So, if we're trying to breach a wall, a door,
we will have pre-built charges
prior to going out on the mission.
If the initiation system fails,
you always carry your alternative means.
That way you can rapidly attempt to initiate that breach.
Hi, I'm Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Braun.
I'm a platoon sergeant, 75th Ranger Regiment,
and this is everything that a ranger would typically carry
on a night raid.
The Rangers are the Army's
premier special operations light infantry raid force.
We focus primarily on airfield seizures
and raid-type objectives.
We primarily focus on nighttime raids
just due to the surprise element.
We rapidly overcome the objective, do what we need to do,
and then rapidly withdraw from the target objective,
typically in one period of darkness.
I've served 12 years in the ranger regiment.
I've deployed nine times,
and I've used this exact equipment sitting here
numerous times on night raids to accomplish the mission.
Right here, you have your aviator's kit bag.
This is something that typically every Ranger will use
to transport their gear when we travel.
This bag contains everything that I would typically take
as a ranger platoon sergeant on a point raid objective.
OK, so I'll start off with my ballistic helmet.
It has a variety of objects attached to it.
So we'll go ahead and start off
with the front of the helmet.
So, right here you're going to see your PVS-31s.
These are night-vision goggles.
They're white phosphorus,
and they give us the ability to see at night.
As you come to the rear of the helmet,
you're going to see these Peltors. Ear protection.
They also, you can see the wires,
those will plug into my radios and communications equipment
that you'll see later on my plate carrier.
These essentially give me the ability
to communicate calmly with my team,
and it protects my ears from loud noises
when we're shooting our weapons
or conducting any type of breaches, explosives,
stuff like that.
On the rear of the helmet you have a battery pack,
and it also has a infrared strobe
that is used for marking friendly locations
on the objective.
So, essentially, when you look through the PVS-31s,
your night vision, you can see these blinking
or steady strobes, and that highlights
where your friendly elements are on the objective.
This helmet provides ballistic protection,
and it essentially allows us to carry all the equipment
that we would need to see and communicate
with our friendly elements.
So, this specific helmet is extremely comfortable.
If you can see, I'll try and open it up a little bit.
It has a pretty simple padded system in there
and suspension system, so you can tighten it and loosen it
based on the individual's needs.
And they've come a long way.
The first helmets that we were using
when I first got to the regiment
were a little bit more bulky, a little bit heavier.
The pads weren't as comfortable.
So these things continue to develop,
and we're sitting pretty good
with where these are right now.
OK, next up is going to be my plate carrier.
It's commonly referred to as a kit within the organization.
So I'll pull this out.
We'll talk top to bottom what's on here.
So, first I have a phone here.
We use this primarily for GPS,
internal communications within the elements,
and it also relays our location
to other leaders on the ground.
OK, so next, going down, this little device right here
is going to be my push-to-talk,
typically referred to as a PTT.
That is connected into my Harris 163 radio.
These two antennas basically allow me to talk
on multiple channels at the same time.
And they also geolocate with this device right here,
so you can see where I'm at on the objective area.
Pretty much every leader on the ground
will carry one of these
so that we can communicate with each other.
So, as I referred to earlier,
you can see the wires coming off my Peltors.
These will plug in right there,
and I can hear everything internally
without having to scream or shout to each other.
We can talk relatively calm in the chaos.
Right now, I have mine set up
to carry my magazines here in the front.
These magazines are for my primary weapons system,
which is an M4.
So standard load out carries seven of these,
which gives you 210 rounds of 556 on the objective
on every rifleman.
On the front I have these bungee pouches.
I typically will stick anything on there mission-dependent,
just extra equipment that I might need to rapidly access.
So, down here is this pouch.
Next is going to be a headlamp with red-lens capability.
Red lens reduces the signature,
allows us to stay relatively hidden in the darkness,
and it's not super bright,
so that we're not projecting our force
out into the open area.
This is typically going to be used
at a short halt or once the area is secure,
if we're doing a map check, something in that instance.
I also carry a shock-tube initiator.
This is an alternate means of initiating a breach.
Typically, this is used during a failed breach.
This would never be a primary means of initiation.
So if we're trying to breach a wall, a door,
something similar, we will have pre-built charges
prior to going out on the mission
that are built with initiation systems
separate from the charge.
Once you get up, you would tie in.
If the initiation system fails due to
some type of foreign debris causing a malfunction,
it's just a bad initiating system.
Anything, you always carry your alternative means.
That way you can rapidly attempt to initiate that breach.
So this shock-tube initiator
would tie directly into the shock tube,
which would initiate the charge.
So, right here we have a VS17 panel.
This is utilized to signal friendly forces on the objective
and also signal aircraft.
So as you can see, it's extremely visible.
If I was trying to signal somebody,
I could just basically hold it up, flash it,
and get somebody's attention
without needing to be super overt.
Next in here is going to be
just a standard lensatic compass.
Like I said, we typically will navigate
using modern technology, but it pays
to have something like this on hand just to confirm,
especially if you're talking to aircraft
or something in that manner.
So it's just a typical compass.
Primarily serves as a backup
to more modern equipment,
but every ranger will typically have one of these on them.
Spare batteries.
Obviously there's a lot of technical equipment
that I'm carrying on my kit.
Previously to us leaving for the objective,
we'll put fresh batteries in,
and then we'll have at least one spare
for every piece of equipment that we carry.
The last thing I have in my pouch is a casualty card.
