Almost half of Ranger School students fail to graduate, many because they fail to pass the Ranger Physical Fitness Test, which is somewhat harder than the Army Physical Fitness Test — and graded much more strictly. But the real question is, is it a good test of combat fitness? Not really:
Hmmm… want a combat Ranger Fitness test? Well, buckaroos, this paper from 1999 [.pdf file] is a partial answer. Major Michael Pemrick, a former Ranger Battalion Company Commander, examined both the current fitness program of the 75th (Ranger) Infantry Regiment, and the Regiment’s Mission Essential Task List, and came up with what he thought was a more combat-oriented test, to be given in addition to the regular APFT.
- 5-Mile Road March – 15 min/mile min, 10 min/mile to max; 45 lb. equipment
- Rope Climb – 1 climb to pass, 3 climbs to max; begin at end of Road March without rest, 30-foot rope, 2 minutes
- Casualty Carry – 150 m; begin at end of Rope Climb without rest, carrying a Ranger of equal body weight
There are many other thoughtful gems in this paper. One of Maj. Pemrick’s more interesting conclusions was that strength, relative to body weight, is an important factor.
The ideal is that a Ranger has enough size to better support the weight of a heavy rucksack or a fellow Ranger while being strong enough relative to his body weight to climb effectively. To put it simply a 140 pound Ranger who can climb and do pull-ups all day long will be less able to carry eighty or a hundred pounds of combat equipment, while the 220 pound Ranger who can handle that weight with less stress may have trouble pulling his own body weight while climbing.
Pemrick’s paper is now quite old. It doesn’t quite apply because the Regiment’s METL has changed a good bit in the years since 1999, as has the equipment of the combat Ranger. But it shows the path to something that GEN Odierno has said does not presently exist: combat-oriented, operationally required standards.
Except…in the Ranger Battalions (as in SF, that has its own internal PT standards), they have been doing combat-oriented PT for a long time; Major Pemrick, wherever he is, would probably be pleased. The estimable Jack Murphy at SOFREP had the story a while ago.
RTWT, of course, but the test used in Jack’s battalion had six events, and was even more combat-oriented than the CPFT suggested above, although it also required more gear:
- Conduct a 2-mile run wearing ACUs (Army Combat Uniform), boots, RBA (Ranger Body Armor) and MICH helmet. The run will begin and end at a 20-foot fast rope.
- After the completion of the run, immediately climb the 20-foot fast rope and do a controlled descent.
- When the rope climb is complete, drag a 160-pound SKEDCO litter 50 yards, turn round and drag it back 50 yards to the start point.
- Immediately following the SKEDCO pull, climb a 20-foot caving ladder and climb all the way back down.
- At the bottom of the Caving ladder, sprint 100 yards, turn around, sprint back 100 yards and climb over the 8-foot wall.
- Conduct a 1 mile run wearing ACUs, boots, RBA and MICH helmet. The run will begin and end at the 8-ft wall. Time stops when you cross the line at the 8-foot wall.
Note that two of Pemrick’s events, the rope climb and a version of the casualty carry (a drag instead) are here. The standards? By the time you’re taking this test, you’re in the Regiment and through RIP. If you aren’t pro-athlete-fit by now, you’re gone. So the standard for this test is to get better every time. It also reflects on the squad as well as the individual, so individual Rangers are competitively motivated to help their buddies’ fitness improve.
A few comments.
1. Thanks for the link to this older post, quite appreciated.
2. RIP is deprecated, current program is RASP, seems very well thought out and executed. Read the book Sua Sponte for an update and a more recent fitness test/regime (Someone sent us to that book after this post).
3. Relatively few of the dropouts from Ranger School (which is not the same thing as Ranger Regiment or the Battalions, it’s a school that many combat arms officers and NCOs attend) fail at PT per se. There is a PT test at the beginning of the course, and a few guys are not prepared and get sent home. Most of the attrition comes from students quitting or failing to meet standards.
4. Everyone is expecting standards to be lowered across the board prior to the admission of women to combat units, to ensure that the women pass. This has been signalled by the retention of GEN Dempsey, who supports doing it that way, as chairman of the JCS.
Another insight I remember from the Pemrick paper was that some tests really wrung out the small guys and others the large ones. It makes sense. A 20 mile ruck race sucks more if you’re 5’2″ and 135, and a Prussik climb sucks more if you’re 6’5″ and 280. (In fact, there’s few such large guys in Army SOF units, although lots of small wiry ones). Since SOF units are just that, units, they can play to the strengths of different men and their different body types. No doubt they will make the best of the coming distaff contingent, although the increased number of weaker men who only meet the new “lady standards” will be a problem.
You’re quite welcome, Kevin. I’ll be posting more tidbits from your Weapons Man archives over the next few days.
I remember a small, wiry, former-sniper friend of mine noting that none of the big, strong guys made it very far in the evasion portion of SERE school. So, sneaking around at night with no food is another test that favors the small guys. (I don’t think I’ve met a big sniper or SOF guy yet, now that I think about it.)