Ranger Trainees-watch out!

[trilobyte]

I absolutely don't doubt anything MDF saw or experienced.... but also, please know that if someone is working medical, they or someone else on shift should be able to radio for assistance. I don't know the MURS channel assignments or anything, but do understand that ESD comms are capable of connecting with ranger comms. If a post is dark and someone is looking for a ranger, have someone at ESD call that in.

Obviously, it's impossible for a group of people on a message board 10+ months later to know what the situation was at the time. Just as easily as it could be that someone was shirking, it could be that resources were stretched thin or backup was being called.

As for there being rangers out there who may be jerks, I don't doubt it. Sometimes even good people have bad days (or nights), and sometime people in positions of authority/service overstep those bounds. I will say that the OVERWHELMING majority of rangers (both on and off duty) I've interacted with in the last decade have been really good people who work hard to be helpful, and to help mediate tense situations. If you do have a bad experience, do try and document the details. Then, as soon as you're able let the team know via [email protected].

I'll also point out that, within the last couple years, the Black Rock Rangers has raised the minimum bar for new recruits. Now, instead of just taking anyone who's been to the burn once before, new recruits must have attended at least twice (and at least one of those times in the last ten years). Speaking personally I think that's a good move, and one other teams and departments could probably benefit from adopting.

If you think you can do as good or better a job, consider becoming a ranger! As many comments in this thread can attest, they need more people. Check out their site for more information, both about rangers in general and about becoming a ranger yourself.

[theCryptofishist]

Am I understanding this correctly, the accessible portaloos are kept locked to reserve them for those who actually need them? How does one get a key then? The logiciatics of that sound kinda problematic. Or is there some sort of universal accessible toilet access key that all people who need it are issued with in the US, like the special keys for electrical distribution cupboards that the fire department have?

As FIGJAM said, it's combo and given out freely to those in wheelchairs. I don't know how those with less obvious movement issues get them.

[Jovankat]

That's cool. I just would have assumed they were a free for all. The combo lock system sounds simple and easy and could make a huge different for those folks who can't use the regular portos. When it works though I guess...

[goathead]

ranger training is designed to wash a lot of people out. not because they are bad people or anything like that.
most of the ranger I know spend the majority of the burn working, just the way it is.

[MyDearFriend]

... spend the majority of the burn working ...

Well, I think that is a big mistake. People can work anywhere. If you are not coming to the Burn to BURN, then, are you a participant or a spectator? And the determinant is the attitude. If it's Us (Rangers, Gate, EMS or whatever) versus Them ("Participants"), I wish you (not you personally but generic YOU) I wish you would just stay home.

Community is one of our basic principles. Be a member of our community. Open your heart. Step out of your mental comfort zone. Dream, do, build, be... work as a community.

I tell you what, working med shifts without that invisible us/them barrier is a glorious experience.

[remi]

Community is one of our basic principles. Be a member of our community. Open your heart. Step out of your mental comfort zone. Dream, do, build, be... work as a community.

I think their should be skill testing questions about the basic principles in order to purchase a ticket...

[goathead]

open my heart to rangers? NEVER, I know those bastards, beer swilling sluts they are.

[graidawg]

I do get what the op means, when i did my ranger mentor shift, it was all about pulling people up for things they hadn't done (tennis balls on rebar kind of thing). the mento shift is 6 hours from 10am to 4pm walking around in the sun - with no advice. After a year of thinking about it i have decided not sign back up for ranger training. they literally do nothing i would not do as a participant burner and shy away from many things i normal concerned citizen would do. like ask someone if they are ok if they see a police/ burner interaction that seems a bit "off".
the thing that got me most though was having been told i had failedfor being "too burnerey" (yea mdf was talking about me) i got no advice on how to be"more rangery".

personally i think rangers have forgotten why they started, to save those in trouble and become part of the ORG. they are concerned about camp safety, knowing where you are moop and registration for art cars. almost none of the mentor shift seemed interested in looking for people in trouble, or interation - i actually got told off for going to see people in a large camp i knew and asking how thing where, any issues they were aware of and letting them know i was doing a ranger shift. so should i pass they would know where one was.
In 3 years I have met 4 rangers (apart from my training) 1 comes by a friends camp with his ranger top on - i have never seen him working. 1 i found out was a ranger when i mentioned i had failed my ranger training and last year 2 stopped at my tent to mention something, neither introduced themself nor did they chat, they said their bit and fucked off.
so yea, don't think being a ranger at BM is anything to do with making peoples burn go better, its more to do with making sure BMORG doesn't get sued.

