1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)

1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) ; - USASFC -
	; ; Sleeve badges as association badges of the Green Berets including the jump qualification tape attached above
Lineup	June 19, 1952
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Armed Forces
Armed forces	Army ( United States Army )
Branch of service	Special task force
Type	United States Army Airborne Special Forces Command
Insinuation	United States Army Special Operations Command (ASOC)
Fort Bragg, North Carolina	Cumberland / Hoke / Moore / Harnett counties (near Fayetteville , NC )
motto	De oppresso liber
commander
Commander:	Lt. Gene. Kenneth E. Tovo

Badges of the Green Berets

The Arrows , the special forces badge worn on the lapel

The crossed arrows, the friendship symbol of the Indians, on the collar on a scout uniform from around 1890 and on a hat

The 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) ( USASFC ; German 1st (Airborne) Special Forces Command ; short Special Forces or USSF ) is the longest-serving special unit in the US Army . Their approximately 10,000 soldiers are also called Green Berets because of their green beret . These are exclusively combat troops who are supported for their missions by other units of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) "Special Forces of the Army of the United States". Until November 27, 1990, the unit was called the United States Army 1st Special Operations Command .

In the diction of the US armed forces , the term Special Forces traditionally stands exclusively for the USASFC (Green Berets) . The other special forces of the Army, for example the 75th Ranger Regiment or the 160th SOAR , as well as the special units of the other branches of the armed forces are subsumed under the term Special Operations Forces .

The main areas of activity of the Special Forces are military advice in other countries, asymmetrical warfare and long-range reconnaissance . This makes them the most diversely trained force within the US armed forces and enables them to be deployed in peacetime as well as in times of tension and in war.

The headquarters of the Special Forces is located in Fort Bragg , North Carolina . In the organization of the army, the special unit set up on June 19, 1952 represents a large unit at division level. Since June 17, 2008, Brigadier General Michael S. Repass has been in command of the unit .

Since they were set up, the Special Forces have been involved in all military conflicts and wars in the United States, with the exception of the deployment in Mogadishu in 1993 , and have provided military advice, infrastructural and humanitarian aid in over 70 nations worldwide.

history

Roots and Lineup

The Special Forces trace their tradition back to the American / Canadian 1st Special Service Force, established in 1942 , the so-called Devil's Brigade , a special unit for long-range reconnaissance and urban warfare , which was dissolved in the French town of Menton at the end of 1944 because, despite excellent operational success (assessment by the author Tom Clancy, see literature list), it had suffered a loss rate of 134% based on its original strength. Even today, this parentage is celebrated on December 5th as Menton Day in the Special Forces community .

The second line of tradition is drawn to Major General "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which carried out several successful secret service operations behind enemy lines in the European and Asian theater of war , and already then used techniques of asymmetrical warfare , who applied military and training advice to locals and targeted humanitarian aid to promote alliances. A reminiscence of the OSS can be found in the sleeve badge of the Special Forces , which shows the OSS dagger.

In 1947, the OSS was absorbed into the newly founded CIA , which as a civil authority in the Korean War was responsible for all special operations behind enemy lines. In view of the disastrous failures of the CIA-led covert operations in this war (assessment of the author John Gresham, see literature list), the United States Department of Defense realized that it needed both its own military special operations component and its operational control. The initiative to set up the Special Forces went from Brigadier General Robert A. McClure , head of the department of psychological warfare in the Ministry of Defense of the United States and OSS - veterans from. He succeeded in convincing the Joint Chiefs of Staff that these means of unconventional warfare, developed during World War II , would be suitable to bind enemy forces far behind the actual front line in the event of an attack by the Warsaw Pact in Europe. Even then, many of those in charge were aware that a war in Europe might not reach the atomic threshold .

In early 1952, Colonel Aaron Bank (1903-2004) was commissioned to set up the 10th Special Forces Group ( 10th Special Forces Group ), which initially comprised 2300 men including all support units. Fort Bragg was chosen as the location of the headquarters of the then still Psychological Special Center (Eng. " Psychological Special Center ") because all the necessary training facilities for parachute jump were available there in order to achieve the jumping ability required of every soldier in this troop. All applicants were volunteers and, because of the required language skills, were recruited from both Eastern European immigrants, who could be naturalized immediately under the Lodge Act , as well as experienced paratroopers and infantrymen. On June 19, 1952, the unit was officially put into service.

All applicants were aware that the orders could also include a possible deployment behind the front in civilian clothes, which, if captured, meant that they would not fall under the protection of the Hague Land Warfare Regulations and the Geneva Conventions and, as formal non-combatants and spies , would expect an execution had to.

The early years and construction

The United States government feared a military escalation when an uprising broke out in the GDR on June 17, 1953 , so that half of the 10th Special Forces Group ( 10th SFG ) moved to Bad Tölz , Bavaria . The half remaining in the United States became the 77th Special Forces Group ( 77th SFG , 77th Special Forces Group ). Europe and Africa were defined as the territorial area of responsibility of the 10th SFG , while the 77th SFG was responsible for Asia and relocated several detachments ("departments", stands for train ) there in order to deal with the People's Republic of China , which is increasingly perceived as threatening to be able to.

In 1956, the 14th Special Forces Operational Detachment ( SFOD ) of the 77th SFG became the first active unit in Vietnam, and on October 21 of the same year, Captain Harry Griffith Cramer Jr. (who had previously served in Korea) became the first official American Victims in this later theater of war.

In the same year, from these detachments stationed in Asia, the 1st Special Forces Group ( 1st SFG , 1st Special Forces Group ) was set up with headquarters in Okinawa . As early as the mid-1950s, the troops operating in the East Asian region were instruments of the US containment policy against communism by stabilizing friendly governments through military advice and training for local security forces. Already at this time the problem of the tension between moral demands on the one hand and actual politics on the other became manifest. For example, the United States supported by the Special Forces , the South Vietnamese regime, which in no way a democracy corresponded to Western understanding.

John F. Kennedy and the Special Forces

Conflict between conventional military and special forces

Contrary to the opinion of the United Chiefs of Staff , after reading the writings of Che Guevara , Mao Zedong and the book People's War, People's Army by Vietnamese General Võ Nguyên Giáp, John F. Kennedy became convinced that a secret, covert and ideologically motivated guerrilla war was waging itself could develop into a serious threat to American interests. He was supported in this assessment by the OSS veteran Roger Hilsman, then head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research , the intelligence service of the Foreign Ministry , who made him aware of this new potential threat.

After the Cuban and Berlin crises at the latest, however , the impression grew that the battle, previously conducted by large conventional military units, was no longer the only suitable means of protecting US interests in the Cold War era . The fact that the number of proxy wars increased significantly in the 1960s also contributed to this perception .

Kennedy felt that a new special military unit was needed, adapted to future forms of armed conflict and planned political influence through training of local forces and humanitarian aid.

At the time, the Ministry of Defense was certain that the war led by Hồ Chí Minh in Southeast Asia was nothing special from a military point of view and that, in the event of a necessary direct intervention, it would be an order that could be resolved with existing means. The Ministry of Defense did not establish a direct connection between the political clashes in South Vietnam and the actions of the communist military in North Vietnam .

That is why there was no need for action to expand and upgrade existing elite associations or to reorganize them. On the contrary, the US President's initiative and the associated concept of elite military organizations were viewed with suspicion, since the US military had fought previous wars with massive manpower and superior firepower . The majority of the generals saw the microcosm of the special forces as the antithesis of the traditional, rather large-scale military concept with negative effects on the morale of conventional units and with budget cuts for the rest of the military. In addition, large circles of the military leadership had no ideas about the operational concept and potential of the special forces. Nevertheless, the President prevailed in his function as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and in the 1960s ordered a massive increase in Special Forces , the establishment of the Special Warfare Center, and in 1962 the establishment of Navy Seals .

At the latest during the Vietnam War, the Ministry of Defense also came to the conclusion that massive firepower and total air superiority were neither militarily nor politically suitable for overcoming the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong , especially considering the widespread jungle terrain in Vietnam, which favored the local and therefore well-versed opponents . In the meantime, the Special Forces advanced to the most decorated troop unit of all participating units on the Vietnamese theater of war .

Of far greater importance, however, was the realization that the concept of military and training advice, the setting up and leading of local associations, for example the mountain tribe of the " Nung ", as well as humanitarian and technical support led to the fact that the military opponent sought support from the civilian population lost. The special forces were probably the only unit of the US armed forces that managed to convince the locals that the retreat and the logistical base of the Viet Cong were limited.

JF Kennedy on October 12, 1961 while visiting the Special Forces at Fort Bragg with MG William P. Yarborough

The green beret

The term Green Berets comes from the originally unofficial headgear of the Special Forces , which members of the unit chose from the end of the 1950s as a reminder of the OSS veterans' beret, often worn in green, in World War II. As part of the massive increase in Special Forces and the increased appreciation of the US government for special forces, a decree by US President John F. Kennedy officially allowed the troops to wear the green beret in the early 1960s.

