British Rangers?

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Yimmy RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 10:31:13 AM

I believe the origional commados were infact army in WWII. And as for "Rangers", I have voiced my opinion before and I shall again, it is a pants name which makes me think of park wardens driving around in 4x4's with cowboy hats. I believe it is actually an old British name; however it has been so adopted by the Americans I think it strange to call the paras under the name.

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S.C.P RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 10:54:47 AM

Yeah I saw the Official report live on Sky News the other day. It was General sir Mike Jackson. Its not officially called 'Rangers' yet. It is cuurently known as the new 'special forces support battallion'. It is made up from all the troops in 1 Para. As you probably know '1,2 & 3 Para' make up the 'Parachute Regiment'. Anyway 2 & 3 para will remain as the airbourne assault troops. But 1 Para will be converted into the new special forces support battalion. They are to be used as back up support for the SAS and SBS. This is a role the Paras have been in before; for example In Seara Leone when the SAS rescued those captured British Army officers in the jungle they were backed up by the Paras for fire support. Another classic example was the famous 'Black Hawk Down' in Somalia where the US Delta force(US equivilent SAS) were backed up by US rangers while Delta carried out the main mission objective. So this is not a new thing for the Paras but will now be an official role for the soon to be renamed, 1 Para. Soldiers for this role don't necessarily have to be special forces but do need to be of a very high standard. It wouldn't really be easy to send a whole SAS battalion for fire support on one mission. Also it was said at the news conference that 50% of the SAS were from the Paras. I'm not sure weather they will support SBS operations to because in the past SBS missions have been supported by the Royal Marines.

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S.C.P RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 11:07:27 AM

Oh I forgot to mention your comment on pressure from the Royal Marines not use the word 'commando' Well maybe, but man! how many elite forces are there within the British forces are there now: ARMY: NAVY: SAS SBS Pathafinders Brigade Reconisance Paras. Arctic and Mountain- + new support, -Warfare Cadre battalion aka rangers Royal Marines Commando * I dont think they will use the word Commando.

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S.C.P RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 11:12:30 AM

Sorry, I'm new here the list came out wrong, should be; ARMY: SAS Pathfinders 'the new 'Special Forces support' battalion. Paras. NAVY: SBS Brigade Reconasance Patrol Group Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre Royal Marines Commandos

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Massive RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 11:52:52 AM

Don't know wht they don't use one of the traditional light regiments like the Green Howards or the Green Jackets. But that is just me.

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Massive RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 11:56:47 AM

Oh - and I wouldn't call them the rangers - I would call them the Green Howards or the Royal Green Jackets. Much better name and I am sure that these regiments will be able to remember their role without being called 'Rangers'. Oh - and they'll be a lot better troops than the US Rangers as well.

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joe6pack RE:British Rangers? 12/21/2004 1:45:51 PM

How about the Connaught Rangers? Do any of the current regiments have ties to them?

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mike_golf RE:British Rangers? - brief origin of the term Ranger 12/21/2004 9:00:44 PM

Yimmy wrote: "I believe it is actually an old British name; however it has been so adopted by the Americans I think it strange to call the paras under the name." As far as I know, the origin of the name Rangers for a light skirmishing force that can act deep in enemy territory without the support of the conventional army (i.e. commandos) is Rogers Rangers. Major Rogers served His Royal Majesty in the French and Indian (7 Years) War, fighting the French and Indians on the North American frontier. The US 75th Ranger Regiment derives their lineage from Rogers Rangers. It is a bit confusing since our National Park wardens/police are also called Park Rangers and the Texas state police are the Texas Rangers. But Texas Ranger is also a historically significant name. Massive wrote: "Oh - and they'll be a lot better troops than the US Rangers as well." Are you trying to start a fight? Or are you just silly?

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John Barry RE:British Rangers? 12/22/2004 5:02:50 AM

Does anyone know what the troops of the 1 Para think about this? (The renaming, not the new mission) Do any of them think copying the name Ranger from we Americans is lame. I know that there have been units in the British Army that have carried the title Ranger, like the Royal Irish Rangers but they were regular infantry units. For the last 50-100 years, Rangers have not been special forces units in the British Army. People have to think they are copying it from the American 75th Rangers. It just doesn?t seem logical to me for the British Army to use ?Ranger? for a special operation force when they have just as much claim to the title ?Commando? as the Royal Marines. I assume that the battalion will still be part of the Parachute Regiment or am I wrong in this? ?It is a bit confusing since our National Park wardens/police are also called Park Rangers? I had a friend who would go nuts when he would proudly say he was a Ranger and the person would reply ?Oh that nice what park do you work in??

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Yimmy RE:British Rangers? 12/22/2004 10:50:00 AM

I wouldn't say rangers are special forces, they are just infantry with more defined roles. "Special forces", are the SAS, SBS, Delta Force, Seals etc. I hate the way idiots label units left right and centre as "special forces".

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