The 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger) (officially 75th Infantry Regiment or 75th Infantry) was initially a parent regiment for all the US Army Ranger units during the Vietnam War and the early 1980s and then the headquarters for the Ranger battalions.
History
On 1 February 1969, as part of the U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS), all U.S. Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) units were reorganized as the 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger).[1] Fifteen Ranger companies were formed from reconnaissance units in Europe and Vietnam with lineage to Merrill's Marauders (5307th Composite Unit). The firms were given the letters C through I and K through P. To avoid confusion with the similar "I" (or India) designation on typed documents, there was no "J" Ranger Company. Companies A and B were kept stateside as a strategic reserve in case they were needed overseas in Europe or the Americas.
The Ranger companies were composed of small, heavily armed long range reconnaissance teams that patrolled deep in enemy-held territory. Each independent company was attached to a separate division or brigade and acted as the eyes and ears of those units. Rangers collected intelligence, discovered enemy troop locations, surveilled trails and enemy hot spots, directed artillery and air strikes, performed bomb damage assessments, and conducted ambushes. Additionally, Rangers attempted to recover prisoners of war, capture enemy soldiers for interrogation, tap the wire communications of the North Vietnam Army and the National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (Vietcong) on the Ho Chi Minh trail, and mine enemy trails and roads.
When they were redesignated on 1 February 1969, the average TOE strength of a Ranger company was of 3 officers and 115 enlisted men, bringing the total to 118 men divided into a company headquarters, operations section, communications platoon, and two patrol platoons.
There were some exceptions though; Company C, 75th Infantry (Ranger) had a strength of 230 men divided into a company Headquarters, operations section, communications platoon, and four patrol platoons.
Companies D and H each had 198 men and Companies M, N, O, and P each had 61 men, since these four units were created from LRP detachments assigned to brigades.
^Rottman, Gordon; Volstad, Ron (1987). US ARMY RANGERS & LRRP UNITS 1942-87. UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 39, 44–46, 49. ISBN0850457955.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^Olson, Bruce (1 February 1995). "Houston Light Guards". Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
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