Grueling Ranger Training to Become Fun

For most men who have been to the military service, ranger training is remembered as a tough memory of crawling like crazy. The grueling physical training under the mean glance of drill instructors wearing red hats, rope crossing and mud puddle jumping can only be described as strenuous.

The army plans to change such ranger training into a training that will provide some fun to soldiers, while also improving camaraderie and actual fighting skills.

In order to do so, it decided to adopt an artificial rock climbing wall, and to implement climbing a “magic bridge” and crossing a one-rope bridge, into its obstacle course.

Out of these, climbing an artificial rock wall is like the sport of wall climbing, popular among youth, where one has to climb to the top of a wall around 10 to 12 meters high.

The army explained that “magic bridge” climbing is climbing a rope-ladder set 1.5 meters above the ground, giving the soldiers the satisfaction of overcoming diverse challenges.

Additionally, a program designed to increase camaraderie, where a squad overcomes obstacles, will be created. Climbing over the wall with a comrade will be implemented into the training, in which one soldier climbs over the wall with the rope and pulls the next soldier, while those under the wall push him.

A “trust fall” is where a soldier falls backwards from a platform set two to three meters above the ground, under which his fellow soldiers are waiting in two rows to sustain him. The purpose of this training to build trust among peers under any circumstances, including in a situation where one has to fall backwards blindly, trusting only his fellow soldiers to receive him.

An army official announced, “After hearing opinions from training institutions and units since August, we prepared plans to adopt about 10 training programs that are being conducted in the civilian sector. After testing new training programs in some units next year, we plan to apply them to all units within the next couple of years.”

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com