My Ranger School Experience 

I wish I would have worked more on my emotional intelligence before and during my time in the army. Life in general is a mental battle. Master your emotions and you'll master the world.

I recycled RAP week for land nav, got med dropped as a heat casualty. Came back in the winter and failed knots in mountains and patrols in florida. Took me 6 months but my ranger tab is just as valid as anyone else's. Class 03-08 RLTW.

Class 13-70. In the day the only recycle was for injuries. If you failed you were out and Vietnam was waiting.

This is great advice. I went to Ranger School during the Summer of 1974, while I was a college ROTC cadet, between my junior and senior years of college. Before reporting to Fort Benning, I got myself into the best shape I could.... running miles every day, and doing push-ups all the time, and lots of chin-ups every day. I had completed Airborne School the previous summer... so, I was in pretty good condition. Ranger School was the greatest experience of my life, and earning the Ranger Tab was one of my life's highest accomplishments. Drive on !

So I randomly saw this in recommended videos. Didn't know you had all these videos man haha. I'll never forget arriving to mountains and seeing you there. I was so pumped to see a familiar face. Glad we made it outta that shithole even though it wasn't together. Real Rangers recycle!

Class 6-90 RI 1999-2001 (4th RTB) I'm sure there have been some changes, but here is my advice prior to attending Ranger School. - Become comfortable running 5 miles in boots. This will help you in a lot of different ways. - do road marches with at least 75lbs- using more weight for shorter marches (5-8 miles) and less weight for longer one (9-12 miles) - swim regularly in BDU's and boots (or whatever they call the cammies now). - conduct obstacle course training. This combined with swimming in BDU's will increase your flexibility and endurance. - personally, I never felt weight training/weight lifting was needed as long as you can comfortably carry a ruck or your Ranger buddy. It's more important, in my opinion, to have an endurance level where you can complete tasks moving your own body weight while fatigued. - Lastly, KNOW everything in the Ranger Handbook before you arrive. Each RI might add a few techniques, but they will never take away from it. If you KNOW everything beforehand, it will be in grained and you won't be struggling to learn it from an RI while you are droning. I literally could do any task in the handbook and knew everything about Ops, and everything about each leadership position and their responsibilities before I entered Camp Rogers. I had the benefit of great NCO leadership who made me KNOW the entire handbook before I arrived- and I was a PFC who had only been in for a year and a half. Never quit. Never doubt yourself. Shake off pain. And learn who to trust most in your squad when you need advice. And always, ALWAYS follow rules and guidance set forth by your RI's. There is nothing an RI hates more than to have to drop a candidate because of a stupid honor violation. The RI's want you to succeed, but they aren't going to lower the standards for anyone- no matter how promising the candidate might appear. Sua Sponte! RLTW!

Nick, I enjoyed watching your video, as I went thru Ranger Skewl in Jan, Feb, Mar of 1976 and went straight thru. Being a re-cycle would have sucked, and you re-cycled twice. Good job of not quitting. I think my Class 6-76 started with about 212 and graduated about 97, about half of whom had been recycled. Couple of things you mentioned that applied equally back then as today. 1) Don't quit. Everyday we were encouraged to quit by the RI's, especially in Darby Phase. They smoked us hard and wanted to weed out the weak early. 2) Take care of your feet. Feet holds up everything else. 3) Go "fresh" and physically rested. I had a couple of advantages going for me when i went thru. I was a PFC in 2nd Bn ( Ranger ) 75th Inf and had served for almost a year before my slot came up. I was trained by RVN combat LRRP's and SF guys who knew the techniques well. A few daze after my PSG notified me that I would be leaving for Skewl on 8 Jan, 2nd Bat took block leave over Christmas. I decided to stay on "duty status" and used that time to work on things like knot tying, first aid, weapons care, Commo, land navigation, and studied my Ranger handbook. That was the Bible back then. So, i was fit, well rested and mentally prepared. I ended up passing all 6 of my patrols and some of us picked up a +25 for running the Darby Queen twice..... just cause we were hard asses. Sleep and food deprivation really was the worst killer of dreams. Congrats on completing the Mission and earning your Tab, Nick. Best wishes to you, Ranger.....

