In January 2010, RASP replaced the old RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program). This selection process is necessary for all soldiers who wish to serve in a Ranger battalion. Where RIP was four weeks, RASP is now eight weeks long. Lower enlisted soldier will attend RASP 1 whereas higher enlisted and officers will attend RASP 2. The training is just as difficult and has been extended so instructors have more evaluation time for soldiers wishing to become Army Rangers. The graduation rate for the course remains low at 20-30% of the initial class.

As with RIP, graduates of RASP (Ranger Assessment and Selection Program) will be awarded the Ranger scroll (black and red).

In the past, graduates would be assigned to a Ranger battalion and generally endure at least one or two deployments before being eligible for Ranger School. With RASP, the top graduates of the program will go directly to Ranger School (including Pre-Ranger) before being assigned to Ranger BN. All of this training prepares Rangers for being able to take on a leadership position as soon as they arrive at BN. It will also lead to less privates who are serving within Regiment.

Differences between RASP and RIP:

• Eight weeks long
• Top graduates go directly to Ranger School

Has your soldier attended RASP? What was his opinion of the program?

1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear)
Jennifer A.

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training?
Fort Jackson, S.C.

3. When did your soldier attend basic training (please include the year)?
May-July 2010

4. How often did you hear from him (phone and letters)?
I received about 3 to 4 letters a week and a total of 4 phone calls the entire time. However, many of the other other companies received alot more phone calls, but my husband just happened to be in a very strict company who only let them call for phase changes and when they first arrived. All the families in his company never had a call longer than 5 minutes, and only received 4 calls.

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time?
About 2 days after he arrived at reception he was able to call.

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address from him?
It took about a week to get his mailing address and about 2 weeks before he recieved my first letter.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him?
I only sent letters and he was allowed to have 5 pictures, but others sent care packages. They were not allowed to send any food, anything scented, reading material, etc.

8. When did you receive information about family day and graduation?
At about week 6 I received a graduation letter. but they had information on family day and graduation as fast as week 2 on the facebook site.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe.
He had a family day. We were able to meet with him in the afternoon and spend the day on base with him. That was it. No special ceremonies, no show on the field, nothing like what I’ve heard other families describe. We waited in a building till the soldiers were released to families.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony.
Graduation was at Hilton field and was very moving. The only issue was that in South Carolina in July it is extremely HOT!! Everybody seemed smart and wore cool comfortable clothes, nothing dressy. It was so bad that soldier went down with heat exhaustion during the ceremony.

11. Is there a website for his unit? Did you find a place online that has pictures from his basic training?
There is a facebook site for his battalion that had updates and photos. It was nice because we were able to get updates from drill sergeants and see what they were learning while they were there.

12. Any other tips or information?
Try not to get disappointed if you don’t hear from them. Trust me they are working hard. The facebook site was a blessing and a curse for me. A blessing because I could see what he was doing and how hard he was working, but when families of other companies were understandably excited because they were getting phone calls every week for an hour, the families of our company were getting upset and resentful towards the drill sergeants. I had to keep reminding myself not to take it personal, that the drill sergeants were all different, and some felt that phone calls to home were a distraction.

1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear): Jamie H

Beginning July 1, 2010, soldiers in Army basic training will undergo a different kind of basic training. Check out these changes.

1. Basic training is now ten weeks instead of nine.

2. The rifle marksmanship portion of basic is extended with more time on the range and more bullets fired.

3. Soldiers now undergo 22 hours of combatives training and are learning to fight from their feet instead of the more traditional wrestling type fighting on the ground.

4. More up-to-date medical training is taught and learning the IV stick has now been eliminated.

5. Physical training is being changed with less emphasis on push-ups, sit-ups and long distance running. Focus is being placed on conditioning muscles that would be used to carry heavy equipment in a combat situation or pulling a buddy out of harm’s way.

6. The bayonet assault course is a thing of the past and is being replaced with more pugil and combatives training.

7. More focus on Army standards and values.

8. Physical therapist and athletic trainers will participate in initial training to help soldiers achieve higher fitness levels while avoiding injury. More focus will also be put on nutritional requirements.

What do you think about all of these changes? We’d love to hear from Army soldiers or Army spouses who have undergone the new changes at basic training. From our point of view, it sounds like a good thing (minus the extra week away!). There seems to be more specific training and it seems to be changing with the needs of the environment that we’re being presented with in deployment situations overseas.

We’d love to hear your thoughts – leave us a comment!

1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear) Jenn

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Leonard Wood, MO

3. When did your soldier attend basic training (please include the year)? April 7-June 17, 2010 for BCT, AIT is also at FLW until Aug 6.

