Editing Starfleet Rangers (section)

==History==

Starfleet ranger training began as a series of courses at the [[Starfleet Academy|Academy]] intended to teach planetary survival skills necessary for officers visiting undiscovered and unexplored worlds on the fringes of known space. While comprehensive, the survival courses were fairly basic, with some more advanced programs available.

The Rangers began to develop as a true branch of service during the Federation's first war with the [[Cardassian Union]]. The Cardassian War pointed to some weaknesses in Federation defense strategy; many young [[Starfleet]] officers operating on worlds like [[Setlik III]] and [[Davros III]] were unprepared for the requirements of guerrilla-style warfare and survival under the harsh conditions they encountered.

The remote locations of many Federation [[colony|colonies]] along the Cardassian border made things even more difficult, spreading Starfleet resources thin. Although a single [[starship]] was more than capable of protecting a colony, Starfleet could not spare a ship for every single colony. In many ways, in fact, a [[Nebula Class|Nebula]] or [[Ambassador Class]] ship with a crew of hundreds was overkill in responding to the kind of skirmish warfare the [[Cardassian]]s were engaged in. A smaller, more precise, response was required.

Toward that end, Starfleet began the Ranger program, proposed by [[Rank|Captain]] Robert Crichton. The program trained Starfleet officers in planetary survival, scouting, small-unit tactics, and defensive strategies to protect small and often isolated colonies on border worlds. Officers who underwent the Ranger training program were better equipped to operate along the border worlds and to work in small groups or alone for extended periods of time, without the support of a large starship.

The program proved a success. The Rangers were able to better coordinate colony defenses against Cardassian raids, providing a quicker response time and putting a stop to incidents like the Setlik III massacre, which resulted largely from Starfleet's inability to be everywhere at once. The Rangers were everywhere, or at least that was how it must have seemed to the Cardassians, who now discovered a small and capable Starfleet presence on every colony world, ready and waiting for them. Rather than conducting sneak-attacks against helpless outposts, the Cardassians encountered prepared and armed resistance to their attacks, which allowed colonies to hold out long enough for help to arrive.

Many Rangers earned medals of commendation for their actions during the Cardassian War, despite this Starfleet Command decided not to maintain the Ranger program after the signing of the Cardassian peace treaty.  Though there other trouble spots along the Federation frontier where their skills could be equally useful.  Instead of maintaining smaller Ranger Units, [[Starfleet Command]] turned to the Starfleet Marines. This was handled through a general build-up of the corps just prior to the [[Federation Civil War]]. All Starfleet Rangers were reabsorbed into the fleet.

The sole black mark on the Rangers' spotless record came when a number of disbanded Starfleet Rangers once assigned to the DMZ chose to leave Starfleet and join the [[Maquis]], a group of renegades opposed to Cardassian control of planets in and along the DMZ. To this day, the Rangers consider the Maquis defection an embarrassment, and they have a strong dislike for both the Maquis and the Cardassian military.

The Rangers proved invaluable to the [[52nd Fleet]] during the Federation Civil War, since they were able to adapt well to the harsh conditions and manpower shortages caused by the conflict. While Starfleet vessels maneuvered in strategic battles against [[Admiral Doenitz|Doentiz Loyalist Forces]] and their occupied worlds, Rangers operated behind enemy lines, scouting out Loyalist strongholds and troop positions, sabotaging operations, and fermenting rebellion on Doenitz-controlled worlds. Starfleet awarded medals of valor to many Rangers for their actions during the war, including a small team of Rangers largely credited with overthrowing the Doenitz occupation of [[Bolarus IX]] in the final days of the war.