Col (Ret) Keith Nightingale: The Origin and History of the Ranger Creed

The true test of a leader is whether his followers will adhere to his cause from their own volition, enduring the most arduous hardships without being forced to do so, and remaining steadfast in the moments of greatest peril. – Xenophon, c. 431-350 BC

Every living Ranger knows and understands the Ranger Creed.  It is a living embodiment of a personal and organizational philosophy.  It sustains the individual and the unit in its darkest hours and most perilous exposures.  It is posted on walls of living quarters around the world where Rangers live and have lived.  Many non-Rangers refer to it as a secret basis for their existence and personal beliefs.  It transcends all other motivations of the individual.  It defines the person and the organization. It is what is and what all believe.

Webster defines a Creed as “a set of fundamental beliefs; also: a guiding principle.”  The Ranger Creed states what a Ranger as an individual stands for, what he will do and for the unit, what it must do.  It is simple, clear and unambiguous and that is both its strength and its glory.

The Ranger Creed

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move farther, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be. One-hundred-percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!

Origin

The origin of the Ranger Creed goes back to the formation of the renewed Ranger Battalion concept in 1974 as well as to the concept of the Creed as a unifying philosophy in the beginnings of Christianity.  As the concept of a specific form of Church evolved before Christ, various sects devised the concept of a defined creed to identify them from others.  The most famous being the Nicene Creed of 400 A.D.  It simply stated the personal philosophy and belief of its adherents so as to separate itself from others-so does the Ranger Creed.  It is the embodiment of the soul of the individual and the organization in which he serves.

Throughout recorded history, every great Nation has had a small military organization that was utterly reliable and totally dependable to accomplish the mission of the moment or disintegrate itself trying. It was both the model of the best that military structure possessed as well as its last resort.  The Greek Hoplites, Caesar’s Tenth Legion, Napolean’s Old Reliables, the British Household Guards, and the American Ranger each had a Creed as the basis for binding and bonding their membership into a cohesive mass that thought and acted alike, shared common values, and forsook privations while relegating personal desires for the greater good. In the darkest moments and the most tenuous of times, the Creed focused on the members and caused ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.  It was the foundation of the organizational soul.

The outbreak of the 1973 Middle East War prompted the Department of the Army to be concerned about the need for a light mobile force that could be moved quickly to any trouble spot in the world. In the fall of 1973, General Creighton Abrams, Army Chief of Staff, formulated the idea of the reformation of the first battalion-sized Ranger units since World War II. In January 1974, he sent a message to the field directing the formation of a Ranger Battalion. He selected its missions and picked the first officers. He felt that a tough, disciplined, and elite Ranger unit would set a standard for the rest of the U.S. Army and that, as Rangers “graduated ” from Ranger units to Regular Army units, their influence would improve the entire Army.  The first officer selected was  LTC K.C. Leuer.

The Abrams Charter

LTC Leuer received a call in mid-February of 1974 to go to Lawson Army Airfield and report to Gen Bill DePuy, then the TRADOC Commander.  At the VIP reception room at Lawson, Gen Depuy presented LTC Leuer with the now-famous Abrams Charter:

“The battalion is to be an elite, light, and the most proficient infantry in the world. A battalion that can do things with its hands and weapons better than anyone. The battalion will contain no “hoodlums or brigands” and if the battalion is formed from such persons, it will be disbanded. Wherever the battalion goes, it must be apparent that it is the best. “

Gen Depuy then went on to state that  “Abe wants you to create a Creed that will serve as the guiding light for the Rangers to train, fight and live by.”   This was to embody a set of personal and organizational standards that would migrate throughout the Army as soldiers came and left the unit. LTC Leuer then had to determine how to accomplish all of the above.

LTC Leuer, determined that the device of a Creed was such a necessary and fundamental part of the evolving Ranger experience that it must be established during the formative period.  He believed that this Creed must be so compelling and so clear as to attach the individual to the unit and to define the system of standards and quality necessary for the First Ranger Battalion.  He assigned the original draft task to CSM Neil Gentry, the First CSM.  LTC Leuer believed that the acceptance and promulgation of the Creed by the Ranger NCO corps would be the only way in which it would be lastingly inculcated and imbedded in the Ranger ethos.  This was not going to be an issue that would expire at his change of command.

CSM Gentry, as a recent CSM of the Airborne Department, used the existing Airborne Creed as his start point.

The Airborne Creed 

I volunteered as a parachutist, fully realizing the hazard of my chosen service and by my thoughts and actions will always uphold the prestige, honor and high esprit-de-corps of parachute troops.

I realize that a parachutist is not merely a soldier who arrives by parachute to fight, but is an elite shock trooper and that his country expects him to march farther and faster, to fight harder, and to be more self-reliant than any other soldier. Parachutists of all allied armies belong to this great brotherhood.

I shall never fail my fellow comrades by shirking any duty or training, but will always keep myself mentally and physically fit and shoulder my full share of the task, whatever it may be.

I shall always accord my superiors fullest loyalty and I will always bear in mind the sacred trust I have in the lives of the men I will accompany into battle.

I shall show other soldiers by my military courtesy, neatness of dress, and care of my weapons and equipment that I am a picked and well-trained soldier.

