Alex Brandon/AP
- A former head of US Special Operations Command weighed in on the debate over Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton’s service record.
- After an article questioned Cotton’s characterizations of himself as an Army Ranger, Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, told him he shouldn’t call himself a Ranger.
- Retired Gen. Raymond Thomas, a former Ranger who commanded SOCOM, called the debate “dumb” and told Crow that he needs to focus on more important things.
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A former head of US Special Operations Command called out a Democratic lawmaker on social media for questioning a congressional colleague’s military service.
Following the publication of an article from Salon this weekend that reported that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is not actually a Ranger despite campaigning on “his experience as a US Army Ranger,” Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, took a shot at his Republican colleague.
“Unless you wore one of these berets you shouldn’t be calling yourself a Ranger,” Crow wrote in a tweet accompanied by a photo of himself in the tan beret worn by Rangers. “Truth matters,” he said.
Cotton attended the challenging US Army Ranger School and obtained the Ranger tab, but the senator served with the 101st Airborne. Crow, on the other hand, served with SOCOM’s 75th Ranger Regiment – an elite group whose capabilities rival those of Delta Force and Navy SEALs.
Technically, the requirement for a soldier to be considered a “Ranger,” according to the Army, is serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment. That said, an Army general told Ranger School graduates in 2015 that they “carry the title of Ranger,” suggesting some flexibility in the term’s usage.
The 75th Ranger Regiment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Being an Army Ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment and earning a Ranger tab are often confused and sometimes used interchangeably, even among service members.
While the distinction is rarely brought up outside of military circles, it has been debated among veterans and encapsulates the nuances of military service. Most soldiers have neither completed Ranger School nor served with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Both are considered to be a significant accomplishment in the Army, but many Army officers attain the Ranger tab and most of them will never serve in the elite unit.
Cotton's communications director told Insider over the weekend that he did not mischaracterize his service. Cotton's biography on his website does not identify him as a Ranger.
Retired Gen. Raymond Thomas, a former Army Ranger and a SOCOM commander, tweeted at the Democratic lawmaker on Sunday, arguing that the debate over Cotton's military service is "dumb" given the many more pressing issues facing the country.
The retired general told Crow to act like a congressman, writing that he needs "to focus on more important things for the good of the nation."
—Tony Thomas (@TonyT2Thomas) January 24, 2021
"I hope they fulfill their elected role to lead this country," he wrote in a follow-on tweet. "Hope they don't waste time on petty issues like this with so much at stake."
The social media Thomas directed at Crow on Sunday is not the first time the retired general has weighed in on the actions of former special operations members who are serving in Congress.
In December, he characterized a fake action video advertisement of Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw parachuting into a one man battle against supposed Antifa activists ahead of Georgia's Senate run-offs, as "embarrassing."
Thomas said he thought it was a "Saturday Night Live" or "Comedy Central" skit until he realized it was "just the base(r) level our political environment slips to with each succeeding day."