I'm not really going into the army or anything, but I love watching your videos and listening to your stories. It's really motivating! Thank you for making this type of content :)

Nick, I feel as a graduate of Army Ranger School you presented an outstanding layout of the Ranger School full experience. All future Ranger School prospective should listen to the guidance you provided here. RANGER all the way!!

Thanks for knowledgeably giving us a real life experience of Ranger school. Keep on keepin on soldier!

You sir, are absolutely incredible!!! So young yet so wise and inspiring. Keep on doing what you are doing!Thank you Nick.

I barely made it thru Basic Training at Fort Bliss in '86. I was (and am) a real momma's boy! I AM HAPPY FOR YOU! Great video!

Good work, Troop. You learned more that you think. I went through basic at Benning in 1968. I remember the mud in Georgia was red clay, and I haven't seen any in Pa, yet. But congrats just the same! Rangers lead the way!

Really interesting story to listen too and i'm sure invaluable information for anyone about to take part in Ranger School. I'm a 44 year old from the UK and all this stuff is simply fascinating to me. Give me more please Mr Bare!

I still remember falling asleep during a ruck march at night. I ended up veering off the path and running into the back of a Drill Sergeant. He grabbed me by my LCE, shook me a couple of times and told me to get back in formation. A contributing factor to me falling asleep, was that I only had 30 minutes of sleep the night before. I also remember a buddy of mine hallucinating at night and walking up to a tree and attempting to put imaginary coins into a tree thinking it was a soda machine. Best advice I could give anyone is volunteer to carry the heavier stuff and your squad will never peer you out. I did this and ended up graduating True Blue (No recycles)

Nick, awesome to hear your story. I am currently a student at the University of North Georgia. I did not realize that the mountains phase of ranger school was actually in Dahlonega, GA. It makes a lot of sense though with the Cadet program at UNG. I have probably hiked some of the trails you guys did in Dahlonega. Awesome man! Thanks for sharing!

For any selection program or tough school, check out Stew Smith's programs, Mountain Athlete (Strong Swift Durable and their Military Athlete programs), SOFLETE, and GoRuck. All have components that will prepare you for the toughest the DoD can throw at you. Strength, endurance, agility, rucking, and in some cases skill sets that the Army may not emphasize but are hand-outs if you gain proficiency. Great channel and you have a new sub.

Last Few weeks of AIT. On my Way to Rasps soon. Thanks for the extra help. I'm in the same position just trying to figure out all i can before i go.

Great video...........I'm Vietnam era, wish this technology was available back then as it would have taken the mystery out of things. Thanks so much for your service!

Thanks so much for this video bro. I'm hitting the desert next year and when I get back I'm making that move.

Winter Ranger last class of 1974. First Ranger School is not leadership course. It tests to see if you have the ability to function as leader under adverse conditions. What are the adverse conditions you might ask? First the course is basically divided into three phases with decreasing amounts of sleep and food. Example the first three weeks you will get about 5-6 hours of sleep on average and three meals. The first week closer to 4 hours but the next two weeks a bit more. The next three weeks 3-4 hours sleep and two meals. A bit more sleep the first week while they are teaching you climbing and repelling (probably for safety) and the next two weeks maybe the lower end of the range. The last three weeks it's one meal and two hours of sleep if you can move fast enough to get it. That is the general program, then add the constant physical toil incurred not just by the training but constantly being dropped for pushups etc. Next there are the phycological tests which encourage you to quit. Be prepared for the endless run where you are directed back to the starting point only to find that they just run right through it and keep on going. They might run you back 2-3 times just to see who drops out when they've envisioned the end of the run only to find they were required to just keep going. A word about logistics. Use them. I learned that you can have spare uniforms in brown paper bags placed on your bunk and can request replacement gear during your mission prep each day. Did not know this on arrival but learned it while there. If I had to repeat the course I'd use it repeatedly. Last but not least prepare in advance some training aids for yourself. That is, type up some 3x5 cards containing as many possible immediate actions drills as you can think of and have them laminated so they are impervious to water. They will be a big help when trying to issue a Patrol Order when your mind is fussed out due to physical exhaustion. Be willing to share them. Good Peer Reports can save you if you have turned in a marginal performance. Make a sleep plan when in a leadership position. Try to get your people as much sleep as possible. Security! Even while you are supposedly loggered up during the day conducting resupply and planning for the next night's mission have a site security plan and issue it to the patrol. I have seen guys get a fail on a patrol when an instructor just walks into the patrol base. You may actually recognize the instructor from a previous encounter but this time he might be wearing a different uniform. Make sure to challenge anybody approaching your position. This has not been the usual type of post about Ranger School, but I hope it provides alternative insights about what to expect. One last piece of advice. Take a box of one gallon zip-lock freezer bags. Pack everything in your ruck in a separate bag to keep it dry. Sucks to be packing water that you can't drink. Started on day one with 248 trainees and graduated 62. Some of the drops were recycled due to injuries (Three guys in my class were discharged from the service due to injuries incurred) and we picked up a few guys that had been recycled from previous classes, so I can't really state a definitive pass rate. You will not have fun, but you will learn invaluable lessons about your own personal limitations both physical and mental during the course and what to do if you see you are getting close to the breaking point so that you don't actually break.

