Airmen put to the test in Army pre-Ranger course

Jace Radke

Friday, March 12, 2004 | 10:50 a.m.

In the desert 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, a handful of Air Force security personnel annually get a taste of what it takes to be among the most highly trained combat units in the world -- the Army Rangers.

Every year about 25 airmen are sent to Indian Springs for two weeks of forced marches, patrols, tactical training and tests at the Air Force's only pre-Ranger course.

The combat skills of Ranger-qualified airmen are in high demand in the Air Force because of the challenges of protecting against terrorist attacks and securing bases and infrastructure in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Those that graduate (from) Rangers school can take the knowledge and expertise that they learn there and bring it back to Air Force security forces units," said Lt. Mark Douglas, a Ranger-qualified airman and a pre-Ranger course instructor. "There is no comparison when you're talking about Rangers. If you want to test yourself against the best, this is where you come to do it."

Only 10 spots are available annually for Air Force personnel at Ranger school at Fort Benning, Ga. To become a Ranger, soldiers must go through a 67-day school that includes grueling physical requirements, mountaineering, jungle training in Florida, boat drills, combat patrol tactics and mastery of various weapons systems.

To even qualify for evaluation in the pre-Ranger program Air Force personnel must be a senior airman or higher in rank, and must be proficient in 20 military skills, including camouflage, navigation, use of mines and weapons and use of night vision goggles.

About 3,000 soldiers enter Ranger school every year but only half graduate the course. Of the half who graduate, only about 25 percent finish without having to get an extension to repeat elements they failed.

About 98 percent of the airmen who qualify for Ranger school graduate, but there are no Air Force personnel who have passed the course without first going through pre-Ranger training, said Douglas, a security forces officer in the 421st Combat Training Squadron at Fort Dix, N.J.

Since 1955 only 143 airman have become Ranger-qualified, Douglas said.

This year's pre-Ranger course is set to end Friday, with possibly three or four airmen receiving recommendations to move on to Fort Benning. Two to six airmen usually receive recommendations, but sometimes none is selected.

The course is run by Ranger-qualified airmen and Army Rangers who act as advisers, Douglas said.

"The Air Force and our names are attached to those we recommend for Ranger school, and we don't want to be embarrassed," Douglas said. "We want our people ready when they get to Georgia and we want them to finish, so we put it on them here."

The first week of the pre-Ranger course is designed to mirror the assessment phase that kicks off Ranger school. The week at Indian Springs includes 15-mile marches with 65 pounds of gear and weapons for every man, a two-mile run that must be completed in 14 minutes and 30 seconds and daily regimens of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups.

The airmen spent plenty of on log-walls measuring more than 10 feet high that dot the obstacle course sitting east of U.S. 95. The recruits are also expected to learn patrol, combat and land navigation skills, while getting about an hour of sleep a day.

"It's a gut check every day," said Staff Sgt. James Wilfong, a member of the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base. "You're out here carrying packs and trying to stay awake and think clearly to accomplish your tasks at the highest level.

"You only get an hour of sleep a night that first week, and then you start getting three hours a night the second week. So the sleep deprivation becomes tough on you mentally."

Sleep deprivation is one of the challenges that confronts candidates at the Army Ranger school as well, where candidates have been known to rely on Tabasco sauce to keep themselves awake. Some have said they even put it in their eyes.

Of the 23 airmen who started the pre-Ranger course on March 1, only 15 remained Wednesday. Three of the eight who dropped out suffered minor injuries and the rest were "smoked," according to Sgt. Jaime Newman, an instructor who graduated from Ranger school in 2002.

"They (the airmen) don't know what we are going to do next, and they get themselves so wound up and nervous that they eliminate themselves," said Newman, who is also with the 421st. "Most come here ready to physically endure the course, but sometimes you have to find what it takes within yourself.

"You can't give yourself a way out or an avenue to quit, or you're going to get smoked."

The airmen are constantly graded during the two-week course, on everything from map reading and patrol formations to the correct way to apply camouflage to their faces.

Each recruit must also pass a combat water survival test that involves being thrown in a pool bearing their weapons and gear.

"They pass if they make it across without drowning (or needing to be rescued) and without panicking or showing signs of fear," Douglas said. The final test is an overnight patrol that includes attacks from other security personnel posing as enemy forces. Thursday afternoon the 15 airmen remaining in the course headed southeast toward the Sheep Mountains and were immediately ambushed.

"We're tough on them, but it's because we know how hard Ranger school is," Newman said. "Going to Ranger school was the hardest thing I've ever done physically or mentally. You get broken down, but you still have to reach the high standards that are set."

Staff Sgt. Dan Keehu said the instructors cut the airmen little slack as he packed his Ranger handbook, emblazoned with the phrase "Not for the weak or the faint of heart," into his pack before Wednesday's patrol.

"Everything about this is hard," said Keehu, who is assigned as a chef. "When I joined the Air Force five years ago, I never thought I'd be trying to get into an Army infantry unit."

Keehu said he has extra incentive to stick out the course and hopefully go on to Ranger school because he is the first chef to ever make it to the pre-Ranger course.

"I want to prove to myself and to the Air Force that I bring more to the table than just being a chef," Keehu said. "The Ranger program is a course that can teach leadership, and that's a skill that you can always use."