1st Ranger Battalion

Soon after the United States entered World War II in 1941, General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, envisioned an elite unit of fifty men selected voluntarily from the 34th Infantry Division.^[11] To create and lead this new unit, Marshall picked Major William Orlando Darby, who was serving as General Russell P. Hartle's aide in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he was frustrated with his lack of hands-on experience. On 8 June 1942, Darby—now known as the founder of the modern Rangers—was put in charge of the 1st Ranger Battalion under General Hartle.^[12]

On 19 August 1942, fifty Rangers fought alongside Canadian and British Commandos in the ill-fated Dieppe Raid on the coast of occupied France. Three Rangers were killed and several were captured. The first American soldier killed in Europe in World War II, Ranger Lieutenant E. V. Loustalot, was part of this raid. During the mission, Loustalot took command after the British captain leading the assault was killed. While attempting to reach a machine gun nest at the top of a cliff, he was wounded three times by enemy fire and killed.^[13]

In November 1942, the entire 1st Ranger Battalion entered combat for the first time when they landed at Arzew, Algeria during Operation Torch. The 1st were split into two groups in hopes of assaulting Vichy-French batteries and fortifications before the 1st Infantry Division would land on the beach. The operation was successful, and the unit sustained minimal casualties.^[11]

On 11 February 1943, the Rangers moved 32 miles (51 km) to raid an Italian encampment at Sened Station. Moving at night, the Rangers slipped to within 50 yards (46 m) of the Italian outpost and began their attack. It took the battalion only 20 minutes to overtake the garrison and achieve their objective. Seventy-five Italians were killed and eleven were taken prisoner.^[11] Darby, along with four other officers and nine enlisted, was awarded the Silver Star Medal for this action.^[14] The battalion itself gained the nickname the "Black Death" by the Italians.^[12]

At the time, the Italians still held the pass at Djebel El Ank, located at the far east edge of El Guettar. The Rangers linked up with engineers elements of the 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, to attack the area in preparation for the Battle of El Guettar. The 1st Rangers orders were to move overland, on foot 12 miles (19 km) to outflank the enemy's position. In eight hours of fighting, the Americans captured the objective; the 1st Rangers took 200 prisoners.^[15]

Creation of 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions

With the success of the 1st Ranger Battalion during the Tunisian campaign, Darby requested that the Rangers be expanded to a full Regiment. The request was granted. The 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions were authorized shortly after and were trained and led by veteran officers and NCOs from the 1st Battalion.^[11] After getting the "green light" to expand, Darby ran into a problem: the Rangers only took volunteers. Darby, knowing that the best man for the job was not always a volunteer, sought out men around Oran. Although he was still limited in that he could only accept volunteers, he began to find ways around this. For instance, he began to give speeches, put up posters, and encourage his officers to scout around for eligible candidates. By June 1943, the three Ranger battalions were fully operational. 1st Rangers were still under Colonel Darby; the 3rd Rangers under Major Herman Dammer, and the 4th Rangers commanded by Major Roy Murray.^[11][12]

1st and 4th Ranger Battalions were paired together and placed with General Terry Allen's 1st Division to spearhead the American landings of the Sicily campaign. Landing outside Gela, the Rangers took the town just after midnight, starting off the Battle of Gela. They held Gela, enduring 50 hours of constant attack by enemy artillery, tank, and air forces.^[15][16]

Following their success, the two Ranger battalions were then ordered to take the town of Butera, a fortress suspended on the 1,319-foot (402 m) high edge of the cliff at Butera beach. After almost withdrawing from the battle, and requesting artillery to level the city, a platoon of Rangers volunteered to breach its defenses. Two privates, John See and John Constantine, sneaked in behind enemy lines and tricked the Italians and Germans into surrendering the city.^[17]

Meanwhile, the 3rd Ranger Battalion headed out into the area of Agrigento, where they marched through Campobello, Naro, and Favara, successfully occupying each town. The 3rd then took the town of Porto Empedocle.^[18]

Colonel Darby was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and was promoted by General George Patton; however, Darby, wanting to be closer to his men, turned down this promotion.^[12]

