O/75 RGR & 78th LRP & 82ID LRS HISTORY

	O/75 RGR	78th LRP
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	UNIT DIRECTOR - Michael L . Feller     ( Michael's Message)

Upon deployment to Southeast Asia, the 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division (Separate) included no standard ground patrolling components, Col. Boning authorized his three Battalion Commanders to form ad-hoc reconnaissance/security elements as they were required. The 1/508th Infantry Bu. formed a sixty man "'Delta Company", the 2/505th Infantry Bn. formed a forty man "Strike Force" and the 1/505th Infantry Bn. formed two "Combined Platoons" of its own. These units were the catalyst for the 78th Infantry Detachment (LRP) (ABN).

When the 82d Airborne Divison's 3d Brigade (Separate) was conducting patrols as the 78th Infantry Detachment (LRP) (ABN), after it was deployed from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, under the command of Col. (later Brig. Gen.) Alexander R. Bolling Jr., Company F (LR.P), 51th Infantry (Airborne) was still conducting missions under assigned area of operations. Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne) ranks were being filled with dedicated airborne qualified personnel from Company F (LRP), 51th Infantry (Airborne), who were experienced and had supremacy in Long Range Patrol tactics. Stability for Company F (LRP), 51th Infantry (Airborne) came from its original members who volunteered and had service with the 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate) and its replacement personnel who attended the MACV Recondo School at Nha Trang, RVN, and personnel who learned their 'TRADE" without benefit of formal recon school training; this same stability was passed on into Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne).

Rather than create an entirely new unit designation for such an elite force, the Department of the Army looked to its rich and varied heritage and on I February 1969 designated the 75th Infantry Regiment, the present successor to the famous 5307th Composite Unit (Merrill's Marauders), as the parent organization for an Department of the Army designated Long Range Patrol (LRP) units and the parenthetical designation (RANGER) in lieu of (LRP) for these units. As a result, the 78th Infantry Detachment (LRP), assigned to the 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division (Separate), became Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne). Throughout history the need for a small, highly trained far ranging unit to perform reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and special type combat missions has been readily apparent. In Vietnam this need was met by instituting a Long Range Patrol program to provide each major combat unit with this special capability. - This history deals with the activities, personnel and accomplishments of Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne) during the periods, I February 1969 to 20 November 1969 (Vietnam) and 4 August 1970 to 29 September 1972 and makes reference to the units who proceeded the designation of Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne).

Less than a year after the original Company 0 was deactivated in Southeast Asia, Company 0 was activated at Ft. Richardson, Alaska an 4 August 1970 as Arctic Rangers under Gen. James F. Hollingsworth's direction. On 12 November 1969, Ranger teams were extracted for the last time. Company 0 (RANGER)'s tactical operations, which had collected valuable intelligence an enemy activities and had accounted for twenty (20) VC KIA or captured, Company 0 (RANGER) was deactivated on 20 November, 1969 in the Republic of Vietnam, while under the command of Cpt. Patrick Downing. Operating in the Nhi Binh area, from late February to the middle of May, the Rangers conducted numerous operations gathering valuable intelligence data an enemy activity in the area as wen as accounting for five (5) VC KIA. During April 1969, Company 0 (RANGER) suffered its first casualties, four (4), which were overcomed by large superior forces. The latter part of May found the Rangers in the Hobo Woods area, although operating for only a short time in this area, Company 0 (RANGER) conducted some of its most successful operations which accounted for four (4) VC KIA. Continued success followed while operating in the Pineapple Plantation area from June to August, disrupting enemy activity throughout the area. No longer were the VC able to move freely, as his mysterious antagonist (whom he seldom, if ever, saw) seemed to be everywhere. Operation Yorktown Victor commenced with operations in the "Iron Triangle" in September, which proved that Company 0 (RANGER) could out guerrilla the VC guerrilla. In the southern Phu Hoa district, the Rangers were frequently employed as stay-behind forces. On one occasion, less than an hour after the line company was extracted from the area, the Rangers captured two (2) VC who provided valuable intelligence concerning VC operations in the area. - September also accounted for Company 0 (RANGER)'s fifth and final friendly KIA.

