Accurate and Responsive Fires
How FA BOLC Adapted to the Changes at Ranger School
By CPT Erin O’Hara and LTC Richard Wilson
| Field Artillery, 2026 E-Edition
Read Time: < 4 mins
U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Alspach, assigned to Bravo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division, fires an M119A3 howitzer during live-fire training at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, June 30, 2026. The training enhances artillery crews’ ability to deliver accurate and timely fires in support of ground maneuver operations. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Justin Hicks) In 2025, the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade (ARTB) modified the Ranger Physical Assessment (RPA) for the first time in recent history. Once the test of record changed at Ranger School, pre-Ranger programs around the Army had to adapt abruptly to ensure students could still earn their tabs. The problem we faced in the 1-30th Field Artillery (FA) Battalion (BN) wasn’t how to stay successful at Ranger School, but how to achieve better results. By revamping our program to test students more frequently and developing a solid base physical training (PT) plan, we’ve made field artillerymen more successful at Ranger School than ever before.
In the 1-30th FA pre-Ranger program, we rely on Ranger-qualified captains in the Captains Career Course to train and mentor Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) hopefuls. Rather than a dedicated, permanent cadre, we are unique in that our students train under Ranger-tabbed officers who led successful careers in field artillery. They can speak to the value of the tab to the artillery community. The trust we build with our infantry counterparts as fire supporters is the pinnacle of the fires enterprise. Our planned targets are kill contracts with the maneuver elements. When artillerymen test themselves in the gauntlet of Ranger School, they learn how to be better fire supporters. The areas of expertise of all artillerymen—communication, navigation, and fires—are taught and honed at Ranger School.
The goal of the program is to identify, assess, and train individuals who possess the mental and physical endur-ance to surpass the Ranger Assessment Phase, commonly referred to as RAP week. The purpose of the program is to fill the Ranger-coded, 2LT/1LT, MTOE positions across the force. Critical to achieving this goal are all the Ranger-qualified FACCC students who serve as cadre for the pro-gram. The cadre’s primary responsibilities are to train, mentor, counsel, and prepare students to surpass Ranger school’s RAP week. (1-30th FA pre-Ranger program SOP)
The first change we made to the pre-Ranger program was to test students with an RPA monthly. Lieutenants take four to five RPAs while at FA BOLC. The second-to-last RPA is part of a simulated RAP Week that mimics the testing conditions for the RPA, land navigation test, Combat Water Survival
Training Month that includes RAP Week Assessment (CWSA), and 12-mile ruck. The support available within the Fires Center of Excellence and at Fort Sill allows us to share training areas and PT facilities with units across the installation, enabling student success. We believe that an effectively simulated RAP week is a proven indicator of success. A November 2025 Mountain Tactical Institute study noticed that “[a]round 50–60% of all Ranger School failures occur in RAP Week, most often due to [RPA], followed by land navigation and the 12-mile foot march. Candidates who survive RAP Week have approximately a 70% likelihood of graduating.”1 At FA BOLC, we replicate RAP week as closely as possible and only send students who pass every event to Ranger School.
In addition, the order of merit list (OML) we use accurately predicts success at Ranger School. By weighing each event based on the ARTB RAP week drop data, our students are prepared for RAP week’s most difficult events. The 12-mile ruck and RPA are weighted the most, while land navigation and the CWSA are pass/fail. In addition, we conduct a peer evaluation in which landing in the top 10% adds a 1.5 multiplier to a student’s overall score while falling in the bottom 10% results in a 0.5 multiplier. Since the RPA was reinstated for Class 06-25, 1-30th FA pre-Ranger program has a 68% RAP Week pass rate, compared to 46% before the changes to our program.2 Our students are successful at Ranger School because we conduct hard PT with basic resources and test students regularly to a high standard. Every unit can mimic this training to produce Ranger-qualified leaders.
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