[FIGJAM]

Some how this doesn't describe the rangers I've met.

"Black Rock Rangers


Black Rock Rangers are participants who volunteer a portion of their time at Burning Man in service of the safety and well-being of the Burning Man community. Rangers act as non-confrontational community mediators, providers of reliable information, facilitators of public safety (with the expectation that everybody read the back of their ticket, of course!), and navigators of the edge of chaos.

Day or night, pairs of Rangers can be found walking and bicycling the streets of Black Rock City, engaging with the community, enjoying the art, and always ready to help sort things out."

"Among their many duties, Rangers:
•Provide outreach and education to help Burners acculturate to Burning Man
•Act as an information resource to the community
•Respond to emergencies and help get the appropriate resources to the scene
•Reunite lost children with their family
•Help disoriented participants get back to their camp mates
•Listen to participants who are having a particularly rough day
•Facilitate problem solving, mediation, and conflict resolution (without telling people what to do) "

[goathead]

I do get what the op means, when i did my ranger mentor shift, it was all about pulling people up for things they hadn't done (tennis balls on rebar kind of thing). the mento shift is 6 hours from 10am to 4pm walking around in the sun - with no advice. After a year of thinking about it i have decided not sign back up for ranger training. they literally do nothing i would not do as a participant burner and shy away from many things i normal concerned citizen would do. like ask someone if they are ok if they see a police/ burner interaction that seems a bit "off".
the thing that got me most though was having been told i had failedfor being "too burnerey" (yea mdf was talking about me) i got no advice on how to be"more rangery".

personally i think rangers have forgotten why they started, to save those in trouble and become part of the ORG. they are concerned about camp safety, knowing where you are moop and registration for art cars. almost none of the mentor shift seemed interested in looking for people in trouble, or interation - i actually got told off for going to see people in a large camp i knew and asking how thing where, any issues they were aware of and letting them know i was doing a ranger shift. so should i pass they would know where one was.
In 3 years I have met 4 rangers (apart from my training) 1 comes by a friends camp with his ranger top on - i have never seen him working. 1 i found out was a ranger when i mentioned i had failed my ranger training and last year 2 stopped at my tent to mention something, neither introduced themself nor did they chat, they said their bit and fucked off.
so yea, don't think being a ranger at BM is anything to do with making peoples burn go better, its more to do with making sure BMORG doesn't get sued.

Fool you should have asked first..

[andy]

"That was just a trick. This is my camp. Go ahead and eat and drink but don’t tell anyone.”

I think the OP was offended by being misled by the trainer but in this case it seems like a good way to do it. Make sure that they are not tempted to accepted food or drink, but do it in a way that the trainer secretly knows is safe should they fail.

[lucky420]

I have no personal interest in being a ranger but if I had and had experienced any of the bullshit mentioned here in training I would've given the ranger trainers a hardy "fuck you, I'm out".

[ranger magnum]

First and foremost, I truly feel for the OP. If you want to talk about it further, please pm me.

And Figgy, I was the 3rd Ranger you met who got on the radio. I remember that I couldn't get anyone to do anything about it...

[GreyCoyote]

"That was just a trick. This is my camp. Go ahead and eat and drink but don’t tell anyone.”

There are at least four fatal mistakes in that sentence.

1). The trainer planted the seeds of mistrust. "That was just a trick". As your brothers-in-arms will tell you, you must, MUST, have absolute trust in those around you and up and down the chain.

2). The trainer planted the seed of being above the "law". He encouraged them to do something wrong: "Go ahead and eat and drink" was wrong 10 minutes ago, and will be wrong 10 minutes from now, so its wrong NOW.

3). The trainer planted the seeds of conspiracy in his charges. "Don't tell anyone". So it's okay to break the rules as long as nobody finds out?

4). The trainer planted the seeds of erosion of command. He was saying that you must obey the rules, except for the rules I tell you are okay to break, for as long I say it's ok. This is no longer a disciplined team. It is instead a mindless band of thugs that have become a personal extension of the trainers ego and whims.

