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| -Land of the Free |
| This National Guardsman tore through Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools in a single year |
| 2022-12-22 |
| [Task and Purpose] Pfc. Cooper Hayes has had a busy year. In the past 11 months, he has graduated from the U.S. Army’s Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools while assigned to C Company, 2-116th Combined Arms Battalion — the sole infantry company in the Idaho Army National Guard. As I have mentioned here before, I have never served in the military. I'm interested to see what the commenters have to say about this story. Hayes, currently enrolled as a student at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, enlisted in the Guard in October 2021. He took a semester off from school to complete his One Station Unit Training (OSUT) as a light infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia, graduating on June 17. While there, he was offered the chance to attend Ranger School after OSUT. "I wanted to challenge myself and be the best Soldier I can be," Hayes said in a recent press release. "So I decided to take another semester off and go to Ranger School. It sucked in the moment, but it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life." After completing six weeks of pre-Ranger training, he started what is widely considered one the toughest schools the Army offers. On average, less than 50% of candidates make it past the first phase of the school, which is headquartered at Fort Benning. From 2016 to 2018, the overall graduation rate was between 36.8% and 41.9%. |
| Posted by:M. Murcek |
| #3 Idaho Guard is no joke...BTW as my moniker might allude, I love seeing the A10s patrolling around the Boise area |
| Posted by: Warthog 2022-12-22 09:38 |
| #2 Guys who went to Ranger school before Airborne usually had "profiles", physical difficulties which excused them from our various physical training FUN. Wrong order. Airborne first, you got jump pay in Ranger school. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2022-12-22 08:30 |
| #1 Mods - looks like my first comment wasn't posted so I tried from another computer. Please select which ever one you prefer and just post one. Gracias. |
| Posted by: Hupinemble Spolump1639 2022-12-22 06:52 |