The Ranger School records cover up continues

US Defense Watch ^ | October 30, 2015 | Ray Starmann

[pboyington]

The Ranger School records story refuses to die, as the Army continues to obstruct Congressman Steve Russell’s investigation into whether three female graduates have been given special treatment at Ranger School.

Key points in the story:

Congressman Russell contacted the Secretary of the Army on September 15, 2015, and requested the Ranger School records for Captain Kristen Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver.

The Secretary of the Army stalled Russell for nine days and then asked for an extension to obtain documents readily available.

The Army waited another two weeks to tell Russell the documents had been shredded.

The Army refuses to tell anyone what the school’s policy is for the storage and destruction of Ranger School records.

The Army refuses to tell the media why they shredded Griest’s and Haver’s records.

The Army refuses to tell the media what they are doing with the third female graduate, Major Lisa Jaster’s records.

The Army wants us to doubt that journalist Susan Keating’s Ranger School sources are real because they are anonymous.

The Army wants us to believe that if Susan Keating’s sources were real they would come forward, when in fact, they are frightened of retribution. Considering the Obama administration’s treatment of whistleblowers, these fears are more than justified.

Congressman Russell was interviewed by The Oklahoman last week concerning the Ranger School story.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Russell: “If you have whistleblowers that come to you begging to look into a matter and as you’ve looked into it, you realize there is probably something to it, based on the evidence we’ve seen so far, you have a moral obligation to investigate it. It wouldn’t matter if it were the Ranger topic or new equipment fielding or maintenance or whatever. We have some serious allegations that have been made that would be serious under any topic.”

“And people say, What have you got? Why aren’t you coming out with this?”

“Because we have people that are terrified that they will lose their careers and we have to protect them.”

Russell continues with an update us on his quest for the Ranger School records.

The Oklahoman: “Have you gotten the records that you sought?”

Russell: “Not from the Army. I’ve gotten nothing from them. In the second letter I got (last week) the Army said they can’t provide the records just yet and they reasserted the fact that the bulk of what I requested had been shredded and they were disappointed that I would suggest that they were up to nefarious activities.”

“Then they provided me an information paper that would try to get at some of what I requested. And this information paper provided a sampling of records. And then they provided an analysis of this sampling.”

“But they didn’t provide me the records to verify that sampling or verify their conclusions or even examine it.”

“So it’s like: Look, if there’s nothing to hide, show me what you have. And if these allegations are not substantiated, then we can drop this and move on. There are allegations from members of the military; I need certain sets of records to substantiate whether those allegations are factual or whether they’re not. It’s nothing more, nothing less.”

The Oklahoman: “Is this (women in combat) issue something the House Armed Services Committee needs to hold hearings about?”

Russell: “Well of course it is. I think the question that we all would ask is: If warriors can be trained to the highest capacity, then why wouldn’t we take efforts to do that? But, we have to do it with integrity, and we have to do it where we maintain the capacity.”

“Now you’ve got the special operations community and the United States Marine Corps coming up with their own sets of conclusions, and some of this is running counter to what people desire. Well, here we’re about to make major policy shifts, and have not had a serious hearing one on this issue. In two years? Three? Why? This is a major, major policy shift.”

“So, I’m asking questions. We were approached by these whistleblowers. And, so as a member of Congress and on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, we have a constitutional requirement to oversee government and its functions. These courses don’t belong to any general. They don’t belong to any service secretary. They don’t belong to anyone. They belong to We the People.”

US Defense Watch is also asking questions and recently requested the Ranger School rosters for Captain Griest and First Lieutenant Haver’s class and for Major Lisa Jaster’s class. Fort Benning refused to turn over the records claiming, “The story was dead,” “It was time to move on,” and “Twenty more females are set to begin Ranger School in November.”

US Defense Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of Defense for the class rosters. There has been no response yet from the DoD.

The Army’s continuing obfuscation is beginning to resemble the St. Louis military and federal records fire on July 12, 1973. The St. Louis fire took place during the Watergate scandal. The blaze destroyed 16-18 million military and federal records and was rumored to have been set to cover up information related to the Watergate conspirators and burglars. The exact cause of the fire was never fully determined.

There is no longer any doubt that a massive cover up is underway in the Department of Defense and the Army. As I have mentioned before, there is a political agenda driving the cover up. The White House wants women in the combat arms and special operations. Therefore, the Army, from Secretary of the Army John McHugh down to Major-General Scott Miller down to the Airborne Ranger Training Brigade command group, are involved in this conspiracy to deceive the American people, regardless of the consequences to our national security.

As Congressman Russell has clearly stated, if the Army has nothing to hide, then show him the records. But, the Army has much to hide. They can’t come clean because they are the main conspirator in this scandal.

For the sake of the nation’s national security, US Defense Watch again recommends that the following personnel be subpoenaed by Congress and ordered to testify under oath in front of the House Armed Services Committee, concerning the special treatment given to female soldiers at Ranger School:

The Honorable John McHugh, Secretary of the Army

General (Ret.) Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the JCS

Major–General Scott Miller, Commander, US Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, GA

Colonel David G. Fivecoat, Commander of the Airborne Ranger Training Brigade, Fort Benning, GA

Major Lisa Jaster – recent Ranger School graduate

Captain Kristen Griest – one of the two first female graduates from Ranger School

First Lieutenant Shaye Haver – one of the two first female graduates from Ranger School

Command Sergeant–Major Curtis Arnold, Command Sergeant-Major, Airborne Ranger Training Brigade, Fort Benning, GA

Sergeant First Class Robert Hoffnagle – reported to have specially trained Captain Griest and First Lieutenant Haver for Ranger School

The group of Ranger School instructors who are reported to be journalist, Susan Keating’s sources.

