In the 64 years since the Army started its Ranger School, there have been only about 300 airmen among the tens of thousands of soldiers and other US service members who have completed the extremely difficult two-month course and earned the right to wear the Ranger tab on their uniform. SrA. Brian Musum and SrA. Austin Hairfield, Tactical Air Control Party airmen from the 14th Air Support Operations Squadron at Pope Field, N.C., recently joined that elite group. The Ranger course is a non-stop ordeal of long-range patrolling, forced marches, land navigation, and tactical missions while getting very little sleep or food. The attrition rate averages nearly 50 percent. “It was one of the best and worst things I’ve ever done,” said Musum in an Aug. 9 Pope release. “The most challenging aspect of the course was the lack of control,” said Hairfield.
Airmen basic rarely go on to become four-star generals, but one who did retired last week after a 42 year career that saw him rise from a lowly slick-sleeve to the head of one of the Air Force’s most important major commands.