A Night in the Pech Valley by Grant McGarry

A Night in the Pech Valley by Grant McGarry

Author:Grant McGarry [McGarry, Grant]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780997041415
Publisher: LTRC Publishing
Published: 2015-12-16T23:00:00+00:00


LIVING THE DREAM

“No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout twenty yards ahead,

twenty yards on each flank and twenty yards in the rear, so the main body can’t be surprised and wiped out.”

- Major Robert Rogers, 1759

In December 2009 we redeployed home to Savannah just in time for Christmas. Every year there are people that come and go in Ranger Battalion, but this was a hard year to watch some of our leaders who I had become friends with leave for different reasons. Some moved on and accepted new jobs in Ranger Regiment, others went to go do more secret squirrely stuff within special operations, and some just got out of the Army. It is just the way of the Ranger Regiment; when good leaders go, new ones step in, and this year I stepped into the alpha team leader position and my best friend Rooster took over second squad from Staff Sergeant Ross. After almost ten years of service to his country, Staff Sergeant Ross decided to get out of the Army to settle down and start a family.

Although we just got home, it was time to get back to training and get back to the grind, because we were deploying again in seven months. When we got back from deployment there was a new guy waiting for us—Private First Class Tristan Wales, and we had to get him ready for the training cycle before going home for Christmas and going on leave. Wright had been stepping up and did great on the deployment. He immediately took the reins to help get Wales ready for the upcoming training cycle. The word amongst the platoon was that Wright would be the next to go to Ranger School, and he was not about to let up now. Just like he did overseas, Wright continued to show his desire by being resourceful and taking on any task without having to be told. But, before he was able to completely take care of Wales, Wright had to go over to his old squad’s cage and clear out his locker. Once he got all squared away, he immediately went back to helping out the new guy Wales.

Christmas leave came and went and before we knew it, we were back to work. First order of business was to get Wright sent off to Ranger School ASAP so that he could earn his Ranger Tab and be back in time to deploy. In just a few days Wright had his entire packing list complete for Ranger School. We went over some last minute preparations and sent him off to take the battalion PT test to compete against all of the other Ranger privates trying to go to Ranger School. It was not a surprise when I heard that Wright did the most pull-ups and beat enough eager Rangers full of piss and vinegar for a spot in the next Pre-Ranger Course prior to the upcoming Ranger School class, which started in three weeks.



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