To Fight with Intrepidity The Complete History of the U S Army Rangers 1622 to Present

A fascinating and informative history of the most elite of the Army’s troops. — General Colin L. Powell, U.S. Army (Ret)

A fine tribute to a great outfit… Lock tells the story with skill and passion. — Stephen E. Ambrose, Historian and author of Band of Brothers

[It] provides a compelling look at a very vital combat force. — Bob Dole

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Intriguing and Inspiring story
Whether you are currently a Ranger or aspiring to become one at some point in the future; whether you served in the military or are a military enthusiast, “To Fight With Intrepidity” is a great read. You will find it has detailed information on the formation and evolution of the Rangers in a way that keeps you interested without any extra marketing fluff. It is the story alone – one that will let you come face to face with men who lived and died, some even before the birth of the United States. But you will make a connection with these men, and come to understand and appreciate their valor and sacrifices, and realize their validity in our day and age.

5 Stars LTC Lock reveals lessons for today’s light infantry
LTC Lock has done in a compact form a BDU pocket-sized complete history of the U.S. Army Rangers, this quantification is usually what we praise, but we forget the quality of his writing when he does this. We need to realize what is it that we want to learn from Army Ranger history other than the predictable HOOAH! stuff?

LTC Lock in his book reveals an aspect of light infantry operations we simply do not understand today with our men turned into pack mules with “100 pounds of lightweight equipment”. Read his accounts of Roger’s Rangers and you will see a light infantry that could “fly” on its feet through the woods and outfight the Indians. The recent film, “Last of the Mohicans” best captures this capability. This was a Ranger infantry that was willing to use unusual mobility means, also—boats, ice skates, snow shoes, living off the land–all to get that mobility edge over the enemy. In WWII, Darby used speed-marches and carts to carry mortars/ammo to close on enemies rapidly to gain surprise/violence of action. Merrill’s Marauders used mules to carry 75mm pack howitzers and supplies to penetrate deep into the jungles of Burma and take Myitkyina airfield from the jungle-seasoned Japanese. In Five major (WALAWBUM, SHADUZUP, INKANGAHTAWNG, NHPUM GA, & MYITKYINA) and thirty minor engagements, they defeated the veteran soldiers of the Japanese 18th Division (Conquerors of Singapore and Malaya) who vastly outnumbered the Marauders. Always moving to the rear of the main forces of the Japanese, the Marauders completely disrupted the enemy supply and communication lines, and climaxed their behind the lines operations with the capture of Myitkyina Airfield, the only all-weather airfield in Northern Burma.

Theese lessons need to be applied to today’s light infantry that is still over-looking the capability modern mountain bikes and carts with oversized tires could give an Airborne Ranger-type force to close on an enemy after insertion out of detection range by parachute/airlanding aircraft.

My only fault with the book is that it doesn’t clearly lay-out the roles/missions dilemma current Ranger infantry is in—it really has 2 types of missions:

1.) on one hand its America’s shock troops storming defended high-value targets alone or as a spearhead for other troops (WWII Commando mindset),

2.)on the other, it has to be able to “Range” across the land as light infantry for days at a time to raid/recon (traditional Ranger missions).

These two missions are different and require different mindsets and equipment—and this is why TF Ranger in Somalia did not have armored fighting vehicles–because it was not seen as appropriate for “Rangers to do mech” if one was defining the unit by traditional roles/missions. However, shock troops need shock action and that means Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) and shielded men, which Rangers lead the U.S. military by employing for the first time rifle-caliber resstant body armor and having the physical conditioning and willingness to take Soldier’s load risks to go into battle with it. AFVs are not popular in the minds of some Rangers, but its necessary to successfully perform shock action missions in urbanized terrain. Other elite units in the world can ride AFVs without their image suffering. Walking is not always the best way to “range” across the battlefield, as Ranger gun-jeeps, RSOVs (Land Rovers) and HMMWVs attest from combat in Iran (Desert 1), Grenada (airlanded from C-130s), Panama (parachute air-dropped) and Iraq (Desert Storm). But these are unarmored vehicles not up to the task of advancing in the face of concentrated enemies and their fire. LTC Lock in his superb chapter on the Mogadishu raid expertly outlines why Rangers should have had armored vehicles and that they would have prevented 1-18 men dying that day. His Somalia chapter is as good as Bowden’s entire book, “Blackhawk Down!” and in some ways better—because it doesn’t mince words and gets to the point that AFVs were needed in the force structure.

