FORT EUSTIS, Virginia – Rarely does a military guide reveal its contents so adroitly and effectively in its preface as the U.S. Army Ranger Handbook, "Let the enemy come till he's almost close enough to touch. Then let him have it and jump out and finish him with your hatchet.”
That marvelously terse opening is a quote made in 1759 by the New Hampshire born Major Robert Rogers, arguably the first American Ranger, who left a list of Standing Orders compiled from his field experiences during the French-Indian War.
Since then, every edition of the Ranger Handbook published also includes the warning, “Not for the Faint of Heart”.
In a recently revised and released digital edition, the Maneuver Center of Excellence in Fort Benning, Georgia, in partnership with The Army Distributed Learning Mobile Division (TADLP), developed a digital Progressive Web Application (PWA) of the U.S. Army Ranger Handbook, which offers readers the techniques and tactics that make U.S. Army Rangers the best, most lethal Soldiers in the world.
As a PWA, this release of the Ranger Handbook offers Soldiers the modern, alternate format for learning, and when viewed on a modern browser such as Chrome or Firefox, the benefits of PWAs are improved speed and reliability as well as availability.
The PWA is easy to find, discoverable and linkable by search engines, and designed to be mobile friendly.
As of June 2021 the handbook has exceeded 230,000 downloads from the Central Army Registry (CAR).
Missions highlighted are airborne assault, raids, recovery of personnel and equipment, and airfield seizure, among other difficult and dangerous operations. The TADLP released handbook contains the essential materials of the official Ranger Handbook carried by all Ranger School students.
Compiled from more than two centuries of lessons-learned in special ops combat, this download guide provides Soldiers with the finest training possible and efficiently combines the lessons of the past with valuable insights for the future.
In unvarnished, no-frills language, the latest version of the U.S. Army Ranger Handbook also covers topics such as ambush operations, perimeter defense, counterintel, deception and stealth, escape and evasion as well as proper field coordination and communications. Highlights in this interactive edition are understanding the basics of Army operations, and tactics, as well as cultivating good Soldier leadership qualities and character.
Although primarily written for Rangers and light infantry units - required reading for all students of the Army's Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia - this digital guide is open access and available to all military units as a useful mobile-friendly publication.
The TADLP Ranger Handbook Progressive Web Application can be accessed easily without a CaC card at https://rdl.train.army.mil/catalog-ws/view/TC3-21-76Supplement/index.html
ABOUT THE ARMY DISTRIBUTED LEARNING PROGRAM (TADLP)
Established by the Chief of Staff of the Army in 1996, the Commanding General of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) was appointed the Executive Agent for TADLP and is the full-line authority for the centralized management and integration of the program. Located at Fort Eustis in Virginia, the TADLP Director is Ms. Helen Remily.
The Army Distributed Learning Program (TADLP) improves Army readiness by providing tailored distributed training and education to Soldiers, leaders, and Army civilians from a responsive and accessible - frequently mobile - delivery capability. Distributed Learning (DL) is a modern, proven instructional model used by the Army to deliver individual, collective and self-developmental training and education anytime, anywhere. TADLP leads the way in creating user-friendly, pliant and adaptable distributed and distance learning models that leverage emerging technologies to distribute learning across an array of portable devices in a variety of formats depending on the needs of the user. To learn more about the people and facilities of TADLP visit https://tadlp.tradoc.army.mil
ABOUT THE U.S. ARMY TRAINING AND DOCTRINE COMMAND (TRADOC)
The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) was created on July 1st, 1973.
For nearly half a century TRADOC has fundamentally transformed the U.S. Army into the best trained, best equipped, best led, and best organized modern land power in the world today. TRADOC shapes Army forces through four primary functions: Recruitment and Training, Leadership Development, Doctrine and Integrating Capabilities.
Headquartered at Fort Eustis, in eastern Virginia, TRADOC executes its mission through five subordinate commands and centers, U.S. Army Center of Military History, The U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas), The U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training and the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (located at Fort Knox, Kentucky).
The command has a global perspective and oversees 32 Army schools organized under eight Centers of Excellence, each focused on a separate area of expertise within the Army (i.e. Maneuver and Signal). TRADOC trains more than 500,000 Soldiers and service members each year. To learn more about the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command visit their website at https://www.tradoc.army.mil/
