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| Country | United States |
| Active | 1974 – present 1st Battalion formed 19 June 1942 |
| Motto | "Rangers lead the way!" |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Special Operations Forces |
United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School. The term "Ranger" was first used in North America in the early 17th century; however, the first ranger company was not officially commissioned until King Philip's War (1676) and then they were used in the four French and Indian Wars. Rangers also fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the American Civil War.
It
was not until World War II that the modern Ranger concept was conceived, authorized
by General George C. Marshall in 1942. The six battalions of the modern Rangers
have been deployed in wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and saw
action in several conflicts, such as those in Panama and Grenada. Of the current
active Ranger battalions, two—the 1st and the 2nd—have been in
service since reactivation in 1974. The 3rd Ranger Battalion and the headquarters
of the 75th Ranger Regiment were reactivated in 1984.
The 75th Ranger Regiment
The 75th Ranger Regiment is now a special operations combat formation within
the U.S. Army Special Operation Command (USASOC). The Ranger Regiment traces
its lineage to three of six battalions raised in WWII, and to the 5307th Composite
Unit (Provisional)—known as “Merrill's Marauders,” and then
reflagged as the 475th Infantry, then later as the 75th Infantry.