In 1983, in memory of John F. Kennedy, the Institute for Military Assistance received the Special Forces training academy , and as part of a reorganization it was renamed the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (Eng. "John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare ”).

Massive increase

In 1960, the understaffed 77th SFG remaining in the USA was replenished to its target strength of 1,382 soldiers, renamed the 7th SFG and entrusted with Latin America as the military area of responsibility. On September 21, 1961, was 5th SFG placed (5th Special Forces Group), but with formal gesamtasiatischem responsibility with Vietnam as a priority and in South Vietnam dislocated . In 1963, in view of the escalating Vietnam War, three more Special Forces Groups , the 3rd , 6th and 8th , were set up and relocated to South Vietnam.

Vietnam War

For the Special Forces , the Vietnam conflict began in 1957. This consultation and training phase ended in 1964 with the Tonkin incident , when the US Navy destroyer USS Maddox was allegedly attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin . The US government immediately moved divisions of the army and marine infantry to South Vietnam so that both parties were now openly fighting the war. The 5th SFG set up its headquarters in Nha Trang and, in addition to its previous tasks, was assigned the task of clearing up the conventional associations.

In the border area between Laos and Cambodia , a chain of field bases was set up, which served as a base for the so-called “trip wire patrols” with the aim of preventing the Viet Cong from infiltrating South Vietnam.

The politically difficult operations, especially in the neighboring countries of Vietnam, where officially no US soldier was allowed to operate, were under the leadership of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) (Eng. "Military Support Command, Vietnam - Study and Observation Group ”), a special task force for asymmetrical warfare that carried out top-secret operations throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War .

Operation White Star

In the run-up to the Vietnam War , members of the Special Forces were deployed in Laos from 1959 . Their job was to recruit and train soldiers for the army of the newly established state. At the beginning of the mission, the trainers initially appeared as civilians. From 1961, when the US began to openly support the Laotian government with military aid, the instructors wore uniform. The number of forces rose from around 100 to 440 between 1959 and 1962. When Laos declared itself a neutral state in mid-1962 , Operation White Star was officially ended.

The battle of Nam Dong

On the night of July 6, 1964, there was an attack by two Vietcong - battalions to one of these camps in the central highlands near the village of Nam Dong. In a skirmish that lasted all night , the defenders, consisting of the ODA-726 (726th A-Team), South Vietnamese forces and Australian soldiers , managed to hold the base against the outnumbered enemy. The United States Congress subsequently awarded the unit commander, Captain Roger Donlon , the Medal of Honor , the first of the Vietnam War.

Operation Kingpin

Sơn Tây prison camp

In early 1970 a reconnaissance plane discovered a new prisoner of war camp near Sơn Tây, west of Hanoi . It was the Sơn Tây camp , which served as a reception or sub-camp for the notorious Hanoi Hilton . The evaluation of the reconnaissance photos showed that around 50 American soldiers were detained at this location. Then Colonel Arthur Simons was commissioned with a rescue operation. The team consisted of 100 Army Special Forces - veterans , all have several years of Southeast Asia experience possessed. A 1: 1 scale model that could be dismantled was erected at Eglin Air Force Base ( Florida ), which was dismantled and hidden in a hangar during the overflight phases of Soviet spy satellites . For several months all conceivable aspects of such an operation were trained there. Captain Dick Meadows developed a surprise tactic especially for this mission, which was supposed to simulate a helicopter crash right into the center of the camp complex. At the same time, the attack was to be flanked with diversionary air strikes on Hanoi.

Finally, President Richard Nixon personally approved the operation, which began November 21, 1970 and was called Operation Kingpin . At first, the attack went according to plan. All American soldiers reached the planned site unharmed, whose 50-100 North Vietnamese guards were killed or driven to flight in the course of the attack. Over time, however, the unit discovered that all of the prisoners had recently been transferred. Although only one F 105 G Wild Weasel aircraft was shot down and the entire team returned, the American public rated the operation as a failure.

Green berets on board a helicopter in action in Sơn Tây

The American prisoners of war still benefited from this mission because the North Vietnamese leadership was now anxious to concentrate the bulk of American prisoners of war in the Hỏa Lò prison in Hanoi. Despite the immense overcrowding of the cells, the prisoners enjoyed the psychological advantage of no longer being held in solitary confinement . Another immediate success of the operation, according to authors Tom Clancy and John Gresham, was a North Vietnamese reassessment of the prisoner situation. The regime felt compelled to limit the mistreatment of prisoners of war because it had to constantly reckon with possible successful liberation operations. The public presentation of emaciated and injured former prisoners of war could have been exploited for propaganda purposes by the US government. However, the North Vietnamese government increasingly viewed the prisoners of war as bargaining chips for peace talks and used them accordingly.

Outsider role and criticism

The Vietnam conflict was divided into three parallel campaigns: the conventionally waged great ground war in South Vietnam, the air war in the entire Southeast Asian region and the sum of all covert operations .

The massive increase in the number of special forces in such a comparatively short period of time led to a decline in quality standards in recruiting and training. This gradually blurred the differences that set the Special Forces apart from conventional units. Some units no longer moved appropriately in the tension between the freedoms necessary for the fulfillment of orders on the one hand and a minimum of military order and discipline on the other. The complaints about incidents in which members of the special forces made fun of other units and provoked them with their external appearance, which, contrary to all conventions, also included beards, headscarves and only rudimentary uniform parts. This nourished the resentment already present among several generals and increased the envy and resentment even among middle ranks.

Post-Vietnam and Spartan Program

After the end of the Vietnam War and the associated collective trauma in American politics and society, there was extensive demobilization of the US armed forces, which also affected the special forces. The 1st , 2nd , 6th and 8th SFG were dissolved and the remaining 5th and 7th SFG were also up for debate. Only the 10th SFG in Europe remained largely unaffected because the conditions of the Cold War in Central Europe had not changed. To avoid the risk of losing the last SFGs , the Army developed a program to support state infrastructure measures , the Special Proficiency At Rugged Training And Nation Building ( SPARTAN ; German: "Special Ability in Robust Instruction and Development of a Nation State ") . Although military circles were sometimes reluctant to use specialists with years of combat experience for road and housing construction work (comparable to the United States Civil Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the 1930s), this program made a significant contribution to the Special Forces during the tenure To save Jimmy Carters from dissolution.

The Reagan era and the creation of the Army Special Operations Command (ARSOC)

In 1981, the election of Ronald Reagan as president marked a decisive turning point in US military and security policy. Reagan increased the military budget many times over in order to strengthen the military presence of the United States worldwide and to decide the arms race with the Soviet Union for the United States.

The 1st Special Operations Command (Airborne) was established on October 1, 1983, and the 1st SFG was reactivated in the summer of 1984 .

In 1977 the Delta Force was set up, a special unit of the army, whose operational profile was geared towards the fight against terrorism (counter-terrorism) . Nevertheless, it also expanded the mission profile and the training of the Special Forces accordingly. The aim of this measure was to put the fight against terrorism on a broader basis and to pass it on within the framework of the original competence of the Special Forces , namely the training of foreign forces close to their own interests. This happened above all in the context of so-called Foreign Internal Defense missions (German: "Foreign aid to strengthen internal security and defense"), ie operations to strengthen and support allied countries.

During these years the government intensified its activities in the Latin American area in order to implement the Reagan policy of combating “communist” guerrilla organizations with the full range of possibilities. This resulted in both training and military aid, including direct action . Above all, the United States claimed El Salvador as the central platform for the fight against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua , supported the Contras , and went into a shadow war against all guerrilla activities supported by Cuba . The troops were often used to support dictatorial regimes such as the Pinochet regime in Chile .

The embattled Point Salines Airport in Grenada

In 1983 the special forces took part in the attack on Grenada , which was militarily successful, but revealed glaring coordination problems and competition between the special operations forces involved ( Navy SEALs , Army Ranger and Special Forces ) and, in the eyes of the conventional military, only revealed reservations about special forces further strengthened. In the 1980s, A-Teams first supported the fight against drugs in drug-growing areas such as Colombia through education and training of the police and the military.

On December 1, 1989, the United States Army Special Operations Command ("Army High Command for Special Operations ") was established. This now united all special operations units of the army under one roof, bundled and standardized their training and equipment and also optimized and streamlined the chain of command. At the same time, these measures also enhanced the role and importance of the Special Operations Forces within the Army simply by the existence of a major command of their own . The formation of the 160th Special Operations Army Aviation Regiment created its own Army air component, which was specially tailored to the needs of the special operations units, and thus also to the Special Forces .

Foundation of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM)

The Goldwater-Nichols Act and its Annex, the Nunn-Cohen amendment , presented the special forces to its own financial base and separated them by their summary in the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) (dt. "US high command of Special Operations") of their maternal forces . As a result, they no longer had to compete with their armed forces for budgets and henceforth could no longer be treated financially “neglected”. As a result of these measures, a de facto sub-armed force was created in which all special operations forces of the US military are combined.

