:. Home
:. Rangers
:. Ship
:. Crew
:. Departments

The history of the Starfleet Special Operations Ranger (SOR) is a long and colorful saga of courage, daring and outstanding leadership.  It is a story of men whose skills in the art of fighting have seldom been surpassed.  Only the highlights of their numerous exploits are told here.

The First Rangers

Rangers primarily performed defensive missions until Benjamin Church’s Company of Independent Rangers from Plymouth Colony (Old Earth) proved successful in raiding hostile Indians during King Phillip’s War in 1675.

Rogers Rangers

In 1756 Major Robert Rogers, a native of New Hampshire 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.

Morgan's Riflemen

The method of fighting used by the first Rangers was further developed during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) by Colonel Daniel Morgan, who organized a unit known as “Morgan’s Riflemen”.  According to General Burgoyne, Morgan’s men were “…. the most famous corps of the Continental Army, all of them crack shots.”

The Swamp Fox

Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox”, organized another famous Revolutionary War Ranger element known as “Marion’s Partisans”.  Marion’s Partisans, numbering anywhere from a handful to several hundred, operated both with and independent of other elements of General Washington’s Army.  Operating out of the Carolina swamps, they disrupted British communications and prevented the organization of loyalists to support the British cause, substantially contributing to the American victory.

Mosby's Rangers

The American Civil War (1861-1865) was again the occasion for the creation of special units such as Rangers.  John S. Mosby, a master of the prompt and skillful use of cavalry, was one of the most outstanding Confederate Rangers. He believed that by resorting to aggressive action he could compel his enemies to guard a hundred points.  He would then attack one of the weakest points and be assured numerical superiority.

Darby's Rangers

With America’s entry into the Second World War (1939-1945), Rangers came forth to add to the pages of history.  Major William O. Darby organized and activated the 1^st Ranger Battalion on June 19, 1942 at Carrickfergus, North Ireland.  The members were all handpicked volunteers; 50 participated in the gallant Dieppe Raid on the northern coast of France with British and Canadian commandos.  The 1^st, 3^rd, and 4^th Ranger Battalions participated with distinction in the North African, Sicilian and Italian campaigns. Darby’s Ranger Battalions spearheaded the Seventh Army landing at Gela and Licata during the Sicilian invasion and played a key role in the subsequent campaign, which culminated in the capture of Messina.  They infiltrated German lines and mounted an attack against Cisterna, where they virtually annihilated an entire German parachute regiment during close in, night, bayonet and hand-to-hand fighting.

The 2^nd and 5^th Ranger Battalions participated in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy; it was during the bitter fighting along the beach that the Rangers gained their official motto.  As the situation became critical on Omaha Beach, the division commander of the 29^th Infantry Division stated that the entire force must clear the beach and advance inland.  He then turned to Lieutenant Colonel Max Schneider, Commander of the 5^th Ranger Battalion, and said, “Rangers, lead the way.”  The 5^th Ranger Battalion spearheaded the breakthrough and thus enabled the allies to drive inland away from the invasion beaches.

The 6^th Ranger Battalion, operating in the Pacific, conducted Ranger type missions behind enemy lines, which involved reconnaissance and hard-hitting, long-range raids.  They were the first American contingent to return to the Philippines, destroying key coastal installations prior to the invasion.  A reinforced company from the 6^th Ranger Battalion formed the rescue force that liberated American and allied prisoners of war from the Japanese prison camp at Cabanatuan.

Merrill's Marauders

Another Ranger-type unit was the 5307^th Composite Unit (Provisional), organized and trained as a long-range penetration unit for employment behind enemy lines in Japanese occupied Burma.  The unit commander was Brigadier General (later Major General) Frank D. Merrill, its 2,997 officers and men became popularly known as “Merrill’s Marauders”.

The men composing Merrill’s Marauders were volunteers from the 5^th, 154^th, and 33^rd Infantry Regiments and from other Infantry regiments engaged in combat in the southwest and South Pacific.  These men responded to a call from then Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, for volunteers for a hazardous mission.  These volunteers were to have a high state of physical ruggedness and stamina and were to come from jungle-trained and jungle-tested units.

Prior to their entry into the Northern Burma Campaign, Merrill’s Marauders trained in India under the overall supervision of Major General Orde C. Wingate, British Army.  There, they were trained from February to June 1943 in long-range penetration tactics and techniques of the type developed and first employed by General Wingate.  The operations of the Marauders were closely coordinated with those of the Chinese 22^nd and 38^th Divisions in a drive to recover northern Burma and clear the way for the construction of Ledo Road, which was to link the Indian railhead at Ledo with the old Burma Road to China.  The Marauders marched and fought through jungle and over mountains from Hukwang Valley in northwest Burma to Myitkyina and the Irrawaddy River. 

