This history deals with the formation,
activities, accomplishments, and personnel of Co. P (RANGER)
75th Infantry during the period the company was activated in
1969 until "PAPA" Company was officially de-activated in 1971.
Reference will be made to Co. F (LRP)
51st Infantry whose assets were used to man Co. P (RANGER) 75th
Infantry in its infancy. History has shown the need for
small, highly trained, highly motivated, volunteer forces with
the capability to range far from it's home base, deep into enemy
territory, or enemy held territory to conduct surveillance,
reconnaissance, target acquisition, and to sometimes engage the
enemy.
For the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry
Division (MECHANIZED), this elite force was Papa Company
(RANGER) 75th Infantry. Throughout the major combat units in
Vietnam, 13 RANGER companies of the 75th Infantry provided these
forces, with the alphabetical identifiers C through P.
The 1st Brigade of the 5th Infantry
Division (MECH) arrived in northern South Vietnam in the I Corps
area in July of 1968 as part of the final Army deployment into
the combat theater. The 5th Infantry Division, supported by
Armored Personnel Carriers, tanks, and other assorted motorized
equipment was based at Camp Red Devil in the Quang Tri Province
in the northernmost area of I Corps.
They were assigned a large sector of
responsibility along the Demilitarized Zone, from the Gulf of
Tonkin on the east, to the Laotian border on the west. The "RED
DEVIL BRIGADE" conducted cordon and search missions around
villages, performed search and clear expeditions on the Khe Sanh
Plains, and secured roadways throughout its assigned area of
operation.
Other tasks included, but were not
limited to, guarding the rice harvests and denying the enemy
access to the agriculture rich coastline. Extended foot
reconnaissance was needed for many of these tasks, and the 79th
Infantry Detachment (LRP) was activated on 15 December 1968. The
detachment never reached operational status.
Still in training, the detachment was
supplemented by personnel transferred up north from F Co. (LRP)
51st Infantry of the II Field Force. The "HURRICANE PATROLLERS"
had been replaced by Co. D (LRRP) 151st Infantry, an Indiana
National Guard unit activated during the Vietnam conflict, and
it's assets were used to form Companies O and P of the 75th
Infantry.
On 1 February 1969, Co. P (RANGER) 75th
Infantry was activated to perform reconnaissance, surveillance,
and target acquisition for the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry
Division (MECH). The personnel used to man PAPA Company were all
volunteers and usually Airborne qualified, with a few
exceptions. Team Leaders were usually graduates of the U. S.
Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia or combat
experienced non-commissioned officers. This was not always the
case, as the most experienced and qualified men in the company
were not always the ones with the highest rank.
Team members had a wide variety of
Military Occupational Specialties (M.O.S.) and training was
usually done on the job. Recondo training was at the 5th Special
Forces RECONDO SCHOOL in Nha Trang and was available to selected
personnel as training allocations became available. PAPA Company
was also equipped with trained Snipers, but because of terrain
and mission objectives, they were seldom used operationally.
The process of getting the company
combat ready was declared complete in March of 1969. PAPA
Company fielded on average, six combat ready 6 man Ranger
"HUNTER-KILLER" teams that consisted of a team leader (TL), an
assistant team leader (ATL), a radio operator (RTO), and 3 scout
observers. Each team member performed a variety of tasks as
assigned by the team leader. Generally speaking, 2 Ranger teams
would be out in the field, 2 teams would be on "READY ALERT" to
back up teams out on patrol or to become a "REACTIONARY FORCE"
as needed, and 2 teams would be in a stand down mode to resupply
and prepare for their next assigned mission.
Missions assigned by the 1st Bde., 5th
Inf. Div. (MECH) generally consisted of an assigned 4 to 6
square kilometer area known as a "BOX". The mission duration was
usually 5 days and 4 nights unless the team was compromised or
if contact was made with the enemy. In the northern I
Corps area, to include the entire Demilitarized Zone, the enemy
encountered was usually the hard-core NVA regulars, who were
better equipped, better trained soldiers than their Viet Cong
counterparts.
A typical Ranger mission, if there is
such a thing, would have the team recon and observe an area for
enemy presence or movement for the first 4 days and attempt to
ambush on the last night and day of the mission, prior to
extraction. This was not always the case as some teams were
authorized to ambush earlier in their mission, depending on
circumstances.
PAPA Company Ranger teams were usually
inserted and extracted by helicopter, but also used the assets
of the 5th Infantry Division (MECH) which resulted in
'stay-behind' missions and direct insertions by tanks and
armored personnel carriers.
Support for the PAPA Company teams was
provided by "REDLEG" artillery units at firebases A4 (known as
Alpha 4) and C2 (known as Charlie 2) which were located just
south of the Demilitarized Zone, a buffer zone that separated
North and South Vietnam. Air support was provided by among
others, the 158th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the 101st
Infantry Division (AMBL) in Camp Evans, near Phu Bai, and the
17th Air Cavalry, stationed at Camp Red Devil in Quang Tri.
Also at the disposal of the Rangers were naval vessels in the
Gulf of Tonkin for fire missions, land and ship based attack and
fighter aircraft, and bombers based in Thailand. Forward Air
Controllers (FAC) and their aircraft were also available for
spotting, radio relay, and for directing air strikes as needed.
Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) missions were common for the
Rangers in PAPA Company.
By late 1970, the PAPA Company Rangers
found their missions to be centered more in the Khe Sanh Plain.
Much of the intelligence gathered during this period, through
the early part of 1971, was instrumental in the success achieved
by friendly forces during LAM SON 719 in April of 1971. The PAPA
Company Rangers continued patrolling the DMZ, Khe Sanh area, the
Citadel, Rockpile, and the Tri- Border Area until they began
stand down procedures on 23 July 1971. All personnel were
transferred out of the unit by 5 August 1971. Co. P
(RANGER) 75th Infantry was officially de-activated on 31 August
1971.
Terry B. Roderick
Co. P (RANGER) 75th
Inf.
1st Bde., 5th Inf.
Div. (MECH)
A. P.O. San
Francisco,
Calif. 96477
