Fine, guess I’ll be the one to say it: the Ranger tab vs. scroll argument is stupid when applied to officers, and here’s why:

1. The top thing that prevents well- qualified tabbed officers from serving in the Regiment is timing. If you don’t hit KD gates in time, you’re SOL. https://twitter.com/austingcommons/status/1353095767125155840

2. Many, many officers serve in the 75th without doing any door-kicking or face-shooting. An officer with a combat scroll isn’t automatically the next Ralph Puckett. I’ve personally come closer to being killed while wearing a 1st Cav patch than while wearing a scroll.

The Regiment needs staff officers too. Some get line jobs in due time, but some don’t. All jobs in a unit are necessary and important, but man, I have seen some RHHC XO gigs stretched into a lifelong personality.

3. RASP 2 isn’t that hard. If you were fit enough to earn a tab and haven’t let yourself go, you can meet the physical standards. All that’s left after that is being a good dude/dudette under some stress, and getting through a murder board without making an ass of yourself.

Bottom line, the tangible, concrete difference in abilities between a tabbed infantry officer in a regular unit and an infantry officer in the 75th is often pretty thin when you get down to it. Most officers who are capable of earning a tab are capable of serving in the Regiment.

I was fortunate enough to spend 4 1/2 years in that organization largely because I was lucky with career timing, and because I stayed in shape after earning my tab. I was never, by any means, a badass. There are officers who’ve never worn a scroll that are 1000x better than me.

So if you’re an infantry officer who’s served in the Regiment, don’t be a prick about it. If you’re a tabbed infantry officer who hasn’t, be proud of that tab you earned. The school sucks the same for a 2LT as for a batt boy.

This is by no means an endorsement of any policies or positions held by any Senator from Arkansas.