I would say that one particular thing was just the emphasis that we put on the team,
the team aspect that you yourself are not going to get a “go” at Ranger School.
It is everyone else around you that is going to get that "go" for you.
So in life, how you take that back to the unit is how do we get mission success real
world by incorporating the whole team using every individual to their maximum potential
to accomplish this mission.
So building teams which is a function of being a leader, you should know and be intimately
familiar with who you are working with.
Put them in the right jobs and use that.
I have only been back at my unit for a short time and I'll be moving on, but I can see
already even being back that I paid more attention to where that person was from and what motivated
them to do what they needed to do because now I can use that and I can use their motivation
to motivate them and get them to move forward and do the job that they are required to do
and be part of that team working towards the mission.
So honestly, the team building aspect of it, learning what it is to motivate others to
reach a common goal was only made better by
going to a school like that where you are put in that environment.
I think you have to, you have to fit in in the sense that you have to find where you fit in.
So you can't be the sandbag, you can't be the tired guy, initially.
You have to go in there with a fire and you have to realize that every day initially
you're being judged and sized up with everyone around you.
So you have to prove your worth.
I think that that is a good thing.
I should want as a professional to show people that I am worthy of being here.
I want to be a leader.
I want to challenge myself.
I want to challenge you and I want us all to come to the same goal and conclusion
which is getting our tab together.
So from RAP (Ranger Assessment Phase) week is where it starts in showing up.
I think everyone is apprehensive because you don't know.
I mean I was the female and I was looking at all the guys
like I really hope I get that guy he is big he can carry stuff.
You know everyone's thinking about these things.
And what they were thinking about me I don't know, but what I do know is that after RAP
week and the squad that I was a part of was pretty darn happy
to have me because I was going to be just as beneficial just as helpful as anyone else.
That I wasn't going to be the weakest link and RAP week allowed me to prove that.
That I wasn't going to be the least competent because I was trained prior to going.
As in taking full advantage of the institution I came from, West Point.
By committing myself to being a professional whether it is tactically and technically proficient.
And showing that I was worth my weight as an officer and that I could use this and move
forward and be a benefit to the team.
So it didn't take long and every phase it even gets better.
You get closer, you get to know each other and you really learn how to rely on each other.
Not everybody has a good day every day.
You are going to have a bad day and I ended up having mine too, but my squad was then
there willing to take a little bit of extra slack from me because they knew that
that wasn't the norm.
That they could rely on me and that today was just a bad day and I did the same for them.
You know I remember the second time that I went through Darby there was this one batboy
Biggs who, you know we took a casualty and
he took the casualty's ruck sack because you got to carry that too right.
So you get four guys on a litter carrying the one guy but somebody has to carry the
ruck so he put it on his front and he was about six foot three
and he just walked pretty much the rest of the patrol.
And all of us where just so relieved because it was like thank God he's got it.
And he looked like he was having no problem.
And then I had this moment, and then he got a “go” on that patrol too.
Or he got a “go” I think the next patrol and I think he had showed everybody including
the RIs (Ranger Instructors) that he was there for the team
and he was going to do anything it took to help us.
And so then my third time through Darby I had this like moment where we took a casualty
– AG ruck sack was there and it was like the heaviest ruck sack.
Its got all the extra ammo the tripod
and I was just like I am doing this I am getting out of here.
So I threw it on and I just walked with it for as long as I could.
Which ended up being probably close to two clicks.
By the time I got back to the camp people where like we heard you carried the ruck for
six clicks and I was like no that didn't happen.
But you know the RIs (Ranger Instructors) were impressed by it.
Everybody on the team was happy that I was able to do that because it just means less
of a burden for you, you know?
And it motivates you too you know you are like ok next time I will get the next one guys.
So I was happy I was able to do that.
I think that really made a difference for me.
I'm a fairly independent person.
I'm very proud of what I've accomplished and what I've done.
And what I learned through Ranger School is
the work I put in as an individual doesn't matter, life is a team sport.
And no matter how strong or weak I am I'm not going to succeed without the team.
And Ranger School really brings that point home.
Not because of the missions.
And not because of what I did while I was at that school,
but it was getting a 37 year old body ready for Ranger School.
That was, you know work with a nutritionist.
Talk to a physical therapist.
Work with a coach at the gym.
Talk to people who have been recent Ranger School graduates and find out what's going on.
This isn't something that you can just do on your own.
And it also demonstrated what a big team I've always had.
And even some of the, what people would call the naysayers
were part critical parts of that team.
Because they forced me to validate my reason for going.
The people who asked me, “Hey how can you leave your kids
and abandon your family for nine plus weeks?”
Those were the ones that made me sit down and say, “Well I can because of this…”
And when it got to my second mountain phase and I was missing my son's birthday
and I just wanted to lay in the prone and cry.
I remembered the answers I gave those people six seven months earlier.
And I knew why I was there.
And I knew it was the right decision to miss my son's seventh birthday.
Didn't feel good then, but it was what I needed
to be able to push through some of those longer more difficult days.
So I guess the biggest lesson I took away from it is life is truly a team sport.