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Not prior Army, so no first-hand experience here, however my take on it and a general consensus among other prior-service guys I know is that unless you have actually passed the Ranger course AND served in the 75th, you aren't really a Ranger.
Passing school just makes one Ranger qualified at best so to speak. I have known guys who were judge advocates who got a seat in the course. No brainer those guys will never do Ranger stuff, but undoubtedly some will sport the tab and mention it whenever possible. I think we know those types...
So, while the course is no joke by any means, would one just simpling passing the course and not even having a combat MOS be a Ranger? One has to be kind of honest with himself there. May sound like splitting hairs to some but I believe there is quite a fine line between just going to school and not actually doing Ranger stuff and going to school and then doing Ranger stuff.
Like if one goes to culinary school but never cooks profesionally after that, is he/she a chef or just a culinary school graduate?
Prior Army here. There is honestly a spectrum of how much of a Ranger a soldier really is, but unless you've been around the term and its subtleties a lot you might not pick up on it.
There are those who hold only the tab by virtue of graduating the school, and the usual term is "Ranger-qualified" or "Ranger tabbed" ("only" is kind of a bad word, because that school is really, really tough and respect to anyone who goes). The Army actively encourages many light infantrymen to go and get tabbed because they consider it a fantastic leadership school.
There are those who hold a tab and have previously served in the Regiment (and some small number who passed RIP/RASP, served in the Regiment, but for whatever reason never finished Ranger school itself).
And there are those who are tabbed and currently serving as a Ranger.
I think Representative Crow, the guy accusing Senator Cotton of misusing the term, may be overdoing it. Senator Cotton is "only" Ranger tabbed and Representative Crow is one step up in Rangerness (having served in the Regiment), but Senator Cotton didn't exactly phone it in, having served as a Platoon Leader in the 101st, the Old Guard, and a Provincial Reconstruction Team.
If he (Senator Cotton) actually did what the Salon story said, and stated he served as a Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan, that would be a steep exaggeration. The report is he said to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record that "My experience as a U.S. Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan and my experience in business will put me in very good condition." He was NOT a Ranger in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was a combat infantryman, who held a Ranger tab, who was in those bad places. Senator Cotton knows the difference.
Senator Cotton did NOT serve as a Ranger in Iraq or Afghanistan and I think he probably ought never even imply he did. If he actually did let it slip implying that...he should probably not do that again. But we shouldn't overdo the beatings on it, because he DID serve in a hard, thankless job in those places. Easy distinction to gloss over or misunderstand.
Prior Army here. There is honestly a spectrum of how much of a Ranger a soldier really is, but unless you've been around the term and its subtleties a lot you might not pick up on it.
There are those who hold only the tab by virtue of graduating the school, and the usual term is "Ranger-qualified" or "Ranger tabbed" ("only" is kind of a bad word, because that school is really, really tough and respect to anyone who goes). The Army actively encourages many light infantrymen to go and get tabbed because they consider it a fantastic leadership school.
There are those who hold a tab and have previously served in the Regiment (and some small number who passed RIP/RASP, served in the Regiment, but for whatever reason never finished Ranger school itself).
And there are those who are tabbed and currently serving as a Ranger.
I think Representative Crow, the guy accusing Senator Cotton of misusing the term, may be overdoing it. Senator Cotton is "only" Ranger tabbed and Representative Crow is one step up in Rangerness (having served in the Regiment), but Senator Cotton didn't exactly phone it in, having served as a Platoon Leader in the 101st, the Old Guard, and a Provincial Reconstruction Team.
If he (Senator Cotton) actually did what the Salon story said, and stated he served as a Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan, that would be a steep exaggeration. The report is he said to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record that "My experience as a U.S. Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan and my experience in business will put me in very good condition." He was NOT a Ranger in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was a combat infantryman, who held a Ranger tab, who was in those bad places. Senator Cotton knows the difference.
Senator Cotton did NOT serve as a Ranger in Iraq or Afghanistan and I think he probably ought never even imply he did. If he actually did let it slip implying that...he should probably not do that again. But we shouldn't overdo the beatings on it, because he DID serve in a hard, thankless job in those places. Easy distinction to gloss over or misunderstand.
Well said. Ha, "one steup in Rangerness" is a great saying.
Cotton kind of reminds me of ole Pat Robertson back in the day, in fact, I was in the Army at the time ole Pat was running for President, and some of the Born-Again's were solidly in his corner. He said he "fought with the Marine Corps in Korea", which was a huge exaggeration. Pat was connected, his father was a Senator himself, I believe, and I remember reading the story about his troop ship heading for Korea and their duty as front line Marines in the war, and for reasons no one was told, the troop ship diverted to Japan, and ole Pat got off there, and they included two other Marines with him, lest it look suspicious. After 6 months of easy duty, the other two demanded they rejoin their unit in Korea, and ole Pat had no choice but to demand the same. When these three returned to Korea, the other two were sent to the front lines, while Pat was sent to the rear, where he became a "liquor officer", in charge of keeping the officers club well stocked with spirits.
So when Pat mentioned this in his Presidential campaign about his time "fighting" in Korea, his Marine Corps peers quickly made Pat retract that inaccurate characterization of his military service.
Everyone with Ranger tab refers to himself as a Ranger. The winners from 2019 Best RANGER Competition were a pair of officers from 101st Airborne, the same unit that Cotton commanded and served.
Were they (the winners) not best Rangers? What do you suggest we should call Rangers winning Best Ranger Competition if they are not from 75th Ranger Regiment? Best tabbed-Ranger? Best Ranger-but-not-really-Ranger?
Wow, one of those female Rangers is an AH-64 pilot with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade at Ft. Carson, I served three and half years in that same brigade working on those AH-64's. Was there when they were brand new, and spent 6 months deployed to Hood learning how to work on them, and watched them fly to Carson for the first time. I guess it's possible that some of them are still in service 28 years later.
I say these women, if they can graduate Ranger School, are indeed Rangers, and bad ass women. More power to them.
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