2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne)

The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was a Ranger light infantry company of the United States Army active during the Korean War. As a small special operations unit, it specialized in irregular warfare. A segregated unit, all of its personnel, including its officers, were African-Americans.

Activated and trained as a successor organization to the 2nd Ranger Battalion from World War II, the 2nd Ranger Company was formed and trained extensively in airborne warfare. Deployed to South Korea in December 1950, the company quickly adopted the motto of "Buffalo Rangers" and worked extensively as a scouting force for the U.S. 7th Infantry Division. In this role, the company undertook several major operations against the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, including Operation Tomahawk in early 1951.

Even though racial politics often resulted in the company receiving untrained replacements, it performed well in many small-scale engagements during this time. In the summer of 1951, the company was employed along the front line as an advance force to push back Chinese attacks as the front lines became more static. The company was highly regarded for its actions capturing and holding Hill 581 during the Battle of the Soyang River, in which the company inflicted hundreds of casualties on the Chinese without a single Ranger being killed.

Disbanded in August 1951 along with all the other Ranger companies, the unit's soldiers accrued several awards in its 10-month existence. These included four campaign streamers, nine Silver Star Medals and over 100 Purple Heart Medals. Subsequent research has focused on the economy of force of how the Rangers were employed and how their performance was impacted by the racist policies of their time.

The U.S. Army, which up until that point typically did not allow African-American soldiers to serve in special forces units, authorized African-Americans to apply to become Rangers. However, in spite of Executive Order 9981, which had de-segregated the U.S. military in 1948, the Army opted to pool all black applicants into one company. By 1950, most units were still de facto segregated, and in the 82nd Airborne Division, Ranger applicants came from the all-black units including the 3rd Battalion, 505th Airborne Infantry, the 758th Tank Battalion and the 80th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. Many of the applicants were World War II veterans who had seen combat, and many others had served with the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion.

Of a pool of 5,000 applicants, on 2 October the Ranger Training School selected 22 officers and 314 enlisted men for the first three Ranger companies, which were entirely white. A fourth, all African-American company was organized several days later. The 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) was organized on 9 October 1950, assuming the lineage of A Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion.  It had an initial strength of 135 enlisted men and 5 officers under the command of First Lieutenant Warren E. Allen, company commander, and Second Lieutenant James C. Queen, executive officer.^[20] Originally it had been designated the 4th Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne), but the two companies switched designations, apparently to prevent accusations of racial discrimination. The unit was formally activated on 25 October 1950 at Fort Benning.

The Rangers trained extensively in reconnaissance, long-range patrols, motorized scouting, setting up roadblocks, land navigation, camouflage, concealment, and adjusting indirect fire. They undertook frequent live fire exercises, many at night, simulating raids, ambushes and infiltrations. The Rangers trained 60 hours per week and ran 5 miles (8.0 km) each day and frequently held 20 miles (32 km) speed marches, which were considered traditions for Ranger training from World War II. The training for the numbered companies included much of the program used by Second Lieutenant Ralph Puckett to train the Eighth Army Ranger Company. In spite of a 30 percent dropout rate, most of the men completed the course and graduated on 15 November 1950. The Rangers left Fort Benning on 3 December and traveled to Camp Stoneman, California, with the 4th Ranger Company. They sailed for Japan on 9 December aboard the transport USS General H.W. Butner bound for the front lines in the Korean War. The company arrived at Yokohama, Japan, on 24 December, and was flown from Tachikawa Air Base to Taegu five days later.

Arriving in Korea on 30 December, the 2nd Ranger Company was attached to the 32nd Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, X Corps which was regrouping in Yonchon having been badly mauled in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, a battle which signaled the unexpected entry of Chinese troops into the war

On 28 February 1951, the 2nd Ranger Company was attached to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (RCT), alongside the 4th Ranger Infantry Company, and began unit training jumps and tactical exercises in preparation for a combat parachute drop. These exercises continued throughout March 1951, as much of the UN force conducted the aggressive Operation Ripper as a large-scale counteroffensive against the Chinese and North Korean force. To follow-up this attack, Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway, commander of the Eighth Army, planned Operation Tomahawk, a mission to insert the 187th RCT and the Rangers behind the Chinese lines to cut off Chinese supplies and force them to retreat north of Seoul. During the three weeks of training, the Rangers were reinforced by another platoon of African-American Rangers directly from Ranger school under Lieutenant Antonio Anthony. On 23 March, the 187th and attached Rangers were dropped around Munsan-ni, 24 miles (39 km) northwest of Seoul, with the mission to hold an airhead to interfere with the Chinese and North Korean logistical network, and linkup with the 6th Medium Tank Battalion 18 hours after drop.

As a result of the decision to disband the Ranger units, the 2nd Ranger Company was deactivated on 1 August 1951 while it was still in Korea. Like many of the other Ranger units, most of the 2nd Ranger Company veterans were folded into the 187th RCT. As an airborne unit, it was believed that by sending the men to the 187th, their airborne skills could be used. Nevertheless, in the end it turned out that Operation Tomahawk was the last airborne jump of the war and as a result, the former Rangers did not get a chance to exercise these skills again. Nine Rangers received Silver Star Medals and 11 received Bronze Star Medals. A total of 103 Purple Heart Medals were awarded to 84 members of the company, with 11 Rangers receiving two Purple Hearts and four Rangers receiving three.