4. How often did you hear from him (phone and letters)? Quite often. He called almost every Sunday, the time gradually increasing from 10-20 minutes in Red Phase, to 30-40 in White, and close to an hour while in Blue. Also, I received a pack of letters weekly

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? The day he left. He called at midnight for 30 second to tell me he made it safely

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address from him? About a week and a half, via phone call. The official letter came after he’d been gone 3 weeks already.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? I was told send him only letters and photos (no risqué photos!). Any food, candy, reading material other than a Bible would be confiscated.

8. When did you receive information about family day and graduation? About halfway through BCT.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe. It was the same day graduation. He had an off post past until 2100 hours.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. Almost 200 soldiers in less than an hour and a half! Each platoon went up with a different cadence, then the soldiers stepped forward one by one to state the name and hometown (my husband was the only one not from a US state/territory- he’s Canadian). They had awards, songs, and drill sergeant introductions. In the beginning was a video of different things they had experienced during their training. We sat near the front on the right side of the center section (all the soldiers were in the right section!), and got some pretty good photos! Then we followed them to the gym where we were able to sign out my husband and another soldier whose husband and daughter had not shown up.

11. Is there a website for his unit? Did you find a place online that has pictures from his basic training? They gave us a website in a letter to view pictures, but it never had pictures up…

12. Any other tips or information? Get to graduation early, but not too much. I had been told to get there by 7am, but I had heard it from so many people going, that we got there at 6:40. The roads we needed didn’t even open until 6:45, and they wouldn’t let us in Baker Theater until 8. A line formed around 7:30. Bring cash if you want to order the videos, or checks. They don’t take credit cards at the ceremony/reception site. If possible, know where you are taking your soldier during their pass beforehand. There’s not much out there in FLW, and most of the restaurants got crowded fast!

Of course, send lots of (encouraging!) letters during the course of training! My husband’s platoon had to do 10 pushups for each letter they received, and an extra 5 if there were any mistakes. He needed to work on his anyway, so some day’s I’d send a packet (if he had requested items), a letter, and a card, all separately! His family and friends were also writing, so one day, according to his DS, he had to do 100+ pushups! He was known for only doing them correctly during mail call!!!

Take your phone everywhere! He told me Sundays were the day to call, so whenever I was with anyone on Sundays, I’d tell them- If I run out excitedly for a phone call, it’s my husband’s only chance to talk this week! I missed a call once, but by a minute or two, and was able to call him back since he had called from his cell phone, not a pay phone.

For AIT- when they can have their electronics back to use in their daily free time- remind them to ALWAYS lock them up, even if only gone a couple minutes!!! My husband’s “Truck” has had several incidences of theft occurring, usually during formation. They suspect another truck, but the 1^st Sergeant won’t do anything about it, since they weren’t locked up.

1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear)

Lackey

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training?

Ft Jackson SC

3. When did your soldier attend basic training (please include the year)?

April 2010 – June 25 2010

4. How often did you hear from him (phone and letters)?

Phone calls varied if they got into trouble or not but letters were about once every other day.

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time?

I herd from him a week after leaving in reception

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address from him?

Two weeks

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him?

There were a lot, no colored or odd envelopes and DO NOT send things overnight it goes to a different post office and actually takes longer then sending it normally.

8. When did you receive information about family day and graduation?

About two or three weeks after he left

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe.

Yes, it was really hot in the month of June and not a lot to do on base ( you can not leave base with them). Bring A LOT of water and sun screen and get there EARLY. The ceremony is really short and there are a lot of places to go shopping. Just take your time and enjoy the day, it goes by quick.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony.

There ceremony is pretty quick , get there EARLY because the stands become jam packed. You Will have to walk to the other side of the field at the end to meet you solider so It does not matter where you sit.

11. Is there a website for his unit? Did you find a place online that has pictures from his basic training?

His unit had a FB page that was sooo helpful and they post picture and updates weekly.

1-61st Roadrunners

12. Any other tips or information?

Always write them , they count on your letters.

Don’t expect much , they tend to just tell you about their day

Make friends ! They are so helpful and you get to meet on graduation day ! I made many friends and two I have kept even though our other halves have gone separate ways,

Do watch what you write and post on things, you can and will get them into trouble if their DS’s read them

And always remember to keep your head up , you may feel down but it gets better !!

Please assist other Army families in knowing what to expect from basic training by completing this short survey to be published on the site. This is only a guide; please add any information you deem to be relevant.

Please email the completed survey to me at staceyATmarriedtothearmyDOTcom

1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear)

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training?

