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United States Army Special Forces

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"Green Berets" redirects here. For other uses, see Green Berets (disambiguation).

U.S. Army Special Forces
United States Army Special Forces shoulder sleeve insignia
Active19 June 1952 – present
CountryUnited States United States of America
Branch United States Army
TypeSpecial Operations Forces
RolePrimary tasks:
  • Unconventional warfare
  • Foreign internal defense
  • Special reconnaissance
  • Direct action
  • Counter-terrorism

Other roles:

  • Hostage rescue
  • Counterproliferation
  • Information operations
  • Humanitarian missions
Size~5,500 Active Duty
~1,100 National Guard
Part of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)
Nickname(s)Green Berets, Quiet Professionals,[1] Soldier-Diplomats, Snake Eaters, Bearded Bastards[2]
Motto(s)De oppresso liber
U.S. Army's translation: "To Liberate the Oppressed"
EngagementsCold War
Vietnam War
El Salvador
Operation Urgent Fury
Operation Just Cause
Gulf War
Somalia
Operation Uphold Democracy
Kosovo
Operation Enduring Freedom
Iraq War
Afghanistan War

The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with five primary missions: unconventional warfare (the original and most important mission of Special Forces), foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism. The first two emphasize language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops. Other duties include hostage rescue, combat search and rescue (CSAR), security assistance, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, counter-proliferation, psychological operations, manhunts, and counter-drug operations; other components of the United States Special Operations Command or other U.S. government activities may also specialize in these secondary areas.[3] Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works[4] and doctrinal manuals are available.[5][6][7]

Currently, Special Forces units are deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom. They are also deployed with other SOCOM elements as one of the primary American military forces in the ongoing War in Afghanistan. As a special operations unit, Special Forces are not necessarily under the command authority of the ground commanders in those countries. Instead, while in theater, SF soldiers may report directly to United States Central Command, USSOCOM, or other command authorities.

The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits soldiers from the Army's Special Forces.[8] Joint Army Special Forces and CIA operations go back to the famed MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War.[9] This cooperation still exists today and is seen in the War in Afghanistan.[10][11]

Mission

The main mission of the Special Forces was to train and lead unconventional warfare (UW) forces, or a guerrilla force in an occupied nation that no one is allowed to know. The Special Forces are the only U.S. Special Operations Force (SOF) trained to employ UW. The 10th Special Forces Group was the first deployed SF unit, intended to operate UW forces behind enemy lines in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. As the United States became involved in Southeast Asia, it was realized that specialists trained to lead guerrillas could also help defend against hostile guerrillas, so SF acquired the additional mission of Foreign Internal Defense (FID), working with Host Nation (HN) forces in a spectrum of counter-guerrilla activities from indirect support to combat command.[citation needed][clarification needed]

Special Forces personnel qualify both in advanced military skills and the regional languages and cultures of defined parts of the world. While they have a Direct Action (DA) capability, other units, such as Rangers, are more focused on overt direct action raids conducted in uniform but potentially behind enemy lines. SF personnel have the training to carry out covert DA, and other missions, including clandestine SR. Other missions include peace operations, counter-proliferation, counter-drug advisory roles, and other strategic missions. As strategic resources, they report either to USSOCOM or to a regional Unified Combatant Command.[citation needed][clarification needed]

SF team members work closely together and rely on one another under isolated circumstances for long periods of time, both during extended deployments and in garrison. Because of this, they develop clannish relationships and long-standing personal ties. SF non-commissioned officers (NCO) often spend their entire careers in Special Forces, rotating among assignments to detachments, higher staff billets, liaison positions, and instructor duties at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS). Special Forces officers, on the other hand, historically spend a limited amount of time early in their careers assigned to SF detachments. They are then required to move to staff positions or to higher command echelons. With the creation of USSOCOM, SF commanders have risen to the highest ranks of U.S. Army command, including command of USSOCOM, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[citation needed]

History

Main article: History of the United States Army Special Forces

The United States Army Special Forces were formed in 1952, initially under the U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Division headed by then Brigadier General Robert A. McClure.[12][unreliable source?]

