The history of the American Ranger is a long and colorful one and is a
saga of courage, daring, and outstanding leadership. It is a story of
men whose skills in the art of fighting have seldom been surpassed...
THE EARLY RANGERS
The history of the U.S. Ranger did not begin
with Robert Rogers in the 1750s. Units specifically designated as
Rangers and using Ranger tactics were employed on the American
frontier as early as 1670. The Rangers of Captain Benjamin Church
brought the Indian Conflict known as "King Phillip's War" to a
successful conclusion in 1675.
Rangers were organized in 1756 by Major
Robert Rogers, a native of New Hampshire, who recruited nine companies
of American colonists to fight for the British during the French and
Indian War. Ranger techniques and methods of operation were an
inherent characteristic of the American frontiersmen; however, Major
Rogers was the first to capitalize on them and incorporate them into
the fighting doctrine of a permanently organized fighting force.
In the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the
famous Robert Rogers developed the Ranger concept to an extent never
known before. A Soldier from boyhood, Rogers had a magnetic
personality. Operating in the days when commanders personally
recruited their men, he was articulate and persuasive, and knew his
trade. He published a list of 28 common sense rules, and a set of
standing orders stressing operational readiness, security, and
tactics.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
On June 14, 1775, with war on the horizon, the
Continental Congress resolved that "six companies of expert riflemen
be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in
Virginia." In 1777, this force of hardy frontiersmen provided the
leadership and experiences necessary to form, under Dan Morgan, the
organization George Washington called "The Corps of Rangers."
According to British General John Burgoyne, Morgan's men were "...the
most famous corps of the Continental Army, all of them crack shots."
Also active during the Revolutionary War were
Thomas Knowlton's Connecticut Rangers. This force of less than 150
hand-picked men was used primarily for reconnaissance. Knowlton was
killed leading his men in action at Harlem Heights.
CIVIL WAR
The best known Rangers of the Civil War period
were commanded by the Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby. Mosby's
Rangers operated behind Union lines south of the Potomac. From a
three-man scout unit in 1862, Mosby's force grew to an operation of
eight companies of Rangers by 1865. He believed that by the use of
aggressive action and surprise assaults, he would compel the Union
forces to guard a hundred points at one time. Then, by skillful
reconnaissance, he could locate one of the weakest points and attack
it, assured of victory. On his raids, Mosby employed small members,
usually 20 to 50 men. With nine men, he once attacked and routed an
entire Union regiment in its bivouac.
Equally skillful were the Rangers under the
command of Colonel Turner Ashby, a Virginian widely known for his
daring. The Rangers of Ashby and Mosby did great service for the
Confederacy. Specialists in scouting, harassing, and raiding, they
were a constant threat and kept large numbers of Union troops
occupied.
Rangers who fought for the United States
during the Civil War should also be mentioned. Although often
overlooked in historical accounts, Mean's Rangers captured Confederate
General Longstreet's ammunition train, and even succeeded in engaging
and capturing a portion of Colonel Mosby's force.
WORLD WAR TWO RANGER BATTALIONS
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
With America's entry into the Second World War,
Rangers came forth to add to the pages of history. Major General
Lucian K. Truscott, U.S. Army Liaison with the British General Staff,
submitted proposals to General George Marshall that "we undertake
immediately an American unit along the lines of the British Commandos"
on May 26, 1942. A cable from the War Department quickly followed to
Truscott and Major General Russell P. Hartle, commanding all Army
Forces in Northern Ireland, authorizing the activation of the First
U.S. Army Ranger Battalion. The name RANGER was selected by General
Truscott "because the name Commandos rightfully belonged to the
British, and we sought a name more typically American. It was
therefore fit that the organization that was destined to be the first
of the American Ground Forces to battle Germans on the European
continent should be called Rangers in compliment to those in American
history who exemplified the high standards of courage, initiative,
determination and ruggedness, fighting ability and achievement."
After much deliberation, General Hartle
decided that his own aid-de-camp Captain William Orlando Darby, a
graduate of West Point with amphibious training was the ideal choice.
This decision was highly approved by General Truscott who rated Darby
as "outstanding in appearance, possessed of a most attractive
personality....and filled with enthusiasm."
Promoted to Major, Darby performed a near
miracle in organizing the unit within a few weeks after receiving his
challenging assignment. Thousands of applicants from the 1st Armored
Division and the 34th Infantry Division and other units in Northern
Ireland were interviewed by his hand-picked officers, and after a
strenuous weeding-out program at Carrickfergus, the First Ranger
Battalion was officially activated there on June 19, 1942.
