[Tenacious 1]

Gamecock, Help me out here, please. You obviously know a little something about this stuff. From the article: McDonald, former Procter and Gamble CEO, served with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and completed jungle, arctic and desert warfare training, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He earned the Ranger tab, the Expert Infantryman Badge and Senior Parachutist wings, the VA added, noting that McDonald, who retired as a captain, was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal after leaving the service.

You said, Read it again it says he earned his Ranger ba badge which is SF. This is why I am confused. If a Ranger is SF, why the apology? What did he say that was wrong?

[freepersup]

One can earn the Ranger tab yet not be in a Ranger unit. This is referred to as Ranger qualified. It's somewhat a technicality except for the fact that Rangers in Ranger units understand the distinction, and those that are Ranger qualified but assigned to a non Ranger unit, also understand the distinction. A Ranger wears the Ranger tab AND Ranger unit scroll on their uniforms. A Ranger qualified individual not in a Ranger unit, wears the Ranger tab and current assigned unit shoulder patch on their uniform. Both types of military personnel attend and graduate Ranger School, but some may never serve in a Ranger unit.

From a US Army perspective, when one qualifies for Special Forces, a billet in an SF unit is filled by the successful graduate. The SF Q Course is not just a school per se, but a pure qualification/training process. In other words, one doesn't attend the Q Course "just" to earn the Special Forces tab, expecting then to return to one's parent unit. The DOD assigns the graduate to an SF unit. I'm sure there are exceptions. There almost always is... If one leaves a SF unit, or a Ranger unit, that person is authorized to wear the SF tab or the Ranger tab on their uniforms for the rest of their career.

Likewise one can serve in an Airborne unit, and be Airborne qualified if that individual successfully completed basic airborne jump school. The individual would wear the unit shoulder patch... in this case- the 82nd Airborne (AA- All American) and would wear jump wings. Some Airborne units have non Airborne personnel (not the 82nd Airborne) so the Airborne unit shoulder patch would be worn but not the jump wings. The Airborne qualified individual would refer to themselves as Airborne, the non Airborne qualified individual would refer to themselves as being in an Airborne unit, but would not be Airborne. If an Airborne qualified individual were to be reassigned to a non Airborne unit, that person would not refer to themselves as Airborne, but Airborne qualified. Part of the semantics is technical but mostly an earned skill vs unit function definition... with pride or honor at stake as well.

As an FYI: Some individuals have multiple skill qualification badges. Special Forces, Sapper, Ranger, Airborne, Pathfinder, Scuba, EOD, LRRP, Jungle, Air Assault, Parachute Rigger... etc.

Individuals from other US military branches attend SF, Ranger and Airborne qualification/training schools. Also, foreign military members attend these same schools.