Jon DeYong adapts to any situation, and defuses adversity with a sense of humor. Change started early for Jon. At the age of six, he moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to New Zealand when Jon’s mother married a pilot with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Military influence started early too: when he later moved to Australia, he watched from his backyard as soldiers trained on practice towers to learn parachuting. Jon went to sixteen schools in nine years across three countries.
Schools in New Zealand and Australia held classes throughout the year without summer breaks. He progressed rapidly, which meant that often he was among the youngest-and smallest-at each level. Jon felt he always had to try harder than the others.
Jon came back to Michigan, and adjusted to Northview High School. He had already completed nearly all requirements except for American history and government classes. People were not sure what to make of the new kid with the unusual accent. When Jon shared with friends that he was considering joining the SEALs or Rangers, he was told “there was no way you could do that”. Jon only grew more determined.
Jon went to the Navy recruiter but they were unclear on how to sign someone for BUDS (this is a recurring theme in West Michigan, and happened to me as well). He went next door, and signed a RIP contract for the Ranger Indoctrination Program (now called RASP for the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program).
Basic infantry training and Airborne school were easy, but RIP “was when it really got tough”. The Ranger Regiment was at full strength. They made clear they did not need new recruits. Jon’s class was held during a cold winter. He remembers the instructors as exceptionally polite, inviting people coming in from snowy land nav (compass) courses and road marches to a welcoming bonfire where they could literally roast marshmallows and enjoy a steak dinner-if they quit.
Fifteen Soldiers were selected to join the Ranger Regiment out of 234 who tried. “With every fiber of your being you needed to want this”, Jon says, almost incongruously with his relaxed, laconic manner.
Jon went to the 2nd Ranger Battalion in Ft. Lewis, Washington. “I was scum of the earth”, he found, until he could earn a Ranger Tab by completing Ranger School. The smoking (hard PT) and hazing was constant. Jon treated it all with a sense of humor: when they made new privates buff the floor wearing nothing but their LCE (load carrying equipment, or web gear) and a bright orange VS-17 panel (used to signal aircraft), he filled the privates’ canteens with beer and laughed at the absurdity: “You had to make it fun. Anything can be changed by your mental attitude.”
The battalion held a Private Olympics to set an order of merit list to attend Ranger School. The Olympics stressed fitness with a twelve-mile road march, runs, swims, and more. He came in first. The First Sergeant told him bluntly “earn your (Ranger) tab, or don’t come back”.
Ranger School emphasizes leadership under conditions meeting or exceeding combat. On one level, Ranger School is about endless simulated raids, ambushes, and reconnaissance missions with limited food, little sleep and, for some, constant cold. In reality, Ranger School is about teamwork and leadership under stressful conditions.
Soldiers sometimes hallucinate at Ranger School. At one point, Jon’s platoon set up a patrol base, stopping in the Florida swamp to maintain their weapons and plan a mission while 50% of the Soldiers maintained security. One Soldier went out of the perimeter to relieve himself. Ranger students tie their belongings to themselves in order not to lose items when “droning”. This Soldier was “dummy-corded” to a M249 SAW, a light machine gun. However, the SAW turned into an alligator. The Soldier ran screaming through the patrol base, with his pants partially down, while pulling behind him the attacking alligator. Eventually someone tackled him. Jon started laughing. Even the instructors had to admit it was rather funny, and the episode was forgotten.
Jon kept seeing a pink Energizer bunny moving alongside in the woods: still going, still going… He was stung by a scorpion, and the medic gave him a massive dose of Benadryl. To assess whether he could continue, Jon was given a simple task: walk across a clearing. As the Benadryl flooded his exhausted body, he staggered through “the longest, most difficult walk in my life.” Jon later broke his wrist, and kept it to himself in order not to fail a phase. In my experience, about 2-3% of students complete Ranger School with no recycles, or repeating a phase. Jon was one.
Returning to 2nd Battalion, Jon immediately deployed to Afghanistan. His deployments included Iraq, and then again to Afghanistan. While in Iraq, he was part of the mission to rescue Jessica Lynch. He led the personal security detail for the Regimental Commander. He remembers the mission “was planned old-school style, just like Ranger School. There wasn’t a laptop in sight.” The Regiment is famous for rigorously detailed planning, which makes Jon proud.
The Iraqis fired on the Rangers’ helicopters as they descended near the hospital holding Lynch. An “import”, meaning a senior sergeant who had transferred from another unit, lost his nerve. Jon pulled him physically out of the helicopter.
The actual rescue of Lynch was uneventful. However, Iraqis at the hospital told the rescuers about American bodies buried nearby. A core part of the Soldier’s Creed is never to leave a fallen comrade. The Rangers rushed to dig up the badly decomposed bodies. Jon remembers bringing back these fallen Soldiers as the hardest thing he has done: “three steps forward, throw up, three steps forward, throw up”. He’s only partially referring to the physical aspect, but at the thought that these men had died badly and then thrown in shallow graves. “But you had to do this. This is your job. It’s gonna happen.”
Jon remembers Pat Tillman joining his platoon. Tillman was older and brought more life experience than other new privates. “He was sensible”. Tillman was also physically huge. At one point on an operation, when an explosive charge failed to breach a door, Tillman put his head down and charged, spearing the door like a quarterback.
After three combat deployments, Jon wanted to marry and have a family life. He returned to Grand Rapids and earned a degree in criminal justice. He worked for a while, and joined the 1-125 IN, an infantry battalion with the Michigan National Guard. This unit “deploys, deploys, deploys”, Jon says, as often as active duty units and performs to the same standard.
Jon continues to serve. Soldiers in the National Guard lack the support available on active duty. Frequent deployments can affect civilian careers. Many turned to Jon, with his broad experience, for advice. Helping younger Soldiers resonated with Jon. He was invited to join the S1, or personnel, team for his unit in a full time role. Jon and his wife just brought home a newborn baby girl, and Jon focuses professionally on recruiting and guiding the next generation of Soldiers.