I appreciate the fact that there are leaders like you that push themselves and others and don't just sit around doing the bare minimum. I don't know if the Army is the same but in the Marine Corps I haven't had a single bad NCO

Thank you for your service, I plan on serving our country when I am a adult

Thanks for telling your experience. Ill be leaving on the 24th with a 11X option 40 contract.

Army E5 here sir , thank you for the video. Hopefully getting my channel up and running soon. Awesome to see another fellow soldier here.

Yonah Mountain one of the areas rangers train that was my parents backyard I remember visiting my family I was cutting the grass watching these guys train . Really beautiful area.

Your vids are great. A reality show I actually like. And as a former Marine Officer, "we will quit tomorrow " really took me back.

Thanks so much for the tips, I have been looking forward to joining the Rangers for a while but I couldn't find any videos that could really help me. But this video has clarified many things. Thx a lot

Good video mate, like the channel, subscribed, way to hit a niche in the fitness industry!!

Class 6-89. "Winter Ranger" LoL. Got recycled in the mountain phase. Had a week or so holdover , consequently spent the whole month of February in the mountains of Georgia. Never been so cold in my life. But ironically, the worst phase was Florida. It's one thing to be cold, but to be cold AND constantly wet? Sucks REAL bad. Closest I came to quitting. After Florida, pretty smooth sailing in the last phase (back when there was 4 phases) in Dugway Utah. Hoo-ah!

This was my first Nick Bare video. Still watching years later, great to see him doing well!

I wish I saw this before my husband left! Great video! Today is his 2nd day there.

I'm a new sub and really enjoying your channel, it's a shame i didn't come across your channel earlier on. Keep up the good work!

I graduated Ranger School class 4-99, I would love to go back and see what differences there are now if any. Great vid and good on you to help new Rangers. RLTW

The best video ever. My boyfriend will be in ranger school starting in May at fort Benning in Georgia so thank u soooo much this helped a lot......... E

Awesome man thanks for sharing your experience!

Thank you for your service!!!!! Kudo on Ranger school, my son is station at Fort Hood and he said you have to be a bad-ass to pass Ranger school... You are a Bad-Ass

Sir thank you for giving me hope that there are leaders like you to be leading Infantrymen in the future.I pray that you have great NCOs that will help you to put the boot into the asses of soldiers too.Without them a platoon is useless because the future is to focus on combat if it comes or not.Its like my duty weapon i carry everyday at work.I shoot it to keep the mindset of staying alive to use cover and to be safe for me and others around me.Like PT,constant practice makes you better.With a weapon,i would rather have it and not need it,than to need it and not have it.Too fucking late!Game over...Drive on Sir!!!

I'm a SPC and I graduated April 3 2015 after recycling Florida. Great video dude and as always RTLW!

thank you for making this video im 17 and just swore into the us army as a 35f with the option 40 iv been trying to find videos about what to expect and i couldnt find any thank you so much.

Leaving april 17th. Got a little over a month before basic 11x option 40. Airborne Ranger assignment. This was motivational.

Very eye opening and loved that you shared that side of your life! My Dad always wanted me to go to the Naval Academy but chose playing soccer in college instead.

Best video on RU-vid. I just signed my contact 11x airborne option 40 you were a big help my man!

This is interesting! Thanks for sharing your experiences with up

Very well done. That was very helpful.

Congratulations on your graduation - great video

Wait Nick....did you just cuss?! haha just messing with you. Congrats and I love the videos. Keep up the great work.