In 1989, the United States attacked Panama to ( Operation Just Cause ) to the Noriega regime discontinued. General Maxwell Thurman, the commander-in-chief of SOUTHCOM (German "Oberkommando Süd") used the 7th SFG for various reconnaissance, raid and sabotage missions, along with other Special Operations Forces provided by SOCOM . In this first joint operation since the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the cooperation worked without complaints and the 7th SFG fulfilled all orders.

After the Cold War until today

During the Desert Shield 1990 and Desert Storm 1991 operations, which ended with the recapture of Kuwait , the 3rd SFG and the 5th SFG were completely subordinated to the responsible Central Command (CENTCOM).

Soldiers pay their last respects to fallen comrades at Ramstein Air Base

Soldier of the 10th SOG training soldiers of the Malian military

Its commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. , did not want to use the special forces because of his negative experiences with them in the Vietnam War. The strategically obstructive competitive behavior of the Special Forces and the other special units on Grenada had additionally reinforced this perception at Schwarzkopf. He feared not to be able to adequately control once they part of a long-distance reconnaissance mission (Deep Reconnaissance Mission) would operate far behind enemy lines. Therefore, he did not want to risk that such a mission might escalate and force him to attack prematurely before the month-long troop deployment and deployment was completed.

Because of this motivation, Schwarzkopf initially only used the Special Forces as interpreters and liaison officers due to their language skills. When the fighting began, however, several A-teams were successfully used as reconnaissance aircraft deep behind enemy lines. Ultimately, the course of events reversed to a large extent Schwarzkopf's reservations. In this second major joint operation since the founding of SOCOM (High Command for Special Operations), the special forces were able to demonstrate their effectiveness within their “special military niche” to convince those responsible.

After almost 40 years, hardly any other military person in the US armed forces doubted the military benefits or the existence of the special forces. The special cultural familiarity with the regions assigned to her, her profound language skills, coupled with the tried and tested command skills, were now seen as a guarantee for her indispensable role in the regional commanders' operational planning .

Since then, were the special forces, except for the military intervention in Mogadishu ( Somalia ), any military conflict the United States participated. In 1994 they were also used in the context of the occupation of Haiti ( Operation Uphold Democracy ) under the leadership of Lieutenant General Henry H. Shelton , who later became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the 1999 Kosovo War, which the United States officially waged without ground troops, they were active as reconnaissance aircraft, forward air controllers and target markers for the Air Force , but also together with the Delta Force in covert operations to arrest Serbian war criminals .

In 2003 the force took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom .

In 2006, parts of the 10th SFG were in action in Mali and Mauritania as part of Operation Enduring Freedom , where they trained the local military in the fight against terrorism and carried out a so-called Joint Combined Exchange Training with them . In the same year the 1st and 3rd Battalion were together with the 352nd Special Operations Group of the US Air Force in Senegal with the same mission.

The 5th SFG is currently deployed with several units in Iraq and Afghanistan to maintain peace and fight the Taliban (Operation Enduring Freedom).

assignment

Job definition

The official order definition is as follows:

"To plan and support special operations in any operational environment in peace, conflict, and war as directed by the National Command Authorities."

"(Freely translated :) The mission is to plan and support special operations in any operational environment in peace, conflict and war in accordance with the orders of the National Command Authority ."

aims

Traditional orientation

The unit was originally set up to operate independently and in small groups for months deep in enemy territory. There it was supposed to wage a guerrilla war , if possible by involving local forces, which concentrated on binding strong enemy forces, disrupting supply and communication channels and attracting, training and leading local resistance groups. The British name for this type of mission is Revolutionary Warfare and is carried out by the Special Air Service . At the same time, the army wanted to be able to combat similar hostile activities effectively, which is not adequately possible with conventional military because of the special conditions of asymmetrical confrontation. The special experiences in World War II, in which the OSS had successfully carried out such operations in many cases, provided the conceptual basis for special forces in the Army .

Refined orientation

Due to the experiences in the Vietnam War, the army command developed the range of operations of the unit. Today it forms the basis for American military and security advice worldwide, which means that the role of this force goes far beyond that of a normal military unit. It forms the de facto military arm of the State Department in the execution of numerous mission profiles in peacetime and in some crisis interventions and is an effective instrument for the implementation of the foreign policy directives of the United States.

The government of the United States provides assistance and support in all kinds of security issues, but also in infrastructure. The Special Forces offer her the opportunity to be discreetly militarily active in host countries without being recognized or with little media attention.

Special features of military advice and switching skills between Pentagon and State Department

Its role as a military advisory component gives the troops the ability to be actively deployed in peacetime as well, unlike normal military, which only projects strength through presence in peacetime, but is not deployed. In this function, the Special Forces usually work under the aegis of the State Department. These missions are coordinated in advance between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In crisis situations, responsibility usually shifts to the Ministry of Defense; in war it rests entirely with the Ministry of Defense.

Compared to other special forces of the US armed forces, the Special Forces are considered to be the most versatile trained force in the US military. This is due to the fact that the deployment profiles of those units are purely military in nature, but do not include the extensive field of military and security advice, which requires much more extensive training and special cultural and linguistic training.

Mission profiles

The range of operations of the Special Forces has adapted and expanded to meet new requirements since they were set up during the Cold War and the Deputy Wars . No other entity in the United States can conduct such a wide range of possible mission profiles. A distinction between "major tasks" (Main Activities) and "side quests" (Collateral Activities) that are made in addition to the actual deployment target. Since Operation Desert Storm, coalition support has also been formally added, but this area is essentially a cross-section of the other two.

“Strengthening internal security” and stabilizing other states (Foreign Internal Defense, FID) is now the most important and most frequent mandate to strengthen their governability . This is done by training, organizing and advising local security forces, such as the military , intelligence services and police , in order to better arm them against riots, resistance groups and organized crime. The aim is also to be able to independently pass on the knowledge acquired after the Special Forces have been deducted . This task can be carried out before an impending military conflict, during and after it, during reconstruction.

the unconventional warfare (Unconventional Warfare, UW) is the classic order of the Special Forces in the hidden local resistance groups , local ethnic groups or militias in guerrilla warfare designed to be supported and equipped. These operations are carried out in accordance with the United States' executive branch and are mostly long-term in time.

in addition, long-range reconnaissance (Special Reconnaissance, SR) deep in enemy-controlled areas,

as well as the classic command operation with coup d'état or ambush as (direct action, DA) can be carried out by the unit. This is a military raid to either free and repatriate prisoners or to capture, loot or destroy enemy facilities and equipment behind the lines.

“ Special Activity ” (SA) are politically most explosive missions. It is either the targeted killing or kidnapping of an individual such as a dictator or a war criminal, or covert reconnaissance in a hostile country. These operations must be authorized directly by the President and are carried out unofficially . This means that the soldiers involved are officially denied if they are captured, as is the entire operation. The mission, target and unit involved also remain secret internally.

Search and Rescue in combat (Combat Search and Rescue, CSAR) are to rescue behind enemy lines scattered piece or downed military personnel bets before it comes into captivity.

Fight against terrorism (Counterterrorism, CT) are since the 1980s inserts of the Special Forces , with the mission of combating terrorist forces in a country of use. However, this is primarily carried out passively, and foreign security forces are trained in the fight against terrorism and are less actively used by the troops in action, since the Delta Force is responsible for this .

"Information warfare" (Information Operations, IO) is another mission in which the enemy's intelligence and communication networks, such as computer and telecommunications equipment, are deliberately disturbed, interrupted or manipulated.

The fight against drugs (Counter Drug Operations, CD) has only been carried out by the Special Forces since 1982 , is essentially a mixture between the FID and DA mission profile, but is mainly directed against non-state actors. It mostly aims at a complex, the interruption of the drug export from the country of manufacture, the destruction of the infrastructure of the drug cartels and drug production as well as the training and support of the local security organs dealing with this task.

Psychological warfare (Psychological Operations, PSYOPS) is a catalog of measures tailored to the target country, which is intended to positively influence the attitudes of combatants , non-combatants and the population of a host country towards the USA. The news situation, public life and general information situation are actively influenced by the influence on local and by one's own mass media, including propaganda , manipulation and coercion.

Civil Affairs (CA) assignments seek to influence attitudes among the civilian population. This is done through a mixture of infrastructural measures, humanitarian aid, advertising and public relations. CA missions are mostly carried out in countries in which their own or allied military operates in order to stabilize the security situation and counter enemy guerrilla activities, such as currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Combating and curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (counterproliferation, CP) . This mission profile includes both operational measures against states or criminal groups that illegally manufacture, distribute or trade in nuclear weapons, as well as the investigation of such activities, as well as the armed escort of diplomats and scientists in their capacity as a verification body for the enforcement of weapons control and compliance of import and export regulations within the framework of corresponding international agreements.
Peacekeeping and -sichernde inserts (Peace Operations) serve to enforce and maintain contractual peace conditions and limits between former enemy combatant, for example at UN -Mandaten.
Part of Peace Operations is mostly humanitarian demining (Humanitarian Demining Operations, HD) combined. Mine clearance is carried out directly and local personnel are trained in it. HD is a typical collateral activity as it is rarely carried out independently without a corresponding main assignment.
Humanitarian Assistance (HA) is a supporting mandate in which the Special Forces help to remedy the consequences of natural disasters, famine or refugee crises.
" Security Assistance " (SA) comprises the training of personnel in the host country in the operation and use of American equipment, and usually takes place in cooperation with the US State Department.

