美国特种兵的中国缘

麦瑞尔突击队（Merrill`s Marauders），简称麦支队，是二战时期美国陆军在中缅印战区的一只突击队。部队的正式番号是第五三○七临时混合支队，部队长官是法兰克·麦利尔准将。麦支队也译作梅列尔突击队，简称梅支队。

麦瑞尔突击队是美国总统罗斯福和英国首相邱吉尔在1943年魁北克会议上为布署反攻缅甸而成立的一支特别部队，由招募自巴拿马、千里达、危地马拉等地的美国志愿兵组成。支队由法兰克·麦利尔准将算，兵力相当一个团，共有2900人，分成六个小队。麦瑞尔突击队的任务是深入缅甸日军后方，切断日军的供应和交通。

麦瑞尔突击队由中缅印战区司令史迪威将军统帅，与中国孙立人将军率领的中国远征军新38师，新22师等单位共同作战。在反攻密支那的战役中全歼日军守军，取得了密支那大捷。

1954年麦瑞尔突击队改制为75步兵团，是75游骑兵团的前身，也是美军特种部队的前身。

游骑兵部队的标志包括他们的黑色贝雷帽与飘带状臂章。他们的队徽左上角是中国国民革命军“青天白日”徽章，右下角是一枚“缅甸之星”，旨在纪念第二次世界大战期间游骑兵部队的前身5307混合支队与当时国民革命军新一军在缅甸战区的作战经历。中央红色闪电象征游骑兵善于的突击作战。红白蓝绿四色代表5307四个数字。第75游骑兵团下辖三个营。第一营1974年1月建立于本宁堡，现驻扎于佐治亚州的亨特陆军机场；第二营1974年10月建立于并现驻扎于华盛顿州路易斯堡；第三营1984年建立，现与团部驻扎于本宁堡。每营均包括3个步枪连及1个营部连，每个步枪连包括一个连部排、三个步枪排和一个武器排。它是除美国海军陆战队武力侦搜队之外唯一可直接介入正面作战的特种部队。

下面摘自美特种部队官方网站，特种部队的前身被定为独立战争时期，主要的美国参加的战争大多有美特种部队的身影，朝鲜战争，越南战争，伊朗，伊拉克沙漠盾牌行动，索马里，科索沃，反恐战争中的阿富汗。不知道《第一滴血》史泰龙扮演的退伍特种兵是不是美第75游骑兵的一员？

Ranger history predates the Revolutionary War. In the mid1700’s, Capt. Benjamin Church and Maj. Robert Rogersboth formed Ranger units to fight during the King PhillipsWar and the French and Indian War. Maj. Robert Rogers wrotethe 19 standing orders that are still in use today.
The Continental Congress formed eight companies of expertriflemen in 1775 to fight in the Revolutionary War. In 1777,this force of hardy frontiersmen commanded by Dan Morganwas known as The Corps of Rangers. Francis Marion, “TheSwamp Fox”, organized another famous RevolutionaryWar Ranger element known as Marion’s Partisans.

During the War of 1812, companies of United States Rangerswere raised from among the frontier settlers as part ofthe regular army. Throughout the war, they patrolled thefrontier from Ohio to Western Ill. on horseback and by boat.They participated in many skirmishes and battles with theBritish and their Indian allies. Many famous men belongedto Ranger units during the 18th and 19th centuries to includeDaniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln.

The Civil War included Rangers such as John Singleton Mosbywho was the most famous Confederate Ranger during the CivilWar. His raids on Union camps and bases were so effective,part of North-Central Va. soon became known as Mosby’sConfederacy.

After the Civil War, more than half a century passed withoutmilitary Ranger units in America. However, during WorldWar II (1941-1945), the United States, using British Commandostandards, activated six Ranger infantry battalions.

Maj. (later Brigadier General) William O. Darby organizedand activated the 1st Ranger Battalion on June 19, 1942,at Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. The 1st Ranger Battalionparticipated in the North African landing at Arzeu, Algeria,the Tunisian Battles, and the critical Battle of El Guettar.

The 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions were activated and trainedby Col. Darby in Africa near the end of the Tunisian Campaign.The 1st, 3rd, and 4th Battalions formed the Ranger Force.They began the tradition of wearing the scroll shouldersleeve insignia, which has been officially adopted for today’sRanger battalions.

The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions participated in the June6, 1944, D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy. It wasduring the bitter fighting along the beaches that the Rangersgained their motto, “Rangers, lead the way!”They conducted daring missions to include scaling the cliffsof Pointe Du Hoc, overlooking Omaha Beach, to destroy Germangun emplacements trained on the beachhead.

The 6th Ranger Battalion operated in the Philippines andformed the rescue force that liberated American PrisonersOf War from a Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan in Jan. 1945.The 6th Battalion destroyed the Japanese POW camp and evacuatedmore than 500 prisoners.

