Incidentally, slight side track, but would the Rangers really count as special forces ? They are an ‘elite’ infantry formation but I would say they are not special forces (e.g the Parachute Regiment are an ‘elite’ unit, but they are not the SAS).
Not that I’m standing up for someone who became famous for representing himself as a criminal, but I recall we had a squad of Pathfinders with the 6th Air cavalry at Fort Hood. These guys were Rangers, they wore the beret and had the tab sewn on their uniforms. They worked with the 19D forward observers (cavalry scouts). The 6th Air cav was definitely NOT a ranger unit.
But the 25th infantry isn’t a Ranger unit and never has been AFAIK, so that doesn’t really jibe. It is an infantry unit, however. He could have gotten slotted for Ranger school and passed. But passing a 9-week qualification course is a very different kind of Ranger than serving in an actual Ranger unit.
Just because someone was in a Ranger unit does not mean he was a ‘Ranger’ as we know them. I was in the Marines for ten years and worked with a lot of truen Rangers. You could be a administration clerk and have a Ranger tab on your upper arm.
There are loads and loads of celebrities who’ve served in the Armed forces, many with distinction, but you’ll have to be more specific about what constitutes “special forces.” Are we talking only about elite units like the Green Berets and the SEALs?
I mean, I could name you MANY famous people who served with valor in WW2 (Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, Senator George McGovern, actors Lee Marvin & Charles Durning, cartoonist Charles Schultz, and many others), but I don’t know that any of them served in anything the OP would consider “special forces.”
According to Wikipedia, David Niven rose to the rank of Lt. Col in the British commandos, and he took part in the D-Day invasion. Does that count? He was also a graduate of the Sandhurst military academy.
That’s counts as special forces. But it’s supposed to be a celebrity. Who the hell is David Niven??
And that’s specifically the part that raises my BS meter. It’s a rather dubious statement at best. And “EVERY” online Biography just seems to be copying word-for-word, the same 2-3 sentences about his service. The fact that there are several bios is irrelevant, if they’re all getting their info from the same place.
It’s usually quite easy to show someone was a Ranger. Their Bio would inlcude a date or class number when they graduated Ranger school, or would specifiy which Ranger Battalion they were in, etc.
I would say that even an admin cleark in Ranger Battalion is a Ranger. Even the cooks have to go through RIP (Ranger Indoctrination Program) and that’s no small feet.
However, you bring up a point which should be made. There are two kinds of Rangers. There are people who have graduated Ranger School. And there are people who serve in a Ranger Battlion.
Incidentally, Pat Tillman was BOTH, and a true RANGER. It’s not difficult at all to find information about his Ranger service. And his online Bios include the date he actually went to Ranger School, and the start-end dates of his service in Bat.
The fact that I can’t find this info on ICE-T makes me doubt its accuracy.
Oh, and Pat Tillman fulfilled the third requirement to actually being a real Ranger. He was an infantryman.
I forgot to mention that even a ranger cook can go to ranger school and get the tab. But he’s not quite on the same tier as the 11B3Vs out there.
Along those same lines baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams served with distinction in both WW2 and Korea. Yogi Berra took part in the D-Day invasion. Neither of them fit the OP’s definition of special ops but I’ll take 'em.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, anyone can get the following information about a veteran of the U.S. armed forces:
• Name
• Service Number
• Rank
• Dates of Service
• Awards and decorations
• Place of entrance and separation
Apply to the Military Records Division of the National Personnel Records Center, in St. Louis, Missouri. Be sure to state that this is a FOIA request.
Some may consider this a nitpick, but of what you’ve listed, only Special Forces are Special Forces (aka Green Berets). The others you mentioned are units classed as Special Operations . As for Rangers, only the 75th Ranger Regiment is under SOCOM . These are the guys who not only pass the Ranger course, but serve in a Ranger unit (they wear the scroll of the 75th Ranger Regiment ).
Technically a guy who has earned his Ranger tab by passing the course can only call himself Ranger Qualified. The saying goes: “The tab is a school, the scroll is a way of life.” Still, earning a Ranger tab is no small feat, and worthy of some measure of respect.
That’s what I said. Special Forces. Capital S, Capital F. It’s a proper noun.
But “special forces” (not capitalized, and not a proper nound) has no official definition. It can include any special operational unit. Period. There is no official military definition for “special forces”. So fo people to argue “What is a special forces unit”, they need to set their own definition.
Now, if they said "What is a Special Forces unit. Then THAT has a specific definition. Green Berets.
Since we’re nitpicking:
Only regimental support and incoming personnel where a 75th Scroll. Rangers wear a scroll of their Battalion. Either a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Battlaion Scroll. Not a 75th Reg scroll.
4th, 5th and 6th Ranger Battalion personnel wear an Airorne “Follow Me” patch, and not a scroll at all.
Getting a Ranger Tab is harder than actually becoming a Ranger. RIP is four weeks long. Ranger school is about sixty something days long, much more intense, and more of a mental challenge as well.
Staying a Ranger in Bat, however, is a whole different animal. Definitely a way of life.