Due to their special language skills and cultural knowledge of the operational region, soldiers of the force are often deployed as liaison officers and as language educators and mediators between their own and allied forces.

Legal issues

Legal basis

The legal basis for the operation and powers of this special unit are the same as for the entire military, as laid down in the United States Constitution . According to Article II, Section 2, Section I, Clause 1 of the Constitution, the President is "Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army and Navy and the state militia when called to serve the United States [sic!]". According to Article I, Section 8, Clause 111, only the Parliament has the “right to declare war ” [to other nations ] . It must approve a war with a two-thirds majority of both chambers. Especially after the Korean War, presidents began to declare armed forces deployed as police operations, which undermined the legislature's unconditional authority to declare war. Therefore, in 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution by overriding the veto of then President Nixon . It stipulated that the President must inform Congress within 48 hours of the commencement of any acts of war. The mission must end after 60 days before the President must request an extension for a further 30 days. Congress can grant this in urgent exceptional cases before it has to proceed to a formal declaration of war.

Controversies and Exceptions

In principle, all operations are subject to the aforementioned provisions, but the National Security Act allows the executive and thus the President, as commander in chief of the armed forces, in cases of threat or endangerment, to disregard them in exceptional cases based on a presidential order (presidential directive) and possibly also to order or approve “ targeted killing ” or torture if it is in the interests of national security. These are individual decisions.

Valuation according to international law

A discussion or evaluation of the operations of the Special Forces with regard to the legality according to international norms such as international law or martial law is problematic , as is the case with secret services and special units of other countries (British Special Air Service or German KSK ). This applies in particular to preventive missions outside the scope of US law, but also to questionable interrogation methods, up to and including suspicion of the use of torture.

The United Nations General Assembly

Having covert operations carried out by the military is legally problematic, among other things, because the military is subject to different laws than intelligence services. The CIA is required to report to Congress on its covert activities. Shifting these actions to the military area of competence of the National Security Council and thus to a less controlled part of the executive would strengthen the president and would make it more difficult for parliament to control covert operations or even remove it.

Military units that operate covertly in the border area with intelligence services or like them and operate jointly with them, such as the Special Forces or the Delta Force , are an instrument for enforcing the political interests of the United States. National security legislation allows for a number of exceptions that are otherwise illegal under American law. Some deployments in Central America must with some likelihood be assessed as the courts subsequently found in the case of the Iran-Contra affair . In the mid-1980s, the United States was even sentenced by the International Court of Justice in The Hague to pay 2.4 billion US dollars for its military and paramilitary actions in and against Nicaragua ( Contra War ) . The US did not pay and contested the jurisdiction of the court despite sending judges to the court. A UN General Assembly resolution calling on the USA to follow the judgment also had no consequences .

organization

Structure Army Special Forces Command - April 2020 ( Military Symbols )

Commander Brigadier General Michael S. Repass

Together with the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) , the Army Special Forces form the operational component of the US Army Special Operations Command (ARSOC). The ARSOC in turn forms together with units from other branches of the armed forces - the Naval Special Warfare Command (Eng. "Marine High Command for Special Warfare"), the Air Force Special Operations Command (German " Air Force High Command for Special Operations "), the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (German "Marine Infantry Command for Special Operations ") and the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) (German "Verbund High Command for Special Operations ") - under the command of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) (German "High Command for Special Operations ") the special Operations forces (special Operations forces) of the US military .

The Army Special Forces Command is roughly equivalent in size to a complete division and thus forms the largest unit of the Army's special forces and the largest closed single association of all special forces in the US armed forces with around 10,000 personnel. Due to their special tasks, however , the Green Berets are only partially organized like a classic military unit. Smaller or larger forces are permanently stationed or deployed worldwide.

The Army Special Forces Command comprises seven special forces groups, two of which belong to the National Guard and, in simplified terms, are reserve units, the other five are part of the standing army. In addition, there are four chemical warfare platoons ( Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment (CRD) ), which are organizationally independent and directly subordinate to the Special Forces Command (two regular and two national guards). The CRDs are the only component within the Army Special Operations Command with the ability to detect, identify and repel chemical warfare agents .

structure

A member of the Special Forces training Philippine armed forces

Sergeant of the 19th SFG on the M-60 MG of an HMMWV in Afghanistan

The structure of the manpower and the designation of the individual units differs considerably from that of the conventional military and is structured as follows:

group

Each group (group) has a strength of about 2000 soldiers and corresponds roughly to a conventional infantry regiment . It consists of four battalions (383 soldiers), a group support battalion (Group Support Battalion) and a reinforced headquarters company (Headquarters and Headquarters Command) with a strength of 89 soldiers.

battalion

A battalion with a nominal strength of 383 men consists of three companies (of 83 soldiers), a support company, a command group (14 soldiers) and a staff platoon with 37 soldiers. At battalion level, the companies (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) were made up of specialists for all operational focuses. In each battalion there is one platoon with UWO specialists ( underwater operations , combat swimmers) and one with military freefall specialists.

company

A company consists of six Operational Detachments Alpha ( ODA (dt. About) operational division type alpha , is meant a train ), each with twelve men and ODB (Operational Detachment Beta, Stabszug) with eleven men.

train

An ODA or A-Team is the smallest tactical unit of the Special Forces , corresponds to the platoon level in conventional Army units and consists of twelve men. There are two specialists for each military core competence.

Leadership: Consists of the captain [18A] (the codes in square brackets denote the military occupational specialty ) and his deputy ( warrant officer ) [180A].

Planning and reconnaissance: At least one master sergeant [18Z] and one lower ranked sergeant [18F].

Weapons : Two NCOs [18B]

Pioneering : Two NCOs [18C]

Medical services : two medical specialists [18D]

Telecommunications : Two telecommunications NCOs [18E]

All members are familiar with the languages of their area of operation and are able to perform several technical-military tasks in the team. They operate covertly, guided by the staff of an army group, and are able to be deployed up to a depth of 800 km without supply. They can be deployed on land, on water and by air.

The team can be divided into two subgroups. Your task is to recruit people in enemy territory, to form partisan units and to deploy them against smaller enemy units and objects. The chief of staff of the partisan formation is chosen from among the locals. In parallel to their direct tasks, the teams train allied units up to battalion size at every opportunity during their missions. One A-team per company has an additional SCUBA combat diver training and another has special parachute training for jumps from great heights with an extremely low screen opening height HALO (high altitude low opening) .

The special forces groups

There are currently five active groups and two of the National Guard. Each active group primarily supports a regional high command and its subordinate component command for special operations :

The headquarters of the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) are located in Fort Lewis , Washington . It was set up on June 24, 1957, reorganized on October 30, 1960, deactivated on June 23, 1974 and reactivated on March 15, 1984.
- The 1st Battalion is on the Torii Station, Okinawa ( Japan ), stationed. Its main tasks consist of joint exercises with allied armed forces and the provision of preparedness forces for rapid crisis response in their area of responsibility in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.
- The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions were stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, in 1984. Otherwise it is only known that the 3rd Battalion completed several missions in Thailand .
The headquarters of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located in Fort Bragg , North Carolina . It was set up on December 5, 1963, dissolved on December 1, 1969 and reactivated in 1990. Its main area of operation is the African continent, with the exception of the countries in the Horn of Africa Sudan , Egypt , Ethiopia , Somalia , Djibouti and Kenya , which are part of the 5th Special Forces Group's area of responsibility. There, its members train together with allied European soldiers and - since 1997 - also with African soldiers in order to set up a force that can carry out peace and humanitarian missions within a short time.
The headquarters of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located in Fort Campbell , Kentucky . It was set up in 1961 and has been active ever since. She was deployed in Vietnam , later in her newly defined area of responsibility, the Middle East , Central Asia (the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan , Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan ) and the countries on the Horn of Africa. The 5th Special Forces Group has also served in Somalia , Pakistan and Bosnia .
The headquarters of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located on Eglin Air Force Base , Florida. It was set up in 1953 as the 77th Special Forces , was the first US military unit in the Vietnam area (since 1956) and was converted into its current form in 1960. After deployments in Vietnam, the group was primarily active in its newly defined area of responsibility in South America , including in Panama , El Salvador , Honduras and various other countries in the fight against drug trafficking. One company (C Company, 3rd Battalion) is permanently stationed in an advanced position in Naval Station Roosevelt Roads (German "Naval Base Roosevelt Roads") on Puerto Rico .
The headquarters of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located in Fort Carson , Colorado . It was set up on June 19, 1952 and is the longest serving Special Forces Group . Your area of responsibility includes Europe including Russia , the territory of the former Soviet republics (except Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan), Turkey , Lebanon and Israel . The 1st Battalion is now stationed in Böblingen (Germany) in the "Panzerkaserne" after it had given up its traditional location in Bad Tölz , which it had held since 1953, in July 1991. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions are stationed at Fort Carson.