I shall endeavor always to reflect the high standards of training and morale of parachute troops.

I shall respect the abilities of my enemies, I will fight fairly and with all my might. Surrender is not in my creed.

I shall display a high degree of initiative and will fight on to my objective and mission, though I be the lone survivor.

I shall prove my ability as a fighting man against the enemy on the field of battle, not by quarreling with my comrades in arms or by bragging about my deeds.

I shall always realize that battles are won by an army fighting as a team, that I fight first and blaze the path into battle for others to follow and to carry the battle on.

I belong to the finest unit in the world. By my actions and deeds alone, I speak for my fighting ability. I will strive to uphold the honor and prestige of my outfit, making my country proud of me and of the unit to which I belong.

AIRBORNE LEADS THE WAY!

CSM Gentry, with assistance from several enlisted Ranger battalion candidates, developed this draft of the Ranger Creed in June of 1974.

The Ranger Creed

Realizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen service, and by my actions will always uphold the prestige, honor, and high “esprit de corps” of the Ranger Battalion.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is not merely a more elite soldier who arrives at the “cutting edge of battle,” by land, air, or sea, but one whose country expects him to move farther and faster than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades by shirking any duty or training, but I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, 100 percent and then some.

Graciously I shall show the world by the courtesy to superior officers and noncommissioned officers, by neatness of dress, by care of my own equipment that I am especially selected and a well trained Ranger.

Every day I shall respect the abilities of my enemies, but remember that I am better trained and can defeat him on the fields of battle, for I shall fight with all my might.  Surrender is not a Ranger word, and I will never leave a fallen comrade whereby he may fall into enemy hands. I shall never embarrass my country under any circumstances.

Realistically I shall display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objectives and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.

“RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!”

LTC Leuer then passed the draft to Major Rock Hudson, battalion XO,  for final refinement.  “The Rock” further revised it to the point where LTC Leuer felt it was sufficiently polished to “go final.”  Accordingly, in July of 1974, he had a Commander’s Call at the Ft Stewart headquarters with company commander’s, staff and Isgt’s.  The group made small adjustments to the point where it is today.  The next issue then was how to disseminate it and attach its manifest and emotional significance so it was as embedded within each Ranger as the concept of PT and Road Marches.

The Creed was discussed at length by the commanders and senior NCO’s and its import  quickly became apparent.  This was a core item that would provide the Rangers a unique identity and be a right of passage providing both a psychological as well as real inclusion device for both individuals and the unit.

Each NCO and Officer was provided a copy of the Creed and required to train his people to memorize it.  Evening sessions in squad bays reverberated with the Creed.  New Ranger volunteers stumbled over the stanzas in front of a less than sympathetic squad leader.  Rangers marching from barracks to mess to details all repeated it as a march cadence.  And LTC Leuer led the way.  The Monday morning  Battalion PT, led by the battalion commander, was the key effective “instructional device” for the Creed.

The cadre soon learned that if the Commander made a passing comment or musing at the daily Commander’s Call, it was a precursor for a public demonstration.  One day, very early after arrival from Ft Benning, he mentioned that stanzas of the Creed might be a good “wakeup” device at PT.  Battalion PT was where every officer and NCO was vulnerable to exposure-hence there was a deliberate effort by the entire cadre to study those lines before Lights Out.

On the PT stand, in the dark, foggy and humid wrap of Ft Stewart in the Summer, LTC Leuer would say- “Commander Company B.  First Stanza of the Ranger Creed.”  That officer would then recite at top volume the right or wrong words.  He did this for the entire Creed randomly selecting positions so no one was able to guess their vulnerability for demonstrated excellence. Very quickly, every leader got it right.  What man wanted to publicly fail in front of his men and all others?  If the Red Cockaded woodpecker could speak like a parrot, generations of Georgians who never wore a uniform would know the Creed by heart.

As the battalion grew and its cadre migrated to 2-75 and later 3-75 and Regiment, the Creed went with them as did the standards and what it meant to be a Ranger-exactly as General Abrams and Gen DePuy envisioned..  With Grenada and Urgent Fury, the Ranger’s gained National public recognition as being the best of the best and the Ranger Creed became the definition of a Ranger.

The present Ranger Creed clearly established a precedent within the US Army as a tool to define its soldiers and for the soldiers to define themselves.

Note the contemporary US Army Creed.

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

The Ranger Creed has grown from a memorized set of stanzas uncertainly repeated on a dark humid PT field at Ft Stewart, Georgia to a near universal guide to life, duty and performance for any person exposed to its words.  The Creed is posted on walls around the world wherever Rangers have been and do their work.  It is carefully folded and carried in thousands of rucksacks and notebooks.  It resides on plaques and mementoes of retired Rangers and is indelibly etched in the mind of any soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who has worn the Tab or been associated with the Regiment or RTB.

The Creed is the first thing spoken in the morning and the last at night.  It is the last non-operational item a Ranger will discuss before executing his assigned Ranger mission or jumping out the door into hostile territory.

The Ranger Creed is both the comfort and the courage that opens the wellsprings of the individual soldier and converts him from an ordinary to an extraordinary soldier and makes him truly the glory of our Nation.