But more rugged and realistic training with
live ammunition was in store for the Rangers at the famed Commando
Training Center at Achnacarry, Scotland. Coached, prodded and
challenged by the battle-seasoned Commando instructors, commanded by
Colonel Charles Vaughan, the Rangers learned the rudiments of Commando
warfare. Five hundred of the six hundred volunteers that Darby brought
with him to Achnacarry survived the Commando training with flying
colors, although one Ranger was killed and several wounded by live
fire.
Meanwhile 44 enlisted men and five officers
took part in the Dieppe Raid sprinkled among the Canadians and the
British Commandos—the first American ground Soldiers to see action
against the Germans in occupied Europe. Three Rangers were killed,
several captured and all won the commendation and esteem of the
Commandos. Under the inspired leadership of Darby, promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel, the 1st Ranger Battalion spearheaded the North
African Invasion at the Port of Arzew, Algeria by a silent night
landing, silenced two gun batteries and opened the way for the First
Infantry Division to capture Oran. Later in Tunisia the 1st Battalion
executed the first Ranger behind-the-lines night raid at Sened,
killing a large number of defenders and taking 10 prisoners with only
one Ranger killed and 10 wounded. On March 31, 1943 the 1st Ranger
Battalion led General Patton's drive to capture the heights of El
Guettar with a 12-mile night march across mountainous terrain,
surprising the enemy positions from the rear. By dawn the Rangers
swooped down on the surprised Italians, cleared the El Guettar Pass
and captured two hundred prisoners. For this action the Battalion won
its first Presidential Citation and Darby won his first DSC.
After Tunisia, the 3rd and 4th Ranger
Battalions with the 1st Battalion as cadre were activated and trained
by Darby for the invasion of Sicily at Nemours, Algeria in April 1943.
Major Herman Dammer assumed command of the 3rd, Major Roy Murray the
4th, and Darby remained CO of the 1st but in effect was in command of
what became known as the Darby Rangers force. The three Ranger units
spearheaded the Seventh Army landing at Gela and Licata and played a
key role in the Sicilian campaign that culminated in the capture of
Messina.
The three Battalions were the first Fifth
Army troops to land during the Italian Invasion near Salerno. They
quickly seized the strategic heights on both sides of Chinuzi Pass and
fought off eight German counterattacks, winning two Distinguished Unit
Citations. It was here that Colonel Darby commanded a force of over
10,000 troops, elements of the 36th Division, several companies of the
82nd Airborne Division and artillery elements, and it was here that
the Fifth Army advance against Naples was launched with the British
10th Corps.
All three Ranger units later fought in the
bitter winter mountain fighting near San Pietro, Venafro and Cassino.
Then after a short period of rest, reorganizing and recruiting new
volunteers, the three Ranger Battalions, reinforced with the 509
Parachute Battalion, the 83rd Chemical Warfare, 4.2 Mortar Battalion
and 36th Combat Engineers, were designated as the 6615 Ranger Force
under the command of Darby who was finally promoted to Colonel. This
Force spearheaded the surprise night landings at the Port of Anzio,
captured two gun batteries, seized the city and struck out to enlarge
the beachhead before dawn—a classic Ranger operation.
On the night of January 30, 1944, the 1st and
3rd Battalions infiltrated five miles behind the German Lines while
the 4th Battalion fought to clear the road toward Cisterna, a key 5th
Army objective. But preparing for a massive counterattack, the Germans
had reinforced their lines the night before, and both the 1st and 3rd
were surrounded and greatly outnumbered. The beleaguered Rangers
fought bravely, inflicting many casualties but ammunition and time ran
out, and all along the beachhead front supporting troops could not
break through the strong German positions. Among the killed in action
was the 3rd Battalion CO, Major Alvah Miller, and the 1st Battalion
CO, Major John Dobson, was wounded. The tragic loss of the 1st and 3rd
Battalions combined with the heavy casualties the 4th Battalion
sustained, however, was not entirely in vain, for later intelligence
revealed that the Ranger-led attack on Cisterna had helped spike the
planned German counterattack and thwarted Hitler's order to "Push the
Allies into the sea."
