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View Full Version : What do Army Rangers do?



Cruelbreed
03-16-2009, 02:13 AM
Are army rangers really considered to be special forces? Viewing their motto "rangers lead the way" are rangers usually the first ones in?

This is what I got off howstuffworks..


Since they're Airborne graduates, Rangers often parachute to the designated insertion area. But they're also trained for other types of insertions -- or means of getting soldiers quickly and quietly behind enemy lines -- like a small boat in a swamp or down fast lines (ropes lines that allow a quick descent) from the sides of a helicopter (http://science.howstuffworks.com/apache-helicopter.htm). Once on the ground, their operations take many forms. In a strike situation, the Rangers' archetypal operation is the seizing of an airfield. They're also extremely versatile and can easily move from a special operation into a conventional one, once the initial mission is fulfilled. For example, if the Rangers' mission is to take an airfield, they may parachute in, eliminate any threats, take control of the airfield and signal that the mission is accomplished. When conventional forces move into the secured airfield, Rangers can link up with them, moving onward as part of the larger conventional-fighting force.


These kinds of strikes and raids are called direct-action operations, and they can eventually get pretty loud due to the gunfire that erupts. There's another type of operation for which Rangers are suited -- reconnaissance, or recon. Recon is Ranger tradition, born from the Colonial scouts and honed by the long-range patrols in Vietnam (http://science.howstuffworks.com/map-of-vietnam.htm). All Rangers are taught recon, but there's also a small specialized group of Rangers extensively trained for scouting and recon -- the Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment (RRD).