Fall of 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions

After a break for Christmas 1943, the Rangers were put together for a joint effort to occupy the town of Cisterna before the main infantry division moved in. On the night of 30 January 1944, the 1st and 3rd battalions moved into the town, passing many German soldiers who did not appear to notice the Rangers slip by.^[19] The 4th Ranger Battalion, which approached the town from the opposite end, met opposition almost immediately on the road. During the night, the 1st and 3rd Ranger battalions separated by about 2 miles (3.2 km), and when daylight caught the 1st Ranger Battalion out in an open field, the Germans began their ambush. Surrounded and unable to escape, the two Ranger battalions fought on until they exhausted their ammunition and resources. The 4th Ranger Battalion pushed to save their comrades but were forced to withdraw. After five hours of fighting, the Rangers surrendered to the German armor and mechanized infantry. The two battalions sustained 12 killed, 36 wounded, and 743 captured—only eight were able to escape. The 4th Battalion suffered 30 killed and 58 wounded.^[20]

This marked the end of the three Ranger battalions. The remaining 400 Rangers were scattered around the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 137 original Rangers were sent home. 1st and 3rd Battalions were disbanded on 15 August 1944 while 4th Battalion was disbanded on 24 October 1944 at Camp Butner, North Carolina.^[21]

2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions

2nd Ranger Battalion troops use rope ladders to scale Pointe du Hoc.

The 2nd Ranger Battalion and 5th Ranger Battalion were trained at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, on 1 April 1943. They first saw action 6 June 1944, during Operation Overlord. During D-day 2nd Rangers companies D, E, and F, were ordered to take a strategic German outpost at Pointe du Hoc. This coastal cliff was supposed to have several 155 mm artillery cannons aimed down at the beach.^[22] Once they arrived at the bottom of the cliff, they had an enormous climb to make up rope ladders while receiving a barrage of machinegun fire from the Germans above. The 2nd Rangers took the area even with the intense German resistance but the guns were not in sight. A patrol scouting the area found the 155 mm coastal guns a mile away; the patrol party quickly disabled the guns and resistance in the area. In an interview, Leonard Lomell and Jack Kuhn explained the events that took place that day:

The guns had to have been taken off the Pointe. We were looking for any kind of evidence we could find and it looked like there were some markings on the secondary road where it joined the main road. We decided to leapfrog. Jack covered me, and I went forward. When I got a few feet forward, I covered him. It was a sunken road with very high hedgerows with trees and bushes and stuff like that. It was wide enough to put a column of tanks in, and they would be well hidden. We didn't see anybody, so we just took a chance, running as fast as we could, looking over the hedgerow. At least we had the protection of the high hedgerows. When it became my turn to look over, I said, "God, here they are!" They were in an orchard, camouflaged in among the trees.^[23]

Meanwhile, the rest of the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions spearheaded the attack on the beach at Omaha. An apocryphal story tells of when General Norman Cota, leading the 29th Infantry Division, met with Major Max F. Schneider, commanding the 5th Ranger Battalion. When Schneider was asked his unit by Cota, someone yelled out "5th Rangers!", to which Cota replied, "Well then Goddammit, Rangers, lead the way!" This drive cut the German line allowing the conventional army to move in. The phrase "Rangers lead the way" later became the motto of the regiment.^[24][15][25] The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions worked on special operation tasks in the Normandy Campaign. The two battalions fought in many battles such as Battle for Brest and the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. The 2nd Rangers were responsible for capturing Le Conquet Peninsula, where they disabled a 280 mm gun and took many German prisoners.^[14] The 2nd Ranger Battalion also went on to take several tactical German positions, cutting the German line in the Rhineland. In Saar west of Zerf, the 5th Battalion took an overlooking German position cutting of all supply routes to German forces.^[26]

6th Ranger Battalion

The 6th Ranger Battalion was stationed in the Pacific, and served mostly in the Philippines and New Guinea. All operations completed by the 6th Battalion were done in company- or platoon-size behind enemy lines. They were the first soldiers to hit the Philippines, three days before the army would launch the first invasion. The 6th Ranger Battalion conducted long-range reconnaissance, operating miles past the front line.^[15]

