[American Thinker] Last week, I was in Fort Benning, Georgia, attending the Best Ranger Competition as a member of the media. The three days of events was something far more than I had anticipated. While I was there to learn more about Ranger training, tactics, and culture for my writing projects, what I found instead was a bastion of pure patriotism and Americana.
The Best Ranger Competition is a three-day test of mental and physical endurance undertaken by two-man Ranger teams from a number of divisions and commands of the U.S. Army. The participants push themselves for long hours both day and night, undertaking feats to test not just their stamina, but their ability to think and solve problems.
On day one, before the break of dawn, the teams go on a run for nine miles, carrying an 50 lb bag of sand on their shoulders. From there, in full uniform, they swim a pond, then undergo a grueling obstacle course, climbing tall obstacles, swimming in mud under barbed wire, etc. They run to another set of physical challenges, then board helicopters and are taken to an urban combat center, where they are dropped on the roof of a building they then clear. There's no break for the weary. They move out carrying 50 lb ammunition canisters, climbing several walls, then mount an urban assault on another structure. All of this before noon! 
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