This example doesn't show leadership. It shows a festering ego mixed with clueless stupidity. The person who "taught" this lesson to his charges should be removed from his duties. The trainees who accepted this lesson and didn't report it up the chain should be marked as ineligible and discharged from training.

You can only effectively lead based on mutual trust, mutual respect, and personal honor. These charges should be able to recount every lesson ever taught to them and never be forced to flinch once. The "lesson" above is a textbook example of someone doing it wrong because HE was trained wrong. This reflects on all Rangers, and especially on whatever passes in the Ranger ranks as "Command". Hopefully someone is taking notes here.

[goathead]

open my heart to rangers? NEVER, I know those bastards, beer swilling sluts they are.

snicker...... goatahead..........

[FIGJAM]

First and foremost, I truly feel for the OP. If you want to talk about it further, please pm me.

And Figgy, I was the 3rd Ranger you met who got on the radio. I remember that I couldn't get anyone to do anything about it...

Thank you for trying to help, I truly appreciated it.

I was really just looking for information which is part of the job description, and you really tried.

Thank you again!!!

[Jovankat]

... spend the majority of the burn working ...

Well, I think that is a big mistake. People can work anywhere. If you are not coming to the Burn to BURN, then, are you a participant or a spectator?

I would totally class working ranger shifts as participating, just like any of the other on playa volunteer roles.

[MyDearFriend]

... spend the majority of the burn working ...

Well, I think that is a big mistake. People can work anywhere. If you are not coming to the Burn to BURN, then, are you a participant or a spectator?

I would totally class working ranger shifts as participating, just like any of the other on playa volunteer roles.

True, but not in any way relevant to what I said.

I have no personal interest in being a ranger but if I had and had experienced any of the bullshit mentioned here in training I would've given the ranger trainers a hardy "fuck you, I'm out".

Exactly.

[Elderberry]

open my heart to rangers? NEVER, I know those bastards, beer swilling sluts they are.

Lots of them are left wing liberals too!!!

[The Hustler]

Try a carriage return ... this is painful to read.

[The Hustler]

They're combo locks and the people who need them are given the combo.

That's what I've been told, but haven't seen a lock yet.

[Thread drift] The magic portashits behind Media Mecca had padlocks and we all had combinations. They were in the shade and sparkling clean.

[returning to thread] I had a problem in 2012 that seemed like a ranger thing, but I couldn't find one. I gave up.

I was thinking earlier that it might be fun to apply to be a ranger. If I can deal with horrible, self-righteous rednecks and hipsters in Austin and the yelling and boredom of Air Force basic training (we were kept a wake a lot, yelled at, childish psychology games and learned to roll tshirts) then I'm pretty sure I can handle the training.

[1durphul]

I'm hearing a lot of things on this thread.

From the OP, I'm hearing that OP did not communicate well with their mentor. I also read in OP's story that OP failed a critical component of being on a team: the being on the team part. If OP was stopping every few feet to pickup MOOP when the team has a stated goal of getting to the Mentor's camp to get a morning beer, OP was in effect making the team's goal more difficult to achieve (trivial as that goal may have been.) OP also brought a bicycle, which is a lot to lug around, and requires securing from theft whenever the group goes into a camp. If OP needed a bicycle for being a ranger, OP may have run afoul of the physical requirements for the job. While some roles can surely be down without being on your feet, there may be requirements that those roles be filled by somebody who has had the experience of having been on patrol. OP also jumped to a big assumption about anti-LGBT bias. I happen to know several gay rangers, being that I'm gay and have camped with large gay camps for 10 years. That part of OPs complaint is pure bullshit.

From other commenters in this thread there seems to be valid complaints that the BRR are dipping too far into the stern behavior on the Friendly <--> Stern spectrum that any figure in authority must use. It sounds a lot like the BRRs are starting at Stern rather than Friendly. That is a real problem that the BRR should address.

I'm also hearing from other commenters that the Ranger's have some sort of organizational entropy. It sounds like it might be time for the BORG to have a trusted reviewer go through the list of Ranger's and cull from the existing Ranger base to bring it back in line with the stated mission of that organization. Every organization with any sort of perceived authority should seek to get rid of the bullies and egotists. If you don't you end up with something akin to modern american law enforcement agencies, where it is less about protecting and serving the public, and more about protecting and serving yourself.