IOBC 5-1967, RC 10-68 "Winter Ranger" Nam 11/68-11/69. The Ranger training was invaluable going into combat. The course has been tweaked over the years, but still basically the same. You carry a lot more weight now. RLTW

have no interest in going to ranger school but still watched this entire video and enjoyed it lol

I agree, you remind me of me; I went thru the Infantry Officer Course in ‘72 at Benning. I went Airborne then Ranger. No one gave me any info on the course, the compound was a dark place with harassment and degradation, gassed enroute to breakfast, people starting falling out immediately, usually the braggarts. Soon while at Darby, others started going insane., I never give up, so at Dahlonega , left my blood on those mountains, then Fl phase, my friend was gator bit. Even when we were allowed rations, we did not get them. I often wondered if eating the Cadre would improve my grade. They seemed mostly angry and less interested in teaching than degradation. In the end the only good thing was the jumps. I still have nightmares about it. But learned a lot, sleep deprivation was the main problem, hallucinating all the time. Airborne.

Not a ranger but was happy to see this video. Good looking out for peers bro

Great Video Sir. I would also emphasize just don't quit..like don't even think about it..its mostly mental..I know that sounds stupid..but its true, once you graduate you will look back on it like the best time in your life. (that sounds stupid as well) but to me =its the absolute thing that will either get you through to graduation or make you eat shit and quit and just wish you had it back again so you would graduate. That's really what kept me going i did not want to get older (I am 40 now) and look back and be like ...just wish I would have graduated Ranger School, and not have QUIT...so I sucked it up and put quitting completely out of my mind..just find your Happy Place. Good Luck to anyone that is thinking or heading to Ft. Benning. rltw.

Hey nick sorry man, I actually like what your doing, I watched your video again and realized I’m arguing with the wrong person. I was on a video explaining how impossible Ranger school was and was responding to that... on your page. Again I like this video, I think your giving good info to new guys, I just can’t stand people that act like it’s to hard to achieve. I want more Americans ranger qualified. Good work nick if you want me to take shit down tell me how

Awesome vid, thanks for sharing!

Great video Nick. I had same experience. Recycled mtns and fla. 10-14

I had a buddy go through Ranger school. We're both Canadian Infantry officers. He said it was similar to our Phase 3 infantry... just with less food and more heights lol. I'd love to get on this course one day!

Im here soon early.... Like before watch as usual bro!

Hats off bro.. I was in the Army beaucoup years ago and thought about the Ranger thing. But I ended up in a shit unit that soured me against the Army and I couldn't wait to GTFO. And I regret it now, but... what can you do. Stay safe, and best of luck with your career.

Started class 8-98, finished 9-98. Recycled rap week due to heat exertion, June in Ft Benning. Dude recycled twice in mountain phase, blueberry pancakes were the bomb. Some students were exchanging their whole meal just for them blueberry pancakes.

Just a matter of time. In my enlistment process right now. Ranger school is definitely one of my career goals while I'm in the Army

I would love a chance to experience something like that.

I'm actually about to sign my contract for 35 Mike (Human Intel) and Ranger. This was helpful

Hey, Nick. I just subscribed after seeing this video and will be sure to look at the rest of your videos when I have the time. I'm going to enlist active duty next year. I'm currently getting myself back into shape after a few semesters in college of not working out actively throughout the week so I have a long way to go before I think I'll be in good shape for Ranger school. One thing I'm curious about though is what you did deployed as a Ranger. If you don't mind sharing any details about life after Ranger school, that would be greatly appreciated.

I was born in Dahlonega while my dad was becoming a ranger in 2000... Looks like I'm comin home after High school

not interested in this kind of stuff but this was hella interesting man haha. awesome vid!

better insight than I've gotten from anybody in my unit.

Congrats man, smart to prepare & take it seriously... I hope the canadian military introduces an 18x like programme like they say they are.. Im training for it. Doing a ruck a week, 40lbs vest (so far) haha the training is difficult & no we dont have to skate for PT ;)

i Love watching your videos, they are so inspirational, thank you for sharing your experience and for your service. I have one question. What was the question your dad asked you that gave you the lump in your throat?

major major salute, this ranger school stuff sounds absolutely terrifying lol.

