History of the United States Army Special Forces

This article presents a history of the United States Army Special Forces, founded in 1952

Creation

Some of the Office of Strategic Services have much more similarity in terms of mission with the original U.S. Army Special Forces function, unconventional warfare (UW), acting as cadre to train and lead guerrillas in occupied countries. The Special Forces motto, De oppresso liber (Latin: "to free the oppressed") reflects this historical mission of guerrilla warfare against an occupying power. Specifically, the three-man Jedburgh teams provided leadership to French Resistance units. The larger Office of Strategic Services "OSS" Operational Groups (OG) were more associated with SR/DA missions, although they did work with resistance units. Colonel Aaron Bank, considered the founding commander of the first Special Forces Group created, served in OSS during World War II.

Another unit widely associated with the origins of the Army Special Forces was the First Special Service Force, a joint Canadian-American unit formed in 1942 and disbanded in 1944. Members of the First Special Service Force were retroactively awarded the Special Forces Tab upon its creation in 1983 for their part in Special Forces' history. Each year, a joint 1st Special Forces Group-Canadian Special Operations Regiment exercise, known as Menton Week is held to commemorate the historical link that both units share in the First Special Service Force.

While Filipino American guerrilla operations in the Japanese-occupied Philippines are not part of the direct lineage of Army Special Forces, some of the early Special Forces leadership were involved in advising and creating the modern organization. They would use what they have learned fighting as a guerilla unit in the doctrine of unconventional warfare in the Special Forces.[1] They included Russell Volckmann, who commanded guerrillas in Northern Luzon and in Korea,[2] Donald Blackburn, who also served with the Northern Luzon force, and Colonel Wendell Fertig, who developed a division-sized force on Mindanao.

During the Korean War, United Nations Partisan Forces Korea operated on islands and behind enemy lines. These forces were also known as the 8086th Army Unit, and later as the Far East Command Liaison Detachment, Korea, FECLD-K 8240th AU. These troops directed North Korean partisans in raids, harassment of supply lines, and the rescue of downed pilots. Since the initial Special Forces unit, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was activated on 19 June 1952, and the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, U.S. Army Special Forces did not operate as a unit in that war. Experience gained in the Korean War, however, influenced the development of U.S. Army Special Forces doctrine.

The "U.S. 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit" aka the Alamo Scouts included in lineage of the U.S. Special Forces

Their lineage dates back to include more than 200 years of unconventional warfare history, with notable predecessors including the American Revolutionary War "Swamp Fox" Francis Marion, the WWII OSS Jedburgh Teams, OSS Detachment 101 in Burma, and the Alamo Scouts. Since their establishment in 1952, Special Forces soldiers have operated in Vietnam, El Salvador, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, and, in an FID role, Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa, which was transferred to Africa Command in 2008.

Special Forces were formed in 1952, initially under the U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Division headed by then Brigadier General Robert A. McClure.[3]

Special Operations Command was formed by the U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Center which was activated in May 1952. The initial 10th Special Forces Group was formed in June 1952, and was commanded by Colonel Aaron Bank. The first Executive Officer was LTC William C. Martin, Jr. The 10th SFG's formation coincided with the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which is now known as the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.[4] Bank served with various Office of Strategic Services (OSS) units, including Jedburgh teams advising and leading French Resistance units before the Battle of Normandy, or the "D-Day" invasion of 6 June 1944. Bank is known as the father of the Special Forces. LTC Martin was a Mustang having enlisted at age 17, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant during WWII. Before being commissioned he was the US VIIth Army's Boxing Champion for his weight class. He served as a company commander with the 82 Airborne, and saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. He received his third combat jump star in Korea while serving with the 182d Combat Team. He retired as a LTC at age 37 while serving in Bad Tölz with the 10th Special Forces Group.

The 10th SFG deployed to Bad Tölz, Germany the following September, the remaining cadre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina formed the 77th Special Forces Group, which in May 1960 became 7th Special Forces Group.[5]

Brigadier General William P. Yarborough (left) meets with President John F. Kennedy at Fort Bragg, N.C., 12 Oct. 1961

First deployment in Cold War-era Europe

10th Special Forces Group was responsible, among other missions, to operate a stay-behind guerrilla operation after a presumed Soviet overrunning of Western Europe, in conjunction with the program that later became controversially known as Operation Gladio. Through the Lodge-Philbin Act, it acquired a large number of Eastern European immigrants who brought much area and language skills. As well as preparing for the Warsaw Pact invasion that never came, Vietnam and other areas of South Vietnam, El Salvador, Colombia, Panama and Afghanistan are the major modern conflicts that have defined the Special Forces.