[GreyCoyote]

From other commenters in this thread there seems to be valid complaints that the BRR are dipping too far into the stern behavior on the Friendly <--> Stern spectrum that any figure in authority must use. It sounds a lot like the BRRs are starting at Stern rather than Friendly. That is a real problem that the BRR should address.

I'm also hearing from other commenters that the Ranger's have some sort of organizational entropy. It sounds like it might be time for the BORG to have a trusted reviewer go through the list of Ranger's and cull from the existing Ranger base to bring it back in line with the stated mission of that organization. Every organization with any sort of perceived authority should seek to get rid of the bullies and egotists. If you don't you end up with something akin to modern american law enforcement agencies, where it is less about protecting and serving the public, and more about protecting and serving yourself.

In light of the current events happening here in the USA, these two paragraphs are particularly well-timed. BRR's leadership may want to watch and learn. These types of lessons are expensive and painful, but sometimes if we watch quietly and think about them in a more personal context, they can be a stimulus to fix similar problems before they erupt.

[Captain Goddammit]

I've been through Ranger training several times. I thought it was fun.

[1durphul]

Back when I was a LA County Lifeguard we went through a 4 week training that was part bootcamp, part competition for the job. (You were only "hired" if you completed the 4th week, and ranked in the top xx% of the class.)

The Ranger mentor shift sounds a lot to me like a very abbreviated version of what I went through to become a guard. All of us in that class were thick as thieves after that. There is something to be said about the shared experience of going through something challenging to really bond a group of people.

I still remember though that there were certain instructors that saw that 4 week period as more of an opportunity to haze than an opportunity to bond. It turned out those same instructors were shit lifeguards. More interested in looking at tits in bikinis than swimmers on the verge of distress. They were even worse leaders, abusing their authority for whatever whim they had.

It would almost be nice for the BMorg to send some knowledgable people through the recruitment process of the BRR so that they can weed out leaders who are on the wrong path, and either demote or remove them from BRR.

I know after reading the comments from people I respect in this thread that I would be less likely to trust the Black Rock Rangers to actually assist me. (I also feel like I should join them!)

[Lord Of Ruin]

I'll make a few overarching comments:

The Rangers do their best to weed out people that are authority seekers. Some mask it well, and for some it only emerges after they've become empowered. There are disciplinary protocols, but unless specific and timely feedback is given to the Rangers as an Org, little can be done to correct such things.

The training/alpha/mentoring process has changed a lot over the years. Depending on when your story is from, it could vary widely from what happens now during that process.

It's true that the overall engagement could end up being around 12 hours. Unless there is an emergency that requires the alphas to help out (lost child comes to mind), it would never consist of a "double shift" or anything close to the 12 or 14 hours being cited. Even if the shift DOES go long, it would never be that much time of walking/on patrol, again excepting emergencies.

On how/why people were bonked: As you can imagine, you'll only get a tidy revision of why someone was bonked if you're hearing it from a participant. And the mentors won't discuss it with anyone besides the participant, so we're in a quandary. I have yet to hear anyone that got bonked say: "You know, they told me I wasn't Ranger-y enough because I couldn't figure out how to use a radio, I couldn't find my ass with two hands while walking the city, and they didn't like how I pinched that one girl's ass as she walked by. Fucking nazis!" What they'll tell you, their friend, is: "They bonked me because I was too busy trying to help people!"

On staffing the outposts: I'm wondering when the time was that you say the outpost go unstaffed? I'm wondering if some of it might have been pre/post event? It would be exceedingly rare, unless they were totally shorthanded, to leave the outpost completely unmanned. But patrol would take precedence.

