The Ranger Regiment is the principal component of the U.S. Army's Special Operations Forces. It's a unique group of light infantry tasked with conducting special military operations in support of national objectives and policies. These operations require highly trained, well-disciplined units capable of action under any circumstances, independently or in conjunction with other branches of the military. The term "Ranger unit" in this manual refers to a unit of any size primarily composed of soldiers from the Ranger Regiment and led by a Ranger Regiment commander.
A Ranger unit may be a task-organized element or a specially organized operational group for a specific mission.