At Cabanatuan, on the island of Luzon in January 1945, a company of the 6th Ranger Battalion executed the Raid at Cabanatuan. The Rangers penetrated 22–24 miles (35–39 km) behind enemy lines, including crawling a mile (1 mile (1.6 km)) across an open field on their stomachs. During their final assault the Rangers destroyed a garrison of Japanese soldiers twice their size and rescued 500 POWs.^[15][27]

The 6th Ranger Battalion's final mission was to secure a drop zone for 11th Airborne Division paratroopers 250 miles (400 km) into enemy territory. They linked up with the 37th Infantry Division and ended the war in the Philippines.^[28]

Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan

After the events of 11 September 2001, Rangers were called into action for the War on Terror. On 19 October 2001, 200 Rangers of 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment spearheaded ground forces by conducting an airborne assault to seize Objective Rhino during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan,^[46] the opening battle of Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan. Spc. Jonn J. Edmunds and Pfc. Kristofer T. Stonesifer became the first combat casualties in the War on Terror when their MH-60L helicopter crashed at Objective Honda in Pakistan, a temporary staging site used by a company of Rangers from 3rd Battalion.^[47][48] Ranger protection force teams were part of Task Force Sword, a black SOF unit whose primary objective was capturing or killing senior leaders and HVTs with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.^[49] A squadron of Delta Force operatives, supported by Rangers from TF Sword, conducted an operation outside Kandahar at a location known as Objective Gecko; they missed the mission's target but killed some 30 Taliban fighters in a heavy firefight.^[50][51]

In November 2001, the 75th Ranger Regiment carried out its second combat parachute drop into Afghanistan: a platoon-sized Ranger security element, including the Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment Team 3 conducted the missions: Objective Wolverine, Raptor and Operation Relentless Strike. During the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, a CIA Jawbreaker team (a small group of CIA SAD ground branch operators) requested that the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment be inserted into the mountains to block escape routes from Tora Bora to Pakistan. They would serve as an "anvil" while Special Forces with the Afghan Militia Forces would be the "hammer". With the attached Air Force Combat Controllers, the Rangers could have directed airstrikes onto enemy concentrations or engaged them in ambushes, but their requests to do so were denied.^[52]

In March 2002, 35 Rangers from 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment had been assigned as QRF for all Task Force operations, but only half of the platoon was available for the Battle of Takur Ghar. In the final days of Operation Anaconda, a mixed force of Rangers travelling in Blackhawk helicopters backed up operators from DEVGRU who intercepted a convoy of al-Qaeda fighters traveling in three SUVs via three MH-47Es. A firefight left 16 al-Qaeda fighters dead and two seriously wounded and captured. On 18 August, Rangers and other coalition special forces joined the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Mountain Sweep, carrying out five combat air assault missions in the area around the villages of Dormat and Narizah, south of Khowst and Gardez. The force found an anti-aircraft gun, two 82mm mortars, recoilless rifles, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, machine guns, small arms and ammunition for all of them; they also detained 10 people. Later in 2002, TF 11 was replaced by a small JSOC element manned by SEALs and Rangers.^[53]

In 2003, after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in a joint CIA-ISI operation in Pakistan, Rangers and 82nd Airborne Division troops helped transport him to a U.S. black site prison. After the troops secured an improvised desert strip in a dry river bed near the Pakistani border, an MC-130 Combat Talon plane landed and lowered its ramp, whereupon SEALs from DEVGRU drove Desert Patrol Vehicles carrying the detainee up the ramp into the back of the plane, which taxied and lifted off.^[54]

In summer 2005, during Operation Red Wings, a Ranger patrol retrieved HM2 Marcus Luttrell five days after he went missing.^[55]

