3rd Ranger Battalion (United States)

The 3rd Ranger Battalion is a light infantry special operations force of the United States Army currently based at Fort Benning, Georgia.

History
3rd Ranger Battalion was organized 3 October 1943 in the Army of the United States in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations of World War II as an element of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional).

This unit was consolidated 10 August 1944 with Company F, 475th Infantry Regiment (Long Range Penetration, Special) (constituted 25 May 1944 in the Army of the United States), and consolidated unit designated as Company F, 475th Infantry Regiment. This unit was inactivated 1 July 1945 in China.

The unit was redesignated 21 June 1954 as Company F, 75th Infantry Regiment, in the Army of the United States, and was allotted on 26 October 1954 to the Regular Army. It was activated 20 November 1954 on Okinawa, and was inactivated there on 21 March 1956.

The unit was again activated on 1 February 1969 in Vietnam, and was again inactivated on 15 March 1971 in Vietnam.

This unit was again redesignated 2 October 1984 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Infantry, and activated at Fort Benning, Georgia (organic elements concurrently constituted and activated).

Headquarters and Headquarters Company consolidated 3 February 1986 with former Company A, 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion 3rd Battalion, 75th Infantry Regiment, concurrently redesignated as the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

On December 20, 1989, the entire 75th Ranger Regiment was committed to Operation Just Cause, in Panama. Along with the 2nd Ranger Battalion, Companies A and B of the 3rd Battalion conducted an airfield seizure of the Rio Hato Airfield, and Company C participated along with the 1st Ranger Battalion to seize the airfield at Torrijos/ Tocumen Airport, and subsequent combat operations contributed significantly to the United States victory in Panama.

In August 1993, Elements of Company B of the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the Battalion Headquarters deployed to Somalia as part of Task Force Ranger. After several successful missions, on October 3, 1993 exactly nine years from the activation of the battalion, they performed a courageous daylight assault where they were engaged in the most intense ground combat for U.S. troops since the Vietnam War.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the 3rd Ranger Battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. On the night of October 19, 2001, portions of Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion conducted a daring low level parachute assault onto Objective Rhino, a desert airfield in southwestern Afghanistan, to capture key logistical information. During follow-on missions, forces from Company B, 3rd Battalion accomplished a successful night parachute assault into Bastogne Drop Zone to secure a desert landing strip in support of a special operations raid.

In 2003, the 3rd Battalion was called upon to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. A few weeks later, Company C, 3rd Battalion carried out a successful parachute assault in southwestern Iraq near the Syrian border in order to secure a small desert landing strip to allow follow-on coalition forces into the area.

March 28, 2003, Company A and Headquarters and Headquarters Company with engineers attached conducted a parachute assault onto H1 Airfield in western Iraq. After the successful jump onto H1, on the night of March 31, 2003, Company B, 3rd Battalion moved to gain a foothold of the Hadithah Dam complex and fought off elements from the Iraqi Republican Guard's Hammurabi Division over the course of the next week.

This was a critical part in the grand scheme of things as leaders feared that Saddam Hussein would either open the flood gates to flood the down lying approach into Baghdad or try to destroy the dam to achieve the same affect. This would have had a tremendous affect on the armored approach into Baghdad.

At the end of 2003, the battalion deployed again, this time sending elements of the battalion to both Afghanistan and Iraq. The battalion deployed multiple times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom until summer 2010. The battalion continues to deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Annex

 * Constituted 21 July 1943 in the Army of the United States as Company A, 3rd Ranger Battalion; concurrently consolidated with Company A, 3rd Ranger Battalion (Provisional) (organized 21 May 1943 in North Africa), and consolidated unit designated as Company A, 3rd Ranger Battalion.
 * Redesignated 1 August 1943 as Company A, 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion.
 * Disbanded 15 August 1944.
 * Reconstituted 25 October 1950 in the Regular Army as the 3rd Ranger Infantry Company.
 * Activated 28 October at Fort Benning, Georgia.
 * Inactivated 1 August 1951 in Korea.
 * Redesignated 24 November 1952 as Company A, 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion.
 * Consolidated 15 April 1960 with the 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 1st Special Service Force (activated 9 July 1942), and consolidated unit redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 13th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces.
 * Withdrawn 14 December 1960 from the Regular Army and allotted to the United States Army Reserve (organic elements concurrently constituted).
 * Group activated 1 March 1961 with Headquarters at Jacksonville, Florida.
 * Headquarters and Headquarters Company inactivated 15 April 1963 at Jacksonville, Florida (organic elements inactivated 21 January 1966).
 * Former Company A, 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion, withdrawn 3 February 1986, consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Infantry, and consolidated unit redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment (remainder of 13th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces – hereafter separate lineage).

Campaign Participation Credit

 * World War II:
 * 1) Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead)
 * 2) Tunisia
 * 3) Sicily (with arrowhead)
 * 4) Naples-Foggia (with arrowhead)
 * 5) Anzio (with arrowhead)
 * 6) Rome-Arno
 * 7) Normandy (with arrowhead)
 * 8) Northern France
 * 9) Rhineland
 * 10) Ardennes-Alsace
 * 11) Central Europe
 * 12) New Guinea
 * 13) Leyte (with arrowhead)
 * 14) Luzon
 * 15) India-Burma
 * 16) Central Burma


 * Korean War:
 * 1) First UN Counteroffensive;
 * 2) CCF Spring Offensive;
 * 3) UN Summer-Fall Offensive


 * Vietnam:
 * 1) Counteroffensive, Phase VI;
 * 2) Tet 69/Counteroffensive;
 * 3) Summer-Fall 1969;
 * 4) Winter-Spring 1970;
 * 5) Sanctuary Counteroffensive;
 * 6) Counteroffensive, Phase VII


 * Armed Forces Expeditions:
 * 1) Panama (with arrowhead)
 * 2) Somalia (with arrowhead)
 * 3) Afghanistan (with arrowhead)
 * 4) Iraq (with arrowhead)

Decorations

 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for EL GUETTAR
 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for SALERNO
 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for POINTE DU HOC
 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for SAAR RIVER AREA
 * Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for MYITKYINA
 * Valorous Unit Award for BINH DUONG PROVINCE
 * Valorous Unit Award for MOGADISHU
 * Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for UIJONGBU CORRIDOR
 * Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for KOREA 1951
 * Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1969
 * Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1969–1970
 * Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class for VIETNAM 1969–1970