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Camp Frank
D. Merrill, Dahlonega, Georgia
The Ranger class
students now receive instruction on military
mountaineering tasks as well as techniques for
employing squad (11 men) to platoon-size (30-40)
units for continuous combat patrol operations in
a mountainous environment. When leading a
patrol, they face the struggle of motivating,
exhorting, pushing and cajoling hungry,
sleep-deprived, exhaustion, physically spent men
to complete what can sometimes be a series of
complicated maneuvers past dangerous obstacles.
In preparation, five days are spent
immersing Ranger students in the techniques of
military mountaineering. During the first three
days of mountaineering (Lower) he learns about
knots, belays, anchor points, rope management
and the basic fundamentals of rock climbing and
rappelling.
His mountaineering training culminates
with a two day exercise (Upper) at Yonah
Mountain applying the skills learned during
Lower Mountaineering. Each student must make all
prescribed climbs to include a 200-foot night
rappel at Yonah Mountain to continue the Ranger
School course. Two intense field training
exercises, conducted in the rugged Blue Ridge
Mountain Range, put all these skills to the
test.
The Ranger student continues to learn how
to sustain himself and his subordinates in the
adverse conditions of the mountains. The rugged
terrain, severe weather, hunger, mental and
physical fatigue, and the emotional stress that
the student encounters afford him the
opportunity to gauge his own capabilities and
limitations as well as that of his "Ranger
Buddies".
Combat patrol missions are directed against a
conventionally equipped threat force in a low
intensity conflict scenario. These patrol
missions are conducted both day and night over a
four day squad field training exercise (FTX) and
a platoon five day FTX that includes moving
cross country over mountains, conducting vehicle
ambushes, raiding communications/mortar sites,
and conducting a river crossing or scaling a
steep sloped mountain.
The Ranger student reaches his objective
in several ways: Cross-country movement, air
assaults into small landing zones on the sides
of mountains or an 8 to 10 mile foot march over
the Tennessee Valley Divide (TVD). The stamina
and commitment of the Ranger student is stressed
to the maximum. At any time, he may be selected
to lead tired, hungry, physically expended
students to accomplish yet another combat patrol
mission.
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