THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG

The Company Sign 

Many times we have heard it said, or read it in the posts of the Facebook page that F Company had something special about it.  Well, I suppose that it is true.  I was in the Army for a long time, in some really great units, but not one of them was like F Company.

Being the only Airborne Infantry Company in Seventh Corps, being a Company of Grunts living with a post full of Military Intel LEGS, a Brigade Commander that had no earthly idea how to employ a LRSC, and a Battalion Commander that could have cared less, this may have added to formula that made F Company great.  If that is so, then the Army pulling troops from the best units (And some that were not so hot as well), the mixture was there and it worked.  F Company 51st Infantry was to everyone that was assigned to it, a defining moment in each of our lives.  No one that was ever assigned to F Company can say that it had no impact on their life.

Any of us that has attended any of the reunions, or that follow the board on Facebook can attest to the fact that F Company vets have some of the best Non-combat "War Stories" that have never yet been written.  It would be a shame if these stories died.  Amoebic Dysentery in Saudi, "Cheap Hard and Heavy" nights at "The Rock Fab", getting banned from "All Alcohol Serving Establishments" in the Stuttgart area, MP's that refused to come to our barracks unless in Squad Size element.  Just remembering some of these will make you smile.

Team 1-4

Where possible I will try to illustrate the postings, and I leave it up to you, fellow trooper if you opt to share these with your friends and family.  I have no intention of advertising this Blog, nor the things in it.

Oh, one last thing, every story no matter how well known or how well told, has as many versions as it is being told.  Feel free to make corrections, feel free to add to this.  This is not Roger's rant, nor will it ever become anyone's Slap-Down page.  This is for fun, after all, did we not refer to the Company as "Fun Five-One"?

Dedicated to the "Elite Bastards" No matter what generation they are from.

F Company, 51st Infantry (Airborne)(Long Range Surveillance) is not the most famous unit in the history of the United States Army. In fact, most people have never heard of it.  Most people have no idea what a Long range Surveillance Unit, or our predecessors, F Company, 51st Infantry (Airborne)(Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol).  LRSC or LRRP (Pronounced Lurp) is an Airborne Infantry Company with the specific mission of going in first, and gaining human intelligence on the area that friendly forces are getting ready to go into.  These units are composed of teams, which average 6 men, a Team Leader, an Assistant Team Leader, two Scout-Observers, and a Primary and an Assistant RTO.  These small, highly trained and motivated teams epitomize small unit operations.  These teams are assigned individual missions, are inserted by parachute or helicopter, up to 50 kilometers behind the lines, and do their best to remain unobserved.  These units are often assigned or attached to Military Intelligence Units whose commanders are dumbfounded about how to use a Human Intelligence asset.

F Company 51st LRRP served in the Republic of Vietnam with the famous Americal Division, and in December 1968 was re-designated Company G, 75th Infantry (Ranger).  These guys became known as "The Elite Bastards".  They participated in 5 campaigns and were awarded the Army's Valorous Unit Award.

The Army brought back the Elite Bastards, as a Long Range Surveillance Unit (A new name for LRRP) in Ludwigsberg, West Germany in December 1986.  Posted to Coffey Barracks, F Company began to train and to form a cohesive unit.

 

F Company deployed to Saudi Arabia in December of 1990, in support of Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation, and was unfortunately deactivated upon it's return to Germany as part of the dismantling of the 7th Corps.  The Company was once again activated as a LRSC, this time at Fort Bragg NC assigned to the 525 MI Brigade from April 1995 until March 2009, when again the Elite Bastards were deactivated.

It is to the men of F Company, 51st Infantry (ABN)(LRRP/LRSC) that I dedicate this blog.

I am proud to be an "Elite Bastard"

Roger Ayscue
Team 1-4
'89-'91