Ranger Up is an American apparel company that is owned and operated by military veterans. Their T-shirt designs typically involve themes from the armed forces, mixed martial arts, and historical figures.

History

The company was founded in 2006 by Nick Palmisciano, a former

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

infantry officer and Tim Kennedy an

Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

veteran. While working on his

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Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, Palmisciano began making T-shirts for ROTC students and selling them to military personnel as a way to stay connected to the community. In 2014, the brand was among the top 1,000 internet vendors and has utilized its success to run programs for other veteran entrepreneurs. According to its founders, a goal of Ranger Up is to empower other veterans to share their skills and talent with the private sector. They launched their line of Ranger Up Jeans in 2013 with the help of celebrity veterans like

Brian Stann Brian Michael Stann (born September 24, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist and U.S. Marine who competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was also a colo ...

. The company had stopped selling jeans by 2017. In 2014, the company started a "vetrepreneur" program that entailed hiring veterans for one year, and then backing their start-up venture for another six months. In 2016, the company was worth $20 million.

The Rhino Den

Ranger Up started a website called The Rhino Den as a place for the staff to share stories about their military experience. It has covered topics such as the

United States federal government shutdown of 2013 From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim ...

and how it affected military families to

United States military veteran suicide United States military veteran suicideFebruary 1, 2013. Ed PilkingtonUS military struggling to stop suicide epidemic among war veterans ''The Guardian.'' Retrieved: 23 May 2014. is an ongoing phenomenon regarding the high rate of suicide among U.S ...

s. As of July 2021, the website has been offline.

''Range 15''

In 2015, Ranger Up collaborated with another veteran-run apparel company, Article 15 Clothing (now out of business), to produce the feature-length

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

film, ''

Range 15 ''Range 15'' is a zombie comedy film. Released on June 15, 2016, the movie is a collaboration between the veteran-run, military-themed apparel companies Ranger Up and Article 15 Clothing, and stars many of their staff members. The movie was prod ...

''. The movie cost $1.8 million to make, with $1.1 million raised via crowdfunding on Indiegogo. Range 15 premiered at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C., where it took the GI Choice Film Award. It later opened to the public at more than 350 theaters nationwide.

References

{{reflist

Links

*Caron, Nick
"MMA Interview with Ranger Up Apparel CEO Nick Palmisciano, and T-shirt Giveaway!"
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Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

'', 24 March 2011. Retrieved on 25 October 2013. Clothing brands of the United States