In July 2006, in Helmand Province, two MH-47Es from 160th SOAR attempted to insert a combined strike element of DEVGRU, Rangers, and Afghan commandos so they could attack a compound. With some troops on the ground, a large insurgent force ambushed them; both helicopters were struck by small arms fire. One MH-47E pilot put his aircraft in the line of fire to protect the assault team disembarking from the other MH-47E, but was struck by an RPG and crash-landed without serious injury. The Ranger commander and an attached Australian commando organized an all-round defense while the other MH-47E held back the advancing insurgents until its Miniguns ran out of ammunition. An AC-130 Spectre joined the battle and kept the downed crew and passengers safe until a British Immediate Response Team helicopter recovered them. The AC-130 then destroyed the MH-47E wreck, denying it to the Taliban.^[56] Also that year, a six-man RRD (Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment) team from the 75th Ranger Regiment attached to the JSOC Task Force inserted into the Hindu Kush mountain range after intelligence indicated that an insurgent chief, Haqqani, would be entering Afghanistan from Pakistan. After establishing an OP almost 4,000 meters above sea level, the RRD team waited and watched for their target. Insurgents arrived and began to fire on the Ranger team, whose attached JTAC called in an orbiting B-1B strategic bomber. The airplane killed an estimated 100 insurgents, but not Haqqani.^[57]

A Ranger assault team assaults a compound in Nerkh district in Wardak province, Afghanistan,^[58] on 19 November 2009.

In 2007, after a CIA source reported seeing Bin Laden in Tora Bora, many theater ISR assets were sent the area. The initial plan based around a small helicopter assault force soon expanded to include Special Forces ODAs and a Ranger element to provide a cordon for the SEALs. Eventually, the operation was launched under the cover of Air Force bombing, but after fruitless searching through the mountains, no sign of Bin Laden was found.^[59]

In June 2009, Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban. Over the five years that he was held by the Taliban and Haqqani Network, Rangers and DEVGRU "spun up" operations to rescue him, but each resulted in a "dry hole."^[60]

Rangers armed with M4A1 carbines in SOPMOD Block II clear a room during a night raid in Helmand Province, Afghanistan,^[61] on 26 August 2012.

On 8 October 2010, a troop from DEVGRU and two squads of Rangers tried to rescue Linda Norgrove, who was being held by the Taliban in compounds in the Korangal Valley. The rescue mission failed when a DEVGRU operator accidentally killed Norgrove with a grenade.^[62]

For actions between 14 and 16 November 2010, Charlie Company 1/75th, received the Valorous Unit Award for extraordinary heroism, combat achievement, and conspicuous gallantry.^[63]

With ISAF's surge in Afghanistan at its peak in summer 2011, 1/75th (and Bravo Company in particular) received the Meritorious Unit Citation for actions during Operation Enduring Freedom between 15 May – 28 August 2011. These included conducting continuous combat operations, including time-sensitive raids and deliberate movement-to-contact operations in enemy-held terrain beyond reach of friendly forces in places like Khost, Paktika and Nangarhar Province. Two Rangers from the battalion were killed during this time.^[63] On 20 July, Delta Force supported by Rangers and Afghan SOF elements were inserted by the 160th SOAR into the mountainous region of Sar Rowzah District, Paktika Province. They were immediately engaged by insurgents who were heavily armed with DShK HMGs and RPGs; during that night's fighting, about 30 insurgents were killed. As the sun rose, dozens of remaining insurgents who had been hiding in bunkers and caves became visible, and armed UAVs, AH-6s, and MH-60 DAPs flew in close air support, as did ground attack aircraft. Fighting continued into a second day as bunkers and fighting positions were systematically cleared, some using then-recently issued Mk14 Antistructural Grenades. An estimated 80 to 100 Haqqani and foreign fighters were killed in the two-day battle.^[64]

