 The United States troops are thus far engaged in the effort to help free the people of South Vietnam from communist aggression. Much or most of the actual fighting is accomplished by company, platoon, or patrol-sized units. Operations are conducted in extremely diverse geographical areas. For example, the muddy, odorous rice paddies of the Mekong River Delta, the coastal plains of the South China Sea, and the steaming mountain jungles of the Central Highlands. As to the type of warfare being waged, it is both conventional and unconventional in nature. Today's small unit leader must be capable of conducting a variety of missions in any type of geographic and climatic environment. To develop and produce such leaders is the job of the Ranger Training Command, United States Army Infantry School located in Fort Benning, Georgia. Here, for a period of eight weeks, selected officers and non-commissioned officers from every branch of service and the armed forces, including Allied, are subjected to a progressive program of physical conditioning and practical military exercises designed to develop the basic characteristics of the ultimate soldier, the United States Army Ranger. Before an applicant is accepted for Ranger Training, he must first pass a physical combat proficiency test. This consists of low-crawling 40 yards in 38 seconds, negotiating 23 rungs of a horizontal ladder in one minute, hovering the dodge, run, and jump course in 27 and one-half seconds, scoring a minimum of five points in the grenade throw from the kneeling position, and running one mile in seven minutes 45 seconds. Because of the nature of Ranger Training, each applicant must also pass the combat water survival test. The first requirement consists of entering the water fully clothed with harness, canteen, and rifle, removing the harness while submerged, surfacing and swimming to the side of the pool. Next, he must swim 15 meters fully clothed with rifle and equipment. In the final phase of the water survival test, the applicant is required to walk off a three-meter diving board blindfolded and, showing no panic or fear, swim to the side of the pool. Applicants failing to pass both the combat proficiency and water survival test are not enrolled in the Ranger course. This is done for their own safety. Throughout the first 10 days of training at Fort Benning, the Ranger student is put through a vigorous physical training program designed to develop stamina and endurance. In addition to these normal daily exercises, which are only a warm-up, there are chin-ups, the low crawl, the horizontal ladder, log ladder climb, and the rope climb. After the first few days of this, the men suddenly become aware of aching, screaming muscles they never dreamed they had. And always there is the tactical officer observing and evaluating. It is his responsibility to assure that each student performs at the highest degree of efficiency. If a student appears to be having difficulty, the tactical officer will counsel and assist him in meeting the high standards of achievement required for successful completion of the Ranger course. Running is a way of life at Ranger school. There are one-and-a-half mile runs, two-and-a-half mile runs, and five mile runs. The students run to class to eat and to the PX. In fact, they run everywhere. Once in a while, the students get to sit down, but only long enough to acquire a variety of skills vital to Ranger operations. These skills include learning how to prepare, emplace, and detonate bridges, power plants, and railroad tracks, or how to navigate by day and by night behind enemy lines with only a compass and a map, or how to operate and maintain radio communications equipment with which to call for resupply, medical evacuation, and fire support. And then it's off and running again. The purpose of these grueling runs is to develop stamina, endurance, and self-discipline. To go until you think you are about to drop, then go on for two miles more. Each hour of each day, the tough, combative characteristics that go to make up a Ranger are progressively developed. From a bayonet assault course, the student becomes expert in the advanced use of the slashing, deadly blade. Hand-to-hand combat teaches him aggressiveness, determination, and confidence in his ability to attack and kill the enemy silently, or defend himself with only his hands and feet. Petrolling is one of the most important subjects taught at the school. Mastering the techniques of moving by day and night with only a compass and a map enables the small unit leader to operate over any type of terrain at any time. The patrols vary in size from four men to a company. The distance traveled may be only a few hundred meters or 35 miles, and the duration from six hours to nine days. Sometimes the men get a chance to practice tactical survival. Trained to operate deep in enemy territory, without normal lines of supply, a Ranger must know how to live off the land. The next day, it's back to running. This time over the combat conditioning course, designed to train the men to overcome the many types of obstacles they may encounter during an actual combat patrol. Tough, you bet it's tough, but then you've got to be tough to be a Ranger. Man walked before he learned to ride. To a foot soldier, marching is a means of moving from one point to another. But to a Ranger student, marching builds endurance, strengthens leg muscles, and toughens the feet. For he must be capable of transporting himself and his equipment over mountains, across deserts, and through jungles and swamps. Most of the time on foot. These students are now completing a 17-mile march, which will culminate with a rope drop confidence test. The purpose of this test is to increase the individual's confidence in himself, and to overcome fear of hazards commonly encountered on Ranger-type missions, such as height, water, and danger of personal injury. While the test is not beyond the capabilities of any man in the course, it is as challenging as can be. For instance, anyone could walk across the log if it were on the ground, but crossing it 40 feet in the air is another story, especially after you've just finished a 17-mile forced march. This is the suspension traverse known as the slide for life. Like the rope drop test, its purpose is to develop the individual's self-confidence and to overcome his fear of height, water, and personal injury. When a man conquers his fears, so that he is able to meet the challenge of this test, he proves something to himself. That he can do more than he thought he could. This student must pass this and the rope drop test before he can graduate, or move on to the next phase of training at the Mountain Ranger Camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains near DeLonga, Georgia. Here the students are trained in the tactics and techniques of small unit operations in a conventional warfare environment. Training includes the art of military mountaineering. Repelling is the shortest, fastest, and most direct way of getting down a mountain cliff. It looks easy when the instructors do it, but when a student does it, anything can happen. However, after a little practice on the 30-foot ramp, the student gains confidence and soon finds himself repelling down the side of a 60-foot cliff. A rope is a ranger's lifeline in rugged mountainous terrain. Without it, he cannot operate. That's why each student must be an expert with ropes and all types of knots. For example, there are knots for litter evacuation and knots for bridges. Once a student has mastered the use of ropes and knots, he is capable of constructing a rope bridge like this one, permitting him to negotiate the most impassable terrain. Scaling hazardous natural obstacles is yet another activity at which a ranger student must become expert. If you think this is difficult, what would you say to this? But this, to a ranger, it's all in a day's work. The mountain phase of training is climaxed with a continuous nine-day and night long-range combat patrol. In this particular operation, the patrol will raid and destroy a vital relay and power transformer station approximately 40 kilometers behind enemy lines. The phase of training is conducted at the Ranger Camp in Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Here in jungle-like terrain, the tactics and techniques of guerrilla and counter-guerrilla warfare are emphasized. Under conditions more arduous and operations more sophisticated than any the student has previously encountered. Additional technique training presented in the Florida phase includes the employment of inflatable rubber boats for use on inland and coastal waterways, navigation by day and by night on unfamiliar jungle rivers and tributaries, and in the event boats are not available, stream and river crossing expedients. The final exercise of the course is a 17-day continuous offensive operation against jungle-trained experience troops, simulating guerrilla forces. During this period, the students experience hunger, fatigue and strain, living under conditions sometimes more severe than actual combat, are entirely on their own, working against the terrain, the weather, and an experienced aggressor enemy. Throughout the exercise, the students engage in a variety of combat actions such as area surveillance, ambushes, and operations. Coveted Ranger Tap, signifying he is a superbly trained, tough, and confident leader who has acquired the skills, stamina, and ability to operate for extended periods over any type of terrain and who is fully capable of defeating the enemy in either a conventional or counter-guerrilla warfare environment. From obedience, self-discipline, and leadership, the United States Army Ranger is truly the ultimate soldier.