Members of the 19th SFG during a CSAR exercise in Camp Williams, Utah , 2007

The headquarters of the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located in Camp Williams, Utah . She belongs to the National Guard. The area of responsibility is broad and includes Africa, the Middle East and Asia .
The headquarters of the 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is located in Birmingham , Alabama . She also belongs to the National Guard. The area of responsibility and the focus of operations are South America and the Caribbean .

Chemical weapons reconnaissance units

56th Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment , based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

801st Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment , based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

445th Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment (AR) of the Army Reserve , stationed at Fort George G. Meade , Maryland .

Army Reserve's 900th Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment (AR) , based in Fort Carson, Colorado.

Recruitment and training

recruitment

In principle, the staff consists only of volunteers. The 1st Special Forces Training Group - Airborne (1st SFTG [A] ), a division of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare, is responsible for the selection of potential candidates and their subsequent training Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) , the Army's central training facility for non-conventional warfare.

Since 2016, gender has no longer played a role when applying for a career in the Army Special Forces. The career is known as the Military Occupational Specialty - MOS Series 18.

Every year , around 400 soldiers are selected from several thousand applicants who come from the large personnel reserves of the Army, Reserve or National Guard , who meet the very high requirement profile. After completing the recruitment, selection and qualification phase, only 3 to 5% of applicants are ultimately accepted. When making the selection, rank , experience, military background, physical characteristics, mandatory parachutist qualification and foreign language skills , but also ethnic origin play a decisive role.

Special Forces soldier with M4 at the ready

Traditionally, applicants with an infantry background are mostly considered, mostly after they have already qualified with other units, such as the 82nd US Airborne Division or the Army Rangers .

In recent years, the army's pool of personnel has steadily decreased due to troop reductions, while the target strength of the active special forces remained constant. This had two consequences: On the one hand, the recruiters of the Special Forces were forced to recruit from more and more branches of the army. On the other hand, existing association members were obliged to a greater extent (on a voluntary basis) to work longer. Both have had the positive effect that there has now been an increased level of task competence and depth of experience. In 2018, the first female soldier successfully completed the Special Forces Assessment and Selection course and was admitted to the Special Forces Qualification Course.

Extreme physical resilience is required of the recruit, but greater degree of mental flexibility, intelligence and prudence.

Contrary to many representations in popular culture such as the film tetralogy Rambo , whose fictional main character was a member of the Special Forces , aggressive and physically oriented soldiers are less in demand than level-headed and professional specialists.

Every recruit is required to learn at least one foreign language from the future deployment region intended for him. Depending on the degree of difficulty, the language training alone can take up to a year (e.g. Arabic or Chinese). The Army Special Forces recruits as many of the qualified soldiers as possible from ethnic minorities of the United States, as they can better serve the mission of the association because of their external appearance and their cultural skills. This makes it easier for Hispanics in Latin America to impersonate native civilians.

Selection (Assessment and Selection Course)

SF soldiers before a jump mission (exercise)

Since the training of an operational soldier costs more than 100,000 dollars, the Army is very interested in identifying unsuitable applicants as early as possible and weeding them out. Another reason is the recruit's personal situation. Most of the time his application is received negatively in his old unit because superiors are reluctant to lose particularly qualified soldiers and comrades sometimes regard them as traitors or are jealous. The sooner an applicant can return to his old unit in the event of unsuitability, the lower the “floor damage” for the failed person. Often, those who have been rejected also quit the service for the reasons mentioned if they successfully pass the selection process but fail in the subsequent qualification phase.

The Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course , the actual selection process, is carried out by the 7th Company of the 1st Battalion of the 1st SFTG (training group) at the Colonel Nick Rowe Special Forces Training Facility ( German "Colonel Nick Rowe Special Forces Training Facility") in Camp Mackall , North Carolina, west of Fort Bragg, and lasts 24 days.

During this most extreme phase of selection, in which the failure rate is up to 60%, the aspirants are systematically brought to physical exhaustion with limited food and sleep deprivation at the same time. In addition to the physical component, the aim of this torture is to filter out those who, under extreme stress, reveal the inner will to survive in seemingly hopeless situations and not to give up. At the same time, the ability to work in a team is tested in so-called situation and reaction exercises with only jointly solvable tasks.

This mental stability and mental agility, even with the greatest stress and physical exhaustion, is the core qualification that is sought.

For this purpose, the aspirant goes through a program of obstacle courses, runs, forced marches with full equipment (approx. 25 kg) and orientation and terrain exercises. Those who pass this course will receive an invitation to the qualification process, the actual training.

The survival exercise is also part of the basic training . This takes place in the Uwharrie National Forest in the Uwharrie Mountains , part of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina . “With her, the course participants are left to their own devices and hunted down mercilessly. They are only equipped with a knife and have to fight their way through without food or equipment, with the pursuers behind their necks. This exercise is the hardest part of the training, and those who successfully complete it usually have no more difficulty in passing the rest of the training. "

Qualification (Special Forces Qualification Course)

After the SFAS course has proven the possible physical, mental and character suitability of the aspirant, the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) begins the actual qualification and training of the soldier, in which he all skills and experience are imparted that he later brings to his team. Although only a few fail here, this is the final filter. Only after successful completion does the applicant receive "his" green beret. This advanced course is divided into three phases:

Phase 1

In phase one, the basics of infantry combat management are once again deepened to ensure that all aspirants, including those from other branches of service, have the same skills. This 39-day course is the last chance to weed out unsuitable applicants before starting the comparatively very expensive specialization in phase two.

Phase 2

In phase 2, the group of applicants is reassembled according to the activity codes defined for the individual, such as deployment planning for officers and warrant officers (roughly comparable to an officer in the military-technical service ), intelligence (reconnaissance), pioneering, weapons, medical services and telecommunications.

Depending on the area, the training for the individual specializations (core competencies) can take between half a year and a year. The leadership courses for officers, warrant officers and intelligence are held by the JFK Special Warfare Center in part at other Army training facilities. The medical sergeant's course, on the other hand, is carried out by the Special Operations Medical Training Battalion (dt. " Medical training battalion for special operations") in Fort Bragg, which also trains the paramedics of the Delta Force and the Navy Seals. Compared to a civil paramedic , the focus of this very extensive training is on trauma care . With a one-year duration, this is the longest specialization course. The later paramedics also go through internships in civil emergency clinics. The telecommunications sergeant course is held predominantly in Fort Gruber, Oklahoma . In addition to all kinds of telecommunications technologies , basic knowledge of electronic data processing is also taught.

Phase 3

During phase 3, which lasts 38 days, operations planning, battlefield reconnaissance, airborne operations, attack and isolation techniques and intercultural communication are trained.

SF soldiers abseiling from a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk

Then the aspirants are made familiar with the basics of unconventional warfare and combat. At the end of the course, there is a very extensive and complex field exercise called the Robin Sage . All the skills learned are tested as part of this largest and most expensive long-term exercise for the special forces. The preparation, planning and implementation of this maneuver begins on the 16th day and thus takes up more than half of phase three. The practice area, called Pineland , covers an area of several hundred square kilometers and is a civil agricultural area north of Fort Bragg and west of Camp MacKall. During this battle simulation, a 75-day mission is compressed to a duration of 15 days. Up to 12 A-teams have to infiltrate an enemy-controlled area in various ways in order to establish contact with the guerrilla movement operating there, gain their trust ("negotiate") and ultimately train and lead them. This indigenous "resistance movement", the so-called G-Force , is played by veterans of the unit. Then joint guerrilla operations and finally the support of an invasion by conventional forces, or the cooperation with them from an ambush, are simulated. After the “successful campaign”, a demobilization of the guerrilla forces with a final exfiltration (removal from the operational area) of the individual A-teams is played through.

Further training sections

After completing the qualification phase, the applicant is now a member of the special forces and receives a foreign language training (at least one foreign language, usually two) that fits the regional responsibilities of his Special Forces Group.

The following languages of the respective regional commands are in the foreground and are taught for the Army:

US European Command (EUCOM): Russian , German , French , Portuguese , Arabic, Polish , Czech and Hungarian .
US Pacific Command (PACCOM): Chinese, Russian, Korean , Indonesian , Thai, and Tagalog .
US Central Command (CENTCOM): Arabic, Persian , Pashto and Urdu .
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM): Spanish and Portuguese.

This is followed by SERE training ( survival, evasion, resistance and escape training ), a preparation for captivity, for interrogation situations (in the role of victim) and a training course on avoiding capture and escape under realistic conditions.

After completing the SERE training, the freefall training takes place at the Joint Military Freefall School on the grounds of the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona , Arizona in the jumping technique HAHO (Eng. High Altitude - High Opening , Ger. High jump height - high parachute opening ”). HALO jumps are only used for preparatory training and are no longer of any military importance.

