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What "special" advantage does the army rangers have over the other US special forces?

when i say "special advantage" i mean like skill (in hand to hand fighting, swimming, etc).. i was just curious about what the rangers speciality compared to the marines, navy seals, airforce pararescue (something like that)...

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  • 1 decade ago
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    The primary advantage that army rangers have over standard infantry is that they are air-deployable. Rangers are capable of jumping into a battle site and engage light enemy forces in numbers that a standard infantry unit (who would have to be deployed by helicopters) could not equal. Rangers also get additional survival and basic reconnaissance training that standard infantry in the army do not get. Rangers are a light, jump-capable unit trained and equipped to engage the enemy in advance of mainline units, to locate enemy formations and tie them up until heavier units can move into support them or to eliminate light opposition. I keep saying light opposition, please understand that I am not talking about weak opposition. Because they jump out of airplanes, Rangers do not operate with much in the way of heavy armor support. This does limit their targets primarily to light and non-mechanized forces. You do not send infantry without armor support to take on a tank battalion for example. The ranger advantage (like most special operations capable units) is in mobility not firepower. Once they are on the ground they aren't really any more or less effective then any other elite infantry unit. The "Special" moniker is just a sexy descriptor placed on units capable of doing non-standard missions and it is rapidly losing much of its meaning as the military planners shift away from a big-force pitched battle mindset to a smaller, better trained and more flexible force structure.

    From a historical perspective, the rangers have the honor of being really the first special operations capable large unit in existence. Long before there were Special Forces (Green Berets), SEALs, Detachment Delta, or Force Recon and before there even was such a thing as "Special Operations" there were those brave souls of the paratroopers who led the way by leaping out of perfectly good airplanes and first showed generals in WWII just what a small group of highly trained and motivated professional warriors can do.

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    7 years ago

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  • 1 decade ago

    My understanding is that the Rangers are trained for a specific job, which is to work more as a small group to do rather special specific jobs than the Special forces. The special forces are trained a little different and their mission is a bit different. They can work by themselves training locals to defend themselves such as in Afghanistan, Iraq. They can also work as a specialized group. Some soldiers have both

    tabs, Ranger and special forces. Different missions. I wouldn't suggest that one is tougher than the other, just different missions.

    Source(s): My son is a Platoon leader in Iraq, he has friends that in both specialties.We have discussed the differences.
  • 1 decade ago

    there really is not much diffrence. special ops work in alot smaller teams. i spent 7 years in the military. 4 in the marines and i just got out of the army for 3 years, if i i could do it over i would go in the army at 18 with ranger in my contract. i spent alot of time with these guys and they all get some kick *** training, and are the tightest group of guys both in real world and play time. im pretty sure that rangers fall under s.o.c.o.m. just like any other special ops unit.

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  • 1 decade ago

    Rangers are trained for extended field durability with minimal support. Extended Ranger patrols may last for days, or even weeks. Which is not to say SEALs couldn't do something similar if the mission called for it, but they usually have a different mission profile.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Is the "average" marine airborne?

    Is the "average " marine survival trained

    The average marine is a good basic infantry soldier

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    They are both "special"...if you know what I mean. It takes a pretty dumb person to go fight for the rich who just dictate how they should die. It's the "rich" who are special. The soldiers, all of them, are just cloned fools. It's not as if most wars are really needed.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    an army ranger is about equal to a basic marine

    but a recon ranger is a damm tuff bastard

    mentally they love it nasty hard and wrong

  • 1 decade ago

    movie time, "saving private ryan"

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    none. you will be working for the same boss and getting the same pay.

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