Bounds Gary L. Notes on Military Elite Units

Fort Leavenworth: Combat Studies Institute US Army Command, 1990. — 13 p.During World War I, the stalemate of trench warfare created conditions of intense frustration because of high casualties, seemingly endless artillery fire, and no sense of accomplishment. The stalemate forced a turn to elite units, which required aggressive, reliable, and intelligent personnel to carry out the operations. Examples were the German Storm Troopers of the 1917-18 offensive, the Italian Arditi and Alpini, the British and French tank units, and German U-Boats. The Storm Trooper volunteers came from the urban middle class, and many had university backgrounds. Training emphasized knives, handgrenades, entrenching tools, and other individual weapons. The Arditi wore black shirts and distinctive headgear and had a nihilistic motto, "who cares?
World War II. From December 1941 through November 1942, the United States experienced a period of frustration from -not being able to respond to the German threat with large-scale operations. As a result, the first Ranger Companies were formed in England by MG Lucian Truscott. This action was approved by U.S. Army Chief of Staff GEN George C. Marshall. The units formed, trained with the British, and participated in a limited role in the Dieppe raid. After a number of successful limited operations, they were used as a spearhead force at Cisterna during the Anzio Beachhead expansion. In this conventional role, all but six members of a 767-man forces were killed or captured. The remaining numbers were either transferred to the 1st Special Service Force or sent home to train new units.