Some SOF members are trained as combat swimmers at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School (Eng. " Special Forces School for Underwater Operations ") in Key West , Florida .

equipment

Light Strike Vehicle (LSV)

Barrett M82A1 (Light Fifty) sniper rifle

MP5 SD3 with integrated silencer

All weapons and equipment components of the regular procurement of the US armed forces are available to the special forces. The standard equipment includes machine guns such as the M249 SAW , M60 E4, MK 46 and the MK 48 MOD.0, various sniper rifles M14 , M24 SWS , M25 and Barrett M82A1 and shotguns (for example SPAS-12 ) as well as the M4 as a standard weapon, which also can be supplemented with an add-on grenade launcher of type M203 .

In addition, anti-tank weapons such as the FGM-172 SRAW and mortars in 81 mm caliber are part of the equipment to be used against tanks and for battlefield support. In addition, depending on the mission profile and use, they also have access to "foreign weapons" such as Soviet infantry weapons ( Kalashnikov ) or German submachine guns of the type MP5 and MP7 in various variants. In particular, if you are sent to a host country as a trainer, the corresponding weapon types used there are available for training beforehand.

As part of their mandate, the Special Forces on land as well as on water are partially independent of the other armed forces. The emergency services have converted Land Rover Defender 110 Special Operations Vehicles (SOV), Humvee and Quad ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) . For desert use one uses Light Strike Vehicle (LSV) , also known as the "desert buggies". With the exception of the quad, they are usually armed with mounted M60 machine guns, 40 mm Mk 19 machine grenade launchers or the heavy Browning M2 HB machine gun.

For maritime use, inflatables of the Zodiac type , small patrol boats as well as Rigid Raider type assault boats and dry suits with closed-circuit breathing apparatus are available (preventing the formation of telltale air bubbles on the water surface). The deployment takes place mostly in cooperation with the US Navy and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) ( Army Aviation Regiment for special operations). This makes it possible to steer the Zodiac directly into the MH-47G Chinook transport helicopter waiting in the water .

Appropriate ski and mountaineering equipment as well as suitable camouflage clothing are available for alpine use, and the remote battlefield sensor system is used to monitor sections of the terrain .

Many military and security advisory missions also use vehicles and equipment from the host nations or civilian rental cars. In covert operations, depending on the situation and the objective of the mission, either one's own or third-party equipment is used. This also includes civil vehicles that have been technically modified for use in such a way that they are not visible from the outside.

badge

The shoulder sleeve insignia

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (German "shoulder
sleeve badge")

Description: The badge was designed by Captain John W. Frye while he was stationed with the 10th SFG in Bad Toelz. It was officially approved on August 22, 1955. The teal background depicting an arrowhead is 3 1/8 inches (7.94 cm) high and 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide, with a yellow dagger in the center. The blade is covered with three yellow parallel lightning bolts 1/8 inch (0.32 cm) long. Above that there are two ribbons that show the suitability for jumping and special task force affiliation.

The symbols

Teal Blue Arrow (Eng. "Blue-Green Arrow")
Fighting Knife (German "combat knife")
Three Lightning Bolts (German "triple flash")

Description Teal Blue Arrow: The arrow head symbolizes the invisibility and energy of the Indian scouts. It is 3 1/8 inches (7.94 cm) high and 2 inches (5.08 cm) wide. This symbol is intended to indicate the special Indian skills and their availability in the Special Forces , which train them to a high degree.

Description Fighting Knife: The combat knife is based on the American / Canadian 1st Special Service Force, in whose tradition the Special Forces see themselves (as already described in the history part at the beginning), whose badge it was. The dagger symbolizes unconventional warfare and the character of special operations skills.

Description Three Lightning Bolts: The triple lightning bolt is supposed to symbolize the three types of infiltration, on land, at sea and from the air. The three parallel bolts each end 1/8 of an inch (0.32 cm) from the edge of the pad.

The Stripes

Airborne Tab (German "parachutist
qualification tape")

Special Forces Qualification Tab (German " Special Forces Qualification
Band")

Description of the Airborne Tab: The jumper's ribbon shows the jump qualification (with the word AIRBORNE in yellow letters on a black background). It was officially approved on November 20, 1958 and is worn 3/16 in (0.48 cm) above the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia .

Description of the Special Forces Qualification tab: The special forces tape shows the successful qualification as a Special Forces soldier (the completion of the Special Forces Qualification Course ). It is worn directly above the jumper's strap and is 3¼ inches wide (with the word SPECIAL FORCES in yellow letters on a blue-green background). It was officially approved by the Army Chief of Staff on June 17, 1983 at the request of the Commander of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (USAJFKSWC) .

Others

motto

The motto of the unit is “de oppresso liber”, Latin for “from the oppressed to the free”. Often the saying is wrongly translated as "freedom for the oppressed", which in Latin should mean "oppressis libertas".

Nicknames

There are different nicknames for the Special Forces . The one common in the US armed forces is dogfaces ( Eng . "Dog faces "). In the American media world, especially in the time of the Vietnam War , they were called snake eaters , but this was unpopular with the troops themselves. In government and Pentagon circles, they are often referred to as the Armed Peace Corps (German " Armed Peace Corps ") or Armed State Department (German "armed foreign ministry").

monument

Fort Bragg, the headquarters of the troops standing Bronze Bruce (dt. "Bronze Bruce"), the Special Warfare Memorial Statue , the "memorial statue for special warfare" against the High Command of the Army Special Forces ( US Army Special Operations Command ) . It was the first ever Vietnam War memorial. Actor John Wayne , lead actor and co-producer of the feature film The Green Devils , and the singer of the Billboard hit Ballad of the Green Berets , Staff Sergeant Sadler, each donated $ 5,000; McNamara donated $ 1,000 at a total cost of $ 100,000. Although the memorial was supposed to honor the dead of all special forces of the armed forces, it still shows a sergeant of the special forces on patrol, as they had to pay the highest blood toll.

In the media

The Ballad of the Green Berets of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler 1966 Top Ten hit on the Billboard charts in the US.
In 1968 the fictional film The Green Beret was made . The battle of Nam Dong described in the story section formed the real template for the work, in which John Wayne played the role of commander.
In the fictional film Apocalypse Now , the renegade commander of the Green Berets Col. Kurtz ( Marlon Brando ) is to be eliminated.
The main role in the Rambo films , played by Sylvester Stallone , is a former Special Forces member. The film series is based on the novels by David Morrell .
The A-Team represents a group of former soldiers of the 5th SFG who, fleeing from pursuit by the military police, use their skills to help civilians in need.
In the episode Special Forces of the US Army-produced television series The Big Picture from 1962, the Special Forces and their story are presented by Henry Fonda as the presenter.

literature

Books

Aaron Bank: From OSS to Green Berets. The Birth of Special Forces . Presidio Press, Novato / CA 1986, ISBN 0-89141-271-9 . (English)
James Adams: Secret Armies. Inside the American, Soviet and European Special Forces . Atlantic Monthly Press, New York 1987, ISBN 0-87113-223-0 . (English)
David J. Bercuson: The Secret Army . Stein and Day, New York 1983. (English)
Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces. The special forces of the US Army . From the American by Heinz-W. Hermes and Dirk Weimar. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5 .
James F. Dunnigan, Raymond M. Macedonia: Getting It Right. American Military Reforms after Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and Beyond . Morrow, New York 1993, ISBN 0-688-12096-2 . (English)
James F. Dunnigan, Albert Nofi: Victory and Deceit. Dirty Tricks at War . Morrow, New York 1995, ISBN 0-688-12236-1 . (English)
Frank L. Goldstein ( Col. USAF ): Psychological Operations. Principles and Case Studies . Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base / AL 1996. (English)
Susan L. Marquis: Unconventional Warfare. Rebuilding US Special Operations Forces . Brookings, Washington DC 1997, ISBN 0-8157-5476-0 . (English)
Robin Moore: The Green Devils. Factual novel . From the American by Günther Martin. 36th edition. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-04884-9 .
John Prados: Presidents' Secret Wars. CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations from World War II through the Persian Gulf . Rev. and exp. edition. IR Dee, Chicago 1996, ISBN 1-56663-108-4 . (English)
Hartmut Schauer: The US “Green Berets”. Soldiers out of the dark. Paratroopers, partisans, military advisers . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-613-01052-6 .
James Stejskal: US Special Forces in Berlin, Detachment "A" and PSSE-B "- Secret missions in the Cold War (1956–1990) , Verlag Dr. Köster Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-89574-950-6
Ian DW Sutherland ( Lt. Col. ret. ): Special Forces of the United States Army. 1952/1982 . Bender, San Jose 1990, ISBN 0-912138-43-2 . (English)
Douglas C. Waller: The Commandos. The Inside Story of America's Secret Soldiers . Simon & Schuster, New York 1994, ISBN 0-671-78717-9 . (English)
Francis J. Kelly: Vietnam Studies. United States Army Special Forces 1961–1971 . Department of the Army, Washington, DC 1973, United States Government Printing Office Stock Number 0820-00448, Library of Congress Catalog Number 72-600263 (English)
Klaus Buschmann: United States Army Special Forces 1952–1974. Investigation in the light of the available literature and sources . Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Las Vegas: Lang 1978 (European University Theses Series 3, Volume 105). ISBN 3-261-02524-7
Charles M. Simpson III: Inside the Green Berets. The First Thirty Years. A History of the USArmy Special Forces . Presidio Press Novato, Calif. 1983. ISBN 0-89141-163-1 (English)
Shelby L. Stanton: Green Berets At War, USArmy Special Forces in Southeast Asia 1956–1975 . Presidio Press Novto, Calif. 1985
Klaus Buschmann: US Army Special Forces 1954–1972, concept and reality. Publishing house K.-H. Dissberger, Düsseldorf 2nd edition 1987. ISBN 3-924753-10-5
Special Forces Handbook - German edition. Translation into German by Michael Remig and Karl-Heinz Dissberger. Verlag K.-H.Dissberger, Düsseldorf 1984 ISBN 3-924753-00-8

