us army rangers
 

I'm never sure where to ask my noob questions, which have probably been answered in a hundred other places, but does anyone have any info on the us army rangers in v1? I have everything v1 and a bunch of the player created stuff for v2/2.2. I'm trying to structure my starting group, and I realized v1 doesn't make much if any mention of any elite/spec ops forces.

In v1, the Rangers are in the Middle East according to the RDF sourcebook.

...oh... Well I feel dumb... There it is clear as crystal.

BUT, there are lots of Rangers in the Corps LRSU, and I strongly suspect by the time front stagnation set in, the Seventh and Fourth Armies would have set up their own Ranger school(s) to turn out more. These are the small teams that do reconnaissance work behind enemy lines, not the strike- or raid- forces that the 3 Ranger battalions represent.

These could also be formed from individuals who went to Ranger School and then returned to their regular unit. During the heady days of the Regan/Bush Era, there was so much training money "in the pipeline," that ordinary soldiers were given the chance to go to schools like Air Assault, Airborne, Sniper School, Cold Weather Mountain, Arctic Warfare, Jungle Warfare, Special Weapons, and even Ranger School. These soldiers were then supposed to go back to their regular units and "share what they learned." This was intended to increase the "professionalism" of the unit as a whole. From our performance in the First Gulf War; I'd say it worked. What a change we had when "Slick Willy" took office and promptly cut all Military Spending.

Squad Leaders in the 82nd were expected to go to ranger school. (I did RIP; Desert Storm made miss the School, and the funds were not available later. Ranger school slots evaporated overnight.)

When I was GMing, I had a 4th BN in Korea and a 5th BN in Europe.

Works for me.

Also works for me.

The Finnish Erikoisjoukot (Special Forces) module for v.1 also lists Rangers along with the USSOF, 82nd Airborne (then again, some might say jumping out of a perfectly good airplane doesn't make you special in that kind of way, just stupid), SEALs and a number of other special units from various nationalities. Don't have the particular book with me right now, but I can post some details on it when I get back home.

Wasn't that a rare book, only printed in Finland, with like a 1000 copy run? If my memory serves...

According to Frank Frey there was a Rangers contingent in Kenya as well (it was in his Lions in Twlight data he shared quite a while ago)

and there were Ranger training schools scattered thru the US that could have surviving contingents still in the US from classes that may have never been sent overseas

The US has maintained a SOCCOM base in Kenya since Somalia. It has been part of their support of Kenya since Kenya agreed to joint operations in Somalia. That's why Al Shabob attacked the university in Kenya today.

I introduced this concept in my campaign and the RDF sourcebook is a great reference. One of my PC's wanted a Ranger. He rolled one up so I used a minor firefight set in Iran in 1997 to introduce the game to the players. The Ranger PC was then recalled back to the States and then reassigned as an E7 PLT SGT replacement in 5th ID (as were, coincidentally, the other PCs albeit in different positions). The idea was that "seasoned vets" could return as leaders to not only "share what they know" but also serve in a "been there, done that" capacity for draftees.

There's actually some reprints of it, but they are all in Finnish. Got one as well as Kööpenhaminaan (To Copenhagen) and Pohjoismaat (Scandinavia) supplements by the same authors. I think, I could, at some point do some referring to them in English, just to give you non-Finnish speakers an idea.

That would be appreciated

That's most fun I ever had in the Army!

Little-known secret -- Airborne school is EASY! Of course, nature gave me a gift by hitting me with an extended manic high during that time...

It's easier if you have a high tolerance for hanging out and waiting for hours to do a jump. Also helpful is not being afraid of heights.

I was once told that no one intelligent ever jumps out of a perfectly good airplane. Then my sergeant handed me a parachute and told me I was a idiot for joining the Air Force. Two weeks later they told us we would go up but we wouldn't have to jump. Though if we wanted to we could. Then we hit the sky and they damn loadmaster opened up the back of the C-130 and pulled up and we all fell out like so much garbage.

They were right though, we didn't have to jump. And I learned a important lesson. My sergeant lies a lot.

How was it again?

"He was just a rookie trooper
And he surely shook with fright
As he checked all his equipment
And made sure his pack was tight
He has to sit and listen to the awful engines' roar
And he ain't gonna jump no more.

Gory, gory, what a helluva way to die..." ;)

He hit the ground
The sound was SPLAT
The blood went spurting high
His friends were heard to say
"Oh what a pretty way to die!"
The rolled him up still in his chute
And poured him from his boots
And he ain't gonna jump no more

I think there must be a few versions of this, since I don't recall seeing the verse you posted before.

My absolute favourite is the verse that goes:

"The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild,
The medics jumped and screamed with glee, they rolled their sleeves and smiled,
For it had been a week or more since last a 'Chute had failed,
He ain't gonna jump no more."

I'd never seen that verse about the ambulance and the medics before either.

Yeah. There has to be multiple versions of this.

Me neither. You learn something new every day.