"This Leavenworth Paper is a critical reconstruction of World War II Ranger operations conducted at or near Djebel el Ank, Tunisia; Porto Empedocle, Sicily; Cisterna, Italy; Zerf, Germany; and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. It is not intended to be a comprehensive account of World War II Ranger operations -- such a study would have to include numerous minor actions that are too poorly documented to be studied to advantage. But it is representative for it examines several types of operations conducted against the troops of three enemy nations in a variety of physical and tactical environments. As such, it draws a wide range of lessons useful to combat leaders who may have to conduct such operations or be on guard against them in the future. Some of the most central lessons are summarized here to prepare the readers for the narratives that follow. Many factors determined the outcomes of the operations featured in this Leavenworth Paper, and of these there are four that are important enough to merit special emphasis. These are surprise, the quality of opposing forces, the success of friendly forces with which the Rangers were cooperating, and popular support. Of the four factors, surprise was paramount. The Rangers won one-sided victories at Djebel el Ank, Porto Empedocle, and Cabanatuan by taking unalert enemies by surprise. They failed to surprise their enemy at Cisterna and were defeated. Whether the Rangers gained surprise or not was strongly influenced by the quality of opposing forces. This quality was not so much the sum of the abilities of individual Rangers measured against the sum of enemy skills as it was the relative cohesion and morale of the forces engaged. Individual soldiers in a unit may be of superb quality, but if they lack organizational and moral cohesion, they will not fight to the best of their abilities. The Ranger victories at Djebel el Ank, Porto Empedocle, and Cabanatuan were won over enemies who had lost most of their tactical integrity."
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ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLL FORT LEAVENWORTH KS COMBAT STUDIES INST.
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