Since their establishment in 1952, Special Forces soldiers have operated in Vietnam, El Salvador, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, and, in an FID role, Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa, which was transferred to Africa Command in 2008.[citation needed]

Organizational structure

Structure of United States Army Special Forces Command

Special Forces Groups

Soldiers from the seven Special Forces Groups stand in formation.

U.S. Army Special Forces is divided into five active duty (AD) and two Army National Guard (ARNG) Special Forces groups. Each Special Forces Group (SFG) has a specific regional focus. The Special Forces soldiers assigned to these groups receive intensive language and cultural training for countries within their regional area of responsibility (AOR).[13] Due to the increased need for Special Forces soldiers in the War on Terror, all Groups—including those of the National Guard (19th and 20th SFGs)—have been deployed outside of their areas of operation (AOs), particularly to Iraq and Afghanistan. A recently released report showed Special Forces as perhaps the most deployed SOF under SOCOM, with many soldiers, regardless of Group, serving up to 75% of their careers overseas, almost all of which had been to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Until recently an SF Group has consisted of three Battalions, but since the Department of Defense has authorized U.S. Army Special Forces Command to increase its authorized strength by one third, a fourth Battalion will be activated in each active component Group by 2012.[citation needed]

A Special Forces Group is historically assigned to a Unified Combatant Command or a theater of operations. The Special Forces Operational Detachment C or C-detachment (SFODC) is responsible for a theater or a major subcomponent, which can provide command and control of up to 18 SFODAs, three SFODB, or a mixture of the two. Subordinate to it are the Special Forces Operational Detachment Bs or B-detachments (SFODB), which can provide command and control for six SFODAs. Further subordinate, the SFODAs typically raise company- to battalion-sized units when on unconventional warfare missions. They can form 6-man "split A" detachments that are often used for Strategic Reconnaissance (SR).

Beret Flash Group
1st Special Forces Group – Headquartered at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Washington along with its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions, its 1st Battalion is forward deployed at Torii Station, Okinawa. The 1st SFG(A) is oriented towards the Pacific region, and is often tasked by PACOM.
3rd Special Forces Group – Headquartered at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The 3rd SFG(A) is theoretically oriented towards all of Sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of the Eastern Horn of Africa, i.e. United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).
5th Special Forces Group – Headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 5th SFG(A) is oriented towards the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa (HOA), and is frequently tasked by CENTCOM.
7th Special Forces Group – Headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The 7th SFG(A) is oriented towards the western hemisphere: the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central America and South America, the Caribbean Sea—with its 13 island nations, European and U.S. territories—the Gulf of Mexico, and a portion of the Atlantic Ocean (i.e. the USSOUTHCOM AOR and a little more). Although not aligned, the 7SFG(A) has also supported USNORTHCOM activities within the western hemisphere.
10th Special Forces Group – Headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado along with its 2nd, 3rd and newly added 4th Battalions, its 1st Battalion is forward deployed in the Panzer Kaserne (Panzer Barracks) in Böblingen near Stuttgart, Germany. The 10th SFG(A) is theoretically oriented towards Europe, mainly Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Northern Africa, i.e. EUCOM.
19th Special Forces Group – One of two National Guard Special Forces Groups. Headquartered in Draper, Utah, with companies in Washington, West Virginia, Ohio, Rhode Island, Colorado, California, and Texas, the 19th SFG(A) is oriented towards Southwest Asia (shared with 5th SFG(A)), Europe (shared with 10th SFG(A)), as well as Southeast Asia (shared with 1st SFG(A)).
20th Special Forces Group – One of two National Guard Special Forces Groups. Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, with battalions in Alabama (1st Battalion), Mississippi (2nd Battalion), and Florida (3rd Battalion), with assigned Companies and Detachments in North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Louisville, Kentucky; Western Massachusetts; and Baltimore, Maryland. The 20th SFG(A) has an area of responsibility (AOR) covering 32 countries, including Latin America south of Mexico, the waters, territories, and nations in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Orientation towards the region is shared with 7th SFG(A).
Inactive Groups
6th Special Forces Group – Active from 1963 to 1971. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (renamed Fort Liberty in 2023). Assigned to Southwest Asia (Iraq, Iran, etc.) and Southeast Asia. Many of the 103 original Son tay raider volunteers were from 6SFGA.
8th Special Forces Group – Active from 1963 to 1972. Responsible for training armies of Latin America in counterinsurgency tactics.
11th Special Forces Group (U.S. Army Reserve) – Active from 1961 to 1994.
12th Special Forces Group (U.S. Army Reserve) – Active from 1961 to 1994.

