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Thread
:
What secrets lurk in the filecards?
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05-13-2011, 09:20 PM
zuludelta
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by
turner
I'd love to read it, but I just tried a search, I'm thinking it would be tough to find. Sounds like they weren't actually Army Rangers, but something close.
Here's the post (there are others I've written expounding in more detail, but this pretty much sums up the whole LRRP --> 75th Ranger Regiment relationship):
Vietnam War-era LRRP Infantry Units on "What secrets lurk in the filecards?"
More detailed history, for those who are into this kind of stuff:
The modern, 20th century Ranger has a bit of a convoluted history. The first "modern" US Army unit to use the Ranger name was the 1st Ranger Battalion, founded in 1942 and which was patterned after the British Commandos (volunteers for the unit were actually sent to Ireland so that they could be trained by the British Commandos). They were intended for coastal/littoral special operations reconnaissance and raids (which was what the British Commandos specialized in), somewhat similar to what today's Marine Recon Battalions do. I think Larry Hama giving Beachhead the codename that he did was a nod to the original mission of the WWII Army Ranger (both Hama and toy designer Ron Rudat are big history buffs, and frequently put in "Easter eggs" in the designs and filecards). Other Ranger battalions were eventually formed, and there were other units like the 5307th Composite Unit (a.k.a. Merrill's Marauders) that are retroactively cited as "Rangers" even though they were never formally given that designation when they were active nor were they trained in the original ranger role as coastal/amphibious raiders.
It was during the Korean War that we started seeing the emergence of the Ranger as a special operations-capable airborne infantryman, although soon after the armistice was signed in 1953, all the Airborne Ranger units were either deactivated or re-flagged.
There were no extant Ranger units between the end of the Korean War and the beginning of the Vietnam War save for the Fort Benning Ranger School* training units.
There were no active Ranger units at the start of the Vietnam War. Beginning in 1966 or thereabouts, the Army started using specially trained airborne infantry companies as division-level special reconnaissance assets (most of these soldiers were selected and trained "in-country" at the Nha Trang Recondo School run by MACV-SOG). Most of these "independent" LRP (for Long-Range Patrol) or LRRP (for Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol) companies would be consolidated administratively in 1969 under the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) designation. For example, E Company, 51st Infantry (LRP) would be absorbed into G Company (Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne), which was then attached to the 23rd Infantry Division. F Company, 51st Infantry (LRP) was deactivated and many of its soldiers were redistributed between O Company (Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) -- which was attached to 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division -- and P Company (Ranger), 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) -- which was attached to 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). All in all, the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) would comprise 15 Ranger companies deployed throughout Vietnam attached to different divisions, brigades, and "field forces."
It should be noted that the use of the "Ranger" label by the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne) for its component companies was not meant to imply that these soldiers were graduates of the Fort Benning Ranger School. It was simply a descriptive label for what they did as airborne-qualified, recondo-trained, long-range reconnaissance scouts.
It's after the Vietnam War that the lineage sort of blurs. The 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger) was deactivated soon after the end of the Vietnam conflict. Its soldiers (those who didn't retire, anyway) were redistributed within the Army.
By 1983, US Army efforts were underway to "stand up" a new airborne/light infantry unit bearing the Ranger name. At the same time, E Company, 51st Infantry and F Company, 51st Infantry (which were part of the original 75th Infantry Regiment as I noted above) were reactivated as Corps-level LRS (Long-Range Surveillance) companies. Many of the soldiers assigned to the newly reactivated E Company (LRS)/51 INF and F Company (LRS)/51 INF were soldiers formerly assigned to the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne).
In 1986, the Army formally activated the 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne), and assigned it the lineage of the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne). That is, officially, the 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne) is descended from the 75th Infantry Regiment (Airborne). It should be noted, however, that they serve two different functions: the current 75th RR(A) is a special light/airborne infantry unit that specializes in direct action, the Vietnam War-era 75th IR(A) was a long-range reconnaissance unit. In everything but name though, I think the E/51 INF and F/51 INF LRS companies were the "real" lineal descendants of the Vietnam War-era rangers' mission and capabilities. It's odd to me that there were these two organizations (E/51 and F/51) that had, in my mind, a legitimate claim to the Vietnam War-era ranger lineage but that lineage was assigned to a different, parallel organization. But whatever, it's just a name, after all.
In the 1990s, E/51 INF and F/51 INF were re-classed as division-level assets and were attached to Military Intelligence battalions (IIRC, E/51 INF was attached to the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion and F/51 INF was attached to the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion). E/51 INF was deactivated in 2007 and many of its personnel were reportedly re-assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's two Pathfinder companies, although I'd like to imagine that some of them eventually found their way to the 75th Ranger Regiment (closing the circle, in a way). F/51 INF was deactivated in 2009, although its personnel were absorbed into Troop C (LRS), 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment (the Long Range Surveillance component of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade). Its personnel are still infantry scouts, of course, they just went from being a "company" to a "troop" because they're now subordinate to a cavalry squadron headquarters and are organized along cavalry lines to match 1-38 CAV's Troop A and Troop B (which are cavalry scout
RSTA
units).
* -
The US Army Ranger School, founded in 1950, has always been a separate entity from the Ranger battalions and companies, although most people -- even those in the military -- confuse Ranger School graduates (Ranger-qualified personnel authroized to wear the Ranger Tab) with Rangers (people assigned to an extant Ranger unit, like the 75th Ranger Regiment, authorized to wear the Ranger's tan beret) all the time. Ranger School is a combat leadership school open to male NCOs (and E-4s slated for promotion) that emphasizes light/airborne infantry concepts. A soldier who passes Ranger Assessment and Selection can join the 75th Ranger Regiment without having attended Ranger School, although in the current 75th RR, a soldier must be a graduate of the Ranger School if he is to be assigned to a leadership billet involving direct combat. Conversely, not all Ranger School graduates serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment (at any given point in time, it is very likely that there are at least just as many active-duty Ranger School graduates who have never served with a designated Ranger or USASOC unit as there are who have served with a designated Ranger or USASOC unit).
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Last edited by zuludelta; 05-13-2011 at
10:09 PM
.. Reason: edited for clarity
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