Ranger's Lead The Way Travel Bug

Mission is to travel the battle grounds of the world. In memory of all Fighting Men and Women of the Armed Forces, Foreign and Domestic.

Attached to this Travel Bug is a 3rd Ranger Battalion Scroll. I wore this scroll on my left sleeve in Afghanistan, I then moved it to my right sleeve and wore it in Iraq. For anyone that as ever met a Ranger, you know how much pride, blood, sweat, and tears this scroll represents.

Help this scroll tour the world in a peacful manner.

Ranger motto: Rangers Lead the Way!

On June 6, 1944, during the assault landing on Dog White sector of Omaha Beach as part of the invasion of Normandy, General Norman Cota (assistant CO of the 29th ID) calmly walked towards Maj. Max Schneider (CO of the 5th Ranger Battalion) while under heavy machine gun fire and asked “What outfit is this?” Someone yelled "5th Rangers!". To this, Cota replied “Well, Goddamn it then, Rangers, lead the way!”. From this, the Ranger motto ("Rangers lead the way!") was born. Rangers lead the way is often abbreviated RLTW among Rangers.



Regimental motto: Sua Sponte

Sua Sponte, Latin for "Of their own accord" is the 75th Ranger Regiment's regimental motto. Modern Rangers are three-time volunteers: for the U.S. Army, Airborne School, and service in the 75th Ranger Regiment (although it was previously stated that Rangers are four-time volunteers, Ranger School is not an immediate requirement of service in the 75th Ranger Regiment for lower enlisted men.)

At end of the Vietnam War, division and brigade commanders saw that the U.S. Army needed an élite, light infantry capable of rapid deployment, so, in 1974, General Creighton Abrams created the 1st Ranger Battalion; eight months later, the 2nd Ranger Battalion was created; and, in 1984, the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the regimental headquarters was created. In 1986, the 75th Ranger Regiment was formed and their lineage formally authorized.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th Ranger Battalions were re-activated, becoming the Ranger Training Brigade, the instructors of the modern day Ranger School. As parts of a TRADOC school, the 4th, 5th and 6th Ranger Battalions are no longer included in the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Rangers participated in several operations, including the failed 1980 attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Teheran, Iran in (Operation Eagle Claw); Operation Urgent Fury on Grenada in 1983; the Operation Just Cause in 1989; Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in 1991; Somalia in 1993; The 1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions and a Company of the 3rd Ranger Battalion were deployed to Haiti in 1994, The operation was canceled within 5 minutes of its execution when President Jimmy Carter was able to have a resolution. Elements of the 2nd Ranger Battalion operated in-country while order was being restored. This is also the first operation where the U.S. Army was the primary operating force on a US Aircraft Carrier, the USS America. The Ship had Special operations Forces from USSOCOM comprised of Rangers, Special Forces, and other Special warfare groups. The 75th Ranger Regiment also spearheaded the assaults against Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2001 and the Iraq War in 2003.



Ranger life

After the formation of the Ranger School the term "Army Ranger" became a point of no small confusion. While those that served within Ranger units tend to reserve the term exclusively for their peers, many outside of the Ranger units use "Army Ranger" to denote graduates of Ranger School, as well.

Rangers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment wear the tan beret; soldiers who are Special Forces qualified and assigned to Special Forces manning positions within the U.S. Special Operations Command wear the Green Beret. Paratroopers, soldiers who are both Airborne qualified and assigned to an active parachutist position, wear the Airborne Maroon Beret. The Rangers adopted the tan beret when the decision was made by former Army Chief of Staff General Shinseki to issue black berets to regular soldiers in June 2001, in order to make them appear elite. This created a lot of discontent within the 75th Ranger Regiment and even led to ex-Rangers going on nationwide road marches to Washington, D.C. to protest against the decision. Because there wasn't a Presidential authorization to the Regiment for exclusive wear of the black beret, they switched to wearing a tan beret to preserve a unique appearance, tan being reflective of the buckskin worn by the men of Robert Rogers Rangers.