Battalion HQ Element – SF Operational Detachment-C (SFODC) composition

The SFODC, or "C-Team", is the headquarters element of a Special Forces Battalion. As such, it is a command and control unit with operations, training, signals and logistic support responsibilities to its three subordinate line companies. A Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) commands the battalion and the C-Team and the battalion Command Sergeant Major (E-9) is the senior NCO of the battalion and the C-Team. There are an additional 20–30 SF personnel who fill key positions in Operations, Logistics, Intelligence, Communications and Medical. A Special Forces battalion usually consists of four companies: "A", "B", "C", and Headquarters/Support.[citation needed]

Company HQ Element – SF Operational Detachment-B (SFODB) composition

A Special Forces company commander meets with village elders and members of the 209th ANA Corps in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2007.

The ODB, or "B-Team", is the headquarters element of a Special Forces company, and it is usually composed of 11–13 soldiers. While the A-team typically conducts direct operations, the purpose of the B-Team is to support the company's A-Teams both in garrison and in the field. When deployed, in line with their support role, B-Teams are usually found in more secure rear areas. However, under some circumstances a B-Team will deploy into a hostile area, usually to coordinate the activities of multiple A-Teams.[citation needed]

The ODB is led by an 18A, usually a Major, who is the Company Commander (CO). The CO is assisted by his Company Executive Officer (XO), another 18A, usually a Captain. The XO is himself assisted by a Company Technician, a 180A, generally a Chief Warrant Officer Three, who assists in the direction of the organization, training, intelligence, counter-intelligence, and operations for the company and its detachments. The Company Commander is assisted by the Company Sergeant Major, an 18Z, usually a Sergeant Major. A second 18Z acts as the Operations Sergeant, usually a Master Sergeant, who assists the XO and Technician in their operational duties. He has an 18F Assistant Operations Sergeant, who is usually a Sergeant First Class. The company's support comes from an 18D Medical Sergeant, usually a Sergeant First Class, and two 18E Communications Sergeants, usually a Sergeant First Class and a Staff Sergeant.[citation needed]

Note the distinct lack of a weapons or engineer NCO. This is because the B-Team generally does not engage in direct operations, but rather operates in support of the A-Teams.[citation needed]

The following jobs are outside of the Special Forces 18-series Career Management Field (CMF), but hold positions on a Special Forces B-Team. Soldiers in these positions are not "Special Forces qualified", as they have not completed the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC or "Q Course):

  • The Supply NCO, usually a Staff Sergeant, the commander's principal logistical planner, works with the battalion S-4 to supply the company.
  • The Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) NCO, usually a Sergeant, maintains and operates the company's NBC detection and decontamination equipment, and assists in administering NBC defensive measures.[14]

Basic Element – SF Operational Detachment-A (SFODA) composition

A Special Forces company consists of usually six ODAs (Operational Detachments-A) or "A-Teams".[15][16] The number of ODAs can vary from company to company, with each ODA specializing in an infiltration skill or a particular mission-set (e.g. Military Freefall (HALO), combat diving, Air Assault, mountain warfare, maritime operations, or urban operations). An ODA is identified because of its group, company and the team itself. For example, ODA 111 would be the first team in the first Special Forces Company of the First Special Forces Group.

An ODA consists of 12 men, each of whom has a specific function (MOS or Military Occupational Specialty) on the team, however all members of an ODA conduct cross-training. The ODA is led by an 18A (Detachment Commander), usually a Captain, and a 180A (Assistant Detachment Commander) who is his second in command, usually a Warrant Officer One or Chief Warrant Officer Two. The team also includes the following enlisted men: one 18Z team sergeant (Operations Sergeant), usually a Master Sergeant, one 18F (Assistant Operations and Intelligence Sergeant), usually a Sergeant First Class, and two each, 18Bs (Weapons Sergeant), 18Cs (Engineer Sergeant), 18Ds (Medical Sergeant), and 18Es (Communications Sergeant), usually Sergeants First Class, Staff Sergeants or Sergeants. This organization facilitates 6-man "split team" operations, redundancy, and mentoring between a senior specialist NCO and his junior assistant.

