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(Video:Ranger school sign, soliders running doing push ups. NAT: Drill sergeants yelling, soliders breathing hard)

Ranger school. The ultimate test for a soldier of the United States army. Ranger school prepares soldiers to be leaders in extreme combat situations.

(Video: Matt blanchett running, Video: BLanchett breathing hard)

 For soldier Matt Blanchett, receiving the ranger patch to his uniform has been a major goal of his since he joined the military.

(Matt Blanchett interview)

“If your tabbed people look at you because you have achieved something great.”

(Video: soldiers standing in formation, crawling through mudd, running uphill in line, firing guns, hand to hand combat training, soldiers throwing up. NAT: drill sergeant yelling, feet hitting the ground as they run, gun fire)

Ranger school is a 61 day program that takes place in Atlanta. it puts soldiers into intense combat situations and teaches them how to adapt and survive. It has been called the hardest school on Earth due to it’s extreme nature which involves very little sleep or food. For Blanchett, preparation is key to graduate out of the school.

(Video: Matt running, doing push ups and chin ups, drinking water and looking tired. SOUND: grunting, breathing hard after every pushup.)

 Matt runs several miles a day, and keeps up with all kinds of cross training exercises to keep his body in peak physical condition. To get into the school, a physical fitness test is required. It consists of 49 pushups, 53 situps, and six chin up. That may not sound very difficult for a soldier of the army, but ranger school requires its students to do every exercise perfectly or they fail the test. Matt says that the physical challenges are not what bothers him. It’s the mental challenges he will face if accepted into the school.

(Matt BLNACHETT)

“There is really no way to mentally prepare yourself for what you will experience. I know there are a lot of days where you don’t sleep where you don’t eat and you just have to roll with it.”

(Video: Iraq war b-roll. Soliders leading other soldiers through a door. Close up on a ranger patch)

For a student who graduates from the school, it means faster promotions, greater leadership, and advanced combat knowledge.

(MattBlanchett)

“It would really help my career in the military. I want to be a platoon leader and ranger school would help me get to that goal faster.”  

(Video: Clayton walking down a sidewalk.)

Specialist Clayton Philips received his ranger status four years ago. He says that the school is one of the most challenging things he has ever accomplished.  

(clayton philips)

“It was miserable but once your done with it its feels pretty good”

(Video: soliders trying to stay awake during their guard shift)

Philips says that the hardest part about the school was the lack of sleep. He says that the maximum amount of sleep he ever got in a night was four hours.

(Clayton philips)

 “I would trade away some of my food for my guard shifts so that I could sleep a little more.”

(Video: Iraq b-roll. Soldiers pratolling a street. Sound: Gunfire in the distance)

Philips says that the school helped him become more aware of his surroundings in combat. He learned how to stay alive and how to remain unseen when in dangerous situations during time in Iraq.

(Clayton Philips)

“The training I got at the school really helped me during my tour in Iraq.”

(Clayton walking down the sidewalk, fade to Matt running down a street. Sound: Matt breathing hard)

The advanced training showed Philips how to be a better solider, something that Blanchett will soon figure out.

(Video: Image of the Ranger School Sign zoom in)

 “I’m excited and scared. It’s going to be crazy.”

For KUAA News, I’m Donald McSherry.