One of the squadron 's commanders military.military_command – then Major – Keith Park who later led No . 11 Group of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain as an Air Vice Marshal .

After the Vietnam War , division and brigade commanders military.military_command that the U.S. Army needed an elite , rapidly deployable light infantry , so on January 31 , 1974 General Creighton Abrams asked General Kenneth C. Leuer to activate , organize , train and command the first battalion sized Ranger unit since World War II .

Preceded by a massive but mostly ineffective Confederate artillery barrage , the march across open fields toward the Union lines became known as Pickett 's Charge ; Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett was one of three division commanders military.military_command the command of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet , but his name has been popularly associated with the assault .

These were used by battalion and higher commanders military.military_command personal command vehicles , most famously the 250/3 used by Erwin Rommel in the North African campaign .