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| Iraq |
| 1st Iraqi to Graduate Army's Ranger School |
| 2006-05-05 |
| FORT BENNING, Ga. — A former lieutenant in Saddam Hussein's army on Friday will become the first Iraqi to graduate from the Army's Ranger School, a 61-day training ordeal that pushes soldiers to their physical and mental limits in forests, swamps and mountains. "I have a big, huge faith in the future of Iraq and that's why I'm here," said Capt. Arkan, who was identified only by his first name to protect him and his family back home. Arkan, 25, a lieutenant in the Iraqi army in Baghdad at the time of the U.S.-led invasion, said he felt no animosity toward the United States when bombs began falling on the city in March 2003. "It was a situation you expect from war," he said. "They were fighting Saddam Hussein, not the people. They came for the people. You have to take these matters professionally." He will graduate Friday with 185 classmates, including students from Moldova, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Greece. Col. Clarence K.K. Chinn, commander of the Ranger Training Brigade, said training international students has been a tradition since the school's founding in 1950. "Once an officer gets training in the United States, there's a loyalty toward this country," he said. "We want to build and strengthen our military alliances. What happens with the politicians is a separate matter." The Ranger training is designed to simulate the stress and deprivation of combat. In the first week, students must adjust from normal sleep patterns and three meals a day to an hour or two of sleep a night and two Army ration meals a day, plus almost constant physical training. Arkan's weight dropped from 180 to 160 pounds the first week. "There's no walking in this school. You're running all the time," he said. Arkan said an important motivator for him was being the first Iraqi selected for the school. Another Iraqi soldier is in a class that started Monday and others are expected to follow. "You're not coming over here as a regular infantry captain," he said. "You're coming to represent your country. For me, I think I've done very well." One of Arkan's classmates said his war experiences in Iraq were helpful. "We were impressed with the amount of knowledge he had about combat, something a lot of us did not have," said 1st Lt. Bryan Brokaw, 23, of the Arizona Army National Guard. "We all asked him questions." Some of Arkan's Green Beret classmates practiced their language skills by greeting Arkan in Arabic, Brokaw said. Are Green Berets and Rangers now the same? With the collapse of Saddam's regime, Arkan's military career ended abruptly, but he promptly signed up when Iraq's first new Army battalion was formed in July 2003, he said. He was selected to attend an officers' course at Fort Benning's Infantry School in 2004 and went on to graduate from the Army's Airborne School, also at Fort Benning, in 2005. Then he returned to Iraq until he reported to the Ranger school earlier this year. Arkan said he's uncertain of his assignment upon his return. "As for the terrorist groups, their days are numbered," he said. "God willing, everything is going to be good." |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #12 First comes airborn training - till you get that you're just a leg. (And "Air Assault" is judt a leg on a string, ask anyone with jump wings, heh). Rangers are what most do before they go to the Q course for SF. Most officers go there after IOB or similar. Many enlistees go there straight from airborne school right after boot+infantry basic. But rangers are nto SF nor are SF Rangers (anymore). Different MOS. Different Missions, different training. But eveything a Ranger learns is needed by an SF operator. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-05-05 23:30 |
| #11 Green Berets are well-educated Rangers and Airborne warriors, the trained-to-kill/overcome University Professors-Theorists of the Army. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-05 21:53 |
| #10 Some of these foreign graduates go on to rise to prominence. Susilo Bambam Yudhoyono graduated from US Army Ranger School the same year I did - 1976 (although not the same class) - now, 30 years later, he is President of Indonesia (and I'm a lowly small businessman in Bangkok). |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2006-05-05 21:21 |
| #9 What it say SPoD? |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-05 20:00 |
| #8 It's the -.--- that's throwing me. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2006-05-05 19:22 |
| #7 You'll never get to 18 wpm reading like that Para. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-05 18:51 |
| #6 I A TOOL? |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2006-05-05 18:45 |
| #5 .. .- -.--- - --- --- .-.. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-05 18:04 |
| #4 Think of Special forces as the screwdrivers, duct tape and fine point tools of the army. Think of the Rangers as the 5lb sledge. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-05-05 17:52 |
| #3 IIRC, Ranger School is considered (whether technically or not) a requirement for infantry officers and special forces. |
| Posted by: Spomogum Fleper7978 2006-05-05 17:51 |
| #2 No, Special Forces soldiers may attend Ranger School but they are not the same. Ranger school is 8 weeks. Special Forces training can take from 6 months or more depending upon their specialty. The training of an SF medic can take a year or more. Rangers however, are now a component of the Special Operations community. A welcomed addition, most would say. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-05 17:44 |
| #1 Godspeed, Captain Arkan! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-05-05 17:38 |