But other Ranger units proudly carried on and
enhanced the Ranger standards and traditions in the European Theater
Operations. The 2nd Ranger Battalion, activated on April 1, 1943, at
Camp Forrest, Tennessee trained and led by Lieutenant Colonel James
Earl Rudder, carried out the most desperate and dangerous mission of
the entire Omaha Beach landings - in Normandy, June 6, 1944. General
Bradley said of Colonel Rudder, "Never has any commander been given a
more desperate mission."
Three companies, D, E, and F assaulted the
perpendicular cliffs of Point Du Hoc under intense machine-gun, mortar
and artillery fire and destroyed a large gun battery that would have
wreaked havoc on the Allied fleets offshore. For two days and nights
they fought without relief until the 5th Ranger Battalion linked up
with them. Later with the 5th Battalion, the 2nd played a key role in
the attacks against the German fortifications around Brest in the La
Coquet Peninsular. This unit fought through the bitter Central Europe
campaign and won commendations for its heroic actions in the battle of
Hill 400. The 2nd Ranger Battalion earned the Distinguished Unit
Citation and the Croix de Guerre and was inactivated at Camp Patrick
Henry on October 23, 1945.
The Fifth Ranger Battalion activated
September 1, 1943 at Camp Forrest, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Max
Schneider, former executive officer of the 4th Ranger Battalion, was
part of the provisional Ranger Assault Force commanded by Colonel
Rudder. It landed on Omaha Beach with three companies of the 2nd
Battaloin, A, B and C, where elements of the 116th Regiment of the
29th Inf. Division were pinned down by murderous cross fire and
mortars from the heights above. It was there that the situation was so
critical that General Omar Bradley was seriously considering
redirecting reinforcements to other areas of the beachhead. And it was
then and there that General Norman D. Cota, Assistant Division
Commander of the 29th Division, gave the now famous order that has
become the Motto of the 75th Ranger Regiment: "Rangers, Lead The Way!"
The Fifth Battalion Rangers broke across the
sea wall and barbed wire entanglements, and up the pillbox-rimmed
heights under intense enemy machine-gun and mortar fire and with A and
B Companies of the 2nd Battalion and some elements of the 116th
Infantry Regiment, advanced four miles to the key town of Vierville,
thus opening the breach for supporting troops to follow-up and expand
the beachhead. Meanwhile C Company of the 2nd Battalion, due to rough
seas, landed west of the Vierville draw and suffered 50 percent
casualties during the landing, but still scaled a 90-foot cliff using
ropes and bayonets to knock out a formidable enemy position that was
sweeping the beach with deadly fire.
The Fifth Battalion with elements of the
116th Regiment finally linked up with the beleaguered 2nd Battalion on
D+3, although Lieutenant Charles Parker of A Company, 5th Battalion,
had penetrated deep behind enemy lines on D Day and reached the 2nd
Battalion with 20 prisoners. Later, with the 2nd Battalion the unit
distinguished itself in the hard-fought battle of Brest. Under the
leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sullivan the Fifth Ranger
Battalion took part in the Battle of the Bulge, Huertgen Forest and
other tough battles throughout central Europe, winning two
Distinguished Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre. The
outfit was deactivated October 2 at Camp Miles Standish, Mass.
The Sixth Ranger Battalion, commanded by
Colonel Henry (Hank) Mucci, was the first American force to return to
the Philippines with the mission of destroying coastal defense guns,
radio and radar stations on the islands of Dinegat, Suluan offshore
Leyte. This was the first mission for the 6th Battalion that was
activated at Port Moresby, New Guinea in September 1944. Landing three
days in advance of the main Sixth Army Invasion Force on October 17
and 18, 1944, they swiftly killed and captured some of the Japanese
defenders and destroyed all enemy communications.
The unit took part in the landings of U.S.
forces in Luzon, and several behind the lines patrols, penetrations
and small unit raids, that served to prime the Rangers for what to
become universally known as the greatest and most daring raid in
American military history. On January 30, 1944, C Company, supported
by a platoon from F Company, struck 30 miles behind enemy lines and
rescued five hundred emaciated and sickly POWs, survivors of the
Bataan Death March. Carrying many of the prisoners on their backs, the
Rangers, aided by Filipino guerrillas, killed over two hundred of the
garrison, evaded two Japanese regiments, and reached the safety of
American lines the following day. Intelligence reports had indicated
the Japanese were planning to kill the prisoners as they withdrew
toward Manila. Good recon work by the Alamo Scouts also contributed to
the success of the Cabanatuan Raid led by Colonel Mucci.