3. When did your soldier attend basic training (please include the year)?

4. How often did you hear from him (phone and letters)?

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time?

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address from him?

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him?

8. When did you receive information about family day and graduation?

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony.

11. Is there a website for his unit? Did you find a place online that has pictures from his basic training?

12. Any other tips or information?

1. Your name (as you would like it to appear on the website): Emily

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training?

Ft Jackson, SC

3. When did he attend basic training?

Feb-April 2010

4. How often did you hear from him? (Phone and letters)

Letters: He’s not a fan of writing but he tried to write to me every few days. I averaged 2-3 letters per week

Phone: In reception he called every evening. Once they started red phase no calls until white phase and then we only got calls every few weeks. The entire BCT portion I received a total of 5 phone calls, mostly from the last few weeks.

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time?

They had him call once he got to reception

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address for him?

They had him call as he started red phase to give out their mailing address. It was a 60 second phone call and I couldn’t understand what he said so I took the information I got from him and looked at the Ft Jackson website to piece together his address. I received the first mail from him about 3 weeks after he left.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him?

YES! They could not receive anything really except for letters, pictures and a few personal items such as band aids, cough drops, etc. I would suggest asking your soldier what you can send since even flavored cough drops were considered candy and NOT allowed. He had to do push ups for each piece of mail received, more push ups for bigger packages.

8. Were you sent information about family day and graduation?

I may have gotten a small information pamphlet in the mail but most of the information came from Facebook. His Battalion, 3-13, used Facebook to post graduation information.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe.

Yes. It was wonderful to spend time with him. They had a short ceremony in the morning outside. At the end of the ceremony all the soldiers had to stay in formation until their family came down and found them. My husband was able to tell me where he was so I found him quickly. Other soldiers had to stand there for up to 20 minutes before their families found them. They are arranged by company A-F left to right as you’re looking at the field. Each company is arranged by platoon 1-4 left to right. I recommend taking binoculars to find them easier during the presentation. Luckily for us only half of the Battalion was graduating that week so only 3 companies were present. We had to stay on Post for all of family day but it wasn’t as crowded as usual although we saw the line for Burger King and it looked ridiculous. Someone last year recommended taking a picnic to Twin Lakes and we decided to do that. We had come from California so the night before we went to Super Walmart (about 1/2 mile outside gate 2) and picked up a tiny bbq grill, some hot dogs and other snacks (also a dollar tree store near walmart). Twin lake was beautiful. They have many picnic tables and some of the larger pavilion areas do have bbq grills though there aren’t very many of those. There are two entrances to the lake on the right side of the road. We took the second entrance and drove around to the back of the lake. Very beautiful, quiet and not crowded. We were there most of the day relaxing and picnicking. Not a whole lot to do so if you get bored easily take some books or games. We just enjoyed talking and took a nap on the grass. In the evening we went to the company dinner at the NCO club. They had a standard buffet for $7 or an upgraded buffet for around $10. We ended up doing the upgraded but all they had was some ribs, ham, rice and potato salad. No salad or anything fresh. Some of the Drill Sergeants were there meeting families so it was a great opportunity to meet them and some of my husbands buddies.  He had to be back in formation at 9:30pm at the barracks. We watched them do push ups and then they asked the families to leave for the rest of the night.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony.

There were a lot more people there for the graduation ceremony but getting in through the gates didn’t seem to take as long. I would still go early though. The graduation took longer and instead of meeting the soldiers on the field they had them march off to the far right of the field. After we were excused to go find them my husband was able to call and find me. I would definitely recommend setting up a meeting place since I never would have found him without him calling and he really wasn’t suppose to call. We went as fast as possible to his barracks to sign him out. There was already a bit of a line to sign him out when we got there and it takes awhile to get through. Basically the spouse or parent has to sign a paper with name, contact information, etc and then show driving registration or some other similar paperwork. We had a rental car so we just showed them the rental car agreement. We were switching rental cars so we were a little worried they would see our rental car agreement expired that day but they didn’t really look at it, just wanted to make sure you had something on the vehicle you were driving.

11. Is there a website for his basic training unit? Is there a place to see pictures of his training online?

Yes. Ft Jackson’s website is http://www.army.mil/info/organization/jackson/. The BCT unit pages can be found here http://www.jackson.army.mil/sites/bct/. Use the drop down menus near the top to find the unit pages. From there I was able to find his unit page. Most companies do not keep current information on their unit pages but ours updated it about every week or two. Facebook had the best information for his Battalion. I was able to find a Facebook link at the bottom of his unit page. His Battalion also used twitter, again I found it at the bottom of his unit page.  Not really any pictures of his training, but the twitter updates were fantastic!

