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Special Operations Spotlight. Special Operations Forces Videos. Carchidi, the platoon leader, spots a Humvee parked along the road. As it turns out, none other than First Sergeant Tanner is in the Humvee. As the energized students sit on their rucks, he applauds Carchidi for his initiative before giving everybody ten minutes to devour their MREs. Many are virtually catatonic while doing these chores.
The paradox is that the conditions bring out the survival instinct to go into a shell—not act, think, or solve problems—but the only way to graduate is to do the opposite. Most students I talk to agree that the psychological difficulties of the course eclipse the physical demands.
Everything possible is going through your mind—the pain, fatigue, wanting to quit. The only thing that stopped me was looking around at the rest of these miserable SOBs. One student who somehow remains in decent spirits is Brandon Sakbun, the Indiana Hoosier, who stealthily asks me how his basketball team is doing during March Madness. A top graduate of the Infantry Officer Course, he first attended Ranger School in late ; he failed a test the first week and was sent home.
He shows me hands shredded by the cold. I feel bad for him, his vulnerability reminding me of another lieutenant who had struggled during Benning Phase. At one point, when it came time for him to fire the heavy automatic weapon he had to carry, it jammed.
A few students glared at him. He asked, with a tone of self-pity, if anyone could help carry his ammunition, a request greeted with awkward silence. Moments like these, when weak performers are ostracized, can feel like Lord of the Flies.
Meanwhile, T. His father, a Ranger School graduate and Special Forces veteran, also fuels his drive. When Decker graduated from basic training, his dad reminded him that he had yet to get his Green Beret. We cross the Appalachian Trail around noon, not far from its southern terminus at Springer Mountain.
It has warmed up to become a gorgeous day. He tells me that he sometimes uses these patrols to scout campsites for himself and his eight-year-old son, who has autism.
Amaton describes setting up a swing on the branches of a mountain laurel, which always makes his son smile. This recollection brings tears to his eyes. Eventually, the platoon arrives at the ambush site. Some help fellow students find positions to place weapons and wait, while others simply fight to stay awake. As I watch the different ways in which people navigate the tricky psychological terrain of the course, I recall, from my own Ranger training, the value of being able to block out thoughts of pleasurable things in the civilian world.
An effective way to do this, used by standouts like Decker and England, is to stay busy. Decker says that remaining focused on assisting his squad helped keep him from daydreaming about fishing in the Georgia countryside. To help fortify the students as they confront these challenges, the chaplain in the mountains, Bryce Wiltermood, a Ranger graduate, conducts a well-attended nondenominational service.
Students often talk to him about things they would hesitate to reveal to each other, such as how homesick they are, or anxiety about earning their go. This stress is magnified by the awareness that they can quit anytime. The ambush commences and quickly becomes a disaster.
Then I feel guilty, standing there, rested and fed, snickering at this exhausted young man as he gives his all and comes up short. The sun sets, the temperature drops fast, and the mission continues to be a mess. One exhausted student drops a classmate before mumbling an apology. The lights of the nearest town, Dahlonega, flicker in the distance. I imagine the people there nestled in their warm beds, comfortably undisturbed by the daily drama that unfolds in these mountains, a world stripped to its essence—humans battling rain, mud, cold, heat, hunger, and fatigue.
As we approach a smoldering RI campfire, we pass a Ranger student sitting on his ruck, by himself, his head in his hands. Though the rule is sometimes ignored, students are supposed to eat their MREs only at designated times.
The unlucky culprit is Covey Landen, the gutsy kid who overcame the loss of parts of two fingers to enlist. He has a dazed, beaten look and appears to be struggling to tie his boots, apparently battling a combination of fatigue and torn up fingers.
He says that quitting has crossed his mind. Julio Dominguez kept pushing. Even as his year-old body was battered by the mountains, he earned his go and will be moving on to Florida.
As the platoon makes its way back to Merrill for the last time, he has a bounce in his step. The night known as DogEx gets its name from a special treat for the students: hot dogs. If someone is ranked low by enough of their peers, he or she can be forced to recycle or be dropped outright.
The average human is only three missed meals away from becoming a savage. He appears utterly deflated by having worked so hard only to come up short. Basic qualifications for service in the 75RR. Have questions?
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