Latest news with #JenniferGunn
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Soldiers suspended on allegations they fired blanks at Florida beach
Eighteen soldiers have been decertified from training future Rangers while the Army investigates allegations that they fired blank rounds at a Florida beach full of civilians with no notice. Jennifer Gunn, spokesperson for the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, confirmed the suspensions with Army Times today. The 18 Ranger instructors are assigned to 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The incident prompted at least two emergency calls to police and multiple social media postings, with witnesses and footage showing men wearing Ranger t-shirts and military uniforms firing the rounds at Crab Island near Destin, Florida, on Friday, Task & Purpose first reported. 'The Army is aware of the incident that occurred at Crab Island near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Friday, May 16,' Gunn told Army Times. 'We take this situation seriously and are investigating. The Army will ensure accountability based on the outcome of the investigation.' A group of Army Ranger training instructors participated that day in a mock 'sea battle' with a pirate ship during the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, Fort Walton Beach spokesperson Devon Ravine told Task & Purpose. As part of the 'battle,' soldiers with the 6th Ranger Training Battalion fired blanks from their weapons, according to the City of Fort Walton Beach. The training battalion is not part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. 'This was the only approved festival activity that involved the Army Rangers firing their weapons,' Ravine told Task & Purpose. 'We do not know what occurred at Crab Island on Friday, and cannot comment, except to say that it was not in any way a part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival.' Michael Ingram, a charter boat captain, told Task & Purpose his clients and others took cover when the firing began. 'This is unacceptable because there are so many real mass shootings going on in America each year,' Ingram said. 'You can't be joking about it.' The instructors later mingled with civilians on the beach. Online posts show them in military uniforms with Ranger tabs, 'Follow me!' shoulder patches and insignia from the Army infantry school. Some social media commentators criticized the crowd's negative reaction, saying many individuals later socialized with the soldiers and took pictures with them.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Army investigating allegations Rangers fired blank rounds at civilians
Army officials are investigating allegations that a group of Rangers fired blank rounds from automatic weapons without warning at a Florida beach containing crowds of civilians. The incident prompted multiple calls to police and social media postings, with witnesses and footage showing men wearing Ranger t-shirts and military uniforms firing the rounds at Crab Island near Destin, Florida, on Friday, Task & Purpose first reported. 'The Army is aware of the incident that occurred at Crab Island near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Friday, May 16,' Jennifer Gunn, spokeswoman for the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, told Task & Purpose. 'We take this situation seriously and are investigating. The Army will ensure accountability based on the outcome of the investigation. No further information is available at this time.' A group of Army Rangers participated that day in a mock 'sea battle' with a pirate ship during the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, Fort Walton Beach spokesperson Devon Ravine told Task & Purpose. As part of the 'battle,' soldiers with the 6th Ranger Battalion at Eglin Air Base fired blanks from their weapons, according to the City of Fort Walton Beach. A noise alert was sent out early Friday detailing the exact time frame and location of the battle, as well as the noises that could be expected. Crab Island, where reports of the alleged weapons firing occurred, is five miles from the Fort Walton Beach Landing, the location of the sanctioned event. 'This was the only approved festival activity that involved the Army Rangers firing their weapons,' Ravine told Task & Purpose. 'We do not know what occurred at Crab Island on Friday, and cannot comment, except to say that it was not in any way a part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival.' Ranger training battalion commander suspended Michael Ingram, a charter boat captain, told the news outlet that his clients and other boaters took cover when the firing began. 'This is unacceptable because there are so many real mass shootings going on in America each year,' Ingram said. 'You can't be joking about it.' The soldiers later mingled with civilians, and social media posts show them in military uniforms with Ranger tabs, 'Follow me!' shoulder patches and insignia from the Army infantry school. Boats, gear, uniforms and weapons carried by the Rangers at the sanctioned event at Fort Walton Beach seem to match those seen in depictions of the Crab Island incident. Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Michel Nicholson told Task & Purpose that the office received two 911 calls about the incident Friday. 'We had the first 911 call come in on May 16th at 3:22 p.m. from the Crab Island area,' Nicholson said. 'The dispatch notes indicate a second 911 call came in during that same time frame. It also references three additional calls, but those may have been received over the primary line, not 911.' The City of Fort Walton Beach published a statement online, clarifying that the incident at Crab Island was not an approved part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival. The city said if individuals wished to file complaints regarding the incident, they could contact the sheriff's office or Florida Fish and Wildlife. The mock sea battle 'was the ONLY approved festival activity that involved the Army Rangers firing their weapons,' the statement reads. 'What happened at Crab Island was NOT part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, NOR was it approved by either the City of Fort Walton Beach or the Billy Bowlegs organization.' Some commentators on social media criticized the crowd's negative reaction, saying many individuals later socialized with the soldiers and took pictures with them.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ranger School Is Getting a New Fitness Assessment
The Army's elite Ranger School, long regarded as one of the most grueling leadership courses in the military, is rolling out a new physical fitness assessment designed to better measure the endurance and strength required to complete the course. The revised standards will debut with Ranger School class 06-25, beginning April 21, marking the culmination of years of development and refinement. Students will be assessed the first day of the course. While the previous assessment focused on individual graded events, the new version is structured as a continuous evaluation of a candidate's ability to sustain high-intensity physical exertion. Instead of isolated graded events, Ranger School students will have a short time to execute two runs and various movement drills generally aligned with the physical fitness test for expert badges. The assessment concludes with a longer run and chin-ups. Read Next: Senate Confirms Investment Banker John Phelan as Navy Secretary "The new [assessment] will allow Ranger course cadre to assess a potential Ranger candidate's ability to endure the physical intensity involved in the Ranger Course, thus reducing risk during the course," Jennifer Gunn, an Army spokesperson, told in a statement. The new measurement of fitness will comprise the following events, with students wearing the standard Army Combat Uniform and boots, within 14 minutes: 800-meter run 30 dead-stop push-ups 100-meter sprint An event in which students lift 16 40-pound sandbags onto a 68-inch platform 50-meter farmer's carry consisting of two five-gallon water cans weighing 40 pounds each 50-meter movement drill consisting of a 25-meter high crawl and 25-meter 3-5 second rush Another 800-meter run Once those events are complete, students will change into their physical fitness uniform and run four miles within 32 minutes. After the run, soldiers will perform six chin-ups. Previously, Ranger School students went through a special fitness test that consisted of at least 49 push-ups in two minutes, 59 sit-ups in two minutes, six chin-ups, and a 5-mile run within 40 minutes -- effectively a more demanding version of the Army Physical Fitness Test, or APFT, the service's old universal fitness test that is now obsolete. Meanwhile, the service is in the midst of revamping the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT -- the universal fitness assessment all soldiers are graded on. The Army faces a congressionally mandated deadline to adjust the standards for the test for combat-arms soldiers by June. Service planners are currently mulling various ways of shifting scoring standards and whether to add or take away events, multiple Army officials with direct knowledge of the planning have told Ranger School is a 62-day infantry leadership course based out of Fort Benning, Georgia, open to troops from each of the services. Related: How Do You Measure Up? Here's How Soldiers Are Scoring on the Army Combat Fitness Test.
