The Coveted Black & Gold: A Daily Journey Through the U.S. Army Ranger School Experience

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Summary: ENDORSEMENTS
Review: For more than two hundred years, U.S. Army Rangers have earned their unrivaled reputation as the world's premier warriors with bravery, blood, and sacrifice. They are among the most elite, if not the most elite, combat soldiers in the world. Being a Ranger is a function of attitude and a state of mind, as well as a matter of skills and training, and it is the mission of the US Army Ranger School to bring all of these attributes together.

To begin with, one has to be an excellent soldier to attend this course. Just being physically tough does not do it. One must be mentally tough, also. The physical demands, unrelenting pressure, psychological stress, minimal food and rest will either break the Ranger student and make him quit or forge a significantly more confident and capable combat leader.

The Ranger School course of instruction is a handshake with reality, a rite of passage. It is a fraternity initiation...an initiation into a highly select band of warriors within the profession of arms that only a select few will attempt to join...with even fewer meeting the standard for inclusion. It will build and mold soldiers...tough, resolute soldiers who will be hard physically and even harder psychologically. It will never graduate a large percentage of those who attempt the challenge, for the course is too long and too hard for all but the most tenacious and resolute.

THE COVETED BLACK AND GOLD chronicles...with pictures...the Ranger School experience of a United States Military Academy cadet during Ranger Class 10-80. In June of 1980, a total of sixty-one cadets from West Point Class of 1982 entered this Ranger class. On 31 July, only thirty-nine of those sixty-one Ranger candidates graduated-a passing rate of 64%. Little has been written about the course itself, much less the actual day-to-day experiences of a Ranger student. From that perspective, alone, THE COVETED BLACK AND GOLD is exceptionally unique, for it is the only book or record of the daily struggle and challenge of one of the world's toughest military training schools.

Ranger School is a journey that must be taken one day at a time. Though the timing for some of the events may have changed over the past number of years, the experiences themselves have not. It is the cumulative effect of each of those days, the arduous work, the deprivation, the misery, that lead to what is ultimately called the Ranger School experience. Ranger School is a structured series of events that earns one the right and privilege to be awarded the Ranger Tab, to be worn with pride on the left shoulder of a soldier's uniform.

To those seeking to understand what Ranger School and being a Ranger are all about, I hope this work will assist you to some degree. For those who are graduates and who already proudly wear the `Coveted Black and Gold,' these entries may help clear the haze that has hindered your ability to recall many of your own Ranger School experiences, thus bringing to mind a number of forgotten stories and anecdotes. For many of you, you will only need to change the names and the dates to read your own similar story.

For those who desire to attend and earn the `Coveted Black and Gold,' I hope this chronicle vicariously provides you with a view of what it will take to earn that precious strip of colored cloth.

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Summary: A fantastic read!
Review: I highly recommend this book. Especially interesting Rangers or soon to be Ranger candidates.
Read the day to day activities, night operations and tough moments of Ranger school from a new perspective. I couldn't put this book down!

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Summary: I had chills!
Review: John has done a wonderful job of putting me back into hell. I could actually feel the scrapes and bruises. There were times that the memories were real enough that I had to put the book down. I highly recommend The Coveted Black and Gold to anyone who has this experience under their belt and to anyone looking to take the challenge.

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Summary: The Ultimate Survivor Game
Review: Reading this book opened all the floodgates of memory of my own Ranger School class in the winter of 1970. I had forgotten so much of the physical punishment, of one C-ration a day while climbing the mountains and wading the swamps, of teeth-shattering snow and icy swamp water, of halucinating and sleeping on my feet, of dropping to 125 pounds on a 5-foot 10-inch frame. And more than the physical, there was the emotional and the mental toll. Heartbreakingly exhausting past exhaustion. There were times when the book invoked such vivid memories of misery that I really wanted to just put it down and walk away for awhile. What an outstanding book! I'm amazed that the author was able to pull off keeping the journal and his small Kodak cartridge camera through all the Ranger instructor equipment shake-down inspections. I'm also amazed at the consistency of his experiences and mine. People have asked me through the years, "What was Ranger School like?" I never could begin to find any words to do the experience justice. How do I describe the indescribable? Now, however, J.D. Lock has done just that. The next time I'm asked, I'll just hand them the book and answer, "Here. Read." Every Ranger or family of a Ranger should have this book. Rangers Lead The Way, Sir!