So, as a platoon sergeant,
I keep one of these on me on every objective.
Worst-case scenario, if there's multiple casualties
that we need to triage and take care of,
this allows me to rapidly kind of
organize the chaos
and get them the help they need.
So it's just a brief rundown
of the types of injuries they have,
the level of stability that they're at
that I can communicate up and request the proper assets
to get them the care they need.
Every Ranger will typically carry multiple tourniquets
on their person that they can access with either hand
in the case that they have to provide self-aid
until assistance arrives or a medic.
OK, so now I'll rotate a little bit.
So, on the back of my kit I'm going to have
additional magazine pouches, similar to what's on front.
I have an additional pair of fast-rope gloves
rubber-banded to the back of my kit.
When we go out, we'll know how we're going to infill,
but sometimes due to the situation
we'll have to make a call en route
that we're going to fast-rope.
Essentially, that just means we're going to
slide down a rope from a helicopter.
You will want to use a specific pair of gloves
to protect your hands when you're fast-roping.
So every ranger will keep a pair of those
typically rubber-banded to their belt
or their kit that they can rapidly access.
If you don't have fast-rope gloves
and you need to fast-rope, honestly,
you probably will end up not going on target that night,
because it is extremely dangerous if you don't have those.
It can do a lot of damage to your hands,
and essentially you would become a casualty
as soon as you infill due to the extreme friction burns
that you would receive.
You'd be combat ineffective.
The rest of my plate,
again, this is typically set up mission-dependent.
I keep mine slick on the back.
That way I can wear any type of pack,
carry additional equipment,
or I can carry stuff off target that we might need.
Other leaders might have additional pouches
with additional equipment or more magazines,
or they would typically carry their charges
in a pouch on their rear plate.
Mine's set up slick just because I typically
run a little bit lighter as the platoon sergeant.
I need to be more mobile,
so I don't like to have a lot of gear all over my kit.
And again, as you can see,
I have a front and rear plate for protection,
and then I have side plates as well.
A majority of my vitals on my upper body
are going to be covered at any given time.
So, the plate carrier typically weighs
anywhere between 15 to 30 pounds
depending on what you're carrying.
Altogether, when I'm wearing my entire kit,
I usually am wearing an additional 50 to 75 pounds
over body weight.
So I'm weighing roughly about 300 pounds when I'm on target.
This specific plate carrier is one that I've worn
for the past seven years or so.
It's extremely lightweight.
The shoulders, as you can see, are extremely slim profile.
I can shoulder my rifle extremely comfortably,
which allows me to engage accurately.
So, next I'm going to pull out my belt.
This is typically referred to as a war belt.
So, this is an external belt.
Velcro will attach it to my internal belt
that I will wear on my pants.
It has a Cobra buckle system,
which allows rapid securing and unsecuring if need be.
First thing you're going to notice here
is my airframe tether.
So anytime we are riding on aircraft,
this will be secured to a retention hook
on the floor of the aircraft, typically.
It has a little bit of stretch.
So we'll hook this in once we load the aircraft,
and we'll remain hooked in until we're ready to offload.
This just keeps us safe
in case there's any type of issues with the aircraft.
So this is extremely important to have on at all times.
Next, I have my pistol mag
in my pistol-mag pouch.
I typically will carry one of those
in addition to my pistol, which is already loaded.
That gives me roughly 30 rounds of 9-millimeter ammo
as a backup to my primary weapons system.
Braun: We carry Glock 19s, sometimes Glock 17s,
depending on what position you're in.
But I typically will carry a Glock 19.
This pouch right here is extremely useful.
It's called a dump pouch. Every Ranger has one.
They can also be rolled up and stowed.
Essentially, we'll carry anything in these.
Extra water bottles, food.
If you're doing magazine changes,
you'll stow your empty magazines here
to retain them for later use.
It's one of those kind of catchall bags or pouches.
Everything can then be secured with this pouch
or this strap right here that goes over top and secures it.
As we move further across the belt,
it's pretty standard equipment right here.
It is a Gerber multi-tool.
This comes in handy for a variety of reasons.
Obviously it has a knife, pliers,
different things that we would need to access.
This is not something that I need quickly.
That's why it's towards the rear of my belt.
But in extreme circumstances, it could come in very handy
to essentially help either fix a malfunction
with my weapons system
or do anything that I might need it to do.
Next is my med kit.
This is a standard med kit
that every ranger will have on their body.
Typically, it's going to be attached
either to their kit or their belt.
I like to have mine on my belt
because it's a little bit easier to reach with both hands.
This one specifically can be removed
by pulling this panel right here,
and then I can move the pouch.
This will be used to essentially assist a casualty
once additional help arrives
or if they need to do further casualty care.
So, this area right here is kept clean,
because that's typically where my pistol would go.
So if I'm wearing my belt, my pistol's on my right side
because I'm right-handed.
That's clean, so I have unobstructed access to my pistol
in case I need to draw that.
And then last but not least, right here you have a pouch
for a M67 fragmentation grenade.
This is a lethal munition
that most leaders will carry on target.
I like to have mine set up on my belt for rapid access.
You can additionally carry them
kind of on the front left or right of your plate carrier,
depending on which hand you are.
That way it's easily retrievable.
That is what I would carry on my person
for a typical Ranger night raid.
Obviously, any equipment left behind
could mean life or death for us.
We actually have something in place called pre-combat checks
and pre-combat inspections, and that will happen
before we even load aircraft and leave
or load vehicles and leave.