

But it still gets even more complicated from there. Scroll” debate: Completing Ranger School means that you are “Ranger qualified,” whereas actually serving in the 75th Ranger Regiment means you’re an Army Ranger (technically speaking). Once you make it through selection, you earn your Ranger Scroll, which denotes your assignment to the special operations unit that has rightfully garnered a great deal of acclaim throughout America’s history.Īnd therein lies the very basis of the “Tab vs. However, the Ranger Tab does not indicate service in the 75th Ranger Regiment, which is the special operations unit commonly thought of when one says “ Army Ranger.” In order to earn a place in the Ranger Regiment, you need to complete the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP). Army, as the program itself is available to any qualifying Soldier. From there, new Ranger School graduates can go on to fill all sorts of roles within the U.S. Upon completion of the grueling Ranger School, graduates are awarded a Ranger Tab to wear on their uniform that says “Ranger” and denotes the wearer’s successful completion of the program. The waters around the Ranger title grow even muddier thanks to the Army’s inclusive use of the term and the school that bears its name.Īrmy Ranger School is a two-month leadership and tactics course that is widely considered to be among the best military leadership training in all of America’s arsenal.

The debate about who gets to wear the title of Army Ranger really boils down to the difference between those who have completed Army Ranger school, and those who actually served in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Marine Corps–I never served in the Army, let alone as a Ranger, and although I have some good friends who have earned their seats at the Rangers’ table, I’m speaking from the vantage point of an unbiased outsider.

I want to be clear right from the onset here that my military experience was in the U.S.