The unit later commanded by Colonel Robert
Garrett played and important role in the capture of Manila and Appari,
and was preparing to spearhead the invasion of Japan when news flashed
the war with that nation was ended. It received the Presidential Unit
Citation and the Philippine Presidential Citation. It was inactivated
on December 30, 1945 in the Philippines.
MERRILL'S MARAUDERS
5307 COMPOSITE UNIT CBI THEATER WW II
Merrill's Marauders, a Ranger type outfit, came
into existence as a result of the Quebec Conference of August 1943.
During this conference, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime
Minister Winston Churchill of England, and other allied leaders
conceived the idea of having an American ground unit spearhead the
Chinese Army with a Long Range Penetration Mission behind enemy lines
in Burma. Its goal would be the destruction of Japanese communications
and supply lines and generally to play havoc with enemy forces while
an attempt was made to reopen the Burma Road.
A Presidential call for volunteers for "A
Dangerous and Hazardous Mission" was issued, and approximately 2,900
American Soldiers responded to the call. Officially designated as the
5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) code name "GALAHAD" the unit later
became popularly known as MERRILL'S MARAUDERS, named after its leader,
Brigadier General Frank Merrill. Organized into combat teams, two to
each battalion, the Marauder volunteers came from a variety of
theaters of operation. Some came from stateside cadres; some from the
jungles of Panama and Trinidad; and the remainder were battle-scarred
veterans of Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and New Guinea campaigns. In
India some Signal Corps and Air Corps personnel were added, as well as
pack troops with mules.
After preliminary training operations
undertaken in great secrecy in the jungles of India, about 600 men
were detached as a rear echelon headquarters to remain in India to
handle the soon-to-be vital air-drop link between the six Marauder
combat teams (400 to a team) and the Air Transport Command.
Color-coded Red, White, Blue, Green, Orange and Khaki, the remaining
2,400 Marauders began their March up the Ledo Road and over the
outlying ranges of the Himalayan Mountains into Burma. The Marauders,
with no tanks or heavy artillery to support them, walked over 1,000
miles throughout extremely dense and almost impenetrable jungles and
came out with glory. In five major and 30 minor engagements, they
defeated the veteran Soldiers of the Japanese 18th Division
(conquerors of Singapore and Malaya) who vastly outnumbered them.
Always moving to the rear of the main forces of the Japanese, they
completely disrupted enemy supply and communication lines, and
climaxed their behind-the-lines operations with the capture of
Myitkina Airfield, the only all-weather airfield in Burma.
For their accomplishments in Burma, the
Marauders were awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation in July 1944.
However, in November 1966, this was redesignated as the PRESIDENTIAL
UNIT CITATION which is awarded by the President in the name of
Congress.
The unit was consolidated with the 475th
Infantry on August 10, 1944. On June 21, 1954, the 475th was
redesignated the 75th Infantry. It is from the redesignation of
Merrill's Marauders into the 75th Infantry Regiment that the
modern-day 75th Ranger Regiment traces its current unit designation.
THE RANGER INFANTRY COMPANIES (AIRBORNE) OF THE KOREAN WAR
The outbreak of hostilities in Korea in June of
1950 again signaled the need for Rangers. Colonel John Gibson Van
Houten was selected by the Army Chief of Staff to head the Ranger
training program at Fort Benning, Ga.
On September 15, 1950, Colonel Van Houten
reported to the Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief of Army Field
Forces, Fort Monroe, Va. He was informed that training of Ranger-type
units was to begin at Fort Benning at the earliest possible date. The
target date was October 1, 1950 with a tentative training period of
six weeks.
The implementing orders called for formation
of a headquarters detachment and four Ranger infantry companies
(airborne). Requests went out for volunteers who were willing to
accept "extremely hazardous" duty in the combat zone in the Far East.
In the 82nd Airborne Division, the results of
the call for volunteers was astounding. Some estimates were as high as
5,000 men (experienced regular Army paratroopers). The ruthless
sorting out process began. Where possible, selection of the men was
accomplished by the officers who would command the companies, similar
to colonial days when Robert Rogers was recruiting.
Orders were issued and those selected shipped
to Fort Benning, Ga. The First group arrived on September 20, 1950.