The Army’s senior leaders have broken their oaths by abandoning the Constitution and the nation they have sworn to defend. Congress must take action. If they refuse, the American people must contact their representatives and request that they do something. Things have reached a critical point now. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will soon be deciding whether or not to allow women into the combat arms and special operations units. He may in fact, be making decisions based on the bodyguard of lies from Fort Benning.

If nothing is done, if the lies and deception continue to go unheeded, then the national security will be in jeopardy.

[Geoffrey]

RTAC: a very tough two week or so course. It has the same physical tests as RAP week, and an extremely tough land nav course. Very tough.

No shame taking this course, and many men fail it but still move onto Ranger School.

If you move immediately to Ranger School, your body is already starting to be seriously word]n down.

Ranger School. RAP: physical pass fail tests in the first few days. Darby, Mtns, Swamps are the the later phases and can usually be recycled if you pass RAP. Fail RAP and you are gone, fail Darby, Mtns, or Swamps and you can be recycled.

I have it that roughly less than 15% of men pass all the stages without a recycle. Recycles aren’t bad; it is a wonderful aspect of Ranger School where the ultimate goal is to teach leadership and the Ranger Students learn so much more the 2nd or even the 4th time thru a phase. I have heard of men that have recycled 13 times...or more.

Ranger School is nominally a 61 day class, but most men take 150 days to complete.

So much misinformation about Ranger School...not saying women is a good or bad thing, just describing the school a little bit for better arguments pro or con.

[rlmorel]

The issue is not whether some women can graduate from Ranger School, there is no doubt there is going to be a small number of women at any time who are far to the right of the curve who can pass the physical requirements, especially if they are groomed, given “extra” assistance to pass, and are part of an affirmative action type of plan.

Which they clearly are.

But that is not the issue, whether some woman can pass. The question is, should women be allowed in combat, and the answer is an unequivocal no.

No, that is, unless the military is a jobs force and not a fighting force.

[bravo whiskey]

The question is not women in combat. They have been in combat due to the nature of the wars in iraq and afghanastan. The issue is women in combat units such as infantry and armor.

[Geoffrey]

Also, I neglected to mention that woman are also now part of the teaching cadre of instructors at Ranger School.

[Geoffrey]

Or will be shortly.

[rlmorel]

That is a given, but they should not even be put in that position either except in extreme necessity of support roles (except that we are artificially making them necessary) and there aren’t many of those.

We have entered into some very bad policy as the result of fighting foes who haven’t been able to contest us in many areas (such as air and naval superiority) and when we get into a conflict where these things matter, we are going to get some nasty lessons.

Travis McGee summarized that completely in the last graphic in his post at #16. Having women anywhere near combat works when the military has aspects to it that are more related to jobs and advancement than war. But when there is a Chosin Reservoir or Edson’s Ridge, we will find out the hard way.

[G Larry]

I first heard a retired NCO call in to a radio show with the following:

“I talked to a senior NCO at the Base who said that the entire training squad received just a bit more sleep and food that all prior squads.”

[snoringbear]

“From the article “Twenty more females are set to begin Ranger School in November””

Hmm, well, so much for my crystal ball ability :)

[G Larry]

If less than 3% of ALREADY SCREENED AND QUALIFIED men can qualify, why should anybody believe that ANY woman can equal that top 3% of men in strength and endurance?

[Gritty]

Fort Benning refused to turn over the records claiming, "The story was dead. It was time to move on", and Twenty more females are set to begin Ranger School in November.

Twenty more. Lord help us. This is not the end. It is just the beginning.

No doubt our fighting forces will be much improved now that we are selecting and training the 'fair' way, no?

How soon before the new training will encompass men wearing red spike high heels and pregnancy simulators so they can feel what it feels likes to be a woman, too?

I'm sure our potential enemies are roaring with laughter over our departure from reality in our military. Eventually the price will be paid horribly in blood and defeat - ours.

[BeauBo]

“the entire training squad received just a bit more sleep and food that all prior squads.”

There are the lower standards for you.

There was also undue command influence. The Two-Star Commanding General came out at night and stood right behind the graders looking over their shoulders, while the women went through the lanes that they were likely to fail. They passed.

Before the women graduated, the O-6 commander of the Ranger Training Brigade was given a Letter of Reprimand into his official records, among other arm-twisting.

[BeauBo]

“If you move immediately to Ranger School (from RTAC), your body is already starting to be seriously worn down.”

They created a special platoon for the female Ranger trainees at Benning, where the adjusted intensity to get them rested and re-fed before re-entry. Their Resident, full-time Ranger “coach” tutored them on all the skills and drills they were weak on, or would need. Reportedly, they were also told exactly what to expect at every turn - no surprises for them, like the men would be treated to.

Unlimited recycles with rest and re-feeding breaks were not their only benefit - they were immune from elimination, no matter what they failed. They had to medical out or quit.

[Geoffrey]

Another aspect of this, is the increased amount of women now set aside for each class at West Point.

Another point, somewhat alluded to, is that many women were observers of Ranger School...i.e. could benefit from the classes without actually participating so as to focus their training efforts.