Brochures and articles

H. Allen Holmes : Military Operations in the Post-Cold War Era . In: Defense Issues . Vol. 12, No. 34, 1997 ( online version ). (English)
Stephan Maninger: "Who dares wins". Critical comments on the use of Western military special forces in the context of multiple conflict scenarios . In: Austrian military magazine . Volume 44, No. 4, 2006, ISSN 0048-1440 .
Henry H. Shelton (Gen., Commander in Chief, US Special Operations Command): Special Operations Forces. Key role in preventive defense . In: Defense Issues . Vol. 12, No. 12, 1997 ( online version ). (English)

Web links

Commons : United States Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Official website of the US Army Special Operations Command (English)
Unofficial page of active and former SF members (English)
SF at specwarnet.net (English)
Special Forces at goarmy.com (official recruitment site) (English)
Special allowance for Special Forces (English)
About the SF Groups at sfahq.com (English)
USASFC at delta-green.com ( Memento from April 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
Center for Military History: US Army Special Forces 1961–1971 , Washington, DC, Department of the Army 1989 (first edition 1973)

Footnotes

↑ PDF

↑ Chapter 3: US ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES. In: SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES Reference Manual. Army Command and General Staff College, accessed April 27, 2015 (Version 2.1 Academic Year 99/00).

↑ “ FID operations are designed to help friendly developing nations by working with host country military and paramilitary forces to improve their technical skills, understanding of human rights issues, and to help with humanitarian and civic action projects. " At www.specialoperations.com ( Memento from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ “ Special Forces teams are infiltrated behind enemy lines to provide the theater commander with intelligence on the enemy or to gather information on the terrain, local populace, etc. of an area. Verify, through observation or other collection methods, information concerning enemy capabilities, intentions, and activities in support of strategic / operational objectives or conventional forces. Reconnaissance and surveillance actions conducted at strategic or operational levels to complement national and theater-level collection efforts. Collect meteorological, hydrographic, geographic, and demographic data; provide target acquisition, area assessment, and post-strike reconnaissance data. ” At groups.sfahq.com ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Mission profiles of the Special Forces ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

^ Douglas C. Waller: The Commandos: The Inside Story of America's Secret Soldiers . Dell Publishing, 1994 (English).

^ “ Special Forces units perform five doctrinal missions: Foreign Internal Defense, Unconventional Warfare, Special Reconnaissance, Direct Action and Counter-Terrorism. These missions make Special Forces unique in the US military, because it is employed throughout the three stages of the operational continuum: peacetime, conflict and war. ” At globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ defenselink.mil , accessed March 11, 2009

↑ "In 1990, for example, 251 Special Forces teams were deployed in 71 countries around the world." From the introduction by Hartmut Schauer: US Green Berets - Soldiers from the Dark . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-613-01052-6 .

↑ Clancy, Tom: Special Forces , page 195: She had to mourn 2,314 casualties in five different missions, which corresponds to 134% of her original strength.

↑ US Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) traces its lineage to the 1st Special Service Force (Devil's Brigade) and derives its heritage from elements of the Office of Strategic Services (Jedburghs, Operational Groups and Detachment IO 1). at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ The failure of the CIA and SOF during and after the Korean War revealed the gaps in the spectrum of the American military's mission profiles:, Page 197 from Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The US Army special forces. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5 .

^ McClure, who headed the Army's psychological warfare staff in the Pentagon. at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ The Army allocated 2,300 personnel slots for the unit and assigned it to Fort Bragg, North Carolina at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ After months of intense preparation, Bank's unit was finally activated June 19, 1952, at Fort Bragg at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ If caught operating in civilian clothes, a soldier was no longer protected by the Geneva Convention and would more than likely be shot on sight if captured. at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ It was a stay that began in June 1956 when the original 16 members of the 14th Special Forces Operational Detachment entered Vietnam to train a cadre of indigenous Vietnamese Special Forces teams. In that same year, on October 21, the first American soldier died in Vietnam - Captain Harry G. Cramer Jr. of the 14th SFOD at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ see firstinasia.com (PDF file), accessed on June 18, 2008

↑ On 24 June 1957 the 1st Special Forces Group was activated on Okinawa, at history.army.mil (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ ^a ^b See introduction by Lieutenant General ( ret. ) William P. Yarborough , pp. 13-17, in the book Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - Die Spezialformen der US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

^ SF History. A Brief History of the US Army Special Forces. In: specialforcesassociation.org. Special Forces Association, accessed August 18, 2014 .

↑ Presentation of the debate including chronology. ( Memento of October 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed June 9, 2007.

↑ After his visit to Fort Bragg, the president told the Pentagon that he considered the green beret to be "symbolic of one of the highest levels of courage and achievement of the United States military." Soon, the green beret became synonymous with Special Forces , so much so that the two terms became interchangeable. And, indeed, it was fitting that the men of the Special Forces finally had the right to wear their elite headgear because they were now on the brink of proving just how elite they were. Vietnam was beckoning. Online: [1] , archive link ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )

^ On September 21, 1961 the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces, which would eventually be charged with the conduct of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam, was activated at Fort Bragg at history.army.mil (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ 1963 it was followed by the 3rd, 6th and 8th SFG , page 202 at Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special units of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ Dr. Finlayson, Kenn: Operation White Star: prelude to Vietnam. ( Memento from April 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) in Special Warfare (English, report also available on militaryphoptos.com ( Memento from December 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ))

↑ About the battle, see pages 202 to 203 in Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - Die Spezialformen der US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

^ High-altitude photos of the prison were taken frequently by SR-71 "Blackbirds" and low-altitude pictures by Buffalo Hunter reconnaissance drones. at afa.org ( Memento from March 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

↑ About Operation Kingpin, see pages 203 to 206 in Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The US Army Special Forces. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ About Operation Kingpin and its consequences, see pages 203 to 206 in Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ To this day, high-ranking military officials still remember with disgust the hooligans of the Special Forces of the time, who made fun of terms such as order and discipline. , Page 39 from Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ To prevent a further emasculation of their capabilities, Special Forces leaders adopted a program called SPARTAN - Special Proficiency at Rugged Training and Nation-building. SPARTAN was designed to demonstrate the multiplicity of talents Special Forces troops possessed, showing that they were not outmoded simply because the war was over. Under the aegis of SPARTAN, the 5th and 7th groups worked with Indian tribes in Florida, Arizona and Montana to build roads and medical facilities, and provided free medical treatment to impoverished citizens of Hoke and Anson counties in North Carolina at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ groups.sfahq.com ( Memento of February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 30, 2009

↑ About Operation Urgent Fury at time.com (accessed June 26, 2008)