On 6 August, a platoon of U.S. Army Rangers began taking fire while trying to capture a senior Taliban leader in the Tangi Valley in Wardak province. A CH-47 helicopter carrying 38 American and Afghan servicemen was dispatched to help, but was shot down by the Taliban. All 38 aboard died in the deadliest single incident for Americans in the Afghanistan campaign.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, all three Ranger Battalions were assigned to a new Task Force whose goals were to seize key locations, conduct long-range special reconnaissance, and capture HVTs. On 24 March 2003, 3rd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment conducted a combat drop onto H-1 Air Base, securing the site as a staging area for operations in western Iraq. A company of Rangers and Royal Marines from 45 Commando flew into Iraq from Jordan to secure H-2 and H-3 airbases after they were captured by US, British and Australian SOF. On 26 March, B Company, 2/75th supported DEVGRU operators in the Objective Beaver raid on a suspected chemical and biological weapons site north of Haditha; they engaged numerous gunmen but found no chemical or biological weapons. On 1 April 2003, 290 Rangers from 1/75th and 2/75th helped rescue Private 1st Class Jessica Lynch; also that day, Delta Force and 3/75th captured the Haditha Dam and held it for five days.^[65]

After the invasion, the main 75th Ranger element deployed to Iraq carried out operations in northern Iraq and was based out of Mosul or Tikrit, supported by a small element of Delta Force operators. The DEVGRU squadron were supported by a reinforced Ranger platoon as was the Delta Force squadron, all part of the overall effort by JSOC in Iraq.^[66][67] On 18 June 2003, Delta Force operators and Rangers flew from Mosul via helicopter to chase a vehicle convoy of Ba'ath Party Iraqis who were fleeing over the border into Syria; JSOC suspected that Saddam Hussein was part of the convoy so the convoy was destroyed by an AC-130 Spectre. The operators then conducted a heliborne assault into a nearby compound that proved to be a Ba'athist safe house for ferrying former regime elements across the border. The operators came under fire from Syrian border guards, leading to a firefight that left several Syrians dead and 17 captured. Hussein was not in the convoy, but several of his cousins were.^[67][68]

Rangers conduct a security halt in Iraq, 26 April 2007.

On 23 July 2005, in Baghdad, Rangers acted as a back-up force for the British Special Boat Service during Operation Marlborough.^[69]

On 1 January 2006, Rangers raided a remote farmhouse outside Baghdad, capturing several gunmen without a fight and rescuing British freelance journalist Phillip Sands, who had been kidnapped a week earlier.

In Ramadi, the Rangers switched to riskier daylight raids after insurgents learned to move out of the city at night.^[70]

In November 2006, a new secret directive sanctioned by President Bush allowed U.S. forces in Iraq to kill or capture Iranian nationals if they were targeting coalition forces. The directive reflected Hezbollah's success in the 2006 Lebanon War and Iran's defiance on its nuclear issue; the new mission was known by its acronym CII (Counter Iranian Influence). The CII missions were given to Task Force 17, a new command based around the headquarters of an Army Special Forces group.^[66] To support TF 17, Rangers from B Company 2/75th flew into Sadr City to hunt a Shia Special Groups leader, leading to a fierce street battle; the Rangers conducted a fighting withdrawal that was likened to "Mogadishu Mile." More than 45 insurgents were killed with no Ranger losses; when the Iraqi government was made aware of the operation, permission to conduct operations in Sadr City was immediately withdrawn, limiting the Task Force's targeting.^[71]

In June 2008, Rangers eliminated perhaps their highest-profile target yet: Abu Khalaf, deputy leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. A reinforced platoon of Rangers assaulted the target house, codenamed Objective Crescent Lake. As the Ranger assault element placed their explosive breaching charges, two sentries on the roof of the house armed with AK-47 assault rifles approached them, who were then killed by an attached 4-man sniper team from the Ranger battalion's sniper platoon. The assault element breached the house and methodically cleared each room; in one room, Rangers arrested a man and a woman. When the man reached under his clothing, the Rangers shot him, then the woman as she leapt on his body. The man was found to be wearing a suicide-bomb vest filled with ball bearings. Meanwhile, Khalaf ran to the road with a pistol and was shot dead by the Ranger snipers. The Rangers also discovered a plan for a chemical weapon attack on a coalition base.^[71]

By this time, the Rangers had sent an additional platoon to Iraq to help conduct a day-night raiding cycle, and conducted up to 100 missions in one three-month deployment.