A special forces guy did a video on Ranger school. He said if you use tobacco products, quit and get as un addicted as possible. He said stay off of caffeine, and high sugar foods. Then he said he would do ruck marches with water in his boots to harden his feet. He also said that eating high calorie food was a must (basically skip salads, and eat as much food as you can.) He also said you need to be able to run 5 miles in under 40 minutes while you are tired.

I had to watch this video a few times ...couldn't help remembering and laughing at his last pee story.

great review !

Good shit brotha

Thanks for sharing this stuff it is very usefull man

It’s crazy how far you’ve came, bro

i rate you for being a ranger. strong mentality.

Awesome video! Going to ranger end of AUG. was wondering the reasons why u recycled

Loved mountain, recycled Florida

Leaving in August , 11B I'm going to get that title

Nick, I have watch some of your videos, it is great that you join the infantry. Too bad you are not with a better unit such as 10th, 82, 101 or 4th. Keep positive and hopefully you will get a chance to deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq.

do you want something tough do the pararescue. also congratulations to all those that passed Ranger school. I know someone from high school that went through Rangers school

Great video , about to start 11x op40 contract.

Thanks for your videos, I'm glad I found your channel. I am considering the Army NG to be an Officer (I am planning on going to Fort Benning for OCS) and the branching depends on my needs of the state. The recruiters pretty much told me Infantry, Chemical, and Logistics/Trans are what they're looking for. If I were to go Infantry, they told me they can guarantee me a spot in Ranger School. I'm wondering, is being an Infantry Officer have high standards and have big shoes to fill compared to other branches?

Gota luv social media. We didn't have this when I enlisted in 91.

Great video.

This was the first video of yours I ever saw, on my previous account. I just revisited it and must say I’m grateful to have been able to witness your journey over the past seven years. You continue to be a great inspiration!

Considering the Army and hearing how difficult Ranger school is makes it all the more appealing, always up to embrace the suck

I'm a 32 Year old 180 male. I can run the 5 miles in 42 mins (currently working on getting faster) everything else is good. My only concern is my age. I don't know if there's an age limit to attend the course. I know you mention plenty of very useful tips. But I just need to know if there were any soldiers that were the same age as mine when you attended and do you have any other tips that you can give me. by the way you vid is the most informative video as in being physical readiness wise. Thanks for sharing you experience and information.

Much respect to you

Man the bit about quitting is real. As a USAF SERE bubba we spent about 80 percent of our training pipeline in the field, just shit conditions and generally miserable. It was always “bro when we get over this ridge, I’m fucking quitting” but low and behold I’d have to catch up to an instructor to quit and those jokers were fast, meanwhile I’m just sucking hard so no way I was catching up anytime soon. I never caught up to have that conversation when I was in the thick of it lol. It was great to learn what you are capable of and just always have those 3m goals. “I’ll stop when I get up there, get there then find another point to get to” If your gonna eat an elephant, you can only go one bite at a time. That being said, sometimes guys get to tdy down and go through ranger school from my unit so maybe one day.

I can't wait!

Your description alone compels me to become a ranger

Do you have to do 49 PUSH-UPS straight or knock out 35-40 go to the authorized rest position and then get the remaining ? Or do they fail you because you stop to rest ?

hahaha back when i went i was looking everything up and the only video was that national guard guy lol. funny.

Hey Nick! My husband just finished ranger school - Do you have any tips on what to eat after so he can gain the "right" kind of weight back?

Thanks for the information. I've been following your channel for a few months now and I was drawn to it since I'm into fitness and plan on joining the military after college. Question: did you go to OCS to become an Infantry Officer or did you go via he ROTC route?

So I did ranger school in April-June of 1971. Due to army drawdowns I was discharged in December of ‘71, but I had to enter the National Guard for a year. I reported to an Airborne-Ranger company in February 1972, only to learn we were all going to ranger school. I told the First Sergeant I wouldn’t go. He said he would put me in jail. I said “Fine, I’ll go to jail. But at least I will know where I am, I will be dry, get fed and sleep in a bed. That’s more than you are going to have.” I still remember the look on his face. I ended up going but was assigned to be liaison between the company and the school. I was pretty uncomfortable going back for another go around.

At least if you fail something twice, you get recycled and not kicked out? It sounds like the recycling can take a while vs just doing it right the first time or your second attempt whether it's a min or day later. Just dont quit. That's awesome.

I guess I was in your class in Darby... I showed up in March and graduated in June

I'm going in June and it'd help me a lot thanks