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FORT BENNING, Ga. — After demonstrating garroting by cutting a watermelon in half, an Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade cadre member throws the leftover watermelon Aug. 30, 2019, during a Ranger School graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
By Master Sgt. Dan Balda
4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — During a Ranger school graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., two Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade cadre members demonstrate hand-to-hand combat skills Aug. 30, 2019, that Ranger school students learn during training. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
FORT BENNING, Ga. — When the new 4th Infantry Division Command Sgt. Maj. T.J. Holland arrived at Fort Carson, he set about implementing a Pre-Ranger Course to prepare “Ivy” Division Soldiers for the rigors of Ranger School. Fort Carson held its first iteration Pre-Ranger Course (PRC) to ensure the 4th Inf. Div. Soldiers would be prepared for what they faced in Fort Benning, Georgia.
“(The Ranger School is the) Army’s toughest course and premier leadership school,” Holland said. “We are in the business of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. We can’t do that without being ready, and it is essential to the success of our Army that we continue to make the next generation of leaders.”
Several of those leaders took Holland up on his challenge to attend the Fort Carson PRC. They finished the course at Fort Carson and headed to Georgia, where they were pinned the coveted yellow and black Ranger tab during a graduation ceremony at Victory Pond on Fort Benning, Aug. 30, 2019.
“These graduates tell a story,” Holland said. “First, that these Soldiers volunteered because they wanted to be Rangers. Second, the chain of command selected the right leaders to represent their units. Third, our (4th Inf. Div.) Pre-Ranger Program trains and selects those candidates that are ‘READY’ to earn their Ranger Tabs. I think this is a great sign that the process is working at Fort Carson.”
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FORT BENNING, Ga — Greg, brother of 1st Lt. Peter Salat with 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, pins his brother’s Ranger tab to his uniform Aug. 30, 2019, during a Ranger School Graduation Ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga. Salat is one of three Ivy Division Soldiers to be the first to complete the Fort Carson Pre-Ranger Course before finishing Ranger School. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
Two Ivy Division Soldiers directly credited the skills they learned at the PRC with helping them to complete the course without being held back for retraining.
Sgt. Kevin Bell, an infantry squad leader with 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., was in an interesting position. He recently arrived to the Mountain Post from Fort Polk, Louisiana, and found mountain phase (the second phase of Ranger School) the most difficult.
“I didn’t have a lot of time to train in the mountains, but I made it through. I wasn’t going to stop, I knew that,” he said. “(The) Pre-Ranger (course) helped me out a lot. The patrols and going through a lot of the extra training helped me. I learned how to do the recon and the ambush before I left. So I had a jump-start on everyone else.”
1st Lt. Tyler Jackson, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st SBCT, also completed the first PRC under the tutelage of Master Sgt. Dane Armentrout.
“It was pretty amazing to go through the course,” Jackson said. “It set me up for all of (Ranger Assessment Phase) week and all of Darby (first three weeks of school) — kind of got our foot in the door before we even got there and helped us immensely during that first week. I feel like PRC gave us the foundation for the three of us to get through Ranger School without being recycled.”
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter flies over a Ranger School graduation ceremony held Aug. 30, 2019, at Fort Benning, Ga. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
“We are finding young and hungry leaders that want to excel in their careers,” Holland said. “They are the most influential and closest to their Soldiers.”
Although each graduate would be well within his rights to spend the next couple of months recovering from lack of food and sleep, and the myriad aches and pains gained from 62 days of non-stop training, they were each focused on the tactics, techniques and procedures they would pass onto their Soldiers and teammates upon return to Fort Carson.
“Leaders make leaders. It is the simplest ways to articulate what is one of our core responsibilities,” Holland said. “Leader development is a priority for the Ivy Division. Ranger School is integral for leader development. However, Ranger School is short, two months. The hard work begins now, everyone is watching and expecting more. You have to live up to those expectations every day. They are high; it is stressful and the situation is daunting. It can be done, it has been done, and I believe our newest Rangers will bear the tab with pride.”
Jackson plans to do just that: teach his Soldiers as soon as he can.
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — From left: Maj. Pete Harrington, 1st Lt. Peter Salat and 2nd Lt. John Paul celebrate after Ranger School graduation at Fort Benning, Ga., Aug. 30, 2019. All three Soldiers are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
“Rangers make Rangers,” Jackson said. “Once we get back, one of the first things I’m going to do is push my guys to PRC, get them trained, get them their tabs and get them back to (the 4th Inf. Div.)”
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — From left: Sgt. Kevin Bell from 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division; 1st Lt. Tyler Jackson, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st SBCT, and 1st Lt. Peter Salat, 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., show their newly-pinned Ranger tabs after a graduation ceremony for Ranger School Class 08-19 at Fort Benning, Ga. All three were graduates of the first Fort Carson Pre-Ranger Course and credit the course with helping them graduate the most arduous Army school. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — After demonstrating garroting by severing a watermelon in half, an Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade cadre member separates the leftover watermelon during a Ranger School graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)
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FORT BENNING, Ga. — An Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade cadre member salutes before dropping into Victory Pond Aug. 30, 2019, during a Ranger School graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga. (Photo by Master Sgt. Dan Balda)