Figjam, I don't doubt your story, but here's what I've been thinking: You reached out to the Rangers about trying to figure out a lock problem for the portos that differ than the "norm" in Black Rock City. They are designed to cater to a subset of people, of which you (or your niece) are a member. Yet YOU didn't even know the how/why of it. Yet you're angry that the Rangers you met, and anyone that was within radio range on that shift, had no idea either. I find that interesting. Would you be angry if you went to the nearest camp to the portos in question and THEY didn't know? Are Rangers supposed to know everything? Or is it the seeming lack of giving a shit that pissed you off? To be frank, It doesn't seem like you gave a shit enough to find out when you arrived on playa first thing how the special portos worked either. You also complain about having to clean a dirty porto for your niece. Is this a surprise to you that portos at a festival are funky as hell? You're a very experienced burner...how is that a surprise to you? It seems like you had counted on having a sort of private lavatory for her to make her experience better. Hell, I share that sentiment...I've been bringing my own fucking tolet since my first year in 2007 because of it.

MDF, It's interesting that because the Rangers were unable to connect to a resource, you judge them as having lost their connection to the community. To put it in perspective, you're talking about a community the size of Mountain View, CA (if you're a Bay area person). Can you tell me the number for the head of sanitation for Mountain View off the top of your head, with no Google capability? Or can you name the person in that role in your own community?

Again, I think that some Ranger definitely drift out of the profile for the right balance of helping and allowing people to have their experience. But I also think that the community expectation has drifted for the Rangers as well, and are quite disappointed when they aren't the playa concierges they had hoped for.

[theCryptofishist]

For what it's worth, a ranger came up to me and volunteered the lock code no problem. If I couldn't get what I wanted from the rangers, I'd go across the street and ask ESD. Partly because I came into the event through ESD and I respect them. And partly because I know they could hook me up in an emergency. Then at least I'd have time to go to Ranger HQ and ask there.

Who is supposed to be giving out the code, if not the rangers?

[Jovankat]

I needed a Ranger one morning but found the 3:00 portal outpost completely abandoned. To be fair it was just after sunrise though. I went across the road and had ESD put a radio call out for me and about 10 minutes later two on a buggy showed up and were as helpful as they could be given my request.

[dusty hill]

The OP has made some salient points.

I have alphaed twice and been bonked twice. I had also attended training a few other years besides.... Yeah, I have alot of ranger friends, so I find myself surrounded by them much of the year.

I'm using a "pen name" for this because I don't want anyone to know that it's me writing it.

The first bonking was probably my fault. It was years ago, and a super hot day, and I did not have enough sleep, wasn't prepared well enough for a long day on the hoof in terms of sustenance, and both mentors had chosen arduous marches. They say "Ranger the shade", and I've talked to other alphas that barely left HQ and walked around center camp talking to people, while we marched out to greeters and around the city, then followed it up with a walk out to the temple and back down thru the city. As a guy that prefers not to be awake early in the heat of the day on playa, it was tough. It was a really hot day (near 100 F) Would have been easy to ranger that on a bike though. I was dragging at the end of the day (low blood sugar issue, I knew better) and I was bonked. First time in my adult life that I had been excluded from something, and that really stung. As a hard-working person and experienced outdoorsperson with mountaineering experience and somewhat used to long, arduous days, it just didn't make sense.

In my defense, one of the things that I was dinged for was radio use. They radio we had to share was defective, the switch on the remote mic was intermittent. So you'd press it and start talking, and then someone would bust in because you weren't actually keying it up, even though you were depressing the button. It worked for a few and didn't work for a few, but my Mentor couldn't wrap his brain around that. Later in the week, I ran into the other mentor, and he told me that he cried that night after bonking me, he really thought that I had what it takes but I ran out of juice at the end (a bit of heat fatigue), and while he was willing to chalk that up to conditioning and the hot day, he couldn't convince the other mentor that I had what it takes. He saw the radio issue as ineptitude and that was that. I got on with it and had a great burn!!

FYI, I would never sign up for a dirt shift during day time unless it was necessary, because out there that's when I sleep, like the rest of the desert creatures.

I went to another few trainings over the next few years and then had to cancel my alpha shift 2 or 3 times. One year, I was too busy with work and barely made it to the playa at all, and the others I had a knee surgery which was plaguing me at that point and though I went to training, I could barely walk at the event.

The second bonk, I was really quite upset about. They had "changed" in that, as the OP described they weren't taking as many candidates as before, and likewise, many of the former mentors had quit mentoring because they just didn't like the new way of mentoring that was developing. I have mad and vast respect for the old skool rangers, I am fortunate enough to call some of them my best friends. But there is a "new school" of rangers that are way more boy scout, way more, corporate and "hall monitor". I definitely do NOT fit in that mold at all. Some of my old skool friends who are still very active rangers have admitted that there are less than desireable changes happening..... It's deviating from the original vision of Danger Ranger.

