>>But the purpose of Ranger School is to train leaders for the stress that present in actual combat conditions.
By that logic, all field officers should be Ranger qualified. Behind enemy lines ops, with a higher than normal possibility of capture, plus being on secret tactical missions, should require training in resisting torture, certainly.
Battle fields are not what they used to be. Most future face to face battles will be in an urban environment. Viet Nam era insertions to organize and train insurgencies are a vanishing necessity. An Entebbe scenario is possible, but hostage rescue in an urban environment is extreme high risk. Ask them Russian school kids in Beslan. Hell, the Bin Laden operation lost a chopper right off. Too damned many chance and lack of intel variables. Sabotage of hard targets can be done with drones for the near future. The far future (5 years +) and it will be drone vs. drone warfare.
As far as leadership training goes, I want my commanding officers trained in urban terrorist interdiction AND have an IQ of 140 +. That means a field grade commander speaking the host language, knowing its culture from an in depth academic perspective, being able to carry out a diplomatic mission as well as a military tactical mission. You don’t get subtlety of thought and action by hammering the crap out of soldiers to prove they are tough.
You want men capable of remaining on station in severe conditions, sure, but anymore, those conditions are very temporary and they are back behind the Halliburton revetments having a beer and Bic Mac, emailing their family and posting the day’s operation on YouTube when cleared to do so. This “Iron Man” mentality is a meme whose time has come to fade into obsolescence. You need smart soldiers capable of immediate tactical perception on rooftops and in alleys. I’ll take a platoon of soldiers hard trained 50% on video games and other simulators, including psychological simulators, over a platoon of elite specialists.
And again, I make the point that retired special ops soldiers end up as mercs and bodyguards and assassins and drug runners for the elitist bastards who represent everything America does not. Preppers should fear them, cuz that’s who Halliburton and Wackenhut and Blackwater will be sending your way any day now.
Your point assumes that Ranger School is the only training that leaders receive. Thanks for your comment.