Commando News Edition 17 Dec2019

companies had a strength of 230 men, and was commanded
by a major. In an apparent response to division commanders'
tactical requirements, and bolstered by the combat
effectiveness of the provisional LRRP units, in the winter of
1967 the Army authorized separate company designations
for Long Range Patrol (LRP) units in divisions and detach -
ments in separate brigades. The divisional LRP companies
were authorized 118 men and the brigade detachments 61
men. The wholesale renaming of existing divisional LRP units
occurred on 20 December 1967 in the 1st Cavalry, 1st
Infantry, 4th Infantry, 9th Infantry, 23d (Americal), and 25th
Infantry Divisions. LRP detachments were created in the
199th Light Infantry Brigade on 10 January 1968, in the 173d
Airborne Brigade on 5 February 1968, and in the 3d Brigade
82d Airborne Division and 1st Brigade 5th Mechanized
Division on 15 December 1968.
On 1 February 1969, the final period of the existence of
these units began when the Department of the Army
redesignated the LRP companies and detachments as
lettered Ranger companies of the 75th Infantry Regiment
under the Combined Arms Regimental System (CARS). The
"re-flagged" Ranger companies were: "A" V Corps Rangers,
Fort Hood, Texas; "B" VII Corps Rangers, Fort Lewis,
Washington; "C" I Field Forces, Vietnam; "D" II Field Forces,
Vietnam; "E" 9th Infantry Division, Vietnam; F 25th Infantry
Division, Vietnam; "G" 23rd Infantry Division, Vietnam; "H"
1st Cavalry Division, Vietnam; "I" 1st Infantry Division,
Vietnam; "K" 4th Infantry Division, Vietnam; "L" 101st
Airborne Division, Vietnam; "M" 199th Light Infantry
Brigade, Vietnam; "N" 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vietnam;
"O" 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Vietnam; "P" 1st
Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Vietnam;
"D/151" Indiana National Guard; and "F/425 " Michigan
National Guard. The third period ended when the Ranger
companies were inactivated as their parent units were
withdrawn from the war between November 1969 (starting
with Company O, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division), and
on 15 August 1972 (ending with Company H, 1st Cavalry
Division). On 9 June 1972, H Company (Ranger) lost SGT
Elvis Weldon Osborne Jr. and CPL Jeffrey Alan Maurer to
enemy action. Three other US soldiers were killed by nonhostile
action that day, but SGT Osborne and CPL Maurer
were the last US Army infantrymen killed on the ground, as
well as the last Rangers killed in the Vietnam War.
The Post Vietnam Era 75th Ranger Regiment
In January 1974, General Creighton Abrams, Army Chief
of Staff, directed the formation of a Ranger battalion. General
Kenneth C. Leuer was charged with activating, organizing,
training and leading the first battalion sized Ranger unit since
World War II. The 1st Ranger Battalion was activated and
parachuted into Fort Stewart, Georgia, on 1 July 1974. The
2nd Ranger Battalion followed with activation on 1 October
1974. The 3rd Ranger Battalion and Headquarters Company
received their colors on 3 October 1984, at Fort Benning, Ga.
The 75th Ranger Regiment was designated in February 1986.
The modern Ranger battalions were first called upon in 1980.
Elements of 1st Ranger Battalion participated in the Iranian
hostage rescue attempts.
In October 1983, 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions spear -
headed Operation Urgent Fury, conducting a dangerous lowlevel
parachute assault to seize Point Salines Airfield and
rescue American citizens at True Blue Medical Campus in
Grenada.
The entire 75th Ranger Regiment participated in
Operation Just Cause. Rangers spearheaded the action by
conducting two important operations. Simultaneous
parachute assaults were conducted onto Torrijos/Tocumen
International Airport, Rio Hato Airfield and General Manuel
Noriega's beach house, to neutralize Panamanian Defence
Forces. The Rangers captured 1,014 Enemy Prisoners of War
(EPW), and over 18,000 various weapons.
75th Ranger Regiment Shoulder Patch
Elements of Company B, and 1st Platoon Company A, 1st
Ranger Battalion, deployed to Saudi Arabia from 12 February
1991 to 15 April 1991, in support of Operation Desert Storm.
They conducted raids and provided a quick reaction force in
cooperation with Allied forces. In December 1991, 1/75 and
the Regimental headquarters deployed to Kuwait in a show
of force known as Operation Iris Gold. The Rangers
performed an airborne assault onto Ali Al Salem airfield, near
Kuwait City, conducted a 50 km (31 mi) foot march through
devastation (including mine fields) left from the ground
campaign, conducted a live fire exercises and exfiltrated by
foot.
In August 1993, elements of 3rd Ranger Battalion
deployed to Somalia to assist United Nations forces
attempting to bring order to the chaotic and starving nation.
On 3 October 1993, the Rangers conducted a daylight raid
with Delta Force. The Battle of Mogadishu ended in chaos as
the American forces were trapped for hours inside the city by
Somalian militias, due to a series of planning and com -
manding errors, resulting in the death of several American
soldiers. Nevertheless, the Rangers held improvised posi -
tions for nearly 18 hours, killing between 500-1,000 Somalis
before UN-troops with tanks reached them and the American
troops could start a coordinated retreat. The mission was
accomplished as the high-value targets were captured, but is
seen as pyrrhic victory.
On 24 November 2000 the 75th Ranger Regiment
deployed Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC) Team
2 and a command and control element to Kosovo in support
of Task Force Falcon.
Post 9/11 Conflicts
Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan
After the events of 11 September 2001, Rangers were
again called into action, in support of the War on Terror.
Ranger protection force teams were part of Task Force
Sword, the TF was a black SOF unit, whose primary objective
was of capturing or killing senior leadership and HVT within
both al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
On 19 October 2001, 200 Rangers of 3rd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment spearheaded ground forces by conducting
an airborne assault to seize Objective Rhinoduring the 2001
invasion of Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom – Afghanistan; Spc. Jonn J. Edmunds and Pfc.
Kristofer T. Stonesifer were the first combat casualties in the
War on Terror when their MH-60L helicopter crashed at
Objective Honda in Pakistan, a temporary staging site used
by a company of Rangers from 3rd Battalion.
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