After January 2009, the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) required JSOC and Ranger operations to seek Iraqi judicial permission for each mission.^[71]

On the night of 18 April 2010, ISOF troops, supported by U.S. troops, raided a terrorist safe house near Tikrit in Iraq, the ISOF killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the two leaders of ISI; 16 others were also arrested. A US UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter supporting the mission crashed, killing a Ranger NCO from 3/75th and wounding the aircrew.^[72][73][74]

War in North-West Pakistan

In March 2006, DEVGRU operators and a Ranger element are alleged to have attacked an al-Qaeda training camp in North Waziristan in Pakistan. In an operation reportedly named Operation Vigilant Harvest, they were flown across the Afghan-Pakistani border and killed as many as 30 terrorists, including the Chechen camp commandant Imam Asad. The operation has been credited to the Pakistani Special Service Group.^[75]

On 1 May 2011, a Ranger element was assigned to support Operation Neptune Spear, aimed at killing or capturing Osama bin Laden. The Ranger element and additional SEALs in MH-47E Chinooks served as QRF; the Ranger element would also protect the FARP north of Abbottabad. Following the successful completion of the operation, a Ranger team transported the bin Laden's body to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for burial at sea.^[76]

Operation Freedom's Sentinel

In November 2015, the U.S. military sent a company of Rangers to southeastern Afghanistan, as part of the post-ISAF phase of the war in Afghanistan, to help Afghan counter-terrorism forces destroy an al-Qaeda training camp in a "fierce fight" that lasted for several days.^[77]

On the evening of 26 April 2017, 50 Rangers from 3/75th joined 40 Afghan commandos in a joint US-Afghan raid on the headquarters of Abdul Hasib, the emir of ISIS-K, in a village in Achin District, Nangarhar Province. The force was flown into Mohmand Valley and within minutes were engaged in a heavy, close-quarter firefight with ISIL-KP militants. AC-130 gunships, Apache helicopters, F-16 fighters, and drones were called in. In the 3-hour firefight, two Rangers died (one each from C and D Companies, possibly from friendly fire) and one was wounded, while 35 ISIL-KP militants (including Abdul Hasib and an unspecified number of ISIL-KP leaders) were killed.^[78][79][80]

Operation Inherent Resolve

In March 2017, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, CNN reported that about 100 Rangers in Strykers and armored Humvees deployed in and around Manbij, Syria, to protect the 11th MEU, which was providing artillery and other support to U.S.-backed forces in the battle to liberate Raqqa from ISIL, rather than the typical mission of training, advising and assisting local forces. U.S. officials took the unusual step of publicly talking about the Ranger deployment and where they are located to protect against them inadvertently coming under fire from forces fighting in the region or Turkish, Russian, or Syrian government forces.^[81]

Regiment Military Intelligence Battalion (RMIB)

On 22 May 2017, the Ranger Regiment Military Intelligence Battalion was established to specialize in intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber, and electronic warfare operations. Based at Fort Moore, it consists of the Military Intelligence Company (MICO), Cyber Electro Magnetic Activities company (CEMA), and Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC).^[82] It draws its lineage from Company P, 75th Infantry (back to Merrill's Marauders) and Company B, 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion.^[83]

Operation Kayla Mueller

On 26 October 2019, the Rangers, Delta Force, and the 160th SOAR killed ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.^[84]

RASP 1

Ranger Assessment & Selection Program 1 (RASP 1) is an 8-week selection course for junior non-commissioned officers and enlisted soldiers (pay grades E-1 through E-5) that is broken down into two phases. Ranger candidates endure a grueling test of physical and mental endurance, road marches with rucksacks, land navigation, leadership skills, and weapons training—performed under continuous food and sleep deprivation.^[90] Graduates have the advanced skills all Rangers are required to know to start their career with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Phase 1 focuses more on the critical events and skill level 1 tasks and Phase 2 focuses on training in marksmanship, breaching, mobility, and physical fitness.^[89]

RASP 2

Ranger Assessment & Selection Program 2 (RASP 2) is a 21-day selection course for senior non-commissioned officers, officers, and warrant officers. Candidates' physical and mental capabilities are tested as they learn the special tactics, techniques and procedures of the Regiment, as well as learning the expectations of leading and developing young Rangers.^[89]