Southeast Asia (Indochina Wars)

Special Forces Group organization in the Vietnam Era

The Vietnam era saw the testing and shaping of Special Forces policy and action for the United States. The mission of the Special Forces changed rapidly in the first years from a force which had initially been used like its WWII predecessors as an internal strike force into a training force which helped develop unconventional warfare and counterinsurgency tactics. The period between 1961–1965 were especially formative.[6]

The first U.S. Special Forces operations in Vietnam were in 1957, when soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Group trained fifty eight Vietnamese Army soldiers at the Commando Training Center in Nha Trang. Special Forces units deployed to Laos as "Mobile Training Teams" (MTTs) in 1961, Project White Star (later named Project 404), and they were among the first U.S. troops committed to the Vietnam War.[6] Beginning in the early 1950s, Special Forces teams deployed from the United States and Okinawa to serve as advisers for the fledgling South Vietnamese Army. As the United States escalated its involvement in the war, the missions of the Special Forces expanded as well. Since Special Forces were trained to lead guerrillas, it seemed logical that they would have a deep understanding of counter-guerrilla actions, which became the Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The 5th Special Forces Group mixed the UW and FID missions, often leading Vietnamese units such as Montagnards and lowland Civilian Irregular Defense Groups.[7] The deep raid on Son Tay, attempting to recover U.S. prisoners of war, had a ground element completely made up of Special Forces soldiers.[8]

B. R. Lang, wearing 6th SFG flash, 1970. (TDY Laos Project 404; 1971 Studies and Observations Group).

The main SF unit in South Vietnam was the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). SF soldiers assigned to the 5th Group earned sixteen Medals of Honor in Vietnam,[9] making it the most prominently decorated unit for its size in that conflict. Army Special Forces personnel also played predominant roles in the highly secret, multi-service Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG), with an extraordinarily large number of covert U.S. military personnel lost MIA while operating on Studies and Observations Group (SOG) reconnaissance missions. During the prolonged conflict the Army Special Forces trained regular and paramilitary units of several Allied nations as well as US reconnaissance members; supervised the indigenous Civilian Irregular Defense Group stationed throughout Vietnam in fortified camps and as backup reserves; monitored the border region and infiltration routes; conducted strategic intelligence missions and fielded numerous elements engaged in special operational tasks.[10]

The "Green Beret Affair": U. S. Special Forces received a severe black eye when in July 1969 Colonel Robert Rheault, Commander of 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), six subordinate Green Beret officers, including his headquarters staff intelligence officer, and a sergeant first class (SFC) were arrested for the murder[6][11] of Thai Khac Chuyen, a suspected North Vietnamese double agent. It was suspected that Chuyen was providing the North Vietnamese Army information about Project GAMMA and the indigenous agents used by the 5th Special Forces Group. An attempted cover-up was uncovered when the SFC became concerned that he might be a 'fall guy' and contacted the local Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) office chief. In September 1969 Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announced that all charges would be dropped since the CIA, in the interests of national security, had refused to make its personnel available as witnesses; implying some sort of involvement.[12]

El Salvador

In the 1980s, U.S. Army Special Forces trainers were deployed to El Salvador. Their mission was to train the Salvadoran Military, who at the time were fighting a civil war against the left-wing guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). In 1992, the FMLN reached a ceasefire agreement with the government of El Salvador. Following the success of SF in El Salvador, the 3rd Special Forces Group was reactivated in 1990.[13]

Colombia

In the late 1980s, major narcotics trafficking and terrorist problems within the region covered by the Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) worsened. USSOUTHCOM was (and remains) responsible for all of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CARIBCOM). The 7th Special Forces Group deployed detachments, trainers and advisers in conjunction with teams from the 1st Psychological Operations Battalion to assist Host Nation (HN) forces. During the late 1990s, 7 SFG(A) also deployed to Colombia and trained three Counter Narcotics Battalions and assisted in the establishment of a Brigade Headquarters. These were the first units of their kind in Colombia and each is known as "Batallón Contra Narcotraficantes" or BACNA. These elements continue to be very successful against the narcotics industry which thrives in Colombia.[14] U.S. Army Special Forces detachments still rotate among various locations within Colombia, training HN units in counter-guerrilla and counter-narcotics roles, and SF detachments routinely deploy to other countries within the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

