Ranger Combat Training School, Hawaii 1942

[bfryar44]

Ranger Combat Training School, Fort Shafter, Hawaii. 1942

 

Enjoy!

Bryan

 

Btw, lots of other great films on that website as well.

 

http://www.archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.17918

[BILL THE PATCH]

i watched about 15 min. simply awesome. i love the wearing of the two differant styles of helmets while traning.

[Teamski]

Pretty wild! I couldn't imagine how many guys got hurt in training. I noted bare bayonets on the obstacle course. How many guys ran others and themselves through with the things! Also, I saw some African Americans in there too. So at least some training was integrated.

 

-Ski

[Norton]

Great period film that shows the many types of approved training uniforms.. Plus three types of rifles M 1, M 1903, M1917, plus M 1928 Thompsons, machettes, pre war flame throwers

Note the rare camoflage paint on the Army Air Corps dive bomber. I have to find out what type of aircraft that is. I know the Army had a radial engine dive bomber before the war but it was obsolete before Pearl Harbor. You can see the same aircraft in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon that featured live film from the 1940 manuvers

[Sivart]

Great video. Makes today's ranger school look a bit tame in comparison.

[gmat]

The second camouflaged aircraft during the scattering drill is an O-47 from the 86th Observation Squadron, based at Bellows Air Field. It's an observation aircraft. There were USAAF dive bomber in Hawaii. The 58th Bomb Squadron, (Light) later redesignated the 531st Fighter Squadron, (Dive Bombing) had A-20As on Dec. 7th, accepted some B-18s and were reequipped with A-24As, and exchanged them for A-24Bs. That's the AAF version of the Dauntless dive bomber. Took the A-24Bs to Canton Island and then went to combat with them on Makin Island.

All of the USAAF dive bombers, A-24, A-25, A-35 and A-36 were camouflaged. The same goes for many pre-war USAAC/USAAF aircraft used early in the war. Training aircraft often remained uncamouflaged. Support aircraft used by higher level units and support units in Conus and Hawaii were the same and if using ex-combat aircraft, often had the paint stripped. By 1944, most aircraft were left unpainted.

The dark skinned soldiers might be Hawaiians, certainly the runner was. The man climbing down the obstacle wall might be African-American. I wonder if they are running up the Kole Kole Pass in the opening sequence, especially if they end up in Waianae. I thought that it looked more like running up the old Pali road from the Kaneohe side.

 

Best wishes,

Grant

[Gregory]

Does anybody know who is this hand-to-hand fight instructor appearing in that film? I mean that around 50 yo man who is like a counterpart of William E. Fairbairn or Eric A. Sykes.

[David D]

WOW that is some extreme training I wonder what ranger battalion they were from.

 

-Dave

[Government Issue]

WOW that is some extreme training I wonder what ranger battalion they were from.

 

-Dave

They aren't from any of the six army ranger battalions formed during WWII. These men are probably from one of the specialized training camps dubbed "ranger schools" or "ranger training". I've never understood why they had these camps because as far as I know none of the men that were trained in these programs ended up in an army ranger battalion. Instead, they just sent them to infantry units.