The 75th Infantry Regiment was first organized in the China-Burma-IndiaTheater on Oct. 3, 1943 as Task Force Galahad. It was duringthe campaigns in the China-Burma-India Theater that theregiment became known as Merrill’s Marauders afterits commander, Maj. Gen. Frank D. Merrill. The Ranger Battalionswere deactivated at the close of WWII.

The outbreak of hostilities in Korea in June 1950 againsignaled the need for Rangers. Fifteen Ranger Companieswere formed during the Korean War. The Rangers went to battlethroughout the winter of 1950 and the spring of 1951. Theywere nomadic warriors, attached first to one regiment andthen to another. They performed “out front”work – scouting, patrolling, raids, ambushes, spearheadingassaults, and as counterattack forces to regain lost positions.

Rangers were again called to serve their country duringthe Vietnam War. The 75th Infantry was reorganized oncemore on Jan. 1, 1969, as a parent regiment under the CombatArms Regimental System. Fifteen separate Ranger companieswere formed from this reorganization. Thirteen served proudlyin Vietnam until inactivation on Aug. 15, 1972.

In Jan. 1974, Gen. Creighton Abrams, Army Chief of Staff,directed the formation of a Ranger battalion. The 1st Battalion(Ranger), 75th Infantry, was activated and parachuted intoFort Stewart, Ga. on July 1, 1974. The 2nd Battalion (Ranger),75th Infantry followed with activation on Oct. 1, 1974.The 3rd Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), and Headquartersand Headquarters Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger), receivedtheir colors on Oct. 3, 1984, at Fort Benning, Ga. The 75thRanger Regiment was designated in Feb. 1986.

The modern Ranger battalions were first called upon in1980. Elements of 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger)participated in the Iranian hostage rescue attempts.

In Oct. 1983, 1st and 2nd (-) Ranger Battalions spearheadedOperation Urgent Fury by conducting a daring low-level parachuteassault to seize Point Salines Airfield and rescue Americancitizens at True Blue Medical Campus.

The entire 75th Ranger Regiment participated in OperationJust Cause. Rangers spearheaded the action by conductingtwo important operations. Simultaneous parachute assaultswere conducted onto Torrijos/Tocumen International Airport,Rio Hato Airfield and General Manuel Noriega’s beachhouse, to neutralize Panamanian Defense Forces. The Rangerscaptured 1,014 Enemy Prisoners of War (EPW), and over 18,000arms of various types.

Elements of Company B, and 1st Platoon Company A, 1stBattalion, 75th Ranger Regiment deployed to Saudi Arabiafrom February 12, 1991 to April 15, 1991, in support ofOperation Desert Storm.

In August 1993, elements of 3rd Battalion, and 75th RangerRegiment, deployed to Somalia to assist United Nations forcesin bringing order to a desperately chaotic and starvingnation. On October 3, 1993, the Rangers conducted a daringdaylight raid with 1st SFOD. For nearly 18 hours, the Rangersdelivered devastating firepower, killing an estimated 600Somalis in what many have called the fiercest ground combatsince Vietnam.

On 24 November 2000 the 75th Ranger Regiment deployedRegimental Reconnaissance Detachment (RRD) Team 2 and acommand and control element to Kosovo in support of TF Falcon.

After the events of September 11, 2001, Rangers were calledupon to lead the way in the Global War on Terrorism. On19 October 2001, 3rd Battalion and 75th Ranger Regimentspearheaded ground forces by conducting an airborne assaultto seize Objective Rhino in Afganistan in support of OperationEnduring Freedom. On 28 March 2003, 3rd Battalion employedthe first airborne assault in Iraq to seize Objective Serpentin support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Due to the changing nature of warfare and the need foran agile and sustainable Ranger Force, The Regimental SpecialTroops Battalion (RSTB) was activated 17 July 2006. TheRSTB conducts sustainment, intelligence, reconnaissanceand maintenance missions which were previously accomplishedby small detachments assigned to the Regimental headquartersand then attached within each of the three Ranger battalions.The activation of the RSTB signifies a major waypoint inthe transformation of the Ranger Force from a unit designedfor short term “contingency missions” to continuouscombat operations without loss in lethality or flexibility.

Today, Rangers from all four of its current Battalionscontinue to lead the way in the Global War on Terrorism.The 75th Ranger Regiment is conducting sustained combatoperations in multiple countries deploying from multiplelocations in the United States, a task that is unprecedentedfor the Regiment. Rangers continue conducting combat operationswith almost every deployed special operations, conventionaland coalition force in support of both Operation EnduringFreedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Ranger Regimentis executing a wide range of diverse operations that includeairborne and air assaults into Afghanistan and Iraq, mountedinfiltrations behind enemy lines, complex urban raids andrescue operations.

In addition to conducting missions in support of the GlobalWar on Terrorism, the 75th Ranger Regiment continues totrain in the United States and overseas to prepare for futureno-notice worldwide combat deployments. The Regiment alsocontinues to recruit, assess and train the next generationof Rangers and Ranger leadership.