Invasion of Panama

In late 1988, tensions between the United States and Panama were extremely high with the Panamanian leader, Manuel Noriega, calling for the dissolution of the agreement that allowed the United States to have bases in his country. In December 1989 President George H. W. Bush activated the planning section for Operation Just Cause/Promote Liberty. Just Cause was the portion of the mission to depose Noriega and return Panama to democracy.[15] Originally scheduled to begin at 0200 hrs. on 20 December, it actually kicked off at 2315 hrs when part of a Special Forces detachment that was waiting for the signal to begin was discovered above a gate above a Panamanian checkpoint. Just Cause was the first mission to have a very large contingent of Special Operations Forces on the ground. The units that were involved with the mission were as follows: Task Force Green (Delta Force), Task Force Black (7th SFG, 5th SFG, 3rd SFG, 4th PSYOP Group, the reinforced 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, and all three battalions of the 75th Rangers, and numerous other units from other forces such as the Navy SEALs, Marine Force Recon, and Air Force Combat Control Teams. Of the 23 US troops who died in the invasion four were Navy SEALs. The invasion was successful at deposing Noriega, but led to widespread looting and lawlessness in the following weeks.[16]

Persian Gulf War

On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait, The US and other nations around the world sent its forces to Saudi Arabia to protect the country and eventually liberate Kuwait. In October 1990, the 5th Special Forces Group was the first Special Forces unit into action. They deployed along the Saudi-Kuwait border with a Saudi Special Forces, they patrolled the border, setting up bases in border forts and had several firefights with Iraqi forces. They were the eyes and ears of the coalition force, they also provided outposts where Iraqi deserters could surrender, be interrogated and provided valuable intelligence. The 5th Special Forces continued their border activities until 10 February 1991 when they were replaced by lead elements from regular units. US Special forces also played a vital role in acting as liaison with Arab members of the coalition, every Arab unit went into action with Special Forces team with them, where displaying valor and courage on many occasions. They continued to play a role up to the wars end, carrying out missions behind enemy lines.[17]

Afghanistan-Pakistan War

For more details on the opening phase of Operation Enduring Freedom, see 5th Special Forces Group (United States).
A 19th Special Forces Group soldier mans an M60 machine gun on a HMMWV in Afghanistan, in March 2004. An AT4 anti-tank weapon can be seen in the foreground.

Immediately after the September 11 attack on the United States, President George W. Bush instructed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to come up with a plan to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan who harbored Al Qaeda. General Tommy Franks, then-commanding general of Central Command, initially proposed a conventional force invasion of Afghanistan with 60,000 troops. He told Bush and Rumsfeld that it would take six months to launch the campaign. Rumsfeld heatedly rejected this plan, demanding that troops be sent in immediately. Franks returned the next day with a plan to utilize special forces, which Bush approved.[18]

The Northern Alliance was outnumbered, outgunned, and undersupplied and controlled only about 15 percent of Afghanistan. Senior U.S. commanders hoped at best that the Green Berets would boost Northern Alliance morale and help prevent the better-equipped Taliban forces from a further offensive until larger American forces could arrive.[18] On 19 October 2001, Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595, a 12-man Green Beret team, plus two Air Force Combat Controllers, were airlifted by helicopter from the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan[19] more than 300 kilometers (190 mi) across the 16,000 feet (4,900 m) Hindu Kush mountains in zero-visibility conditions by two SOAR MH-47E Chinook helicopters. The Chinooks were refueled in-flight three times during the 11-hour mission, establishing a new world record for combat rotorcraft missions at the time. They linked up with the CIA and Northern Alliance. They were greeted by CIA paramilitary officers from the Special Activities Division who had arrived only 10 days before.[20][21]

At about the same time, ODA 555 landed hundreds of miles south in the Panjshir Valley, and linked up with another Northern Alliance force.[18] Within a few weeks the Northern Alliance, with assistance from the U.S. ground and air forces, captured several key cities from the Taliban.[22][23][24]

Iraq War

Special Forces along with Iraqi Army forces conduct an air assault in-route to their mission objective to capture terrorists of a known insurgent force, September 2007.

