DEFENSE / Army trainees complete grueling 10-day Ranger training in Taichung

Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) A group of Army trainees recently completed a grueling Ranger field training session in the mountainous areas of Taichung, where they endured rugged terrain, extreme fatigue and limited sleep while carrying heavy packs and equipment, according to a Military News Agency (MNA) report released Sunday.

The group consisted of a dozen trainees when the 10-day-9-night session began at the Army Special Forces Training Center in the rural Guguan area in the central Taiwan city, the MNA reported. The MND did not disclose the exact date of the session for security reasons.

Trainees were required to conduct patrols, ambushes, raids, searches and urban special forces combat in rough terrain, with each carrying 40 kilogram of equipment to test their tactical operations and survival skills, the report said.

At each stage of the session, each trainee was tested as a leader, it added.

In accordance with scenarios for the session, trainees were asked to climb over Mt. A-leng (阿冷山) to join allied forces. They needed to survey the mountainous area and use maps and a compass to find their way to their assigned destination point, the report said.

At the height of their physical and mental stress with extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation, trainees were ordered to launch a counterstrike against hypothetical enemy forces in the woods, pushing soldiers to their breaking point.

In conclusion, they needed to return to their original concealed position via rivers-crossing, it added.

Ultimately, only seven of the trainees passed the 10-day training session. They jumped from a 22-meter-tall parachute tower to symbolize their resolution in completing the required tests and received an Army Rangers' badge.

According to the Army, the training session is modeled after United States Ranger School and has been in place for more than 60 years.