Regimental Special Troops Battalion (RSTB)
A Ranger raid depends on more than the assault force. Reconnaissance, reliable communications, technical support, and trained replacements all help keep the regiment ready for its next mission. The Regimental Special Troops Battalion (RSTB), 75th Ranger Regiment, brought several of those capabilities together as operations in Afghanistan and Iraq placed increasing demands on the Ranger force.
Formation During the Global War on Terrorism
The RSTB grew out of the regiment’s transition from short-duration contingency missions to sustained combat operations. Capabilities previously provided by smaller regimental detachments needed an organization that could support repeated deployments and continuing operations.
The battalion was provisionally activated on July 17, 2006. Its formal lineage records the redesignation of Company N, 75th Ranger Regiment, as the battalion’s HHC on March 10, 2006, followed by the battalion’s official activation at Fort Benning, Georgia, on October 16, 2007. These dates describe different steps in establishing the organization.
Heritage Before the Battalion
The RSTB’s lineage reaches back to Merrill’s Marauders, through HHC of the 1st Battalion, 475th Infantry, and later the 75th Infantry. That branch became Company N, 75th Infantry, which served in Vietnam from February 1969 until August 1971.
A second branch comes through Bco of the WWII 1st Ranger Battalion, activated in Northern Ireland in June 1942. After WWII, that lineage continued through the 5th Ranger Infantry Company, which served in Korea in 1951.
The two branches were consolidated on February 3, 1986, as Company N, 75th Ranger Regiment. They became part of the RSTB’s inherited history when the new battalion was established. Its WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam connections belong to those predecessor organizations, rather than to a special troops battalion operating under that name during those conflicts.
Reconnaissance and Communications
The battalion’s early organization brought together reconnaissance, communications, military intelligence, and assessment and training functions. The Regimental Reconnaissance Company provided reconnaissance and preparation of the operational environment for Ranger and other special operations missions.
The Ranger Communications Company supplied command-and-control communications for the regiment and special operations task forces. These capabilities connected commanders and deployed elements across dispersed operations, while reconnaissance helped establish the conditions for follow-on missions.
Afghanistan and Iraq
The RSTB supported the regiment’s sustained operations during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its contribution included specialized teams and capabilities supporting deployed Ranger battalions and regimental headquarters.
One publicly documented operation occurred on July 11, 2009, when a Regimental Reconnaissance Company team conducted a combat military freefall parachute insertion in Afghanistan, including a tandem passenger, to emplace tactical equipment.
The reconnaissance force also conducted combat parachute insertions before the RSTB existed. Those earlier missions form part of the capability’s history and should be distinguished from operations conducted after the battalion’s formation.
Assessment, Selection, and Training
The battalion also helped sustain the regiment’s personnel pipeline. Its published history identifies the Ranger Operations Company with RASP 1 and RASP 2, Small Unit Ranger Tactics, and preparatory training for the Special Operations Combat Medic Course.
That responsibility connects the battalion to Rangers across the force. Assessing new personnel and preparing Soldiers for demanding follow-on training helps maintain the standards needed by the regiment’s operational units.
The Evolution of Ranger Intelligence
Military intelligence was part of the RSTB’s early organization, including human intelligence, signals intelligence, imagery intelligence, and all-source analysis. The regiment subsequently expanded its intelligence organization through the separate Regimental Military Intelligence Battalion (RMIB).
The RMIB was provisionally activated on May 22, 2017, and the regiment announced its permanent activation effective June 16, 2020. Its mission includes intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber, and electronic warfare. This development is an important distinction when describing the RSTB’s original organization and the regiment’s later structure.
The RSTB’s Place in the Regiment
Based at Fort Benning, Georgia, the RSTB remains a distinct formation within the 75th Ranger Regiment, alongside its maneuver battalions and military intelligence battalion. Its history reflects the regiment’s investment in the specialized capabilities and trained personnel needed to sustain demanding operations.
Our collection honors the Rangers who served in the Special Troops Battalion, the specialists whose work supported the wider regiment, and the veterans and families connected to that service.
Historical Sources
- Special Troops Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment: Lineage and Honors. U.S. Army Special Operations Command History Office / U.S. Army Center of Military History, record current through March 26, 2013. Documents the predecessor organizations, Company N’s Vietnam service, the 1986 consolidation, March 2006 redesignation, and October 2007 battalion activation.
- USASOC: Regimental Special Troops Battalion. U.S. Army Special Operations Command, RSTB section. Describes provisional and official activation, the battalion’s early company functions, assessment and training responsibilities, combat support, and publicly documented reconnaissance parachute operations. The organizational description reflects an earlier period and is read alongside the later RMIB announcement.
- U.S. Army Rangers: Heritage. U.S. Army. Explains the RSTB’s formation in the transition toward sustained combat operations and the consolidation of capabilities previously provided by regimental detachments.
- Permanent Activation of the Regimental Military Intelligence Battalion. 75th Ranger Regiment Public Affairs, June 16, 2020. Documents the RMIB’s provisional establishment in 2017, permanent activation announcement, and intelligence, reconnaissance, cyber, and electronic warfare mission.
- U.S. Army Rangers: Mission and Organization. U.S. Army. Identifies the RSTB’s Fort Benning home station and lists the special troops and military intelligence battalions as separate regimental formations.