Ranger Assessment and Selection Program - Course

Course

RASP is designed to weed out those who do not truly have the physical or mental capabilities to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. The training curriculum was specifically designed to "smoke" the trainees through endless punishment via constant physical training. In the second week of RASP, the class is sent to "Cole Range"; a remote training area of Fort Benning. It is designed to test the individual to their breaking point both physically and mentally; trainees sleep on average 4 hours total throughout Cole Range as they spend their nights doing tedious tasks such as the "hitting the wood line" for being incapable of meeting the given time standards. Although training such as patrolling and land navigation is taught at Cole Range, the main focus is to mentally and physically break down the individual. For classes held in the winter; it is not uncommon for 30%-50% of the starting class to quit during the first night of Cole Range.

The third week familiarizes the trainees with the M4A1 Assault Rifles and first aid procedures known as RFR or Ranger First Responder. The fourth week of RASP was added in January 2004. It begins with the infamous Black Monday which on average knocks out another quarter of the class and includes an introduction to air assault operations and culminates with the 12 mile ruck march.

As of January 2010, the 4-week Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP) has become RASP (Ranger Assessment and Selection Program) and is now 8 weeks long. There are two separate phases in the RASP program. 1st phase primarily consists of day to day, week to week physical and mental toughness training. During Phase 1, the soldier can expect to be pushed to the very limit of both his physical threshold, and mental threshold. The training is centered on forcing the individual to be able to push well beyond what he believes is his physical and mental limit. One can expect very rigorous "smoke" sessions (blocks of time specifically geared toward using physical training as a tool for corrective training and instruction) that are used to train the group if a particular task, condition, or standard is not met, and also incorporate a necessary environment of the "unknown" to each soldier. It is exceedingly important that each future Ranger be tested against mental and physical limits, for that is the foundation of what a Ranger was created for from the beginning. Phase 2 is a bit different, however, the standard for excellence and perfection remains the same. One can say that it is a bit less physically and mentally trying, however, that is usually due to the fact that the soldiers that still remain, are typically the ones who will be there till the end. By Phase 2, most of the dropouts have left the ranks, making it a more intimate group of trainees that can now be instructed in the areas that are necessary to be a Ranger. Marksmanship, baseline breaching abilities, and tactical driver's training are a few of the blocks of instruction given in Phase 2 of RASP. Ranger history is also the subject of training and is what some might call the very foundation of becoming a Ranger. A Ranger is only as good as his high standards, and knowing the history of how the Ranger Regiment began, and the very many victories and accomplishments of the Ranger Regiment over the years is a foundational building block in each future Ranger's career.