History
In the late 1960s and early 1970s a small number of Irish Defence Forces personnel attended the United States Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. On their return, these personnel organised similar courses with the goal of bringing standards of training throughout the Irish Defence Forces into line with accepted international standards. The first course was conducted in the Military College in the Curragh Army Camp in 1969 with 12 officer students. Students on these courses were selected from among all ranks and units of the Army, Air Corps and the Naval Service and covered physical endurance, marksmanship, individual military skills and small unit tactics.
Formalising these standards and creation of the Army Ranger Wing resulted from the increase in international terrorism in the late 1970s and 1980s. The increased skills and endurance training of 'Ranger'-trained personnel provided the basis for the creation of a new specialist unit to counter these threats. The Army Ranger Wing (ARW) was formally established, in accordance with the Defence Act, by Government order on March 16, 1980.
Read more about this topic: Army Ranger Wing
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