I had learned from my past mistakes, and I went to sleep the night before at 10pm and arrived well rested, hydrated, fed, and supplied. Far as I'm concerned, I performed very well, but the "gotchas" were in full force....

At the man, the mentor pointed out a location on the esplanade, and asked where were and how would you refer to that location. Silence from our group, so I responded with "well I know where it is, but how would you guys say it on the radio?" See, there's kind of a strict protocol using the radio - and I was just asking him, "how would you say it on the radio". We were at the man, looking to the left of center camp at about 4:45. It seemed like a worthwhile question - I've never been one to assume anything. While I was getting bonked, he said "you didn't seem to know where you were in the city" which was complete BS. I've never EVER been lost in that city. So there was a gotcha.

One of the other mentors, had obviously gotten out of bed to make it to HQ and was hungover. Like the OP, his main mission was to walk us to his camp (one of the outposts) so that he could get some food in him. Which he did, while we were waiting. He barely talked at all, barely enlightened us at all, and all of us were pretty underwhelmed by his performance. Lots and lots of silence for those few hours.... Spoke when spoken to, and gave short curt answers, like he didn't want to be there. Honestly I'm not sure how he could even gauge us at all with a fair shake. We did some radio work at this time and I nailed every exchange. I don't think there was a gotcha.

The third mentor, bragged the whole time about doing "takedowns".... No, rangers aren't allowed to do such except for a small group of them, which are trained for errant moonwalkers inside the burn perimeter during the man burn. Probably a good idea. But he was doing much less mentoring and lots more boasting about doing takedowns at his defaultia job as a bouncer or some shit. He sent us on some sort of scavenger hunt to see how resourceful we could be. Easy Peasy, I got the critical piece of stuff we needed from ESD while he was taking a shit or something. We spent like an hour doing that, and were successful.

So we were "mentored" and now we needed to be measured. I finished the day with plenty of energy, had nailed my radio interactions, had done absolutely everything the mentors threw at me. I was finally going to be one of the gang, and there were several eager ranger friends that were looking forward to my joining them.

Guess what? Bonk O Rama. Bonked again. "We just don't feel that you're quite ready" "You're invited to try again in a few years"
ME: In what specific way? I nailed all my radio comm and interacted with you mentors, I talked to participants when you guys asked, I walked all day....
"We just don't think you're ready"
ME: Come on, there has to be some specific reason you're bonking me a second time
"Well you didn't seem to know where you were"
ME: Nonsense, I asked you how you would communicate it on the radio, I didn't ask you where I was....and I said as much at the time.
"Well our consensus is that you're not ready for this".
And this time, I walked away mad. I'm a person filled with a great deal of introspection. I did not mess up anything that you wouldn't chalk up to "it's your first day" sort of thing. Can't say for sure that I "nailed it" because there's not really any objectivity - there's probably a few categories they judge but in the end, it's all subjective.

The next day, I saw a girl (a pretty one) that was in one of my mentor groups, that had been accepted! SHE, could not use the radio in our group radio usage before we started walking, AT ALL. Constantly blew it, blew it, blew it. FAIL. And I had been bonked the first time, in part, for radio trouble they attributed to my lack of skill (and I have a HAM radio license)

Same girl.........I was talking to a ranger acquaintance later in the week, and he was assigned to walk with her on shift. She was terrible. They started on bikes. She couldn't ride a bike, her butt hurt or something and so he was forced to abandon his bike and walk. They encountered a stricken girl, that probably needed a green dot (psych ranger). He turned his back for a second and she totally mishandled the situation. I will not write what she did but it was totally inappropriate and reckless.... In the end, he left her in the dust for the remainder of the shift and was severely reprimanded for leaving his partner during a shift. But he did not know what else to do. Thought she might be altered.

So look, sure, sour grapes, I've done my best to tone it down and it's been a some years. I do not have vitriol to spew against my friends, friends being the rangers. But I'm not making a shred of this up. I can tell you, that there is no "cronyism" because if there was, I'd have been rangering for years already.... They don't care who you know, or perhaps that was my problem, that they didn't want it to have the appearance of cronyism.... My ranger friends were all pretty much shocked that I was bonked again. They all know me very well, and we burn together a few weeks a year and they know my qualities. "I can't believe you got bonked, wtf is going on? You're exactly what we need MORE of...."

