19 FORT BENNING, Ga. The top rangers from across the Army gathered at Fort Benning, Georgia, to compete in the 37th annual Best Ranger Competition, from April 16-18, 2021.
The Best Ranger Competition consists of a series of physically grueling events such as swimming, ruck marching, and running long distances, along with various obstacle courses that best showcase the competence, physical and mental endurance, and competitive spirit, of the Army Ranger.
Thousands of miles away from the warmth of Hawaii, stands six rangers huddled around the starting line in the brisk Georgia air. The competing Light Fighters exchanged palm trees for pine, but their focus remained constant: to win. Surrounding them are 96 other rangers representing the best the Army has to offer. The morning is quiet and the intensity of what lies ahead rests juxtaposed to the stillness of the morning. It truly is the calm before the storm an appropriate setting for the Tropic Lightning competito
Best Ranger Competition, the Army’s Super Bowl, Returns to Fort Benning
Soldiers compete in the 2021 Best Ranger competition at Fort Benning, Georgia, on Friday, April 16, 2021. The three-day contest, considered among the Army s most grueling challenges, returned this year after the coronavirus pandemic forced its cancellations in 2020. (Corey Dickstein/Stars and Stripes)
20 Apr 2021
FORT BENNING, Ga. – For three nearly nonstop days, some of the Army’s most-skilled soldiers overcame a lack of sleep to tough out brutal obstacle courses, miles-long runs and marches, and weapons and tactics challenges as they moved some 75 miles across Fort Benning for a chance at the title of Best Ranger.
By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES Published: April 19, 2021 FORT BENNING, Ga. – For three nearly nonstop days, some of the Army’s most-skilled soldiers overcame a lack of sleep to tough out brutal obstacle courses, miles-long runs and marches, and weapons and tactics challenges as they moved some 75 miles across Fort Benning for a chance at the title of Best Ranger. The grueling contest, which tests 52 teams of Ranger School graduates on a wide-range of skills, returned to the Army post in Georgia last week after a rare cancelation in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic stopped nearly all military movement last spring. In the end, a team of first lieutenants from Fort Benning’s own 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment walked away the winners of the 37th annual Best Ranger Competition.
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Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Over the weekend, a tweet caught my attention. It was published by radio host Hugh Hewitt, a friend of mine, who seemed to be defending Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) – someone he s regularly interviewed for years. Cotton is a decorated combat veteran, having signed up to serve on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan after graduating from Harvard Law School. So what was this scurrilous attack comment in reference to?
I’ve interviewed @SenTomCotton almost weekly for 8 years. He’s rightly proud of his service w/ 101st in Baghdad and w/ The Old Guard and of his Ranger Tab for Ranger School but never confused units or his service. Never claimed to have served in a Ranger unit. Scurrilous attack. Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) January 23, 2021
24 Jan 2021
Leftists spent the weekend smearing Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), a two-time war veteran, after Salon, a progressive news outlet, reported that he lied about being an Army Ranger.
Salon reported on Saturday morning that Sen. Tom Cotton had repeatedly referred to himself as he was running for the Senate in 2012 as an “Army Ranger” or had said he volunteered to be an Army Ranger.
In fact, Cotton had attended and graduated from Ranger School, one of the toughest training courses in the Army whose graduates earn the Ranger tab and are often referred to as “Rangers.”
For example, when two women graduated from Ranger School, they were frequently referred to as “Army Rangers.”