US Army Rangers

Origins

American Rangers trace their name to the colonial frontier, and above all to Rogers' Rangers of the French and Indian War, who scouted and raided for the British under Major Robert Rogers. Rogers wrote 28 "Rules of Ranging" in 1757. The shorter "Standing Orders" printed in the modern Ranger Handbook are a later version, popularized by Kenneth Roberts' 1936 novel Northwest Passage. The modern lineage began in June 1942, when Major William O. Darby formed the 1st Ranger Battalion in Northern Ireland from volunteers, on the British Commando model, to give the United States Army a raiding and spearhead force.

Organization & Training

Darby's first Rangers trained at the British Commando depot at Achnacarry in Scotland, and about fifty of them went on the Dieppe raid in August 1942. Six Ranger battalions served in the World War II years, each about 500 men in six small companies, lighter than ordinary infantry and built for speed. Rangers were disbanded after each war and raised again for the next. The Ranger School, opened at Fort Benning, Georgia, in the early 1950s, trains leaders from across the Army, and its tab is one of the Army's hardest badges to earn. That is separate from the 75th Ranger Regiment itself, which has its own selection course. The regiment today has three Ranger battalions plus support and special troops units.

Weapons & Equipment

In the Second World War Rangers carried the standard infantry arms, with extra firepower for their size. Riflemen had the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine, raiding parties favored the Thompson Submachine Gun, and each squad had a M1918 BAR. Officers carried the M1911 Pistol. At Pointe du Hoc the climbers used rocket-fired grapnels and ropes, and on Omaha Beach Bangalore torpedoes blew gaps in the wire. In later decades Rangers moved to the M16 Rifle, the M60 Machine Gun and then the M249, with the M24 Sniper Weapon System for their snipers.

Notable Actions

The Second World War made the legend: Arzew in North Africa in 1942, Gela in Sicily in 1943, and the Cisterna disaster at Anzio in January 1944, where the 1st and 3rd Battalions were surrounded and nearly all captured or killed. On D-Day, during the Normandy Landings, about 225 men of the 2nd Battalion scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc under fire. The big guns had been moved inland, but Rangers found and wrecked them, then held on for two days. On Omaha Beach the 5th Battalion pushed off the sand, and by tradition Brigadier General Norman Cota's words to them became the motto "Rangers lead the way!" In the Pacific, the 6th Battalion, with Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas, raided the Cabanatuan prison camp in January 1945 and freed more than 500 prisoners.

Ranger companies fought in Korea and Vietnam. In 1974 the Army formed permanent Ranger battalions, later the 75th Ranger Regiment. They parachuted onto airfields in Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989, fought alongside Delta Force in Mogadishu in 1993, and served repeated tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Legacy

From Grenada through two decades of war after 2001, the regiment has been one of the most heavily used units in the Army. Its Ranger Creed and motto are widely known, and the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc remain its most famous battlefield.

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