Long Range Reconnaissance veterans make Fort Benning their home

Fort Benning - US Army long range reconnaissance veterans and family members honored past, present, and future long range reconnaissance Soldiers at the Ranger Memorial and National Infantry Museum on Saturday with the dedication of memorial benches from the Long Range Reconnaissance Association (LRRA).

"What makes this event significant and import is that these veterans are going to call Fort Benning home," said Command Sgt. Maj. Wilbert E. Engram Jr., Command Sgt. Maj. of the Infantry School.

The project was a labor of love for the LRRA members.

"We formed an organization that is all inclusive for all long range reconnaissance Soldiers regardless of lineage," said Scott Rathjens, LRRA president. "Rangering and long range patrol work needs to be recognized. With the history of Fort Benning where the majority of us got our start, it makes sense to place or memorial bench here."

Before the unveiling of the memorial bench at the Ranger Memorial, LRRP secretary and treasurer Marshall Huckaby stated, "Today we recognize those 'special among men', so many that served valiantly in Vietnam and those that continue to serve today."

The US Army long-range reconnaissance patrol concept was created in 1956 by the 11th Airborne Division in Augsburg, Germany. The first patrols conducted operations near the Czechoslovakian and East German borders. If the Warsaw Pact nations destabilized leading to a war in Europe, the reconnaissance patrols would be inserted behind enemy lines to provide surveillance and to select targets of opportunity.

With the reconnaissance patrol unit concept codified during the outset of the Cold War, during Vietnam reconnaissance units would provide commanders critical information on enemy composition and disposition, often making contact on their patrols.

LRRP training in Vietnam was rigorous. Team leaders of LRRP units were often graduates of the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Recondo School in Nha Trang. Vietnam LRRP units were rebranded as Ranger companies of 75th Infantry (Ranger) on 1 February 1969. Charlie and Delta Company LRRPs formed the cohort of Bravo and Alpha Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger), respectively.

Alpha and Bravo, 75th Infantry (Ranger) were the only Ranger units to remain on active duty at the end of the Vietnam War. Most most of the Vietnam Rangers from those companies formed the core of the newly formed 1st and 2nd Battalions (Ranger), 75th Infantry in 1974 which evolved into the present 75th Ranger Regiment.

The legacy of LRRP units also continues on in the US Army's Long Range Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) squadrons.

The LRRA includes veteran and active duty Soldiers of the US Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP), Long Range Patrol (LRP), and Long Range Surveillance (LRS) teams responsible for being the eyes and ears of the Commander on the battlefield.

Read more about the history of the Army's LRRP, LRP, and LRS units at goo.gl/6sPeJo.