GREAT NEWS ABOUT RASP EVERYONE!!!

[glocky45]

RANGERS,
Found this little treasure on http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/09/a ... s-090311w/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Someone should Pin this new news for all the depper's to see.

"75th’s aim: More grads from Ranger course

Assessment program boosts success rate for soldiers up to E-5
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Sep 3, 2011 9:02:34 EDT

Just 18 months after revamping and expanding its selection program, the 75th Ranger Regiment believes it is producing better-prepared soldiers for its battalions.

However, efforts are underway to increase the program’s 37 percent graduation rate — without softening the course.

The product of the eight-week Ranger Assessment and Selection Program I is critical for the regiment, which has had soldiers continuously deployed for 10 years, officials said.
NEW IDENTIFIER FOR NCOS

Noncommissioned officers serving in the 75th Ranger Regiment now have a new skill qualification identifier.

“As a result of the investment we make in our Rangers, and ultimately the NCOs, and that’s not only in the selection and assessment but in the joint special operations training and combat experience that our NCOs have, we wanted to have a way to distinguish them from, say, an airborne and Ranger-qualified NCO in the 82nd Airborne [Division] or the 101st [Airborne Division],” said Lt. Col. Jay Bartholomees, the regimental executive officer.

The SQI was effective July 1, Bartholomees said, and all 1,194 qualified NCOs in the regiment now have the ‘U’ identifier.

For example, an infantry staff sergeant in the regiment who meets all the requirements is now an 11B3U. In the past, he was an 11B3V.

In March, the ‘U’ identifier will supersede the ‘V’ on an NCO’s list of identifiers, Bartholomees said.

In addition, the SQI is military occupational specialty-immaterial, Bartholomees said. Qualified Ranger cooks, medics, fuelers or intelligence analysts will receive the SQI, he said.

To receive the SQI, NCOs must have successfully completed airborne school, Ranger school and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program at either the junior or senior level. They also must have served in the regiment for 24 months, be between the rank of sergeant and command sergeant major, and be recommended for the SQI by their battalion commander.

NCOs who earn the SQI will keep it throughout their careers — regardless of whether they stay in the regiment — unless it is removed for cause, Bartholomees said.

“We want this SQI to highlight the skills, attributes and experience of the Rangers,” Bartholomees said. “This has to be earned over time. Our organization is based on proving yourself every day. Just because you’ve earned a tab or badge doesn’t mean you should wear this.”

“[RASP] has increased our capabilities,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tyson Crosby, who was the first noncommissioned officer in charge of RASP I. “We’re getting better guys in the battalions, and the increased time they’re spending with the [RASP] cadre is making them better soldiers and ultimately will make them better soldiers on the battlefield.”

RASP I replaced the Ranger Indoctrination Program, which was a four-week course. RASP I is for soldiers up to E-5 who want to be a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

RASP II, for staff sergeants and higher and officers, replaced the Ranger Orientation Program.

Just 37 percent of RASP I candidates will graduate from the program, compared with the 50 percent to 60 percent who graduated from RIP between 2005 and 2009.

However, the number of Rangers who are released for standards has dropped from almost 200 a year to about 120 a year, said Maj. Matt Work, commander of the Regimental Selection and Training Company.

RASP I’s goal is to ensure the regiment’s battalions are getting the best soldiers, while more quickly identifying those who aren’t suited to be Rangers, Work said.

“They should leave [RASP] ready to plug in and deploy within six months after they get to their battalions,” Work said.

The regiment is trying to minimize the turbulence within a battalion when it receives new Rangers, said Lt. Col. Jay Bartholomees, the regimental executive officer.

“RASP is about providing a better individual Ranger to that team leader or squad leader to prepare him for deployment,” he said. “We’re releasing fewer Rangers for standards; we’re seeing a much higher product in terms of guys who are prepared and fit for the challenges that await them at the battalion.”
The phases

RASP I is divided into two four-week phases.

During Phase I, the cadre must determine if a candidate has the physical and mental toughness to be a Ranger, said Crosby, who is now the NCOIC for RASP II.

Tasks include completing a five-mile run in 40 minutes or less, achieving 70 percent or higher in the Army Physical Fitness Test to include six pull-ups, and completing a 12-mile road march while wearing mission-essential equipment in three hours or less.

Candidates also undergo written and medical tests, Crosby said.

“It’s also important to understand we are assessing the candidate’s ability to operate in a small group or team, and putting them into situations and challenge them with leadership opportunities and see who the natural leaders are,” Work said. “We’re trying to get the most complete picture in those four weeks of the candidate we have and see whether he’s a good fit in a Ranger battalion.”

The majority of candidates who don’t graduate from RASP I are released from the course during or after this phase, Crosby said.

Phase II covers core competencies, and the focus is on individual skills such as marksmanship, convoy operations and breaching a building, Crosby said.

“Whether they’re selected or not, we’re focused on the Army’s core values, and when they leave RASP I, they’re absolutely ready to deploy and fight and fit right into a Ranger platoon,” Work said.

A major issue faced by the RASP I cadre is candidates’ attitudes, Work said.

About 49 percent of the 51 percent of RASP I candidates who do not graduate voluntarily leave the course, he said.

“The biggest thing for us is dealing with the guys who are quitting on their own,” he said. “They’re quitting before they even get through the program. The main challenge for us is guys just believing in themselves.”

To help with attrition, this year the regiment stood up a three-week pre-RASP program designed to “mitigate the shock privates go through when they start RASP I,” Work said.

“We’re not trying to weed guys out,” he said. “We need Rangers in the regiment. We just need to be able to train them and have them be able to train with us for eight weeks [in RASP].”

Work expects the current RASP I graduation rate of 37 percent will increase as more and more candidates undergo pre-RASP training.

So far, 61 percent of candidates who do pre-RASP eventually graduate from RASP I, he said.

RASP II, the three-week course for senior NCOs and officers, remains almost the same as ROP, its predecessor, Work said.

One key difference, though, is soldiers who are already serving in the regiment must complete RASP II before taking a leadership position, Crosby said.

For example, a Ranger from 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, must complete RASP II before he can become a platoon sergeant. If that NCO goes on to become a first sergeant in the regiment, he must complete RASP II again, Work said.

“The candidate is each time proving he can meet the Ranger standards,” Work said.

RASP II has a 78 percent pass rate, Work said.

In the long term, Work said, he and the cadre hope to capture and compile data on RASP candidates to build a profile of what the “right Ranger candidate looks like.”

“We take everything from where the guy grew up, what his favorite movie is, and we try and capture all of that,” he said. “It’s going to take time to build that database, but then we can be more selective in our recruiting. We can target the right areas to recruit and target the right individual.”

[Hawkmoon74]

You think that even holds true for CSM ?
How'd you like to be the guy that no-go's him?
I'm sure there wouldn't be any career repercussions....right ?

[DougS90]

This is simply talking about Pre-RASP? From what I've read, it's just a phase with more/harder PT to help prepare people for RASP. I think it's a good idea, as one of my primary worries has been the fitness dive I'll take going through OSUT. Either way, whatever changes are made are irrelevant to completing the course. You just do it until you reach the end, and then you try to be even better.

[Hawkmoon74]

That was it exactly.
Just PSG, 1SG and Ops is what was put out to me.
No RASP II for CSM...heh heh...