TODAY’S RANGERs Today’s Army Rangers are smart tough brave and adventurous They are strong and capable soldiers and they don’t give up They are quick thinkers and always ready to take action Rangers bravely face fear danger and unknown obstacles on every mission They are trained to outsmart and defeat their enemies Surprise is one of the Rangers most effective weapons To succeed in their missions Rangers work to discover information about the enemy This is called intelligence gathering Rangers learn where the enemy is hiding Then they use special skills and equipment to get close to the enemy without being seen Rangers are light infantry forces that fight on foot They carry what they need and are in direct combat with the enemy Rangers often arrive under the cover of darkness Their enemies are Rangers wear night vision goggles to see in the dark 1 R E T P A H C 4
shocked and unable to react quickly enough to defeat the Rangers Rangers seize and destroy enemy sites and materials and capture or kill enemies They also rescue prisoners of war and other people from hostile areas Recent Ranger Deployments Iran Operation Eagle Claw 1980 1983 Grenada Operation Urgent Fury 1989 Panama Operation Just Cause 1991 Persian Gulf Operation Desert Shield Desert Storm Serpent Restore Hope 1993 Somalia Operation Gothic 2001 Afghanistan Operation 2003 Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom Enduring Freedom Detail Areas Iraq Iran Afghanistan Caribbean Sea Grenada Panama Persian Gulf Indian Ocean Somalia 5
EARLY RANGER UNITS Captain Benjamin Church founded the first American Ranger unit in 1676 They fought in King Philip’s War Church’s unit copied the way Native Americans fought In 1756 Major Robert Rogers created a Ranger unit to fight in the French and Indian War He wrote Standing Orders for the Rangers he commanded They were rules for how to fight in battle Colonel Benjamin Church 2 R E T P A H C 6
Here are some of the rules in Rogers Standing Orders Don’t forget nothing Be ready to march at a minute’s warning See the enemy first Tell the truth about what you see and what you do Don’t never lie to a Ranger or officer Don’t never take a chance you don’t have to When we march we keep moving till dark Half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps Don’t sleep beyond dawn Let the enemy come till he’s almost close enough to touch then let him have it Major Robert Rogers You might notice that Rogers didn’t use proper English For example he says Don’t forget nothing instead of Don’t forget anything Whether he used proper English or not his ideas worked The Standing Orders written by Major Rogers are still included in the Ranger Handbook 7
