FORT SILL, Okla., Oct. 15, 2020 -- The trick to becoming a Ranger: Start. Training.
Fort Sill’s 13F advanced individual training Soldiers now have the opportunity to find out what it takes to become a Ranger.
Staff Sgt. Samuel Mears, 75th Ranger Regiment liaison officer, has taken the students under his tabbed-wing, and is showing them how to get ready.
As a fire support specialist, Mears decided to mentor those coming into the occupation.
“When I was coming through AIT as a 13F, I didn’t have that available to me. Just having that kind of interaction, I think really makes a difference for some of these kids going through,” said Mears.
Mears did not intend to become a Ranger when he first joined the Army, but later set his mind to it, and knocked out goal after goal until it was accomplished.
“I think the moment that did it for me was when I realized that if I resigned to just going into the regular Army, doing my time and getting out, I would regret not taking at least the chance and the opportunity to do something that I never thought was possible for myself,” said Mears.
On weekday mornings, he has a prescribed workout ready for the 13F students. On Oct. 8, he put up a whiteboard, spread out equipment, and told the students to get to work.
The white board read “5K The Hard Way.” Various exercises were listed with running distances interspersed. The Soldiers did the workout with vest and Kevlar on and eagerly strained their mental and physical limits while their peers did normal physical readiness training around them.
“I joined the Army because I want to serve my country, however I didn’t want to do it any regular way,” said Pvt. Marcus
Withrow, 13F student. “I think the Ranger Regiment is an elite force and I want to be part of the best.”
When asked why he wanted to do rigorous training on top of learning his military occupational specialty, Pvt. Kashif Stanbury said, “It’s better to put in the work now.”
This logic follows Mears’ guidance which is: Start now.
Mears visits Fort Sill Basic Combat Training units for this reason. He lets trainees know which MOSs are qualified and what other requirements there are to become a Ranger.
Mears told the trainees to pick a short-term goal in their early career, achieve it, and then keep pushing.
“Put a target that’s in front of you and then on to the next one, and on to the next one. The next thing you know you’re graduating the [Ranger Assessment Selection Program], putting on a tan beret, putting on a scroll, and it being one of the proudest moments of your life. You join an elite high-tear special operations force that’s capable of deploying anywhere around the world in 18 hours and absolutely obliterating anyone they come up against.”
Qualifications:
- Possess U.S. citizenship
- Volunteer for assignment and be on active duty
- Have a General Technical Score of 105 or higher (waivers provided on a case-by-case basis)
- Qualify and volunteer for airborne training
- Have no pending UCMJ action
- Enlist, currently hold, or voluntarily re-class into a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) found in the 75th Ranger Regiment
- Be able to attain at minimum a Secret clearance
Pre-Ranger Assessment Selection Program
After completing basic combat training and advanced individual training, Soldiers interested in becoming a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment will report to the Ranger Assessment and Selection facility, where they will be screened and prepared for entry into RASP.
To qualify for entry into RASP 1 you must:
- Pass the Ranger screening (psychological review, background check, urinalysis)
- Pass the RASP entry fitness test (53 pushups, 63 situps, two mile run in 14:30 or less, four pullups), and a six-mile ruck march with a 35-pound rucksack and weapon in less than 1 hour 30 minutes.
Learn more at www.goarmy.com/ranger.
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