THE RANGER TAB

A symbol of pride for Rangers (seen above on this page) is their unique identifying tab. Approved for wear in 1950, the Ranger tab is awarded to personnel who successfully complete the Ranger School course conducted by the Ranger Training Brigaide at Fort Benning.

RANGER SCHOOL

Ranger School is one of the toughest training courses for which a Soldier can volunteer. Army Rangers are experts in leading Soldiers on difficult missions — and to do this, they need rigorous training. For more than two months, Ranger students train to exhaustion, pushing the limits of their minds and bodies.

The purpose of the Army's Ranger course is to prepare these Army volunteers — both officers and enlisted Soldiers — in combat arms related functional skills. The Rangers' primary mission is to engage in close combat and direct-fire battles.

The Ranger Course was conceived during the Korean War and was known as the Ranger Training Command. The Ranger Training Command was inactivated and became the Ranger Department, a branch of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga., Oct. 10, 1951. Its purpose was, and still is, to develop combat skills of selected officers and enlisted men. This requires them to perform effectively as small-unit leaders in a realistic, tactical environment and under mental and physical stress; approaches that are found in actual combat. Emphasis is placed on the development of individual combat skills and abilities through the application of the principles of leadership, while further developing military skills in the planning and conduct of dismounted infantry, airborne, airmobile, amphibious independent squad and platoon-size operations. Graduates return to their units to pass on these skills.

From 1954 to the early 1970s, the Army's goal, though seldom achieved, was to have one Ranger qualified non-commissioned officer per infantry platoon and one officer per company. In an effort to better achieve this goal, in 1954, the Army required all combat arms officers to become Ranger/Airborne qualified.

The Ranger course has changed little since its inception. Formerly, it was an eight-week course divided into three phases: Crawl, Walk and Run. The course today is 61 days in duration and remains divided into three phases: Darby, Mountain and Swamp.

MORE ARMY TAB INFO

The U.S. Army has four elite service tabs able to be worn by those qualified — the Special Forces tab, the President's Hundred tab, the Sapper tab and the Ranger tab.

[Information source: U.S. Army, army.mil/ranger]