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