Qualifications

The basic eligibility requirements to be considered for entry into the US Army Special Forces are:

  • Be a male, age 20–30.
  • Be a U.S. citizen.[17]
  • Have a high school diploma.
  • Score a General Technical score of 107 or higher and a combat operation score of 98 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
  • Qualify for a secret security clearance.
  • Qualify and volunteer for Airborne training.
  • Achieve a minimum of 60 points on each event and overall minimum score of 240 on the Army Physical Fitness Test.
  • Must successfully complete the Pre-Basic Task list.
  • Must have 20/20 or corrected to 20/20 in both near and distant vision in both eyes.
  • One year of college is preferred, but it is not a mandatory for enlistment.

Selection and training

Main article: United States Army Special Forces selection and training

The United States Army Special Forces soldier trains on a regular basis over the course of their entire career. The initial formal training program for entry into Special Forces is divided into four phases collectively known as the Special Forces Qualification Course or, informally, the "Q Course". The length of the Q Course changes depending on the applicant's primary job field within Special Forces and their assigned foreign language capability but will usually last between 55 to 95 weeks. After successfully completing the Special Forces Qualification Course, Special Forces soldiers are then eligible for many advanced skills courses. These include, but are not limited to, the Military Free Fall Parachutist Course (MFF), the Combat Diver Qualification Course and the Special Forces Sniper Course (SFSC).

Special Forces MOS descriptions

  • 18A – Special Forces Officer[18]
  • 180A – Special Forces Warrant Officer[19]
  • 18B – Special Forces Weapons Sergeant[20]
  • 18C – Special Forces Engineer Sergeant[21]
  • 18D – Special Forces Medical Sergeant[22]
  • 18E – Special Forces Communications Sergeant[23]
  • 18F – Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant
  • 18X – Special Forces Candidate (Active Duty Enlistment Option)[24]
  • 18Z – Special Forces Operations Sergeant

Uniforms and insignia

The Green Beret

Army Special Forces soldiers wearing their distinctive green berets

The origins of the Green Beret which Special Forces personnel wear can be traced to Scotland during the Second World War. U.S. Army Rangers and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operatives who underwent training from the British Commandos were awarded the Green Beret upon completion of the grueling and revolutionary commando course. However, this green beret was not authorized by the U.S. Army among the Rangers and OSS operatives who earned them. Edson Raff, one of the first Special Forces officers, is credited with the re-birth of the green beret.[25] In 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized them for use exclusively by the U.S. Special Forces. Preparing for an 12 October visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President sent word to the Center's commander, Brigadier General William P. Yarborough, for all Special Forces soldiers to wear green berets as part of the event. The President felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the green beret "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom."

"It was President Kennedy who was responsible for the rebuilding of the Special Forces and giving us back our Green Beret," said Forrest Lindley, a writer for the newspaper Stars and Stripes who served with Special Forces in Vietnam. "People were sneaking around wearing it when conventional forces weren't in the area and it was sort of a cat and mouse game," he recalled. "When Kennedy authorized the Green Beret as a mark of distinction, everybody had to scramble around to find berets that were really green. We were bringing them down from Canada. Some were handmade, with the dye coming out in the rain."

Special Forces have a special bond with Kennedy, going back to his funeral. At the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of JFK's death, Gen. Michael D. Healy, the last commander of Special Forces in Vietnam, spoke at Arlington Cemetery. Later, a wreath in the form of the Green Beret would be placed on the grave, continuing a tradition that began the day of his funeral when a sergeant in charge of a detail of Special Forces men guarding the grave placed his beret on the coffin.[26]

The wearers of the Green Beret caught the public's imagination and were the subject of a best selling, if semi-fictional, book The Green Berets by Robin Moore,[27] a hit record, "Ballad of the Green Berets" performed and jointly (with Moore) written by Barry Sadler, who was himself a Green Beret, The Green Berets produced, directed and starring, John Wayne where Wayne plays a role called Sven Kornie (name possibly taken from Lauri Allan Törni = Larry A. Thorne), and a comic strip and American comic book, Tales of the Green Beret, written by Robin Moore with artwork by Joe Kubert. See United States Army Special Forces in popular culture.

