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If you're a civilian, it can be hard to appreciate how deceptive and misleading @SenTomCotton is when he claims he was an Army Ranger. The key to unlocking it lies in four letters still found in t@TomCottonAR's bio: "RLTW".
"RLTW" stands for "Rangers Lead The Way". This motto originated on Omaha Beach on D-Day, when a general said to the commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, "Well, goddamnit, if you're Rangers, lead the way!"
The modern Ranger unit, the 75th Ranger Regiment, traces its lineage from WW2's Ranger Battalions. It bears the unit honors earned by those WW2 Ranger Battalions at D-Day and the Pacific war.
Today, the official motto of the 75th Ranger Regiment is "sua sponte", which means "of their own accord", signifying that Army Rangers volunteer three times: for the Army, for Airborne School, and for the Regiment.
Unofficially, however, "RLTW" is used much more frequently in the 75th. How frequently? It's standardized as the formal greeting between officers and enlisted men.
You probably know that soldiers salute each other. What's less well-known is that many units have special call-and-response greetings for these salutes. Instead of "Good morning, sir or ma'am", an enlisted person calls out their unit motto or something similar.
For example, in the 3rd Infantry Division, an enlisted solder might salute and say, "Rock of the Marne, sir!" The proper reply would be, "Top of the Rock" from the officer.
So what's the call-and-response in the 75th Ranger Regiment? The enlisted man leads with "Rangers Lead The Way, sir!"
The reply from the officer? "All The Way."
The reply from the officer? "All The Way."
(Did some devious, steely-eyed Army Rangers sometimes initiate a salute with "Ranger Need The Pay, sir!"? Unsubstantiated reports remain just that: unsubstantiated.)
So, "sua sponte" is the official motto of the 75th Ranger Regiment. But @TomCottonAR uses the unofficial (but more common) "RLTW" in his bio. Makes sense, right? I would use "RLTW" to identify myself to a fellow Army Ranger. https://twitter.com/electricmeat/status/1353032274112081920?s=20
But @SenTomCotton's in hot water today for his bullshit claim that going to Ranger School is the same as being a soldier who served in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He's got RLTW in his bio and that's what 75th Regiment guys say all the time, right?
Ranger School is a two-month leadership course created in the early '50's. It was designed to teach high-level combat arms and leadership skills. It is open to all branches of the military. I went through with a few SEALs and Marines.
(By the way, you don't see SEALs or Marines running around calling themselves "Army Rangers" because they graduated from Ranger School. Take note, Cotton.)
If you graduate from Ranger School, you go back to your regular Army unit and get to call yourself Ranger-qualified. But you go back to your regular unit, the one you were in before Ranger School. Ranger School is just a training course.
When you get back to your regular unit, are people saluting you with "Rangers Lead The Way, sir!"? Unless you serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment, they are not.
. @SenTomCotton served in the 101st Airborne Division (motto: "Rendezvous With Destiny") and the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) (motto: "Touch Me Not"). Do those units use their mottos when saluting? I don't know.
What I do know is that @TomCottonAR isn't using EITHER of those mottos in his bio. He's not even using "sua sponte", the official, but less popular, motto of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
So where is @TomCottonAR getting "RLTW" from?
That's the *Ranger School* motto, a *training unit*. It's the motto of a school he went to for a couple of months during his eight years of service.
That's the *Ranger School* motto, a *training unit*. It's the motto of a school he went to for a couple of months during his eight years of service.
What does this tell you? It signifies that Tom Cotton would rather be associated with a training school he attended with strangers for two months instead of the brave men he supposedly led in combat in Iraq.
. @SenTomCotton is more proud of the technical qualification he earned in Georgia than of his combat service with the 101st Airborne Division. What a slap in the face to the men he served with.
Do you think Cotton would stroll into a reunion for his old unit and shout, "Rangers Lead The Way!"? The fuck he would. He knows what an insult that would be to the men of the 101st.
But @SenTomCotton is happy to distort his record to civilians like you, confident that you won't appreciate how disgraceful and disrespectful it is to both the 75th and his own soldiers.