If America’s light infantry forces would look back via LTC Lock’s fine book into its methodology of Roger’s Rangers; it will find the mindset needed to make it the most mobile and hardest-hitting infantry on earth that can range across the terrain quick enough to defeat the stalemate sensors and optics will create against a slower moving force. If these forces will understand that as Col Daniel Bolger states in Death Ground: America’s Infantry in battle: “Ranger tabs don’t stop bullets”, and accept a modest number of air-droppable and helicopter transportable light tracked AFVs into its force structure for its own organic shielded mobility and heavy firepower, it will have learned well from its Somalian ordeals and be ready to lead the way! into the 21st century.

5 Stars Review from a Ranger perspective
Ranger units have always put tremendous emphasis on history and tradition as an aspect of pride in duty, and that’s where this work has real value. Academic critique from recreational readers won’t reflect this –it’s just another book; however; Rangers and men in the Special Ops business out there will see much deeper meaning in it. If you want to take pride in wearing the beret a step further (whether today or years ago), read Lock’s book. There are nearly four centuries of tradition behind the Ranger Creed and Roger’s Standing Orders: Learn the history.

4 Stars Valuable information, but a ghodawful prose style
It used to be that the U.S. military turned out officers who could write decently. Apparently this is either no longer the case — or the Rangers tend to draw their officers from that portion of the corps which consists largely of people who can’t even write a decent field manual. Major Lock is one of these officers, and TO FIGHT WITH INTREPIDITY suffers badly because the publisher of this book didn’t assign someone to edit Major Lock’s manuscript as thoroughly as it needed to be. This notwithstanding, Major Lock’s book is an uniquely well-researched and enormously valuable source of information on the history of the Rangers in America and the Ranger units of the U.S. Army in the wars and other armed conflicts of the 20th Century. I find this book a valuable addition to my library despite the fact that it reads like a badly translated copy of a textbook from the Frunze Academy, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the U.S. Army’s development and employment of light infantry forces.

4 Stars A great book on what it means to be brave
This book cover the hundreds of years that the Army Rangers or similar units have been fighting with tremendous bravery. Lock begins in the French and Indian War with Rogers’ Rangers and continues all the way to the Rangers exploits in Somalia in 1993. Overall, it is a very fascinating book involving many fascinating – but unknown – heroes. Just to be a Ranger is to be a hero, and Lock shows that very well. The only complaint is he goes on for far too long on the French and Indian War. This is not all bad, though. Although that war is considered boring, he shows the incredible bravery of Rogers and his men. Despite the outdated war, bravery of men is still very modern. I would read this book again if I had the patience to read 400 pages of the same material again.

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Army Rangers Surveillance and Reconnaissance for the U s Army Inside Special Operations

A look at an elite group of combat soldiers, the Army Rangers, including their purpose, history, missions, requirements, training, and equipment.

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Ranger Behind Enemy Lines in Vietnam Military Illustrated

The Vietnam War saw the revival of a great military tradition – the Ranger. After World War II there was a Ranger training program, but actual units were usually not deployed. The fluid battlefield in Vietnam created the need for small units to screen American divisions with long-range reconnaissance and ambush tactics. Known initially as “LRRPs” (Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrols) these elite units were eventually centralized and given the revived title of “Rangers.”

Ron Field

The Coveted Black and Gold A Daily Journey Through the U S Army Ranger School Experience

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A fantastic read!
I highly recommend this book. Especially interesting Rangers or soon to be Ranger candidates.

Read the day to day activities, night operations and tough moments of Ranger school from a new perspective. I couldn’t put this book down!

5 Stars I had chills!
John has done a wonderful job of putting me back into hell. I could actually feel the scrapes and bruises. There were times that the memories were real enough that I had to put the book down. I highly recommend The Coveted Black and Gold to anyone who has this experience under their belt and to anyone looking to take the challenge.

