{"id":48319,"date":"2019-04-28T16:08:20","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T16:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/28\/tough-going-elite-service-members-compete-for-best-ranger\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:31:07","slug":"tough-going-elite-service-members-compete-for-best-ranger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/04\/28\/tough-going-elite-service-members-compete-for-best-ranger\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough going: Elite service members compete for \u2018Best Ranger\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FORT BENNING, Ga. \u2014 There\u2019s tough, there\u2019s Army Ranger tough and then there\u2019s the toughest of the tough, the handful named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/04\/16\/ranger-instructors-come-out-on-top-at-best-ranger-competition\/\" target=_blank>Best Ranger<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, 106 elite members of the U.S. military spent 60 grueling hours competing as two-member teams for the Best Ranger title. Sleep-deprived and sometimes soaking wet and loaded down with gear, they marched, ran, swam, rappelled and swung hand over hand on ropes across a wilderness area at Fort Benning in western Georgia while firing rifles and machine guns, performing simulated combat rescues, navigating at night and tackling other daunting, back-to-back challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the end, Capts. John Bergman and Michael Rose of the Army&#8217;s 101st Airborne Division crossed the finish line with rifles raised over their heads \u2014 Rose for his third time winning the endurance challenge and Bergman for his second.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/04\/15\/this-soldier-is-one-of-the-armys-best-rangers-for-the-third-time\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bestranger2019.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">This soldier is one of the Army\u2019s \u2018Best Rangers,\u2019 for the third time<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Two officers from the 101st Airborne Division came out on top, and it wasn&#039;t their first time.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fort Benning, host of the annual competition, is home to the Army&#8217;s elite 75th Ranger Regiment as well as the demanding Army Ranger School. Just to become a Ranger entails some of the Army&#8217;s toughest training in a 61-day course that weeds out roughly half of those who enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rose, 28, from Roswell, Georgia, was among the soldiers who didn&#8217;t graduate from Ranger training on his first try. They call it being &#8220;recycled.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Undaunted, he tried again, passed and returned less than a year later with Bergman to compete for Best Ranger. Rose said he wanted to prove that a soldier can spring back into fighting form just months after completing Ranger training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We managed to win,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"823\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575789175.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575789175.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575789175.jpg.jpg?resize=300,206 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575789175.jpg.jpg?resize=768,527 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575789175.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,702 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Army Ranger crawls across a rope stretched over Victory Pond during the combat water skills portion of the Best Ranger competition Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Fort Benning, Ga. During the event competitors must walk across a narrow beam to the rope touch a Ranger Tab in the middle and drop 35 feet into the water. (John Bazemore\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Best Ranger Competition began in 1982 as a contest reserved for Army troops serving in elite special operations units. It aims to put &#8220;extreme demands on each buddy team&#8217;s physical, mental, technical and tactical skills as Rangers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Changes over more than three decades have opened up the competition to others across all branches of the U.S. military who meet Ranger standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year&#8217;s competition kicked off before sunrise April 12 with a 5 mile (8 kilometer) run, an obstacle course, a challenge carrying a weighted down stretcher, a swim, a run wearing body armor, an urban assault course, a shooting test at a firing range and a nighttime foot march.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that was just the first day out of three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next day saw the teams narrowed by half. Competitors tested their skills at climbing and rappelling off towers, as well as rescuing and treating an injured comrade from a downed helicopter. After dark they were airlifted into the mountains to compete in wilderness navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some events were canceled in the final round on the third day as heavy thunderstorms with a chance of tornadoes moved into the Fort Benning area. Teams were still able to face off in a 2 mile (3.2 kilometer) run dotted with barbed wire and other obstacles, plus a combat water skills challenge involving tower climbing, crawling along a rope and zip-lining into a pond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"819\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575604570.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575604570.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575604570.jpg.jpg?resize=300,205 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575604570.jpg.jpg?resize=768,524 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19108575604570.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,699 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Competitors run along a road carrying packs and rifles during the Best Ranger competition Friday, April 12, 2019, in Fort Benning, Ga. (John Bazemore\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a telephone interview the day after it all ended, the two winners said they had been training for months, building up to where they were going 100 miles a week on foot, running or marching, plus weightlifting. Their military units gave them plenty of leeway. So did the families of the two young fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The families have a lot of sacrifices as well,&#8221; said Bergman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rose said his inspiration to keep competing comes from &#8220;just representing our unit as best we can and kind of inspiring younger soldiers and showing &#8217;em what we&#8217;re capable of \u2014 what the Rangers are capable of over the course of three days.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bergman, 29, who grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, added that as they prepare to become company commanders, both officers want to instill that message in the soldiers under their charge: \u201cNo matter what you achieve, there\u2019s always something else greater that you can become.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s tough, there\u2019s Army Ranger tough and then there\u2019s the toughest of the tough, the handful named Best 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tough going: Elite service members compete for \u2018Best Ranger\u2019 - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s tough, there\u2019s Army Ranger tough and then there\u2019s the toughest of the tough, the handful named Best Ranger.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/04\/28\/tough-going-elite-service-members-compete-for-best-ranger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tough going: Elite service members compete for \u2018Best Ranger\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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