twelve-mile ruck sack march.
In this photo by Staff Sergeant Shane Smith, Specialist Patrick Kusik, an indirect fire infantryman assigned to 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard “low crawls” under barbed wire while navigating an individual movement technique. Specialist Kusik attended the four-day Ranger Assessment Program including a “confidence” course fashioned after the infamous “Malvesti” obstacle course they will encounter in Ranger School.
Getting past Ranger Assessment is the first step towards joining the ranks of one of America’s elite special operators, the Army Rangers.
Support Our Troops respects these warriors who volunteer for such grueling programs. We try to do everything we can to make their lives, and those of their families, easier. Currently, we are shipping care packages to troops recently deployed to Europe in support of our NATO allies.
Please consider helping by contributing to SOT Care Packages at supportourtroops.org