1. The Physical Effects of U.S. Army Ranger School
Matt Dowser
2 – 12 – 17
English 1A

2. What is the United States Army Ranger School?

3. the U.S. Army Ranger School
The Prestigious Ranger Assessment & Selection Program (RASP) is located in Fort Benning, Georgia, and produces some of the nation’s most elite Special Operators. This is due to the rigorous pushing of mental, physical, and emotional limits.
The 61-day course consists of 3 phases; the “crawling” phase, the “walking” phase, and the “running” phase.
Over the course of the 2-month selection process, Students train on average each day for about 20 hours, while consuming two or fewer meals, with an average of 3.5 hours of sleep, and typically carrying pounds.

4. Crawl Phase
During the first “Crawl”, or “Benning” phase, students learn the fundamentals of small squad tactics. It is designed to test the Soldier’s physical stamina, mental toughness, leadership abilities, and establishes other tactics which are fundamental to the following phases.
This phase accounts for around 60% of student failures because of its harsh and extreme testing of physical and mental determination.

5. Walking phase
The “Walking” or “Mountain” phase is the second part of Ranger School. This section focuses on military mountaineering tactics as well as techniques for employing squads and platoons for continuous combat patrol operations in a mountainous environment.
Students continue to learn how to sustain themselves and their subordinates in the adverse conditions of the mountains. The rugged terrain, severe weather, hunger, mental and physical fatigue, and the emotional stress that the students encounter afford them the opportunity to understand their own capabilities and limitations.
Soldiers continue the physical and mental intensity as they are pushed farther and farther towards their limits, which they either overcome or succumb to the pressure induced by RASP.

6. Run Phase
The third and final phase, also known as the “swamp” phase is the training and perfection of combat arms skills.
In this section of Ranger School, students receive instruction on waterborne operations, small boat movements, and stream crossings upon arrival. The Student’s ability to operate effectively under conditions of extreme mental and physical stress is tested to the maximum.
This final training section further develops the Students' ability to plan and lead small units during independent, air assault, small boat, and combat patrol operations in a low intensity combat environment against a well trained, sophisticated enemy.

7. The Physical and Mental results of candidates after graduation from the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP).

8. “Physiological Consequences of U.S. Army Ranger Training”
A Study conducted by the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine showed significant negative changes in the physical structure and condition of candidates post-graduation of RASP.
This piece is directly pulled from the discussion portion of the official report, along with the chart of comparison.

9. “The major findings that emerged after 8 wk of intensive
military training involving high energy expenditure and
restricted caloric intake were 1) an approximately 20%
decline in maximal lifting strength and power output and a
16% decline in vertical jump were concomitant with a
12.6% loss in body mass and a 6% loss in fat-free mass; 2)
explosive power output, not maximal lifting strength, was
associated with losses in fat-free mass; and 3) differential
relationships between increases in circulating concentrations
of cortisol and declines in testosterone and IGF-I and
losses in fat and fat-free mass exist. Although this study did
not assess any midpoint measures, prior work has demonstrated
that the declines in physical performance, fat-free
mass, and anabolic hormones can be observed in as little as
2 wk (9,15,22). Further, whereas previous studies have
focused on the effects of short-term stressful training (i.e.,
several days), this study extends and the contributes to the
existing knowledge base by documenting the physiological
consequences of 8 wk of stressful military training.
This data chart shows the decrease in various physical attributes of the graduated Rangers.
Nindl, Bradley C., et al. "Physiological consequences of US Army Ranger training." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 39.8 (2007): 1380.

10. “Body mass and cross-sectional area. Table 2
shows the changes for body mass and the estimated crosssectional
area (CSA), uncorrected and corrected for
subcutaneous fat. All measures showed significant declines
after the Ranger training course. Overall body mass
decreased by 12.6% (pre: 78.4 T 8.7 kg; post: 68.4 T 7.0).
Interestingly, the estimated muscle CSA of the proximal
limbs (i.e., arm and leg, respectively) lost a greater amount
of area than did the distal areas (i.e., forearm and calf,
respectively).
Hormonal biomarkers. Figure 2 shows the changes
for the somatotrophic hormonal biomarkers: testosterone
(A), IGF-I (B), and cortisol (C). Testosterone (pre: 17.3 T
4.8 nM; post: 3.0 T 1.8 nM) was significantly lower after
U.S. Ranger training. The strenuous training significantly lowered total IGF-I (pre:239 T 80 ngImL-1; post: 108 T 29 ngImL-1) by 55%,
whereas serum cortisol (pre: 469 T 106 nM; post: 692 T 109
nM) had significantly increased by 32%.
Physical performance. Figure 3 shows the results for
the physical performance tests. Maximal lifting strength
using the incremental dynamic lift (pre: 81.5 T 13.3 kg;
post: 65.1 T 10.6 kg), vertical jump (44.1 T 7.4 cm; post:
39.9 T 6.2 cm), and peak power output (pre: 3972 T 561;
post: 3119 T 479 W) declined by 20, 16, and 21%,
respectively.”

11. So what is the Summary of all this information?

12. Summary “2 months of military operational stress can have deleterious
According to an intensive study by scholars from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, The Ranger Assessment and Selection program has significant negative effects on the physical properties of the graduates.
Studies showed not only a decrease in the maximum lifting strength and power output of the Ranger Graduates but also a decrease in the testosterone levels of the graduates as well.
Quoted directly from the official research manuscript from Karl Friedl and other scientists,
“2 months of military operational stress can have deleterious
effects on physical performance, endocrine status, and body
composition raises important questions concerning the
potential adverse effects on longer-term military overseas
deployments (6 months to 1 yr) on underlying physiology
and metabolism and the health status of military personnel.”

13. Works Cited
Nindl, Bradley C., et al. "Physiological consequences of US Army Ranger training." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 39.8 (2007): 1380.
Flanagan, Stephen C., “Losing Sleep” Armed Forces Journal 1 Dec. 2011
Accessed on 1 March 2017.
“The Health of our Military’s Elite” Wordpress 16 June