To Fight With Intrepidity: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers 1622 to Present [Paperback]

John D. Lock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

U.S. Ranger Major John Lock vividly brings to life the horrific battles and the heroic exploits--from the French and Indian War to Desert Storm--of a special breed of men for whom "valor, honor, and country" mean more than life itself. Photo insert.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fascinating and informative history of the most elite of the Army's troops. -- General Colin L. Powell, U.S. Army (Ret)

A fine tribute to a great outfit... Lock tells the story with skill and passion. -- Stephen E. Ambrose, Historian and author of Band of Brothers

[It] provides a compelling look at a very vital combat force. -- Bob Dole --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

John Lock is a 1982 graduate and former assistant professor of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He enlisted in the Army in 1974 and served as a Non-Commissioned Officer until 1978. His commissioned assignments include the 1st Armored Division, Nuremberg, West Germany, the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Stabilization Forces (SFOR), Bosnia and Herzegovina.

His military and advanced civil education includes the Engineer Officer Basic Course, the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, and a Master of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His decorations include the Master Parachutists Wings and the Ranger Tab.

In 1998, the first edition of his first book, To Fight with Intrepidity: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers, 1622 to Present, was published by Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books. His second work, The Coveted Black and Gold: A Daily Journal Through the U.S. Army Ranger School Experience, was published in 2001. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 602 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671015281
• ISBN-13: 978-0671015282
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,002,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LTC Lock reveals lessons for today's light infantry, August 13, 2000

By 

Sam Damon Jr. (Fort Bragg, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Fight With Intrepidity: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers 1622 to Present (Paperback)

LTC Lock has done in a compact form a BDU pocket-sized complete history of the U.S. Army Rangers, this quantification is usually what we praise, but we forget the quality of his writing when he does this. We need to realize what is it that we want to learn from Army Ranger history other than the predictable HOOAH! stuff?

LTC Lock in his book reveals an aspect of light infantry operations we simply do not understand today with our men turned into pack mules with "100 pounds of lightweight equipment". Read his accounts of Roger's Rangers and you will see a light infantry that could "fly" on its feet through the woods and outfight the Indians. The recent film, "Last of the Mohicans" best captures this capability. This was a Ranger infantry that was willing to use unusual mobility means, also---boats, ice skates, snow shoes, living off the land--all to get that mobility edge over the enemy. In WWII, Darby used speed-marches and carts to carry mortars/ammo to close on enemies rapidly to gain surprise/violence of action. Merrill's Marauders used mules to carry 75mm pack howitzers and supplies to penetrate deep into the jungles of Burma and take Myitkyina airfield from the jungle-seasoned Japanese. In Five major (WALAWBUM, SHADUZUP, INKANGAHTAWNG, NHPUM GA, & MYITKYINA) and thirty minor engagements, they defeated the veteran soldiers of the Japanese 18th Division (Conquerors of Singapore and Malaya) who vastly outnumbered the Marauders. Always moving to the rear of the main forces of the Japanese, the Marauders completely disrupted the enemy supply and communication lines, and climaxed their behind the lines operations with the capture of Myitkyina Airfield, the only all-weather airfield in Northern Burma.

Theese lessons need to be applied to today's light infantry that is still over-looking the capability modern mountain bikes and carts with oversized tires could give an Airborne Ranger-type force to close on an enemy after insertion out of detection range by parachute/airlanding aircraft.

My only fault with the book is that it doesn't clearly lay-out the roles/missions dilemma current Ranger infantry is in---it really has 2 types of missions:

1.) on one hand its America's shock troops storming defended high-value targets alone or as a spearhead for other troops (WWII Commando mindset),

2.)on the other, it has to be able to "Range" across the land as light infantry for days at a time to raid/recon (traditional Ranger missions).

These two missions are different and require different mindsets and equipment---and this is why TF Ranger in Somalia did not have armored fighting vehicles--because it was not seen as appropriate for "Rangers to do mech" if one was defining the unit by traditional roles/missions. However, shock troops need shock action and that means Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) and shielded men, which Rangers lead the U.S. military by employing for the first time rifle-caliber resstant body armor and having the physical conditioning and willingness to take Soldier's load risks to go into battle with it. AFVs are not popular in the minds of some Rangers, but its necessary to successfully perform shock action missions in urbanized terrain. Other elite units in the world can ride AFVs without their image suffering. Walking is not always the best way to "range" across the battlefield, as Ranger gun-jeeps, RSOVs (Land Rovers) and HMMWVs attest from combat in Iran (Desert 1), Grenada (airlanded from C-130s), Panama (parachute air-dropped) and Iraq (Desert Storm). But these are unarmored vehicles not up to the task of advancing in the face of concentrated enemies and their fire. LTC Lock in his superb chapter on the Mogadishu raid expertly outlines why Rangers should have had armored vehicles and that they would have prevented 1-18 men dying that day. His Somalia chapter is as good as Bowden's entire book, "Blackhawk Down!" and in some ways better---because it doesn't mince words and gets to the point that AFVs were needed in the force structure.

If America's light infantry forces would look back via LTC Lock's fine book into its methodology of Roger's Rangers; it will find the mindset needed to make it the most mobile and hardest-hitting infantry on earth that can range across the terrain quick enough to defeat the stalemate sensors and optics will create against a slower moving force. If these forces will understand that as Col Daniel Bolger states in Death Ground: America's Infantry in battle: "Ranger tabs don't stop bullets", and accept a modest number of air-droppable and helicopter transportable light tracked AFVs into its force structure for its own organic shielded mobility and heavy firepower, it will have learned well from its Somalian ordeals and be ready to lead the way! into the 21st century.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For all students of the warrior ethic, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Fight With Intrepidity: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers 1622 to Present (Paperback)

For those who don't know, the legendary US Army Rangers are the most highly trained infantry unit on earth. The Rangers are also the proudest unit in the US Army due to their long and colorful history that dates all the way back to the 1600's. This book is an exhausting and detailed history of the US Army Rangers. By reading about the horrific battles the Rangers have fought (including the one at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan) you will instantly respect the heritage and culture of the Army Ranger. So read this book and then knock out a hundred pushups for the Rangers! Hooaah!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read", for serious students of military history., September 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: To Fight With Intrepidity: The Complete History of the U.S. Army Rangers 1622 to Present (Paperback)

Major John lock has been there and done that. Both as a United States Army Ranger and as a military historian. While the reading drys out occasionally you can refresh yourself by stepping back and putting the words on the page in the context of the time and place the men were performing their deeds. From Major Rogers and the French-Indian War to Saving Private Ryan to the two Medals of Honor awarded in Somalia, Lock covers the entire history of the United States Army Rangers.