As the spearhead of the Army's special operations forces, the Rangers are involved in the most dangerous and dirty business imaginable. Often operating in dangerous, close quarters fights, Rangers require weapons and equipment that allow them to travel light, be quick on their feet, and move with the greatest of stealth. Here are the weapons that help make the Rangers one of the U.S. Army's most effective fighting units: M4s, M16s, M240B machineguns, mortars of all calibers, grenade launchers, stun and flash grenades, Kevlar body armor, night vision equipment, and more.

As the spearhead of the Army's special operations forces, the Rangers are involved in the most dangerous and dirty business imaginable. Often operating in dangerous, close quarters fights, Rangers require weapons and equipment that allow them to travel light, be quick on their feet, and move with the greatest of stealth. Here are the weapons that help make the Rangers one of the U.S. Army's most effective fighting units: M4s, M16s, M240B machineguns, mortars of all calibers, grenade launchers, stun and flash grenades, Kevlar body armor, night vision equipment, and more.

This Leavenworth Paper is a critical reconstruction of World War II Ranger operations conducted at or near Djebel el Ank, Tunisia; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; Cisterna, Italy; Zerf, Germany; and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. It is not intended to be a comprehensive account of World War II Ranger operations, for such a study would have to include numerous minor actions that are too poorly documented to be studied to advantage. It is, however, representative for it examines several types of operations conducted against the troops of three enemy nations in a variety of physical and tactical environments. As such, it draws a wide range of lessons useful to combat leaders who may have to conduct such operations or be on guard against them in the future. Many factors determined the outcomes of the operations featured in this Leavenworth Paper, and of these there are four that are important enough to merit special emphasis. These are surprise, the quality of opposing forces, the success of friendly forces with which the Rangers were cooperating, and popular support.

The U.S. Department of the Army is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and authors The Soldier's Guide, The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, U.S. Army Ranger Handbook, U.S. Army Hand-to-Hand Combat, U.S. Army First Aid Manual, U.S. Army Weapons Systems, U.S. Army Special Forces Handbook, U.S. Army Guide to Boobytraps, U.S. Army Explosives and Demolitions Handbook, U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare, and U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a range of books for readers interested in military tactics and skills. We publish content provided by or of interest to the U.S. Army, Army Rangers, the U.S. Navy, Navy SEALs, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Department of Defense. Our books cover topics such as survival, emergency medicine, weapons, guns, weapons systems, hand-to-hand combat, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

"The Official US Army Ranger Handbook, as used in Fort Benning" -- Amazon website.

No American military unit can claim as colorful and volatile a history as the Rangers, who have led the way in America's wars for well over 300 years. This book traces the Rangers from the time of Robert Rogers during the French-Indian War of the 18th century to the most recent combat operations in Iraq. With a focus on today's Army Rangers, who combine the rugged individualism of American frontiersmen with the finely honed ability to operate as a close-knit team, wreaking havoc behind enemy lines, this fascinating volume incorporates many first-hand accounts of dramatic Ranger actions by the combatants themselves.

U.S. Army Rangers & Special Forces of World War II tells the story of the U.S. Army's elite Rangers and special forces largely through pictures. Never before has such an expansive view of World War II been offered in one volume. Furthermore, an extensive search of public and private archives unearthed an astonishing number of rare and never before seen images, some in color. Most notable are the nearly twenty exemplary photographs of Lieutenant Colonel William O. Darby's Ranger Force in Italy, taken by Robert Capa, who is considered by many to be the greatest combat photographer of all time. Complementing the period photographs are numerous color plates detailing the rare and often unique items of insignia, weaponry, and equipment that marked the soldiers whose heavy task it was to lead the way.