continued from p.7
some hard work that goes with
it, we find ourselves getting
down to about a 25- to 35-per-
son hard-core nucleus of people
who will come out on a steady
basis.”
Marshall Swanberg, a senior
in the Corps and commander of
Ranger Company, is one of
those people in the “hard-core
nucleus,” but he wasn’t always
as excited about the organiza
tion as he is today.
“I was never really interested
in it," he says.
But during his sophomore
vear, a friend of his who was a
Ranger talked him into going to
one of the field training exer
cises. Swanberg says he wasn't
very well-prepared for what
was about to happen to him.
The exercise was a winter
exercise, the longest one of the
vear. Swanberg says the cold
weather, lack of food and sleep,
and the generally miserable
conditions he faced left him
pretty unmotivated about hav
ing anything else to do with
Rudder’s Rangers.
“It didn't do much for me
and I swore I'd never do it
again,” he says with a smile.
. A friend of Swanberg’s who
was a junior Ranger was re
sponsible for turning Swanberg
back around. The junior was
getting ready to go to Ranger
School, that summer. The two
friends talked about Ranger
School a lot and when Swan
berg returned to A&M as a ju
nior the next fall, he joined Rud
der’s Rangers, learned as much
as he could, and ended up earn
ing one of the coveted slots to
Ranger School the next sum
mer.
“We don’t want to paint the
picture that the Ranger pro
gram at A&M is just to get
them (cadets) readv for Ranger
School," says Sgt. 1st Class Mi
chael Roberts.
Roberts, an assistant advisor
to the Ranger organization says
(above and right) Rudders
Rangers practice the proper
techniques for attacking enemy
positions located in urban
areas.
the main goal is to provide the
training that will make partici
pants in the program better
leaders whether they go to
Ranger School or not.
“We're putting out good,
quality officers who have been
out there, tested the waters,
and know what their limits
are," he says.
continued on p.li