Ranger School: Discipline, Direction, Determination by Jimmy Blackmon

Author:Jimmy Blackmon [Blackmon, Jimmy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Military, history, Special Forces, Business & Economics, Management
ISBN: 9781682619827
Google: YlQzEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Knox Press
Published: 2021-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

On Thanksgiving morning, I lay on the edge of a mesquite mound, once again praying for sunup. I had laid my rain poncho on the ground and placed my quilted poncho liner on top of it. I lay down on one side and pulled the other side over me to form a taco with me in the middle. It wasn’t much, but it was the best we could do. When it was my turn to sleep, I’d curl up in the middle and pull the poncho and liner up over my head.

I pulled security while my ranger buddy slept that morning. I watched a line of sunlight on the ridge in front of me slowly lower as the sun climbed far too leisurely behind me. After RI changeover that morning, our new RI stepped into the center of the patrol base. He was a tall, thick white guy, and he was smiling when he spoke. “Happy Thanksgiving, rangers. We’ve got some chicken broth and rice for you. Bring your canteen cup and file by one at a time.”

Quick as a cat, rangers produced canteen cups like they were drawing swords. The RI dipped out steaming rice and a yellow broth with a ladle. The aroma caused my mouth to flood with saliva.

It was a Thanksgiving I’ll never forget. The warm, salty broth was beyond my ability to describe. It smelled so good that I held the canteen cup to my nose and breathed the steamy broth in. I fought the instinct to gulp it down because I wanted it to last as long as possible. Some rangers guzzled it down and then used their fingers to wipe the inside of their canteen cup. They then licked their nasty fingers, ensuring that not one grain of rice escaped.

Morale soared that day. I found it interesting that something as simple as a canteen cup of rice and chicken broth could have such a profound effect on all of us. Each of us seemed to enjoy renewed energy, at least for a while.

That night an RI told one of our fellow rangers that it was his last chance to pass a patrol, so we knew it was our last patrol in desert phase. Most of the rangers chosen for leadership positions that night knew they had to pass the patrol to move on to mountains, so naturally, they were stressed out. In the end, some passed and some did not.

We endured yet another painfully cold night, and the following morning, just before daylight, the RIs unexpectedly told us to build a fire. Some things don’t have to be repeated. We built a massive bonfire. It was so large we could not stand near it. Deafening flames roared into the desert sky from the brush pile we had assembled. We stood as close as we could without getting burned. The light of the fire cast shadows on gaunt faces. There was a primal feeling to that moment. We had just been through hell. None

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