Late in October 1968, found the 3d Brigade in the Gia Dinh Province, a hot bed of rebel discontent and sympathetic to the Viet Cong. Forcing higher command interest in allocating proper reconnaissance assets. On the 15th of December, 1968, the 78th Infantry Detachment (LRP) (ABN) Was activated under the command of Lt. William E. Jones and stationed at Camp Red Ban, northeast of Saigon. At this time Company F (LR.P), 51th Infantry (Aijrborne) was still conducting patrol missions at a reduced rate and preparing and training Company D (LRP), 151th (Airborne) personnel, who were 'taken with" Company F (LRP), 51th Infantry (Airborne) personnel on their first missions, prior to being entrusted to conduct missions on their own. The 78th Infantry Detachment (LRP) CABN) was relocated to Phu Loi, under the command of Cpt. Donald A. Peter on I February 1969. Their mission given was to provide the 3d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division (Separate) with long range reconnaissance and surveillance and if necessary engage and destroy the enemy. Every team leader and nearly every assistant team leader in the 78th infantry Detachment (LRP) (ABN) were either Recondo or Ranger qualified. On the 23d of February, 1969, Company 0 (RANGER), 75th Infantry (Airborne) became operational and ready for the test.

On 25 March 1972, the Arctic Rangers proved their proficiency on the Polar Lee Cap again and in July by traversing Harding Lee Field, one of the largest ice fields in the world. On King Salmon, in August, saw the Arctic Rangers being menaced by a pesky brown bear by raiding their mess tent and avoiding the Ranger's attempts of capture by negotiating all their trip wires, sights and demonstrated such tactical prowess in avoiding detection that it was designated an "'Honorary Ranger Bear." On 4 March 1971, 135 Arctic Rangers parachuted onto the seven foot thick ice sheet north-northeast of Point Barrow, Alaska. Their activities were of a covert nature which comprised of sixteen daily flights between Alaska and Europe. Press releases at that time were "to serve in search, rescue, first aid and recovery actions 'at the top of the world' in the event of much needed emergencies along trans-polar airline routes."

After conducting an abbreviated Ranger course at Ft. Richardson, Company 0 (Arctic Ranger) was dispatched to St. Lawrence Island for anti-Soviet "combat" surveillance, only forty-seven (47) miles from Soviet territory. Supported by the 1st Scout Battalion, the 297th Infantry and the 38th Special Forces Group, but plagued by high winds, dense fogs and maintenance problems (which prevented systematic patrolling), the maneuver still stands as one of the few "combatant incidents" that occurred, outside and during the Vietnam War period.

During January 1971, Company 0 (Arctic Ranger) conducted the first basic airborne course in the history of the U.S. Army, Alaska and qualified fiftyseven (57) paratroopers. On 18 February 1971 the Arctic Rangers demonstrated this parachute capability by executing a winter jump over frozen Lake Clunle at Ft. Richardson. This was a training prelude to the daring March Ranger para-drop over frozen Beaufort Sea, the first Military parachute operation on the polar ice cap. The mission: to provide long range reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition, patrol capability to USARAL" and under the command of Maj. George A. Ferguson Jr.; equipped with long range communications and over the snow terrain apparatuses (snow machines, cross country sleds, and snowshoes) the Arctic Rangers were known as the "eyes and ears of the north." The Arctic Rangers watched for and provided early warning of enemy infiltration by patrolling vast stretches of the otherwise unprotected Alaskan coast, as well as the St. Lawrence and Little Diomede Islands. During the late 1960's, Soviet military activity became more aggressive and observation missions increased. Aircraft over-flights and detections of surfaced submarines were reported frequently. These reports were underscored by sightings of suspicions persons (some wearing wet suits) and the recovery of rubber rafts and chemical masks on secluded beaches.

Participating with- Canadian forces in ACID TEST 111, December 1970, the Rangers deployed satisfactorily and succeeded in infiltrating the main "aggressor" camp; at the end of the test, Company 0 (Arctic Ranger) was declared operational for commitment anywhere within Alaska.

After his departure to Vietnam in January 1972, Gen. Hollingsworth was to assume command of the very region where the original Company 0 operated. Having lost their champion, Company 0 (Arctic Ranger) was slated for elimination in his absence, thus Company 0 (Arctic Ranger) was deactivated on 29 September 1972. The Arctic Rangers existed for just over two years, but during this interval they forged an indelible mark an the diverse record of U.S. Army Ranger history.