Training began on Monday, October 9, 1950, with three companies of
airborne qualified personnel. On October 9, 1950 another company began
training. These were former members of the 505th Airborne Infantry
Regiment and the 80th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion of the 82nd
Airborne Division. Initially designated the 4th Ranger Company, they
would soon be redesigned the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne),
the only Department of the Army authorized, all-black Ranger unit in
the history of the United States.
All volunteers were professional Soldiers
with many skills who often taught each other. Some of the men had
fought with the original Ranger Battalions, the First Special Service
Force, or the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Many
of the instructors were drawn from this same group. The faces of this
select group may have appeared youthful, but these men were highly
trained and experienced in Ranger operations during World War II.
The training was extremely rigorous. Training
consisted of amphibious and airborne (including low-level night jumps)
operations, demolitions, sabotage, close combat, and the use of
foreign maps. All American small arms, as well as those used by the
enemy, were mastered. Communications, as well as the control of
artillery, naval, and aerial fires, were stressed. Much of the
training was at night.
The 1st Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne)
departed from Fort Benning, Ga. on November 15, 1950, and arrived in
Korea on December 17, 1950, where it was attached to the 2nd Infantry
Division. It was soon followed by the 2nd and 4th Ranger Companies,
who arrived on December 29, 1950. The 2nd Ranger Company was attached
to the 7th Infantry Division. The 4th Ranger Company served both
Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army, and the 1st Cavalry Division.
Throughout the winter of 1950 and the spring
of 1951, the Rangers went into battle. They were nomadic warriors,
attached first to one regiment and then another. They performed
"out-front" work: scouting, patrolling, raids, ambushes, spearheading
assaults, and as counterattack forces to regain lost positions.
Attached on the basis of one 112-man company
per 18,000 man infantry division, the Rangers compiled an incredible
record. Nowhere in American military history is the volunteer spirit
better expressed. They were volunteers for the Army, for airborne
training, for the Rangers and for combat.
The Rangers went into battle by air, land and
water. The 1st Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) opened with an
extraordinary example of land navigation, then executed a daring night
raid nine miles behind enemy lines destroying an enemy complex. The
enemy installation was later identified by a prisoner as the
Headquarters of the 12th North Korean Division. Caught by surprise and
unaware of the size of the American force, two North Korean Regiments
hastily withdrew from the area. The 1st Company as in the middle of
the major battle of Chipyong-Ni and the "May Massacre." It was awarded
two Distinguished Unit Citations. The 2nd and 4th Ranger Companies
made a combat jump at Munsan-Ni where Life Magazine reported
patrols operating North of the 38th parallel. The 2nd Ranger Company
plugged a critical gap left by a retreating allied force. The 4th
Ranger Company executed a daring over-water raid at the Hwachon Dam.
The 3rd Ranger Company (attached to the 3rd Infantry Division) had the
motto "Die Bastard, Die!" The 5th Ranger Company, fighting as an
attachment to the 25th Infantry Division, performed brilliantly during
the Chinese "5th Phase Offensive." Gathering up every Soldier he could
find, the Ranger company commander held the line with Ranger Sergeants
commanding line infantry units. In the Eastern sector, the Rangers
were the first unit to cross the 38th parallel on the second drive
North.
The 8th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne)
was attached to the 24th Infantry Division. They were known as the
"Devils." A 33-man platoon from the 8th Ranger Company fought a
between-the-lines battle with two Chinese reconnaissance companies.
Seventy Chinese were killed. The Rangers suffered two dead and three
wounded, all of whom were brought back to friendly lines.
VIETNAM WAR RANGERS
The 75th Ranger Regiment is linked directly and
historically to the 13 Infantry Companies of the 75th that were active
in Vietnam from February 1, 1969 until August 15, 1972. The longest
sustained combat history for an American Ranger unit in more than
three hundred years of U.S. Army Ranger History. The 75th Infantry
Regiment was activated in Okinawa during 1954 and traced its lineage
to the 475th Infantry Regiment, thence to the 5307th Composite
Provisional Unit, popularly known as Merrill's Marauders.
Historically, company I (Ranger) 75th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
and Company G, (Ranger) 75th Infantry, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
produced the first two U.S. Army Rangers to be awarded the Medal of
Honor as a member of and while serving in a combat Ranger company.
