The 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger) (officially 75th Infantry Regiment or 75th Infantry) was initially a parent regiment for all the US Army Ranger units during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and the early 1980s and then the headquarters for the Ranger battalions.

History

On 1 February 1969, as part of the

U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. A ...

(CARS), all U.S. Army

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP, is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep into enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ed., Rowman & Li ...

(LRRP) units were reorganized as the 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger). Fifteen Ranger companies were formed from reconnaissance units in Europe and Vietnam with lineage to

Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-E ...

(5307th Composite Unit). The firms were given the letters C through I and K through P. To avoid confusion with the similar "I" (or India) designation on typed documents, there was no "J" Ranger Company. Companies A and B were kept stateside as a strategic reserve in case they were needed overseas in Europe or the Americas. The Ranger companies were composed of small, heavily armed long range reconnaissance teams that patrolled deep in enemy-held territory. Each independent company was attached to a separate division or brigade and acted as the eyes and ears of those units. Rangers collected

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

, discovered enemy troop locations, surveilled trails and enemy hot spots, directed artillery and

air strike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and Unmanned combat aerial ...

s, performed bomb damage assessments, and conducted ambushes. Additionally, Rangers attempted to recover

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

, capture enemy soldiers for interrogation, tap the wire communications of the

North Vietnam Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national military force of the Socialist Republic o ...

and the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (

Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...

) on the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

, and

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

enemy trails and roads.

Lineage

*Organized as

5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the Southe ...

on 3 October 1943 :Consolidated with the 475th Infantry and unit designated as 475th Infantry on 10 August 1944 :Inactivated on 1 July 1945 *Redesignated as 75th Infantry on 21 June 1954 :Allotted to the Regular Army on 26 October 1954 :Activated on 20 November 1954 :Inactivated on 21 March 1956 *Reorganized as a parent regiment under the

Combat Arms Regimental System The Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), was the method of assigning unit designations to units of some of the combat arms branches of the United States Army, including Infantry, Special Forces, Field Artillery, and Armor, from 1957 to 1981. A ...

on 1 January 1969 :Reorganized with Headquarters on 1 July 1984 *On 3 February 1986, the 75th Infantry Regiment (then consisting of Headquarters and Headquarters Company,

1st Ranger Battalion The 1st Ranger Battalion, currently based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is the first of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment (United States), 75th Ranger Regiment. It ...

2nd Ranger Battalion The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is one of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II Formation ...

, and

3rd Ranger Battalion The 3rd Ranger Battalion is the third of three Ranger Battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. It is currently based at Fort Benning, Georgia. History World War II Ranger Organization by Major Herman Dammer Aft ...

) was consolidated with the former A Company, 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion (then part of HHC 7th SFG), Company A, 2nd Infantry Battalion (then part of HHC 10th SFG), and the inactive units Company A, 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion (last part of HHC 13th SFG, inactivated in 1966), 4th Ranger Battalion, 5th Ranger Battalion and 6th Ranger Battalion; it was concurrently designated as

75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as the United States Army Rangers, Army Rangers, is the United States Army Special Operations Command's premier light infantry and direct-action raid force. The 75th Ranger Regiment is also part of Joint S ...

and reorganized under the

Regimental System A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service, or specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in on ...

Organization

Vietnam War

When they were redesignated on 1 February 1969, the average

TOE Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plantigrade''; ...

strength of a Ranger company was of 3 officers and 115 enlisted men, bringing the total to 118 men divided into a company headquarters, operations section, communications platoon, and two patrol platoons. There were some exceptions though; Company C, 75th Infantry (Ranger) had a strength of 230 men divided into a company Headquarters, operations section, communications platoon, and four patrol platoons. Companies D and H each had 198 men and Companies M, N, O, and P each had 61 men, since these four units were created from LRP detachments assigned to brigades.

Ranger Companies

Post-Vietnam reorganization

Battalions

National Guard Ranger Companies D151

References

External links

75th Ranger Regiment lineage
{{DEFAULTSORT:075 Military units and formations of the United States Army in the Vietnam War Military units and formations established in 1969 United States Army Rangers regiments Military units and formations disestablished in 1986