Just as in Afghanistan, SF were the first military units in Iraq after the initial entry of JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) and the CIA.[25][26] 10th SFG was heavily deployed to Northern Iraq, where they, along with CIA/SAD officers[27] contacted, organized, and trained Kurdish, anti-Saddam Forces. During the initial invasion, 10th SFG and CIA/SAD officers led one of the most successful campaigns in Iraq, the Group along with its Kurdish allies defeated six Iraqi Army Divisions with limited air support and no SF soldiers were killed. The joint Kurdish-Special Forces units killed over one-thousand Iraqi Army soldiers and captured hundreds more.[26][27] Likewise, 5th SFG (1st BN) was deployed in Western Iraq. One battalion infiltrated the country weeks before the initial invasion in order to conduct DA strikes to destroy Saddam's SCUD missile capability. 5th SFG also organized anti-Saddam forces and, like 10th SFG, led an extremely successful operation which inflicted serious casualties to the Iraqi Army in Baghdad right after conventional forces had seized it. With major combat operations over, SF were charged with building a new Iraqi Army, eliminating Baath Party members, and, most importantly, finding Saddam and his sons.

In the years after the invasion, the Green berets mentored the elite units in the Iraqi Army. Following George W. Bush sanctioning a new directive in November 2006, to allow US forces in Iraq to kill or capture Iranian nationals if they engaged in targeting coalition forces, US commanders formed Task Force 17, based around a Green Berets headquarters group, whose missions were called CII (Counter Iranian Influence); and Green Beret ODA's were selected to be part of it. The Green Berets would become actively involved against the Iranian-backed Special Groups, TF-17 relied a good deal on the Green Berets mentoring teams with the ISOF, the Green Berets placed ODA's in outfits such as the INIS and the Iraqi commando brigade. The ODA's consisted of 20 men and became — during the course of 2007 — the key to coalition operations in provinces such as Dhi Ghar or Maysan, the teams ensured that operations in the Shia militant strongholds had an Iraqi face to them — something of great symbolic importance to the US relationship with the Iraqi government. During May and June 2007, many Shia arrest operations were conducted by the British SAS and TF-17s Green Berets and Iraqi Commandos led to Muqtada al-Sadr to initially flee to Iran and in August he declared a Mahdi Army ceasefire with the coalition.[28]

War in Afghanistan (2015-present)

Following the Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014, the War in Afghanistan (2001-14) war ended; however 12,000 U.S. and NATO troops are deployed in Afghanistan as part of NATOs Resolute Support Mission whose purpose is to train, advise and assist Afghan government forces against anti-government forces and to conduct counter-terrorist missions.[29][30]

Notably, Green Berets took part in the Battle of Kunduz, helping Afghan forces retake the city by October 2015 after it fell to Taliban insurgents.[31]

Green Berets have also been assisting Afghan forces in Helmand Province, where on the January 5 2016, during a major operation aimed at reclaiming territory held by the Taliban, Staff Seargent Matthew McClintock of A Company, 1st BTN, 19th SFG was killed by small arms fire during an hours long battle in the Marjah district. 2 other U.S. troops and 4 Afghan soldiers were injured. The coalition conducted 12 airstrikes in the area with a variety of aircraft, including F-16 fighter jets and an AC-130 gunship, 2 HH-60 Pave Hawk medevac helicopters responded to assist the casualties, 1 was waved off and left the scene safely, but the second landed and its main rotor blade was damaged when the helicopter hit a wall.[32][33] Green Berets supported some 80 soldiers of the Afghan 3rd Special Operations Battalion who's mission was to clear insurgents out of Elbak, Kandahar province which would clear the road from Kandahar, through Elbak to Tarin Kowt so an 800-man Afghan army convoy could deliver troops and supplies to Tarin Kowt. Green Berets called in 3 airstrikes by U.S. drones on Taliban insurgents near the landing zone, killing 7 and wounding others. The mission had mixed results; the Taliban reoccupied the area and the convoy barley made any progress, however the operation had interrupted the Taliban’s nightly routine of bomb-planting. A week later, the Afghan commandos 18 booby-trap bombs from the road and slowly in Elbak and the relief convoy began to make its way north.[34]