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Survivor Game
Review: Reading this book opened all the floodgates of memory of my own Ranger School class in the winter of 1970. I had forgotten so much of the physical punishment, of one C-ration a day while climbing the mountains and wading the swamps, of teeth-shattering snow and icy swamp water, of halucinating and sleeping on my feet, of dropping to 125 pounds on a 5-foot 10-inch frame. And more than the physical, there was the emotional and the mental toll. Heartbreakingly exhausting past exhaustion. There were times when the book invoked such vivid memories of misery that I really wanted to just put it down and walk away for awhile. What an outstanding book! I'm amazed that the author was able to pull off keeping the journal and his small Kodak cartridge camera through all the Ranger instructor equipment shake-down inspections. I'm also amazed at the consistency of his experiences and mine. People have asked me through the years, "What was Ranger School like?" I never could begin to find any words to do the experience justice. How do I describe the indescribable? Now, however, J.D. Lock has done just that. The next time I'm asked, I'll just hand them the book and answer, "Here. Read." Every Ranger or family of a Ranger should have this book. Rangers Lead The Way, Sir!

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Summary: Drive On
Review: This book is extremely valuable for its day-to-day description of life at Ranger School, to give aspiring Rangers an idea of what's in store when they tackle the nine-week course.

And for someone who completed Ranger School just a few years before the author, it was a stunning trip backward in time. The passage of almost three decades had blurred my memories substantially, but Lock's account resurrected a significant number of them -- little things that added so much richness to the course yet faded immediately upon graduation, plus some monstrous things that one's mind tends to dilute on purpose. It's all here: The kinetic, frenetic action of the first phase, the physical training, the long runs, the hand-to-hand combat sessions (along with taking a dive during the competitive portion, to avoid injury), the mess hall experience, chin-ups before every meal, reporting to the Tacs at every meal, low-crawling on that rocky road in the company area, the swelling unpleasance of Camp Darby, where night operations began the sleep deprivation process. The descripion of the Mountain Phase is equally vivid, the terrible patrols up and down horrendous, 60-degree slopes in the dead of night, with fallen trees blocking the way, the fatigue really starting to take its toll now -- Lock's account brought it all back... the rain, the sleep-starvation, the hunger, and even a photo of those little Mountain huts I thought I'd never see again.

Lock noted something I considered significant at the time, an excellent example of the Ranger Department's psychological choreography. At the end of the Mountain Phase, classes were roused early (0300) to make the return bus trip to Fort Benning from Camp Merrill. Some students were feeling great after the Mountains, having passed all of their graded patrols; others, like me, were one up and two down -- on the brink of failing the course. As the busses entered the Benning Ranger area later that morning, we saw the previous class standing on the old airstrip behind the City Team barracks, enjoying its graduation ceremony. Students who were doing well (such as Lock) were jubilant and inspired; students who were faltering (like me) experienced a massive wave of depression.

Lock's account of the Florida phase was terrific... cold, wet, exhausted and starving. I had forgotten how we surreptitiously obsessed over food, frequently murmuring about the things we would eat after we finished the course... fried chicken, cherry pie, gosh, hamburgers!

The last days of slogging through the swamps, the RELIEF when it was all finally over, the brevity of the double-time graduation ceremony (during my own, we saw the busses from the next class pass before us; more Ranger excellence in timing and execution!) -- it's all here.

Lock's constant use of vernacular was appropriate, reflecting how Ranger students, soon completely immersed in the training, communicate with one another. You'll pick it up, after a few pages.

This is a super little diary. I just can't imagine how he found the energy or time to do it. Enjoy, and Drive On.

Rating:
Summary: Drive On
Review: This is the real deal. An insider's look at the fabled Ranger School, a course designed to weed out all non-hackers and craft a group of the finest soldiers on God's green earth. The United States Army Rangers are truly an elite breed, and this day-by-day account of the qualification process shows how a man changes when placed under the stress of such rigorous training. Author John D. Lock is a talented writer and the account of Ranger School is his own quest for "the coveted black and gold." We should be grateful that Lock was able to clandestinely take notes on each of his day's activities, a practice that would have most likely earned him disqualification from Ranger School had he been discovered. His daily log lets perspective Rangers know what to expect, but can also be read for entertainment purposes for those who are not considering entering Ranger School. I have been seriously debating trying to become a Ranger after I am done with school, and this book made me think twice about it. However, it also made me think a third time and became an inspiration for me. Pick this book up, it doesn't get much better.