Rangers, your deeper meaning?

Adam17 · Post by **Adam17** » March 8th, 2004, 9:52 am

Rangers, aside from all the media hype, the prospect of being Rangers and the special little patches you get by joining the Rangers, why did you all do it? What was your reasons for joining and why are you still in it? What do you think set you guys apart from those who didn't make it?

Adam

Looon · Post by **Looon** » March 8th, 2004, 10:00 am

Look Adam, you need to read more.

First of all, it has nothing to with any patches or awards. It is a desire to be the best.

It's about integrity.

It's the guy next to you.

Looon · Post by **Looon** » March 8th, 2004, 10:08 am

To this day, wearing the black beret (when it was earned) is all that matters to me. Having people refer to me as Ranger, is the biggest honor.

Adam17 · Post by **Adam17** » March 8th, 2004, 10:14 am

Ranger Luna, I ment that the patches and everything weren't what really mattered. I just want to know why each individual who earned the right to be a Ranger does it. Why are they willing to die before they quit a road march or anything else to become a Ranger or to stay a Ranger?

Looon · Post by **Looon** » March 8th, 2004, 10:49 am

It's just something inside. Not everyone has that "something".

Maybe we're freaks of nature.

idonov · Post by **idonov** » March 8th, 2004, 11:01 am

ranger lineage dates back almost 300 years, how can you not want to be a part of such an elite and prestigious unit.

think of it this way...
were no different then the samurai of japan, where the regular footsoldiers look up to these elite soldiers as a status of honor.

same with the knights of the dark ages, ull know when you make it DEPer

BadMuther · Post by **BadMuther** » March 8th, 2004, 11:03 am

I cared about the beret and the scroll.....but that ain't it. It's like my brother Ranger Luna said, it's something inside you, a desire to be the best, serve with the best.

Vee · Post by **Vee** » March 8th, 2004, 11:32 am

You're missing something....it's not so much that we wanted to be Rangers..it's a state of existence, a state of mind
The men who become Rangers excel at pretty much everything. I'm not trying to brag, it's just that we naturally lean towards the most challenging options no matter what we are doing. And we usually succeed.
There exists in us a NEED to be the best in every situation we find ourselves in, it is not always a conscious decision, it just happens that way.

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » March 8th, 2004, 11:48 am

That's like asking an Olympian why they wanted the gold instead of the silver.

Adam17 · Post by **Adam17** » March 8th, 2004, 11:55 am

Then why Rangers? Why not SF, Delta, Seals, Force Recon?

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » March 8th, 2004, 11:59 am

Before I went in I didn't know what a Ranger was, or a SEAL or SF or Force Recon.

Looon · Post by **Looon** » March 8th, 2004, 12:05 pm

I'm not a fan of spending time couped in a boat. So Rangers for me. To be SF, need to have prior service. On my enlistment, I wanted the shortest route to a high speed unit. Rangers.

BadMuther · Post by **BadMuther** » March 8th, 2004, 12:39 pm

Adam17 wrote:Then why Rangers? Why not SF, Delta, Seals, Force Recon?

Lets see...originally I wanted to be a SEAL, but I ain't got the eyesight for it. Beisdes, I ain't pretty enough....how many times you seen a SEAL with a rucksack? Tells ya something, huh?

Force Recon...had a couple buddies that went jarhead.....Growing up in socal, I have a buit in anti-jarhead thing going...except for LN, I looooove him!! From what I am told, In marine boot, recon candidates are asked to take a swim test...If you have glasses, that ain't asking you to try. (I wear contacts, but in boot ya wear glasses.) So, I didn't feel like enlisting for something that I wouldn't get a guaranteed chance to try out for.

Delta.....can't go straight in.

SF...couldn't go straight in when I enlisted. If I would have stayed in the army, I would have gone SF.

Rangers were the most bad assed mofos that I could get the guaranteed chance to try out for. I had always respected the Rangers. If I was enlisting, I wanted to enlist for the best. Make sense?

McD · Post by **McD** » March 8th, 2004, 12:58 pm

I walked into a recruiters office and said I want to join the Army. Noticed a poster on the wall for Airborne Ranger and Ft.Lewis. I told him I want be one of those ( I didn't know what the hell a Ranger was). Recruiter said you don't want to do that, you'll spend all your time in the field, jumping out of airplanes and eating snakes! My eyes lit up OH! F(*&@#$ yes I do want to do that.For me: I wanted the challenge, I wanted to know if I could do something very few could or would do. I figured it was the test of tests. Like you'll read over and over on this board you can prepare all you want but if you don't have it already deep in your guts and heart you don't stand a chance in hell of making it. One more reason I signed up for one of the Battalions, though I didn't know it then.... so I could associate with the kind of people you'll find on this board! If you read closely you'll see the common thread running through all the BTDT's. But I digress.
Your not going to walk in and get assigned to Delta or the SEALS!

Spartan · Post by **Spartan** » March 8th, 2004, 1:27 pm

I saw a two minute recruiting video that showed guys jumping out of airplanes, jumping off helicopters, swimming, running, patrolling. I figured if I could get paid for running, jumping and swimming that would be the business I wanted to be in. I knew nothing about what Rangers actually did as a unit.