References

  1. ↑ Keats, John. (1965). They Fought Alone. Pocket Books, Inc. OCLC 251563972 p.445
  2. ↑ "The History of PsyWar after WWII and Its Relationship to Special Forces". Timyoho. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  3. ↑ Paddock, Alfred H. Jr. "Major General Robert Alexis McClure: Forgotten Father of U.S. Army Special Warfare". Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  4. ↑ Bank, Aaron (1987). "From OSS to Green Beret". Pocket.
  5. ↑ "History of the 10th Special Forces Group". United States Army Special Operations Command. United States Army. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 Kelly, Francis John (1989) [1973]. "Part 1". History of Special Forces in Vietnam, 1961–1971. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 90-23.
  7. ↑ "5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)". Fort Campbell. United States Air Force.
  8. ↑ Schlemmer, Benjamin (2002). "The Raid: The Son Tay Prison Rescue Mission". Ballantine Books.
  9. ↑ http://www.campbell.army.mil/units/5thSFG/Pages/5thGroup.aspx
  10. ↑ Stanton, Shelby, Green Berets at War: U.S. Army Special Forces in Southeast Asia 1956-1975, Presidio Press, 1985 ISBN 978-0-8041-1884-2 and Stanton, Shelby, Special Forces at War: An Illustrated History, Southeast Asia 1957-1975, Zenith Press, 2008 ISBN 978-0-7603-3449-2
  11. ↑ Jeff Stein, Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story that Changed the Course of the Vietnam War. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992) 60–62
  12. ↑ Seals, Bob (2007) The "Green Beret Affair": A Brief Introduction, http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/20thCentury/articles/greenberets.aspx
  13. ↑ "3rd Special Forces Group". Military.com.
  14. ↑ "Special Forces". American Special Operations Forces.
  15. ↑ "Operation Just Cause". GlobalSecurity.org.
  16. ↑ Panama Companies Sue U.S. for Damages. The New York Times. 21 July 1990.
  17. ↑ Cawthorne, Nigel, The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces, Robinson, 2008 ISBN 1845298217 ISBN 978-1845298210
  18. 1 2 3 Zimmerman, Dwight Jon (September 16, 2011). "21st Century Horse Soldiers – Special Operations Forces and Operation Enduring Freedom". Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Task Force Dagger - Operation Enduring Freedom". Retrieved 13 January 2012. page 127ff
  20. ↑ Tenet, George; Harlow, Bill (2007). At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA (1st Harper Luxe ed.). New York: HarperLuxe. ISBN 978-0061234415.
  21. ↑ Woodward, Bob (2002). Bush at war (paperback ed.). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743204736.
  22. ↑ Units Credited With Assault Landings
  23. ↑ Gresham, John (12 September 2011). "The Campaign Plan – Special Operations Forces and Operation Enduring Freedom". Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  24. ↑ Berntsen and Pezzulla (2005), Jawbreaker
  25. ↑ Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack, Simon and Schuster, 2004.
  26. 1 2 Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War inside Iraq, Mike Tucker, Charles Faddis, 2008, The Lyons Press
  27. 1 2 All Necessary Means: Employing CIA operatives in a Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces, Colonel Kathryn Stone, Professor Anthony R. Williams (Project Advisor), United States Army War College (USAWC), 7 April 2003
  28. ↑ Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin , 2012 ISBN 1250006961 ISBN 978-1250006967,p.205-207,p.213,p.227-228,p.250
  29. ↑ "NATO chief, Afghan president welcome "new phase" as combat role ends". DPA. DPA. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  30. ↑
  31. ↑ "U.S. Role in Afghanistan Turns to Combat Again, With a Tragic Error". the new York times. 8 May 2016.
  32. ↑ "Green Beret killed in Afghanistan was new father". Stars and Stripes. 7 January 2016.
  33. ↑ "US servicemember killed in Helmand was part of major operation against Taliban". Stars and Stripes. 6 January 2016.
  34. ↑ "Afghan War Rules Leave U.S. Troops Wondering When It's OK to Shoot". Washington street journal. 20 June 2016.
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