The Day of the 8 Hour Pass-Ranger School

Yesterday Lou came home. It was an iffy thing, when exactly this famous 8 hour pass was supposed to fall. We thought the guys would get it prior to leaving for Mountain Phase in Dahlonega, GA and that's what our handy little "Ranger School brief" chart showed. But, the chart had been wrong before. So, there were a lot of rumors. A lot of text messages exchanged between us girls waiting on our men. We were told that they would call us the night before to let us know what time to pick them up (or they might not call). We were told that if they were recycled they would get a pass on Saturday (but no one knew how to find out if they were recycled). Some of the girls were showing up in the parking lot of the Ranger Training Battalion at 7am and the rest of us were like the famed American voters- "undecided". You see, in the army the men never get out when they're scheduled to. Well, I guess that's not always true because sometimes the timing is right. But, most of the time its not.
So we got to the parking lot at 11ish and hung around waiting in the Georgia sun. There was a discussion as to what to wear the day before.....and we decided standing in the parking lot that bathing suits would have been most suitable for the temperatures involved in standing on asphalt in Georgia in the sun. One of the girls was able to talk to her husband and found that he had been recycled, which was hard news at the time. "Recycle" can mean one of two things. You can go in a Day 1 and have to re-live RAP week with all its exhausting nonsense (see previous post for a blow-by-blow from Lou on it) or they have a little more mercy and let you insert at Darby. I think you still have to do the Darby obstacle course, which is a pretty formidable obstacle. But at least you don't have to complete the Malvesti and Darby, RPFT and Water Test.

Finally, right at noon we saw more men milling around inside the prison walls and several started coming through the wire gate and re-uniting with families. None of us had seen our husbands yet and I was definitely stressed. Like I said, none of us knew if they had passed or recycled.

Then, here came Lou in his uniform- looking about 20 lbs lighter. I can't remember what exactly I did, but I do remember babbling,"Did you pass? Did you pass?" and he was trying to understand what I was asking...and then he was like,"Yes, I passed. I'm going to the mountains." Those words made everything wonderful.
His uniform hung on him like a scarecrow's oversize clothing. The shoulder seams on his jacket were at the level of his biceps and his eyes were so tired and large, he looked like a little boy who's just been denied a second helping of dessert.
He had two buddies who needed rides to the Post Exchange (PX) and then to the laundromat to wash their 21 days worth of stinky swamp water and bug infested uniforms. Lou himself had 3 duffle bags worth to bring home.

He went back into the "prison" to change into his civvies and carry out all his extra gear. More men were being released at the time and loading into vehicles. No soldiers are allowed to drive on their 8 hour passes.  Their POVs (personally owned vehicles) are locked in a separate parking lot and they must depend on family or a friend on post to help them get around, or call a cab for the day. They are so sleep deprived during the 3 weeks they spend in Crawl Phase, Lou's company had anywhere from 1-2 hours of sleep a night.

If you are being recycled through Crawl Phase, you are not allowed to leave at the end when your fellow buddies are. Instead you can talk to your family through the fence and possibly set up a time for them to pick you up the following day, Saturday. You get an 8 hour pass on Saturday and then return to the Ranger Training Battalion for another 21 days of training, hopefully not to be repeated. Its very difficult to see guys in that situation, its so hard for them.
Once we left the Ranger Training Battalion, we headed to the PX and Clothing & Sales where Lou had a list of required items for Mountain Phase that he needed to purchase. We arrived home with 6.5 hours of our pass left and he began the layout.

There are 4+ pages of equipment and supplies that the officers must purchase to take to Ranger School. During their time in the field, stuff gets damaged, broken or torn by the elements (briars, thorns and thistles) and they must re-stock it. This we have found to be rather expensive. We laid out over $800 for the original Ranger School packing list. For the re-fitting, it cost another $200. Its quite the racket!
We sorted through 3 sacks of stinking,swamp water dampened, Georgia mud caked, bug infested uniforms and socks. It was fun! (maybe that's an exaggeration) I started laundry and we continued to work on the packing list. We then made a trip to Commando's to round out the tour and were finished with that. It was a good feeling!
Lou talked non-stop for the first 15-20 minutes of our time together. He was exhausted to the point of not always being coherent, but he did try very hard! He told me about his "rope burn" that he got from the Darby queen and his buddy S____ who he didn't know going into the course but who was a lifesaver. S____ is an ER nurse and he recommended scrubbing out the awful sore with a betadine soaked scrub/sponge. So, he proceeded to show Lou how and Lou said,"I squealed like a baby, but he saved my life, I think." The wound doesn't look nearly as bad 2 1/2 weeks later, but its still healing up. Its between his knee and ankle and it was further irritated by the swamp water, bugs and rough wet material constantly abrading it.

His legs were covered in chigger and ant bites. He said a guy practically had his hand eaten by an ant gang. Other soldiers' feet stayed wet for so long they developed a severe form of "dishpan feet" which then began to turn into pitting cavities in their soles, like nothing they'd ever seen before. They literally had no time to take their boots off day or night. They were going to bed at 3am after eating "dinner" at that time. They would sleep until 5 if they were lucky enough to and then be wakened to eat "breakfast". Those two MREs eaten within a 2 hour window were the only food they were allowed. They were not allowed to keep or stash away any of the food, it was to be eaten then or thrown out.
Lou ate as soon as I started giving him the food I'd brought to the parking lot. A laundry basket full of strawberries,blueberries and blackberries, along with a foot long sub. He ate in small amounts, I think his stomach had shrunk along with his chest. He did eat steadily though, consuming the fruit, sub, a Wendys chocolate blizzard, Asian boneless chicken wings, 4 vitamin waters, chips and finally the Chinese food he loves.

He lay down at the end of the pass for just a minute so I could crack his back and immediately fell asleep, waking up 2 minutes later with a start and a "I can't sleep, I have to get this stuff done." But, I did persuade him to take a 12 minute nap before we headed back to the RTB. The men are very in tune with the time, because even a 5 minute late arrival can get you recycled back to day one. They all were arriving on site 30 minutes+ early, as we did. Lou finished off his Chinese food and picked up his bags.

We said goodbye and he headed back to fenced area. He was shipping out this morning on a bus to Dahlonega, Ga- northern mountainous area. He was happy because they were guaranteed 5 hours of sleep on the bus and he intended to use it to full potential. He was so very grateful and humbled to have passed this phase of Ranger School. He said it was very much the work of the Lord and said he appreciated the prayers and concern of you all. As long as he continues and does not have to recycle either Mountain or Swamp Phase, I will be seeing him in approximately 40 days. I was so happy and thankful to have even these 8 hours with him though! I drove home to find that 2 of his letters had arrived in the mail after a 2 week stint of "empty mailbox syndrome"! These have many more details about the training and I will get them posted soon.