Insignia

Distinctive unit insignia of the 1st Special Forces Regiment

On a wreath of the colors (Argent and Sable), two arrows saltire-wise Argent - that is, two silver arrows crossed with a dagger, also silver, above them, surrounded by a black ribbon.

The crest is the crossed arrow collar (branch) insignia of the First Special Service Force (a joint World War II American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942), but was changed from gold to silver to create visual harmony with the shield, as well as to make a difference from the collar insignia.[citation needed]

A silver color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm), in height consisting of a pair of silver arrows in saltire, points up and surmounted at their junction by a silver dagger with black handle point up; all over and between a black motto scroll arcing to base and inscribed "DE OPPRESSO LIBER" in silver letters.[citation needed]

The motto is thought to translate from Latin to "Free From Oppression". However, the actual words are grammatically inaccurate, see De oppresso liber.

The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 8 July 1960. The insignia of the 1st Special Forces was authorized to be worn by personnel of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) and its subordinate units on 7 March 1991.[citation needed]

Cultural references

Main article: United States Army Special Forces in popular culture

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Army Special Forces Command (Airborne).

References

  1. ^ Stanton, Doug (24 June 2009). "The Quiet Professionals: The Untold Story of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan". Huffington Post.
  2. ^ "Most Popular E-mail Newsletter". USA Today. 9 November 2011.
  3. ^ Joint Chiefs of Staff (17 December 2003). "Joint Publication 3-05: Doctrine for Joint Special Operations" (PDF). Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  4. ^ Waller, Douglas C. (1994). "The Commandos: The Inside Story of America's Secret Soldiers" (Document). Dell Publishing.
  5. ^ "FM 3-05: Army Special Operations Forces" (Document). U.S. Department of the Army. September 2006. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "FM 3-05.102 Army Special Forces Intelligence" (PDF). 2001-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993). "Joint Publication 3-05.5: Special Operations Targeting and Mission Planning Procedures" (PDF). Retrieved 13 November 2007.
  8. ^ Waller, Douglas (3 February 2003). "The CIA Secret Army". TIME (Time Inc). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004145-3,00.html
  9. ^ SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam by John L. Plaster
  10. ^ Haney, Eric L. (2002). Inside Delta Force. New York: Delacorte Press
  11. ^ Efran, Shawn (producer), "Army Officer Recalls Hunt For Bin Laden", 60 Minutes, CBS News, 5 October 2008.
  12. ^ Paddock, Alfred H. Jr. "Major General Robert Alexis McClure: Forgotten Father of U.S. Army Special Warfare". Retrieved 9 December 2007.[unreliable source?]
  13. ^ "United States Army Special Forces Command".
  14. ^ "Structure". Fort Campbell. United States Army. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
  15. ^ USASOC. 'Special Forces – Shooters and thinkers'. WWW.ARMY.MIL The official homepage of the United States army (26 Oct 2009). Retrieved on 5 January 2010
  16. ^ Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (SFOD A)
  17. ^ "International military students again eligible to earn the Special Forces Tab". United States Special Operations Command News Service.
  18. ^ Special Forces Officer | GoArmy.com
  19. ^ U.S. Army Recruiting Command's Warrant Officer Recruiting Information Site
  20. ^ Special Forces Weapons Sergeant | GoArmy.com
  21. ^ Special Forces Engineer Sergeant | GoArmy.com
  22. ^ Special Forces Medical Sergeant | GoArmy.com
  23. ^ Special Forces Communications Sergeant | GoArmy.com
  24. ^ Special Forces Candidate | GoArmy.com
  25. ^ "History: Special Forces Green Beret". Special Forces Search Engine. Retrieved 8 March 2007.
  26. ^ Gamarekian, Barbara (22 November 1988). "Washington Talk: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963; Hundreds Are in Capital For 25th Remembrance". New York Times.
  27. ^ Moore, Robin (2002). The Green Berets. St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-312-98492-2.

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