Soldiers downrange learn about life, career-progressing opportunity

Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Sgt. 1st Class Paul Pahl (standing), the Airborne liaison officer and recruiter with 75th Ranger Regiment, talks to 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, Soldiers about the mission of Rangers during a Ranger recruitment brief in the battalion conference room March 18. Pahl, a Bucyrus, Ohio, native, visited Soldiers in 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and educated them on the requirements and benefits of going to Ranger School.  

JOINT SECURITY STATION NASIR WA SALAM, IRAQ

03.18.2010

Story by Pfc. Kimberly Hackbarth 

4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

JOINT SECURITY STATION NASIR WA SALAM, Iraq — Once a Soldier deploys downrange, his military career is not put on a hiatus until he returns back to the States.

Opportunities to advance military careers find their way to Soldiers regardless of the situation.

Airborne liaison officer and recruiter, Sgt. 1st Class Paul Pahl, toured around 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division's operational environment and arrived at 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment headquarters March 18 to educate Soldiers from every company in the battalion on the benefits and requirements of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger.

"It gives everyone an option to further their career so they don't feel like they're just stuck in Iraq or in Afghanistan," said Sgt. Troy Danahy, a team leader with Company C from Hampton, N.H. "Now that you're over here and you have some time to think about it, it's a good option to have."

A fellow Manchu from Company A agreed.

"It's not every day that you get that opportunity, especially where we're at now," said Sgt. Nicholas Salazar, a team leader from San Antonio. "I've always heard that becoming a Ranger and doing something special like that reflects what kind of individual you are and the drive and motivation that you have."

Pahl informed the Soldiers sitting in the conference room that if they wanted to attend Ranger school and possibly transfer to a Ranger battalion, they would need a lot of motivation to attain that goal.

Before even being considered for Ranger school, a Soldier must meet predetermined requirements including a score of 240 points or higher on an Army Physical Fitness Test, not being flagged or barred from re-enlistment, and a general technical score of 107 or higher on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

Once a Soldier meets the requirements, he attends the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program which is designed to assess and select candidates using various tasks and challenges.

Specialists and below attend RASP 1 and sergeants through sergeants first class attend RASP 2.

Both groups must complete a 12-mile road march in three hours while carrying a 35-pound rucksack, a five-mile run in 40 minutes, score 80 percent on the Ranger First Responder test and trauma lanes, successfully execute land navigational exercises, and pass a psychological screening and an Army Physical Fitness Test.

Pahl warned non-commissioned officers who wanted to go to a Ranger battalion that they would have to work hard because of the attitudes of Soldiers who came in the military and went directly to Ranger school.

"You have to have the heart to excel above those who've been there since day one," said Pahl, a Bucyrus, Ohio, native.

The warning didn't deter Staff Sgt. Emile Anderson, the Mortar Section sergeant and platoon sergeant of Headquarters platoon, Company B.

"I've always had it in my mind that I'm going to beat that guy that's, like, 10 years younger than me or whatever the case may be, so it doesn't bother me," said Anderson, a Fort Washington, Md., native.

While most of the Soldiers who attended the brief said that going to Ranger school would benefit their careers, Spc. Brent Brabant, a scout and radio telephone operator with Headquarters and Headquarters Company said going through something that challenging was more personal than that.

"I think the Ranger option, to me, isn't just to further my progression in the military ...it's a progression of me as a human being," said Brabant, a Tampa, Fla., native. "You'd rather learn those lessons at a school than on the battlefield."

Following the brief, Pahl asked the roomful of hopefuls if they had any questions. No hands went into the air.

"At the end, we weren't bashful to ask questions," said Brabant. "Everything we wanted to ask, he answered [in his brief]."

Soldiers left the room with an option that most wanted since they joined the military. Now, it's just a matter of them finding the right path to it.

Once they return home, if the Soldiers choose to follow that path and the advice they received during their deployment and become Rangers, they'll go on to become members of the largest special operations combat elements.

• Date Taken: 03.18.2010
• Date Posted: 03.30.2010 13:33
• Story ID: 47448
• Location: JOINT SECURITY STATION NASIR WA SALAM, IQ