The origins of the U.S. Army Ranger Special Forces

The Rangers are an elite force with a long history. Its establishment can be traced back to the 1670s. At that time, American immigrants continued to conflict with the native Indians during their westward expansion. In the dangerous geographical environment at that time, Under the uncertain threat of the Indians, the Rangers adopted new tactics: they used small teams to carry out the task of clearing the frontier of the settlement area to provide early warning of Indian assaults. In the subsequent battles against the French and Indians, the Rangers, under the leadership of Maj. Rogers, gradually became the vanguard of the entire army and a symbol of honor and excellence. One of his most famous twenty-eight rules is "Tell the truth about what you see and what you do." It is this responsible and brave spirit that This enabled this powerful force to perform extremely well in both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.

The Ranger Regiment was established in April 1987 and was formed from three battalions of the 75th Infantry Regiment established in 1974. The new Ranger regiment inherits the honor and lineage earned by Ranger battalions during World War II and the Korean War. The historical origins of the Rangers predate the founding of the United States: the first Ranger units were irregular soldiers who fought during the French and Indian Wars in the 18th century. The most famous of these was Roger's Rangers, named after their unit commander, but it was disbanded after the Seven Years' War in 1763. This is an unfortunate precedent: throughout the 20th century, the U.S. Army continued to establish Ranger battalions during wartime, only to disband them shortly thereafter—only to find out again during the next conflict. Need them. The experience accumulated by the Ranger Battalion since it became an elite light infantry unit in 1942 was unable to be passed on due to the downsizing in 1945. New Ranger units created for the Korean War met the same fate; and the same thing happened again during the Vietnam War.

On May 26, 1942, a reporting document on how the US military should quickly establish a rapid assault force was sent to the US Chief of Staff George Marshall. This report stated that the United States had fully entered the third phase of the offensive. In World War II, in order to cope with the complex war environment, it was necessary to establish a force of similar size and similar functions to the British Commando. Moreover, this force could jointly perform special missions behind enemy lines with the British Commando. Since the British army was the first to use the English term "commando", in order to distinguish it from the British special forces, the United States decided to use "Rangers" as a synonym for the first field special forces and authorized the US military units stationed in Northern Ireland. The 1st Battalion of Rangers was established as the first American unit to go to the European battlefield.

Today's 75th Ranger Regiment consists of 3 battalions and is headquartered at Fort Benning. All sergeants and soldiers join voluntarily, and members must pass a high degree of physical fitness. Only those who have psychological and moral standards and have received parachute training and ranger training (ROP training for officers and RIP training for soldiers) are qualified to become a member of this powerful team. The regiment maintains a high degree of combat readiness - each battalion can be deployed around the world within 11 hours of receiving an order. In order to maintain adaptability, the Rangers also need to undergo polar, jungle, desert, mountain and amphibious training, plus training at night Drilling in harsh weather and terrain makes them adequate to cope with any accidents.

The current Rangers were formed after the 1973 Israeli-Arab War. Israel was able to survive the war largely thanks to the anti-tank missiles and other important weapons that were urgently loaded by American aircraft and transported to Ben Gurion Airport in time. The U.S. Army recognizes that in the future, large-scale military mediation is possible; a special operations force is needed for rapid deployment to the Middle East or other strategic locations. Such a force must be able to drop all the equipment for a battalion-level airborne assault behind enemy lines: in other words, it is similar to the elite light infantry formation of the Rangers during World War II.

The 1st Battalion (Rangers) of the 75th Infantry Regiment was established at Fort Benning in January 1974, and the 2nd Battalion was established at Fort Lewis, Washington in October.

The Rangers originally planned to participate in the hostage rescue mission in Tehran, flying directly into Iran to attack Mansarina Airport, and then those C-141 Starlifter transport aircraft could evacuate the hostages. Their first operational deployment came in 1982, when two battalions participated in the rescue operation in Grenada. Their operations were so successful that the 3rd Battalion was activated at Fort Benning during October 1984.

The Rangers played an important role in Operation Justice, the invasion of Panama in December 1989. The 1st Battalion of Rangers, together with members of the 82nd Airborne Division, parachuted into Dulijo Airport. Other battalions of Rangers jumped to Rio de Janeiro, where the most loyal troops to the Panamanian dictator were garrisoned. After a fierce gun battle, the Rangers captured the headquarters there.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the 1st Platoon, Weapons Platoon (reinforcement platoon) and C Company of Company A of the 1st Ranger Battalion assisted the coalition's rapid reaction force in assaulting Iraqi military strongholds. The regimental company is conducting large-scale airborne exercises in Kuwait. Although the Rangers did not fully participate in the front-line battle this time, their powerful combat power had a considerable deterrent effect on Iraq.

From August to October 1993, Company B of the 3rd Battalion Rangers formed a task force to go to Somalia to support the United Nations Peace Forces. In addition to assisting refugees, they also conducted seven missions to hunt down the reactionary warlord Aidid. One of the most intense missions took place during the day on October 3, when the Rangers and Delta Force jointly went to Mogadishu, the country's capital, to raid military points in order to hunt down Aidid and his two important deputies and confidants. At the beginning of the operation, the special forces quickly subdued the enemy, but the helicopter stranded in the air attracted more enemy troops. As a result, two helicopters were shot down, causing many team members casualties, and the remaining team members were surrounded by a large army and unable to leave. Although the coalition forces launched four rescue operations one after another, they all encountered stubborn resistance from the enemy. It was not until evening that the coalition again dispatched two company task forces including SEALs and Rangers, two Malaysian mechanized companies, a Pakistani tank platoon and Air Force special forces to rescue. After a fierce battle, the coalition forces finally rescued the besieged team members, but they also paid a considerable price. In total, the coalition forces paid a price of 18 deaths and 80 injuries in this operation. The Rangers themselves suffered 16 deaths, 57 injuries, 1 missing and 1 captured. Among them, there were very few survivors of the second "Black Hawk" helicopter. Two snipers who came for reinforcements were also shot dead. The failure of this operation was the lack of intelligence and the hasty operation during the day. Not only did it cause heavy casualties to the special forces, but it was also a great shame that the bodies of the team members were dragged through the streets of the city by the Soviet Army. At the time, this operation was the one with the heaviest casualties and the most negative impact on the US military since the Vietnam War, and the large-scale sacrifice of the Ranger troops led to the indirect cause of the resignation of Cohen, then Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration. But the Rangers' sacrifice and dedication have once again won unanimous praise from countries around the world.