In 5 major and 30 minor engagements, they met and defeated the veteran soldiers of the Japanese 18^th Division.  Operating in the rear of the main force of the Japanese, they prepared the way for the southward advances of the Chinese by disorganizing supply lines and communications.  The climax of the Marauder’s operations was the capture of Myitkyina Airfield, the only all-weather strip in northern Burma.  This was the final victory of “Merrill’s Marauders” which was disbanded in August 1944.  Remaining personnel were consolidated into the 475^th Infantry Regiment which fought its last battle February 3-4,1945 at Loi-Kang Ridge, China.  This Infantry Regiment would serve as the forefather of the 75^th Ranger Regiment.

Airborne Rangers

Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-1953) in June 1950, the 8^th Army Ranger Company was formed of volunteers from American units in Japan.  The Company was trained in Korea and distinguished itself in combat during the drive to the Yalu River, performing task force and spearhead operations.  In November 1950 during the massive Chinese intervention, this small unit, though vastly outnumbered, withstood five enemy assaults on its position.

In September 1950, a Department of the Army message called for volunteers to be trained as Airborne Rangers.  In the 82^nd Airborne Division, five thousand regular Army paratroopers volunteered, and from that number nine hundred men were selected to form the initial eight Airborne Ranger Companies. An additional nine companies were formed from volunteers of regular Army and National Guard Infantry Divisions.  These seventeen Airborne Ranger companies were activated and trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, with most receiving additional training in the mountains of Colorado.

In 1950 and 1951, some 700 men of the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 8^th Airborne Ranger companies fought to the front of every American Infantry Division in Korea.  Attacking by land, water, and air, these six Ranger companies conducted raids, deep penetrations and ambush operations against North Korean and Chinese forces.  They were the first Rangers in history to make a combat jump.  After the Chinese intervention, these Rangers were the first Americans to re-cross the 38^th parallel.  The 2^nd Airborne Ranger Company was the only African American Ranger unit in the history of the American Army.  The men of the six Ranger companies who fought in Korea paid the bloody price of freedom.  One in nine of this gallant brotherhood died on the battlefields of Korea.

Other Airborne Ranger companies led the way while serving with infantry divisions in the United States, Germany and Japan.  Men of these companies volunteered and fought as members of line infantry units in Korea.  One Ranger, Donn Porter, would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.  Fourteen Korean War Rangers became general officers and dozens became colonels, senior noncommissioned officers, and leaders in civilian life.  They volunteered for the Army, the Airborne, the Rangers, and for combat.  The first men to earn and wear the coveted Ranger Tab, these men are the original Airborne Rangers.

In October 1951, the Army Chief of Staff, General J. Lawton Collins directed, “Ranger training be extended to all combat units in the Army.”  The Commandant of the Infantry School was directed to establish a Ranger Department for the purpose of conducting a Ranger course of instruction.  The overall objective of Ranger training was to raise the standard of training in all combat units.  This program was built upon what had been learned from the Ranger Battalions of World War II and the Airborne Ranger companies of the Korean conflict.

75th Infantry

During the Vietnam Conflict (1964-1975), fourteen Ranger companies consisting of highly motivated volunteers served with distinction from the Mekong Delta to the DMZ.  Assigned to separate brigade, division and field force units, they conducted long-range reconnaissance and exploitation operations into enemy-held areas providing valuable combat intelligence.  Initially designated as LRRP, then LRP companies, these units were later designated as C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O and P (Ranger) 75^th Infantry.

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 United States 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.

75th Ranger Regiment

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 United States Army and that, as Rangers "graduated” from Ranger units to Regular Army units, their influence would improve the entire Army. Following are some of General Abram's comments on the Rangers which, in their early days, were often referred to as "Abram's Own. "

"The Ranger Battalion is to be an elite, light, and the most proficient infantry battalion in the world; a battalion that can do things with its hands and weapons better than anyone. The Battalion will contain no 'hoodlums' or 'brigands' and that lathe battalion were formed of such, it would be disbanded."

"The organization of the Battalion must be done right, there (is) no timetable for this effort, (that) it must be determined first what has to be done and with what equipment and facilities”

"Wherever the Ranger Battalion goes, it is apparent that it is the best. "

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 world-wide selection was begun and personnel assembled at Fort Benning, Georgia, to undergo the cadre training from March through June 1974. On July 1, 1974, the 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), parachuted into Fort Stewart, Georgia.