This National Guardsman tore through Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools in a single year
Story by Max Hauptman • Yesterday 1:35 PM
Pfc. Cooper Hayes has had a busy year. In the past 11 months, he has graduated from the U.S. Army’s Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools while assigned to C Company, 2-116th Combined Arms Battalion — the sole infantry company in the Idaho Army National Guard.
Hayes, currently enrolled as a student at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, enlisted in the Guard in October 2021. He took a semester off from school to complete his One Station Unit Training (OSUT) as a light infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia, graduating on June 17. While there, he was offered the chance to attend Ranger School after OSUT.
“I wanted to challenge myself and be the best Soldier I can be,” Hayes said in a recent press release. “So I decided to take another semester off and go to Ranger School. It sucked in the moment, but it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/this-national-guardsman-tore-through-ranger-airborne-and-air-assault-schools-in-a-single-year/ar-AA15xrHo?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d3fda049a231497688771dac9f5d3c38
