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Show tih r., , S6. .&& '-r Jtto Watf 4 ifVi Specially trained members of the 1st Ranger Battalion stage assault on airstrip. Exercise recalls Israeli raid on Entebbe in Uganda ile that freed 100 hostages. Organized in 1974, the Rangers are touted by the Army as "the most proficient infantry battalion in the world." before the Israeli raid, 30 American workers held hostage at an oil refinery seized by guerrillas. As It Col. Edward O. Yaugo, commanding officer of the battalion, puts it, the Israeli raid "sounded like a pretty good example of a Ranger operation." Just as in the 1960's the Special Forces, called the Green Berets, were the Army's elite troops, in the 1970's it's the Rangers, who wear a distinctive uniform of black berets and camouflaged jungle fatigues. They may well be what the Army had in mind when it organized the first Ranger unit in 1974: "The most proficient infantry battalion in the world; a battalion that can do things with its hands and weapons better than anyone." by Phil Stanford COVER PHOTO 8Y BEN ROSS FORT STEWART, GA. 3ver since Israeli commandos shot gig their way into a Uganda airport on F July 4th and rescued more than 100 hostages fmm terrorists, the raid has been a main topic of conversation among the men cf the 1st Ranger Battalion here. That's because they figure that next time, if U.S. citizens are involved, it might be their turn. If so, they are also confident, in a matter-of-faway, that they could do the job. It is, after all, the sort of thing they have been trained to do. At least three times during the past year the 1st Ranger Battalion has conexercises to practice ducted rescuing political hostages. Once it was an American ambassador kept prisoner in a barbed wire compound; once an American consul held by kidnappers in a desert hideaway and only the month ct 19, full-sca- f PI St Skintight haircuts with just a hint or fuzz are required for Rangers, known as the 4 Black Berets. "A lot of men can't take the Spartan life we lead," says a sergeant. le New tasks, new men The Green Berets are still around, but their numbers and importance have diminished since Vietnam. That may be because the new Black Beret battalions fit better into what many see as the most likely military role for the next decade. The Green Berets, who operinate in small, teams, were tended to train and assist local forces in counterinsurgency wars like Vietnam. The Ranger battalions, 600 men strong, are capable of conducting "deep penestrikes tration raids" commando-styl- e to attack enemy targets or to protect a variety of U.S. interests. Rescuing political hostages is just one example of what the Rangers might be called upon to do. A training pamphlet printed by the 1st Ranger Battalion lists what it calls "typical Ranger operations." Conducting "show-of-forc- e 11-m- an continued i |