Specialist Four Robert D. Law was awarded the first Medal of Honor
with I\75 while on long range patrol in Tinh Phoc Province RVN. He was
from Texas. Staff Sergeant Robert J. Pruden was awarded the second
Medal of Honor with G\75 while on reconnaissance mission in Quang Ni
Province RVN. He was from Minnesota. In addition to the two Medal of
Honor recipients above, Staff Sergeant Lazlo Rabel was awarded the
Medal of Honor while serving with the 74th Infantry Detachment (LRP),
a predecessor to Company N, (Ranger) 75th Infantry, 173rd Airborne
Brigade while on a long range patrol Binh Dinh Province, RVN. He was
from Pennsylvania.
Conversion of the Long Range Patrol Companies
of the 20th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, 58th, 71st, 78th, and 79th Infantry
Detachment and Company D, 151st Infantry Long Range Patrol of the
Indiana National Guard, to Ranger Companies of the 75th Infantry began
on February 1, 1969. Only Company D, 151st retained their unit
identity and did not become a 75th Ranger Company, however, they did
become a Ranger Company and continued the mission in Vietnam.
Companies C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O and P (Ranger) 75th
Infantry conducted Ranger missions for three years and seven months
every day of the year while in Vietnam. Like the original unit from
whence their lineage as Neo Marauders was drawn, 75th Rangers came
from Infantry, Artillery, Engineers, Signal, Medical, Military Police,
Food Service, Parachute Riggers and other Army units. They were joined
by former adversaries, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army
Soldiers who became "Kit Carson Scouts", and fought alongside the
Rangers against their former units and comrades. Unlike Rangers of
other eras in the 20th century who trained in the United States or in
friendly nations overseas, LRP and Rangers in Vietnam were activated,
trained and fought in the same geographical areas in Vietnam.
Training was a combat mission for volunteers.
Volunteers were assigned, not accepted in the various Ranger
Companies, until, after a series of patrols, the volunteer had passed
the acid test of a Ranger, Combat, and was accepted by his peers.
Following the peer acceptance, the volunteer was allowed to wear the
black beret and wear the Red, White and Black scroll shoulder sleeve
insignia bearing his Ranger Company identity. All Long Range Patrol
Companies and 75th Ranger Companies were authorized Parachute pay.
Modus Operandi for patrol insertion varied, however, the helicopter
was the primary means for insertion and exfiltration of enemy rear
areas. Other methods included foot, wheeled, tracked vehicle,
airboats, Navy Swift Boats, and stay behind missions where the Rangers
remained in place as a larger tactical unit withdrew. False insertions
by helicopter was a means of security from ever present enemy trail
watchers. General missions consisted of locating the enemy bases and
lines of communication. Special missions included wiretap, prisoner
snatch, Platoon and Company size Raid Missions and Bomb Damage
Assessment (BDA) following B-52 Arc-Light missions. Staffed initially
by graduates of the U.S. Army Ranger School (at the outset of the war,
later by volunteers, some of whom were graduates of the in-country
Ranger School, the Recondo School and, line company cadres),
Paratroopers, and Special Forces trained men, the bulk of the Ranger
volunteers came from the Soldiers who had no chance to attend the
schools, but carried the fight to the enemy. These Rangers remained
with their units through some of the most difficult patrolling
action(s) in Army history, and frequently fought much larger enemy
forces when compromised on their reconnaissance missions.
Army Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams, who
observed the 75th Ranger operations in Vietnam as Commander of all
U.S. Forces there, selected the 75th Rangers as the role model for the
first U.S. Army Ranger units formed during peacetime in the history of
the U.S. Army.
ABRAM'S OWN
The outbreak of the 1973 Middle East War
prompted the Department of the Army to be concerned about the need for
a light mobile force that could be moved quickly to any trouble spot
in the world. In the fall of 1973, General Creighton Abrams, Army
Chief of Staff formulated the idea of the reformation of the first
battalion-sized Ranger units since World War II. In January 1974, he
sent a message to the field directing formation of a Ranger Battalion.
He selected its missions and picked the first officers. He felt a
tough, disciplined and elite Ranger unit would set a standard for the
rest of the U.S. Army and that, as Rangers "graduated " from Ranger
units to Regular Army units, their influence would improve the entire
Army. See Abram’s Charter.
On January 25, 1974, Headquarters, United
States Army Forces Command, published General Orders 127, directing
the activation of the 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), with an
effective date of January 31, 1974. In February, the worldwide
selection was begun and personnel assembled at Fort Benning, Ga., to
undergo the cadre training from March through June 1974. On July 1,
1974, the 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), parachuted into Fort
Stewart, Ga.