They all asked me questions and to be honest they all started to wonder just what the fuck is going on in their ranks.

One of them told me that he stopped mentoring, for this exact reason. He said "it's not mentoring, it's judging. rangering isn't rocket science, most anyone can be taught how to do it right" He felt that the current selection process was pretty misleading, because in fact, they DON'T select many new rangers each year anymore. The majority ARE bonked. They do sorta allude to that, but for example, when I saw how altered ranger girl performed on the radio, she should have been bonked immediately, after all, it IS a criteria that is important to rangering, and I had been falsely judged on my radio aptitude the first time I was bonked.

There are many rangers that became a ranger long ago before this current version of the selection process that couldn't walk a day in the dust anymore. A few come to mind, that only do like ONE shift a year to remain active. To my knowledge there's no more testing after you become a ranger, like cops or military having to prove you can still cope with the physical demands. Once you are in, you're in for life. I think you can even reactivate after an absence without much trouble.

To the ranger that posted, I do not believe that there is any longer a separate process available to alpha into the rangers for echelon or HQ jobs. Years ago, there was, and you could basically become a member of the rangers and not even do a dirt shift. I know these people and they are lovely people. But I had asked that same question during the years I was lame from injury and the answer was NO. It doesn't matter that you would do your shifts on a bike, trike, motor scooter, or the echelon trucks. You have to walk it and make it. AND, as I have explained doing that and doing it well is no longer the "secret sauce" that will get you into their ranks.

I'm not sure what that is, but I don't have it and neither do most. I don't know what horrible radio girl had that I don't have, but that pretty much showed me that the mentoring process is deeply, deeply flawed. Somehow she made it thru and I didn't.

My personal opinion, is that they need to revamp that process completely. First, if you are going to be so fucking choosy, most likely because there are already ENOUGH rangers, consider:

1) Do Not recruit any new Rangers, until you have the room for them. Like in defaultia, don't interview people for a job that does not exist!

2) Consider culling your roster of "barely active" rangers.... There are plenty that do only the bare minimum.... And some that are not up to the physical demands when they are on a dirt shift...

3) Do some "pre-interviewing", testing?, or at least, look at a dang resume or something. How the heck can you evaluate someone's skills and temperament when you don't really know them? By spending one or two hours with them in the desert? Especially when your mentors are going thru the motions, perhaps because they know they are going to have to bonk 90% of these people that REALLY REALLY want to join the rangers and contribute to BRC?

4) Why not a referral program? I hate to make another parallel to defaultia, but many many companies, ESPECIALLY those with the very best minds, give their employees FAT bonuses to bring friends and colleagues of similar skill, temperament, etc into the fold. Sure, they still have to be evaluated but at least you sort of know what you're getting, from a trusted source.

5) Lastly, how about a probationary season? Say you've used one of the above methods outlined to choose a prospective ranger. Well, give them a *chance* to prove that they can cut it! Not just two hours of blindsided gotcha bullshit, but an actual 3-4 shifts in a week, actually mentoring them, and figuring out if they are a fast learner and can come up to speed to do the job right. That would be the epitome of fairness, if they go thru all the trouble to travel to training, and and commit to it, give them a fighting chance that is more objective and more "show me what you can do"....

Anyway, that was longer than expected but dang, I really needed to get that off my chest. I really really wanted to be a BRR and I know that I would have been a good one. And so do my veteran ranger friends. Movin on, I have already found something else to do on playa, and something I'm sure I'll get more appreciation for. But the flaws in the mentoring/alpha program are obvious, and hopefully can be fixed.

Peace

[dusty hill]

Oh, and by the way, unless things have really really changed, I don't believe the posters that said it took 12 hours to do alpha.... That is an exaggeration.

Also, the water being for "rangers only"? Nonsense. While I don't doubt you're repeating what you were told, I just don't believe it. Perhaps you were speaking about walking in off the street and poaching water from their supply, but during a ranger shift, alpha or otherwise, you are encouraged to resupply your water always. Shut up and drink some water already.

DH