12. Any other tips or information?

The night before family day we went on post to get the lay out and find Hilton Field. We drove through the main gate and they gave us a pass for the car. They also said for graduation you could go through any gate although the official information will tell you to go through gate 4. We did go through gate 4 in the morning and it was already backed up by 7am. We got through in plenty of time but again only 3 out of 6 companies were graduating so it was half as crowded. Definitely get there early to make sure you won’t have any problems being delayed at the gates. Make sure you take a map of Ft Jackson with you. Here’s a link to a basic map http://www.jackson.army.mil/images/cant_grad1105.pdf . On this map twin lakes recreational area is across the road from Red # 4 Heise Pond. Also the soldiers’ cell phones were locked up most of the time and they did not permanently receive them back until the day before family day.

This week by week information is adapted from the Guide for New Soldiers and Their Families, which is published by the U.S. Army.

The first stop for Army basic combat training is at reception. This can last for a few days or possibly even a few weeks. Many Army soldiers describe this phase as incredibly boring. For the sake of your soldier, hope that he moves quickly from reception to BCT.

During the first few weeks of BCT, he is under what is referred to as “total control.” In this phase, he will have very little free time, his showers and meals will be timed, and he will have little contact with his family outside of mail. After he makes it successfully through the first few weeks, he will begin to earn privileges – to shower for more than two minutes, to earn passes for a few hours or for the majority of a day, to earn phone privileges and his food choices will be expanded. His freedoms will continue to expand as long as he does well. Keep in mind that privileges for the entire company can be taken away with the mistake of ONE person in the company.

Please keep in mind, this is only a guide. Training can be adapted or changed as needed as far as the schedule is concerned by your soldier’s drill sergeant.

During week one, he will:

§         Be introduced to the seven core Army values

§         Take his first APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test)

§         Learn how to march

§         Learn how to prepare his barracks

§         Practice Drill and Ceremony

§         Learn Special and General Orders

§         Learn the Military Justice System

§         Learn how to disassemble, reassemble, clean and sight his M-16A2 rifle

During week two, he will:

§         Learn unarmed combat skills

§         Learn first aid

§         Learn map reading and navigation

§         Rappel from a 30 foot platform (Victory Tower)

§         Learn the Army value of Loyalty and the importance of teamwork

§         Learn how to set up a tent for a bivouac

During week three, he will:

§         Be introduced to the bayonet and basic bayonet movements

§         Become more familiar with his M16A2 rifle as he practices basic marksmanship

§         Learn to defend himself from chemical attack

§         Continue to improve his fitness through physical training

§         Learn the Army value of Duty

During week four, you will:

§         Learn to respect his fellow soldiers and their accomplishments as a team

§         Continue to practice basic rifle marksmanship

§         Learn multiple target detection

§         Take his second APFT

§         Learn the Army value of Respect

During week five, he will:

§         Qualify on his M-16A2 rifle (earn Marksman, Shooter or Expert badge)

§         Learn the Army value of Selfless Service

§         Learn how soldiers have continuously given of themselves throughout the U.S. Army’s history

During week six, he will:

§         Take his third APFT

§         Become familiar with a variety of U.S. weapons

§         Learn tactical movements techniques

§         Participate in a defensive live-fire exercise

§         Learn the Army value of Honor

During week seven, he will:

§         Take his final APFT

§         Learn the Army value of Integrity

§         Take the confidence course

During week eight, he will:

§         Learn the final Army value of Personal Courage

§         Participate in the Warrior Field Training Exercise (FTX)

During week nine, you will:

§         Prepare for graduation

Of course, along with all of this training, he will also be subject to lots of “smoking.” This is simply where the drill sergeant (DS) makes him do a variety of physical training exercises if he messes up or if someone in his company does. This can range from running to push-ups to flutter kicks. Sometimes his smoking is short and sometimes it can *seem* to last for hours. But it is all a part of making them physically and emotionally prepared for what lies ahead of them.

He may also have to do push-ups to receive his mail. Trust me when I say, he will gladly do push-ups to get his mail. Don’t short him on letters so he can avoid push-ups. He will end up doing them any way for some other reason, the DS will make sure of that. At least this way he gets a reward (your letter!) when he is done.

One final note, I have received emails from many wives and moms who are overly concerned when their soldier is participating in FTX. There is no need for any more concern during these few days than during any other part of their training. As my husband told me, FTX was like a camping trip. That’s not to say it wasn’t demanding but it is not any more so than other parts of his training.