DESERT ONE
The modern Ranger Battalions were first called
upon in 1980 as elements of 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger) to
participate in the Iranian hostage rescue attempts. The ground work of
our Special Operations capability of today was laid during training
and preparation for this operation. Rangers and other Special
Operations Forces from throughout the Department of Defense developed
tactics, techniques, and equipment from scratch, as no doctrine
existed anywhere in the world.
The 2nd Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger)
soon followed with activation on October 1, 1974. These elite units
eventually established headquarters at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., and
Fort Lewis, Wash., respectively.
GRENADA
The farsightedness of General Abrams' decision,
as well as the combat effectiveness of the Ranger battalions, was
proven during the United States' deployment on October 25, 1983, to
Grenada. The mission of the Rangers was to protect the lives of
American citizens and restore democracy to the island. During this
operation, code-named "URGENT FURY," the 1st and 2d Ranger Battalions
conducted a daring low-level parachute assault (500 feet), seized the
airfield at Point Salinas, rescued American citizens at the True Blue
Medical Campus, and conducted air assault operations to eliminate
pockets of resistance.
As a result of the demonstrated effectiveness
of the Ranger Battalions, the Department of the Army announced in
1984, that if was increasing the size of the active duty Ranger force
to its highest level in 40 years, by activating another Ranger
Battalion and a Ranger Regimental Headquarters. These new units, the
Id Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), and Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger), received their colors on
October 3, 1984, at Fort Benning, Ga. The activation ceremonies were a
step into the future for the Ranger Regiment, and a link to the past,
as they were held concurrently with the first reunion of the Korean
War-era Rangers. Distinguished visitors and proud Rangers, both active
duty and retired, joined to hail the historic activation of the
Headquarters, 75th Ranger Regiment. On February 3, 1986, World War II
Battalions and Korean War Lineage and Honors were consolidated and
assigned by tradition to the 75th Ranger Regiment. This marked the
first time that an organization of that size had been officially
recognized as the parent headquarters of the Ranger Battalions.
Not since World War II and Colonel Darby's
Ranger Force Headquarters, had the U.S. Army had such a large Ranger
force, with over 2,000 Soldiers being assigned to Ranger units.
PANAMA
The entire Ranger Regiment participated in OPERATION JUST CAUSE, in
which U.S. forces restored democracy to Panama. Rangers spearheaded
the action by conducting two important operations. The 1st Battalion,
reinforced by Company C, 3rd Battalion, and a Regimental Command and
Control Team, conducted an early morning parachute assault onto Omar
Torrijos International Airport and Tocumen Military Airfield, to
neutralize the Panamanian Defense Forces PDF 2nd Rifle Company, and
secure airfields for the arrival of the 82nd Airborne Division. The
2nd and 3rd Ranger Battalions and a Regimental Command and Control
Team, conducted a parachute assault onto the airfield at Rio Hato, to
neutralize the PDF 6th and !Oh Rifle Companies and seize General
Manuel Noriega's beach house. Following the successful completion of
these assaults, Rangers conducted follow-on operations in support of
Joint Task Force (JTF) South. The Rangers captured 1,014 Enemy
Prisoners of War (EPW), and over 18,000 arms of various types. The
Rangers sustained five killed and 42 wounded.
DESERT STORM
Elements of Company B and 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment deployed to Saudi Arabia from February 12, 1991 to
April 15, 1991, in support of OPERATION DESERT STORM. The Rangers
conducted raids and provided a quick reaction force in cooperation
with Allied forces; there were no Ranger casualties. The performance
of these Rangers significantly contributed to the overall success of
the operation, and upheld the proud Ranger traditions of the past.
SOMALIA
From early 1993, to October 21, 1993, Company B and a Command and
Control Element of 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment deployed to
Somalia to assist United Nations forces in bringing order to a
desperately chaotic and starving nation. Their mission was to capture
key leaders in order to end clan fighting in and around the City of
Mogadishu. On October 3, 1993, the Rangers conducted a daring daylight
raid in which several special operations helicopters were shot down.
For nearly 18 hours, the Rangers delivered devastating firepower,
killing an estimated 300 Somali's in what many have called the
fiercest ground combat since Vietnam. Six Rangers paid the supreme
sacrifice in accomplishing their mission. Their courage and selfless
service epitomized the values espoused in the Ranger Creed, and are
indicative of the Ranger spirit of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
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