5 Stars The Ultimate Survivor Game
Reading this book opened all the floodgates of memory of my own Ranger School class in the winter of 1970. I had forgotten so much of the physical punishment, of one C-ration a day while climbing the mountains and wading the swamps, of teeth-shattering snow and icy swamp water, of halucinating and sleeping on my feet, of dropping to 125 pounds on a 5-foot 10-inch frame. And more than the physical, there was the emotional and the mental toll. Heartbreakingly exhausting past exhaustion. There were times when the book invoked such vivid memories of misery that I really wanted to just put it down and walk away for awhile. What an outstanding book! I’m amazed that the author was able to pull off keeping the journal and his small Kodak cartridge camera through all the Ranger instructor equipment shake-down inspections. I’m also amazed at the consistency of his experiences and mine. People have asked me through the years, “What was Ranger School like?” I never could begin to find any words to do the experience justice. How do I describe the indescribable? Now, however, J.D. Lock has done just that. The next time I’m asked, I’ll just hand them the book and answer, “Here. Read.” Every Ranger or family of a Ranger should have this book. Rangers Lead The Way, Sir!

5 Stars Drive On
This book is extremely valuable for its day-to-day description of life at Ranger School, to give aspiring Rangers an idea of what’s in store when they tackle the nine-week course.

And for someone who completed Ranger School just a few years before the author, it was a stunning trip backward in time. The passage of almost three decades had blurred my memories substantially, but Lock’s account resurrected a significant number of them — little things that added so much richness to the course yet faded immediately upon graduation, plus some monstrous things that one’s mind tends to dilute on purpose. It’s all here: The kinetic, frenetic action of the first phase, the physical training, the long runs, the hand-to-hand combat sessions (along with taking a dive during the competitive portion, to avoid injury), the mess hall experience, chin-ups before every meal, reporting to the Tacs at every meal, low-crawling on that rocky road in the company area, the swelling unpleasance of Camp Darby, where night operations began the sleep deprivation process. The descripion of the Mountain Phase is equally vivid, the terrible patrols up and down horrendous, 60-degree slopes in the dead of night, with fallen trees blocking the way, the fatigue really starting to take its toll now — Lock’s account brought it all back… the rain, the sleep-starvation, the hunger, and even a photo of those little Mountain huts I thought I’d never see again.

Lock noted something I considered significant at the time, an excellent example of the Ranger Department’s psychological choreography. At the end of the Mountain Phase, classes were roused early (0300) to make the return bus trip to Fort Benning from Camp Merrill. Some students were feeling great after the Mountains, having passed all of their graded patrols; others, like me, were one up and two down — on the brink of failing the course. As the busses entered the Benning Ranger area later that morning, we saw the previous class standing on the old airstrip behind the City Team barracks, enjoying its graduation ceremony. Students who were doing well (such as Lock) were jubilant and inspired; students who were faltering (like me) experienced a massive wave of depression.

Lock’s account of the Florida phase was terrific… cold, wet, exhausted and starving. I had forgotten how we surreptitiously obsessed over food, frequently murmuring about the things we would eat after we finished the course… fried chicken, cherry pie, gosh, hamburgers!

The last days of slogging through the swamps, the RELIEF when it was all finally over, the brevity of the double-time graduation ceremony (during my own, we saw the busses from the next class pass before us; more Ranger excellence in timing and execution!) — it’s all here.

Lock’s constant use of vernacular was appropriate, reflecting how Ranger students, soon completely immersed in the training, communicate with one another. You’ll pick it up, after a few pages.

This is a super little diary. I just can’t imagine how he found the energy or time to do it. Enjoy, and Drive On.

5 Stars Very well-done.
This is the real deal. An insider’s look at the fabled Ranger School, a course designed to weed out all non-hackers and craft a group of the finest soldiers on God’s green earth. The United States Army Rangers are truly an elite breed, and this day-by-day account of the qualification process shows how a man changes when placed under the stress of such rigorous training. Author John D. Lock is a talented writer and the account of Ranger School is his own quest for “the coveted black and gold.” We should be grateful that Lock was able to clandestinely take notes on each of his day’s activities, a practice that would have most likely earned him disqualification from Ranger School had he been discovered. His daily log lets perspective Rangers know what to expect, but can also be read for entertainment purposes for those who are not considering entering Ranger School. I have been seriously debating trying to become a Ranger after I am done with school, and this book made me think twice about it. However, it also made me think a third time and became an inspiration for me. Pick this book up, it doesn’t get much better.