^ Army Special Operation Command was established December 1, 1989. ARSOC is the Army component of US Special Operations Command, a unified command. ARSOC trains, equips, deploys and sustains Army special-operations forces for worldwide special operations supporting regional combatant commanders and country ambassadors. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Tom Clancy's interview with Gen. ( ret. ) Henry H. Shelton , page 92, Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The US Army special forces. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5
^ In December 1989, Special Forces were called upon to serve alongside conventional Army units in the Operation Just Cause invasion of Panama. Designated Task Force Black, soldiers from the 7th Special Forces Group, many of whom were already stationed in Panama, supported the entire operation by conducting surveillance and implementing blocking tactics. at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Against the background of two armed conflicts in which they had to record successes, the people of USSOCOM could finally look to the future with hope. The four decades of uncertain existence were over , page 46 at Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5
^ US Pushes Anti-Terrorism in Africa. Retrieved June 27, 2008 .
^ Special Forces Support Pan Sahel Initiative in Africa. Retrieved June 27, 2008 .
↑ 352nd SOG wraps up JCET to Trans-Sahara, Africa. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 11, 2009 ; accessed on June 27, 2008 (English).
↑ To plan and support special operations in any operational environment in peace, conflict and war as directed by the National Command Authorities. at specialoperations.com ( Memento from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Manuals on operational doctrines: FM 3-05: Army Special Operations Forces , US Department of the Army, September 2006 (English), FM3-05-102 FM 3-05.102 Army Special Forces Intelligence at fas.org (PDF; 5.4 MB), accessed on February 11, 2008 (English)
↑ Joint Publication 3–05.5: "Special Operations Targeting and Mission Planning Procedures", 1993, PDF (English)
↑ Often SF units are required to perform additional, or collateral, activities outside their primary missions. These collateral activities are coalition warfare / support, combat search and rescue, security assistance, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, countermine and counterdrug operations. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)
^ A new collateral task that has emerged as a result of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm is Coalition Support. Coalition warfare / support draws upon the Special Forces soldier's maturity, military skills, language skills, and cultural awareness. It ensures the ability of a wide variety of foreign troops to work together effectively in a wide variety of military exercises or operations such as Operation Desert Storm. at specialoperations.com ( Memento of July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 18, 2008)
↑ They are deployed where the threat of conflict is real - in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa - training US allies to defend themselves, countering the threat of dangerous insurgents, serving as teachers and ambassadors while developing important international relations . at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Foreign Internal Defense operations, SF's main peacetime mission, are designed to help friendly developing nations by working with their military and police forces to improve their technical skills, understanding of human rights issues, and to help with humanitarian and civic action projects. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)
↑ Unconventional Warfare (UW) includes a broad spectrum of military and paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held, enemy-controlled, or politically sensitive area. UW includes, but is not limited to, guerilla warfare, evasion and escape, subversion, sabotage, and other operations of a low visibility, covert, or clandestine nature. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)
↑ Direct Action missions are short duration strikes that are used when Special Forces want to seize, capture, recover or destroy enemy weapons and information or recover designated personnel or material. at goarmy.com ( accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ That's why they usually also need the express approval of the President (what is known as a "finding", resolution) and a mandate from the Congress determined by supervision. Page 36 at Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ often not in uniform as an American combatant

^ Offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, and respond to terrorism. Preempt or resolve terrorist incidents. Interagency activity using highly specialized capabilities at groups.sfahq.com ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to US objectives. Influence emotions, motives, and behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. at groups.sfahq.com ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations among military forces, civil authorities, and civilian populations to facilitate military operations. May be conducted as stand-alone operations or in support of a larger force. May include military forces assuming functions normally the responsibility of the local government. at groups.sfahq.com ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Your CP mission includes the gathering of intelligence services and their evaluation, location explorations and even the armed protection of special personnel (such as diplomats, scientists, etc.). , Page 32 by Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5

↑ About the worldwide mine clearance activities of the Special Forces see here at specialoperations.com ( Memento of October 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

↑ usa.usembassy.de German translation of the constitution on the Internet at the US Embassy in Berlin (PDF; 201 kB). Accessed April 11, 2007.

↑ Talslim O. Elias , Santiago Torres Bernandez : Case Concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (. Nicaragua v United States of America) Juristication of the Court and assembly of the application. (PDF) (No longer available online.) International Court of Justice , November 26, 1984, archived from the original on October 21, 2005 ; accessed on August 17, 2014 .

↑ Nagendra Singh , Santiago Torres Bernandez: Case concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America) Merrits. (PDF) (No longer available online.) International Court of Justice , June 27, 1986, archived from the original on October 23, 2005 ; accessed on August 17, 2014 .

↑ Nagendra Singh , Santiago Torres Bernandez: Case concerning military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America) Merrits OPERATIVE PART OF THE COURT'S JUDGMENT. (No longer available online.) International Court of Justice , June 27, 1986, archived from the original on October 23, 2005 ; accessed on August 17, 2014 .

↑ Resolution (English) 41st regular session of the UN General Assembly of 3 November 1986

↑ Military symbols at mapsymbs.com and at army.ca ( Memento of April 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), viewed on May 17, 2008 (English)

↑ Special Forces Command exercises command and control over five active component groups. Additionally, it exercises training oversight of two Army National Guard groups. Each Special Forces Group is regionally oriented to support one of the warfighting commanders in chief. at www.specialoperations.com ( Memento from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ structure of the SF at bragg.army.mil ( Memento of 16 January 2008 at the Internet Archive ) (English)

^ The Special Forces Battalion (Airborne) is comprised of one Battalion Headquarters Detachment (BN HQ DET / C DET), one Support Company (SPT CO), and three Special Forces Companies (SF CO). There is one SFOD Combat Diving A Detachment (CBT DIV A DET) and one SFOD Military Free Fall A Detachment (MFF A DET) per battalion. at www.specialoperations.com ( Memento from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Special Forces Operational Detachment B (SFOD B) The SF company headquarters, also known as a "B Detachment," is a multi-purpose C2 element with many employment options, It cannot isolate and deploy SF teams independently without significant augmentation. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

^ The "A Detachment" or "A Team" is the basic SF unit. This twelve man unit is specifically designed to organize, equip, train, advise or direct, and support indigenous military or paramilitary forces in UW and FD operations. The detachment has a commander (captain), XO (warrant officer), and two enlisted specialists in each of the five SF functional areas: operations, weapons, engineers, medical, and communications. Each SF company has one SFOD A trained in combat diving and one SFOD A trained in military free-fall parachuting. at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ there are five active component groups and two US Army National Guard groups at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ US Army Special Forces Command. (PDF) In: Factbook United States Special Operations Command. USSOCMOM Public Affairs, p. 12 , accessed on August 17, 2014 (English): “Each Special Forces Group is regionally oriented to support one of the war fighting geographic combatant commanders (GCCs). Special Forces Soldiers routinely deploy in support of the GCCs of US European Command, US Pacific Command, US Southern Command and the US Central Command. "

↑ 1st Battalion, stationed in Okinawa at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Other Special Forces groups are the original 10th Group stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, with its 1st Battalion still stationed at Stuttgart, Germany at specialoperations.com ( Memento from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ The 1st Battalion remained in Bad Toelz, Germany, until July 1991, when the battalion relocated to Panzer Kaserne in Boeblingen, near Stuttgart, Germany, where it remains today see usarmygermany.com/ ( accessed on July 27, 2008)

↑ Woman Qualifies For Special Forces Training, Could Be The First Female Green Beret. Accessed April 28, 2019 .

↑ In addition to the individual skills of operations and intelligence, communications, medical aid, engineering, and weapons, each Special Forces soldier is taught to train, advise, and assist host nation military or paramilitary forces. Special Forces soldiers are highly skilled operators, trainers, and teachers. Area-oriented, these soldiers are specially trained in their area's native language and culture. at www.specialoperations.com ( Memento from July 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ This is 24 days of training like you've never experienced. And it's all about survival. Your intelligence, agility and resourcefulness will all be tested. If you make it, you can continue on to the SF Qualification Course. at goarmy.com The whole procedure see on the specified website. (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ About the access tests of the Special Forces in general at www.specialoperations.com ( Memento from September 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

↑ SOF training is some of the most rigorous in the world, and it produces some of the most professional and expert military operator at globalsecurity.org (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Michel Hammermeister: USA - Green Berets. (No longer available online.) In: GlobalDefence.net. Holger Paletschek, archived from the original on November 11, 2014 ; accessed on September 15, 2014 .

↑ The SFQC consists of five phases (II-VI). If you complete this training, you will be a Special Forces Soldier, one of the Army's experts in Unconventional Warfare. at goarmy.com . The whole procedure see on the specified website. (accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Language skills, cross-cultural training, regional orientation, and understanding of the political context of their operating arenas make them unparalleled in the US military at globalsecurity.org ( accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ Tom Clancy, John Gresham: Special Forces - The special forces of the US Army. Heyne, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-453-86912-5 , page 141

↑ Here is an overview (excerpt) on goarmy.com ( accessed June 17, 2008)

↑ On the heraldry and symbolism of the badge, see groups.sfahq.com ( memento of July 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 28, 2008)

↑ Mitch McConnell : Senator McConnell Addresses the Center College Graduating Class of 2003. In: VoteSmart.org. Project Vote Smart, May 23, 2003, accessed August 17, 2014 .

↑ Introduction by Hartmut Schauer: US Green Berets - Soldiers from the Dark. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-613-01052-6 . Introductory text online. ( Memento from August 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

^ The Special Warfare Memorial Statue. US Army, accessed August 17, 2014 .

Remarks

↑ In contrast to the 160th SOAR , the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta (Airborne) , the 75th Ranger Regiment , and individual soldiers of the Navy SEALS , the Green Berets (USASFC) were not involved in the Somalia operation.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 13, 2008 in this version .

1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) - USASFC -
Sleeve badges as association badges of the Green Berets including the jump qualification tape attached above
Lineup	June 19, 1952
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Armed Forces
Armed forces	Army ( United States Army )
Branch of service	Special task force
Type	United States Army Airborne Special Forces Command
Insinuation	United States Army Special Operations Command (ASOC)
Fort Bragg, North Carolina	Cumberland / Hoke / Moore / Harnett counties (near Fayetteville , NC )
motto	De oppresso liber
commander
Commander:	Lt. Gene. Kenneth E. Tovo