1st Ranger Battalion ( United States ) The 1st Ranger Battalion is a light infantry special operations force of the United States Army that is currently based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah , Georgia , United States . It was originally formed shortly after the United States ' entry into World War II and was modelled upon the British Commandos . Members from the unit were the first American soldiers to see combat in the European theatre when they participated in the failed raid on Dieppe in France in 1942 , during which three Rangers were killed and several more were captured . Later , the 1st Ranger Battalion was sent to North Africa where they participated in the landings in Algeria and the fighting in Tunisia in 1943 . Also in 1943 the unit provided cadre for two more Ranger battalions created between the campaigns in Sicily and Italy . After World War II , the 1st Ranger Battalion has gone through a number of changes of name and composition as it has been activated and deactivated and re - organised on a number of occasions . However , the unit has lived on in one form or another since then , serving in the Korean and Vietnam Wars before being consolidated into the 75th Ranger Regiment of which it is a part today . Recent deployments have included operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the wider global war on terrorism . History . Formation . Major General Lucian Truscott , U . S . Army , in liaison with the British General Staff , submitted proposals to General George Marshall that " " we undertake immediately an American unit along the lines of the British Commando s " " in 1942 . A subsequent cable from the U . S . Department of War authorized the activation of the 1st U . S . Army Ranger Battalion . After much deliberation , Company A , 1st Ranger Battalion was constituted on 27 May 1942 , and Captain William Orlando Darby , a graduate of West Point with amphibious training , was chosen as its commanding officer . Promoted to major within weeks , Darby rose to the challenge of organizing the unit . Of the 1 , 500 men to volunteer for the original Ranger Battalion , only 600 were chosen . Eighty percent of these original Rangers came from the Red Bulls 34th Infantry Division . On 19 June 1942 , Company A , 1st Ranger Battalion , was officially activated . A select team of four officers toured the existing Commando training camps and selected the center at Achnacarry , Scotland for the Rangers . Here they underwent intense training . Coached by the battle - seasoned commando instructors ( commanded by Colonel Charles Vaughan ) , the Rangers learned the basics of commando warfare . Five hundred of the 600 volunteers ( 83 . 33 % ) that Darby brought with him to Achnacarry completed the Commando training . Many could not endure the exercises ; one Ranger was killed , while several others were wounded in training so realistic that it was executed under live fire . 1st Battalion goes active . The first Americans to see active combat in the European theater of World War II were forty - four enlisted men and five officers from the 1st Ranger Battalion . Dispersed among the Canadians and the British commandos , these men were the first American ground soldiers to see action against the Germans in the disastrous Dieppe Raid . Three Rangers were killed and several captured . The first American soldier killed in Europe in World War II was part of the Dieppe Raid , Ranger Lieutenant E . V . Loustalot . During the mission , he took command after the British Captain leading the assault was killed . Loustalot scaled a steep cliff with his men , was wounded three times , but was eventually cut down by enemy crossfire in his attempts to reach the machine gun nest at the top of the cliff . North Africa . The first efforts to stop the German infiltration of Europe were by the 1st Ranger Battalion . Attempting to prevent German occupation of seaports in North Africa , the 1st Ranger Battalion spearheaded an invasion at the Port of Arzew in Algeria . This was accomplished by executing a surprise night landing , silencing two gun batteries , and opening the way for the capture of Oran . In Tunisia in 1943 , the 1st Battalion executed the first Ranger behind - the - lines night raid at Sened Station for the purpose of gaining information and terrorizing the enemy . Later , in March , American units were decimated time and again while trying to break through the critical mountain pass at Djbel Ank . Given this mission , the 1st Rangers undertook a twelve - mile night march through rugged terrain to reach the heights of Djbel Ank where , at dawn , the Rangers surprised the enemy from the rear , capturing two hundred prisoners and giving General Patton an opening though which he began the final and victorious battle in North Africa . Rangers played a crucial role in the battle of El Guettar which immediately followed , for which the First Ranger Battalion won its first Presidential Unit Citation ( US ) . Sicily and Italy . The early success of the 1st Ranger Battalion brought about the creation of the 3rd and 4th Battalions . The original 1st Battalion was divided into thirds . One third of the Headquarters and each company was placed in each of the Battalions 1 - 3 - 4 . 3rd Ranger Battalion was Activated on 21 May 1943 at Nemours , Morocco , while 4th Ranger Battalion was activated on 29 May 1943 in Tunisia . To provide command and control for these three Ranger Battalions , the 6615th Ranger Force ( Provisional ) was established . This force was rounded out with the addition of the 83rd Chemical Mortar Battalion , and the 2 / 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment . The battle seasoned 1st Battalion moved into their newly assigned positions and trained their Ranger colleagues . The 1 - 3 - 4 Battalions were trained under Darby in Nemours , Morocco and prepared for the invasion of Sicily and Italy . Following the 1st Ranger Battalion success at the Amphibious Battle of Gela , all four of the initial Ranger Battalions were redesignated as Ranger " Infantry " Battalions on 1 August 1943 Had it not been for the accomplishments of the 1st Ranger Battalion in the early entry of WWII , there would be no Rangers today . Their successful invasions in North Africa opened the sea and its ports for the Allied forces . The Allies were now able to move ships and equipment to support subsequent campaigns , enabling the later forces to successfully infiltrate enemy lines along the African coast , in Sicily , and up into Italy . The Ranger Force targeted Salerno on 9 September 1943 , and participated in the Naples - Foggia Campaign . Then they moved on to Anzio on 22 January 1944 . The entire 6615th Ranger Force ( Provisional ) was destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Cisterna , Italy on 31 January 1944 , and was officially disbanded on 15 August 1944 . The 4th Ranger Battalion suffered some casualties while attempting to break through enemy lines to rescue their comrades in the 1st and 3rd Battalions . The 1st , 3rd , and 4th Battalions were known as Darby ' s Rangers . Post - World War II service . The 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion , in response to parallel missions in Berlin , was reconstituted on 1 September 1948 as Company A , 1st Infantry Battalion , and activated in the Canal Zone . It served there until it was inactivated on 4 January 1950 . It was redesignated on 25 October 1950 as the 1st Ranger Infantry Company and allotted to the regular Army and Activated on 28 October 1950 at Fort Benning , Georgia . This unit served in the Korean War , and was decommissioned 1 August 1951 in Korea . As a result of budgetary considerations , the US Army spent much of the 1950s and 1960s consolidating and redesignating units that were on inactive status . This unit was redesignated 24 November 1952 as Company A , 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion , in inactive status and was consolidated on 15 April 1960 with the A Company , 1st Battalion , 1st Regiment , 1st Special Service Force , and the consolidated unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 7th Special Forces Group , 1st Special Forces . The unit was further consolidated 6 June 1960 with Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 77th Special Forces Group , and the consolidated unit was designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 7th Special Forces Group , 1st Special Forces ( organic elements constituted 20 May 1960 and activated 6 June 1960 ) .