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Fullertons Rangers A History of the New Mexico Territorial Mounted Police

In 1890, the U.S. government declared the frontier settled, and the

BLACK CHINOOK An Army Rangers Story

The riveting account of an Army Ranger’s odyssey through years of grueling service in the mostly unknown and unseen world of military special operations. This telling details the intensive training and sacrifice of America’s secret warriors.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Rangers lead the way
Mr. David Combs shares his experience from visiting the recruiter, training at camps, earning Ranger, preparing and executing missions, and training others to do the same. All the episodes give an honest account without military jargon or exagerations. After reading this book I have gained a fuller understanding of the Army Rangers and respect their way of life. This is a great book for fellow veterans or anyone curious about the Rangers. David Combs continues to “lead the way” with this book.

4 Stars Reviewed by Diane Kasperski
This is a well written straight forward account of the different phases of training of an Army Ranger. Mr. Combs tells of his personal experiences while in training throughout all the phases. Without breeching protocol or security he gives detailed descriptions of some of the harrowing missions he was on. From missions in Laos, the Panama Canal and Korea you will get a true picture of what it takes to be an Army Ranger.

Mr. Combs tells of his dream of becoming an Army Ranger since he was in college and saw a training documentary on them. He barely made it in because there are only a certain amount of spots available per year. He had told them at the enlistment office that it “was the Rangers or nothing.” He was accepted and went off to the toughest training the Army can provide.

`Black Chinook’ is the name that the Rangers give to death whether while in training (which does happen) or in the line of duty. When a Ranger falls they say the Black Chinook came to take him away. This is a possibility that exists every day of their lives from the moment they start their training. There is a special intensity both physically and mentally that each man who becomes a Ranger must have. Throughout Combs story you will see glimpses of this intensity in himself and the others he served with throughout his tour of duty.

I found this an interesting read if not a bit dry. Black Chinook is very matter-of-fact and probably would appeal greatly to others that have been in the service or those curious about what it’s like to be in the special forces. I think it would be a must read for any considering going into the Army Ranger’s so that they would know exactly what it was like.

5 Stars A Ranger’s Memoir
Major (Ret) David Combs has chronicled his military life in an extraordinary book called “Black Chinook: An Army Ranger’s Story”. He takes the reader through basic, AIT, Jump School, various Ranger Training Classes and OCS in great detail. The hardships both physical and mental become evident to the reader as he shares what it was like going through everything to become not only an Airborne Ranger but also an officer.

The author shares his part in The Panama Invasion, which although was brief, still had much potentially dangerous possibilities. He also tells us about Ranger operations in Haiti and other locations. But there is a moving chapter in the book about going to Normandy and being with the original Rangers who fought on those D-day beaches. The book is full of details about ranger training and the creeds that they follow. It should be required reading for anyone one thinking of this as a military career path or who have an interest in ranger history or who have a family member in the Rangers. This book will give you a better understanding of what they have gone through.

I found myself admiring these men and the sacrifices they make for their country and their fellow ranger team members. Of course, the personal price he pays is a divorce. It is not an easy career path to follow. Combs does not let you learn much about his inner life but shares much about what he has be able to accomplish in the Army. One gets the feeling that there is much emotional energy left undiscovered in this story. So we do not really get to fully know the author accept as a military man doing his job. We do know this much–David Combs is one tough Ranger and a patriot.

I personally recommend this book for your personal military library. It is an informative and entertaining read.

5 Stars Exciting Read
A very honest, exciting glimpse into the world of a US Army Ranger from basic training to real life missions. Brings headlines to life from Panama and Haiti to Germany and Korea. It gives a real appreciation for the sacrifices and dedication of our servicemen.

5 Stars Accurate & Authentic look into the life of a US Army Ranger
Recommend it to anyone looking for an inspirational story and a first-hand account of the specialized training and schools offered to the Special Ops community, or anyone interested in a in the 75th RGR Regt and Just Cause research.

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Robert Rogers of the Rangers

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Rangers in Korea

A generation before Vietnam, the war for Korea raged. It was as rough and dirty a war as has ever been fought—a war small in history, but very large to the men who waged it. . . .

In the Korean War, one group above all others distinguished itself, a small elite band who volunteered for action behind enemy lines. They were the men of the U. S. Army’s legendary Rangers. They succeeded in making the first combat jump in Ranger history, destroying enemy headquarters, and inflicting the first defeat on Communist Chinese forces while suffering a disproportionate number of casualties.

This is their story, told here for the first time—based on military records, interviews with survivors, and the author’s personal experiences as an American Ranger in the Korean War.

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U S Rangers The Law of the Land

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U S Army Infantry School Ranger Handbook SH 21 76 February 1985 Proponent ATSH R

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