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Kane
MILS572 Special Operations Forces Applications
November 1, 2009
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as US Army SF, was born
on June 11, 1952 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and designated the 10th Special
Forces Group. This new Army unit, whose lineage came from the 1st Special
members from the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the modern
CIA. The 10th Special Forces Group, founded by Colonel Aaron Bank, a former
OSS operative would eventually split its personnel in 1953 and move one half to
Europe and leave one half at Fort Bragg, NC to form the nucleus of the 77th
Special Forces Group (renamed the 7th SFG in 1960) and the building block of
the growth of Special Forces during the 1960’s. The core tasks of all Special
(FID), Direct Action (DA), Special Reconnaissance (SR), Counter Terrorism (CT),
Destruction (CP-WMD).
During the early days of the formation of Special Forces, the Army decided on
creating United States Army Reserve Special Forces (USAR SF) and Army
National Guard Special Forces (ARNG SF) units in the same way that there were
established conventional units that would augment the Active Army during a
major war. In 1955, the 77th Special Forces Group (SFG) sent cadre to help train
one of the first Reserve Component SF units in existence, the 300th FD
(subordinate units in ID, WA, CA and MT), the 302nd (NJ) and the 303rd (IL) had
state, but units were disbanded after his departure from office.1 Something
interesting to note is the naming convention used for the name of the SF units of
Table of Organization & Equipment (MTOE), the first naming convention utilized
the phrase “Operational Detachment” at all levels within the Group structure. As
in the case of the 300th FD Operational Detachment, SF, the FD2 would be
comparable to the modern day Group, the FC (comparable to the modern day
(comparable to the modern day ODA).3 The one thing that has stayed constant at
the ODA level is the fact that there are two of every SF MOS on the team which
allows for split team operations and allows for a very high percentage of success
1
Sutherland, Ian D.W. LTC (Ret.), Special Forces of the United States Army, (San Jose: R.
James Bender Publishing, 1990), 310.
2
FD- possibly known as field detachment as per LTC Robert Jones, USASOC Historian’s Office
at Ft. Bragg, NC.
3
Department of the Army, Guerilla Warfare and Special Forces Operations (FM 31-21),
(Washington DC, 1958), 30-36.
In the 1960’s ARNG SF consisted of the 16th, 19th, 20th and the 36th, 37th and 38th
SF Detachments of the Alaska ARNG, but the first actual Special Forces units in
the ARNG were the 134th Special Forces Operational Detachment, the 135th
their formation these soldiers performed a two week training period, 5 – 19 July
1959, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. When the unit returned to Utah, these thirty-
five men formed the nucleus to which the remaining twenty-eight operational and
During the first year of the 20th Group’s existence, one full time member kept
control of the property books and performed the duties of what is now known as
the “Readiness NCO”. The first Annual Training period for the 20th SFG was 5-21
July 1959 at Ft. Bragg, NC. Here they trained with the 77th SFG. In the following
years, the Group held their Annual Training at Ft. McClellan, AL, current home of
the Alabama Military Academy and an ARNG training base. Today, ARNG SF
consists of the 19th SFG, based in Draper, Utah with units in eight States (UT,
WA, WV, OH, RI, CO, CA and TX) along with 20th SFG, based in Birmingham,
Alabama with units in 7 States (AL, FL, MS, NC, MA, MD, and IL). This accounts
have been over 3,368 soldiers (qualified SF soldiers and their support units) that
In the 1960’s, National Guard Special Forces trained in the usual part-time
manner of the time, with drill periods on every Tuesday night from 1900-2130 (7-
the summer time. After a short period of time, it became clear that Special Forces
Guardsman needed more time to train, so they started the concept of drill
Kennedy authorized the wear of the Green Beret for Special Forces soldiers. At
this time, all of the Special Forces Groups started choosing colors for their unit
4
* Hagerman, Bart, USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary 1940-1990, (Paducah: Turner Publishing
Company, 1990), 346 and 446. Information for 19th Group derived from Group History in footnote
8. A list of the twenty-eight operational and administrative detachments that were organized in the
UT-ARNG is located in the bibliography.
5
Army National Guard Mobilization Database, 24 June 2009
flashes. A teal blue flash was authorized for wear by the ARNG SF units,
reminiscent of the original flash worn by the 77th SFG. Although all of the
Reserve Component groups created their own unique flashes starting with the
11th (1966), 20th (1967), 12th (1972) and 19th (1982), all of the groups kept the teal
blue within the color scheme of the flashes.6 Non-qualified SF soldiers within the
groups wore a unit wore a 1/4" high bar (also known as the “candy stripe”) below
the Special Forces Crest on his green beret in a horizontal position on the green
beret where the flash would usually be. The use of the bar ended with the
During the Vietnam conflict, ARNG SF units weren't called up for active duty;
however, individual unit members from the 19th and 20th did volunteer for active
duty SF and were assigned to the 5th SFG. During their tour of service, they were
not Guardsman in the 19th or 20th because they had to be discharged from the
ARNG and serve as active duty SF soldiers. Some soldiers from both groups
Vietnam Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG). In the book, “SOG: The
6
Sutherland, Ian D.W. LTC (Ret.), Special Forces of the United States Army, (San Jose: R.
James Bender Publishing, 1990), 471-473.
Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam” a mention is made about a
team of "reservists from the Florida-based 20th Special Forces Group" who had
snatched "SOG's first Laotian prisoner in nine months."7 This very important
piece of the ARNG SF history is not known by many people, even people within
the actively serving SF community. This showed early on the abilities that ARNG
The 1960’s and 70’s were a time when the ARNG SF groups were
increasing their numbers in terms of training and the qualification of soldiers and
constant reorganization of units and personnel across the multiple states that
ARNG SF has had a foothold. In the 19th SFG, the Utah and Colorado ARNG
units focused their training in winter survival and mountaineering warfare while
the 2nd and 3rd Battalions concentrated on water infiltration and river operations,
all in an unconventional warfare setting. The 19th also went through a period of
reorganization and growth from September 1963 to October 1978 when the
group had activated and deactivated units in the Montana, New York and West
Virginia ARNG. 8 In the 20th SFG, the main events of the era were reorganization
of the Group with respect to the support units and the operational detachments in
the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida ARNG. One unique event in
1960 had to do with airborne operations. When the fist AL-ARNG SF units came
into existence in 1959, the first airborne qualified members had to drive to Ft.
Benning, GA in order to jump from the U1A aircraft for proficiency. In 1960,
Graham Drop Zone at Ft. McClellan, AL was created for the unit in order to
7
Plaster, John L. SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam, (New York:
Penguin Group, 1998), 159-160.
8
SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st Special Forces, A History "
19th Special Forces Group Archives (June 2008) page 3-4
conduct airborne training. Jumpmasters from the 77th SFG at Ft. Bragg, NC
would come down to help conduct the training in the first few years. From 1963 to
1976, the unit went through five reorganizations with the final result being the
current three battalions in Alabama (1st), Mississippi (2nd) and Florida (3rd).9
By the late 1970’s the ARNG SF groups had reorganized, grown in strength and
Forces after Vietnam. The Active Component SF Groups had started regionally
aligning themselves in the 1960’s when 10th Group was sent to Germany to keep
eyes on the Soviet threat. The case is the same with the ARNG SF Groups. By
1977, the 19th Group’s area of operations was shifted from just US based training
and support, to the Far East due to its loose affiliation with the 1st Special Forces
Group. 19th Group’s first overseas deployment was in support of 1st SFG in
August 1968 when it deployed to Okinawa, Japan for Exercise Silver Dagger I, a
guerrilla warfare based exercise. Exercise Foal Eagle 1978, an annual large-
conducted in South Korea, was the first exercise in which the 19th Group
deployed completely by itself, once again showing the viability of the 19th Special
Army SF.10 The 1970’s ended on a strong point with the establishment of a Basic
Airborne Course at the former 6th Battalion, 19th SFG in Missoula, Montana.
9
Hagerman, Bart, USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary 1940-1990, (Paducah: Turner Publishing
Company, 1990), 346 and 347.
10
SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st Special Forces, A History
" 19th Special Forces Group Archives (June 2008) 6.
During this time, the quotas for Airborne School were limited at Ft. Benning and
the effects of this shortage of training seats was that the 19th SFG had a hard
time getting the non-qualified soldiers trained. The Aerial Fire Depot, home of the
US Forest Service Fire Jumpers, was the starting point for the Group’s Basic
Airborne Course. On May 12, 1978, the first class started with cadre from 7th
SFG along with support soldiers from all across 19th in the initial formation. At the
first graduation, forty-nine out of one hundred-sixteen students had survived the
instruction, move the course to a new facility at Camp Williams, Utah in 1985 and
close its doors in 1987.11 From my research not much information was found on
the 20th SFG’s missions and deployments during this time period, but rest
assured, the group was busy getting ready for the future.
In the 1980’s the Groups had achieved a milestone, with over two
the entire Special Operations Community after the failure at Desert One in 1980
Tehran, Iran. This led to the formation of today’s US Army Special Operations
building exercises. Because of this new increase in missions, the 19th Group
(Northern Mariana Islands), Guam, Thailand, and the Philippine Islands. The late
SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st Special Forces, A History "
11
Venture, Cobra Gold, and Golden Laser II. With all that has been said about 19th
Group, 20th Group was fully employed in Latin America, Central America, and the
Caribbean with 7th SFG. Places like El Salvador and Columbia come to mind
during the unrest of the 1980’s. Because of its regional affiliation with 7th SFG, it
could be inferred even without much open source information that 20th SFG
The last decade of the 20th Century would bring new opportunities for
ARNG SF, from the Gulf War to the new Joint Combined Exercise Training
(JCET) mission format. While 19th SFG was participating in JCET’s in the pacific
Rim and Asia along with providing Special Forces Medical Sergeant’s (18D’s) to
the Joint Task Force Full Accounting as part of recovery of human remains in
Vietnam and Laos, they were also reorganizing its 2nd and 5th Battalion’s (Bn.)to
support the 5th SFG and the 10th SFG, respectively. This realigned 2nd Bn. within
the Central Command Area of Operations (CENTCOM AO) and the 5th Bn. within
the European Command of Operations (EUCOM AO). On Jan. 23, 1991, the 20th
SFG was activated in support of Operation Desert Storm — the first time
that a Reserve Component SF group had been called to active duty. A number of
operation. Following Desert Storm, about 40 members of the 20th Group, mostly
engineers, linguists and medics, went to Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort,
the Kurdish relief effort.12 The activation would prove to be a learning experience
for the 20th and the 7th SFG evaluators. For the 20th it showed that prior planning
12
COL Joseph K. Dietrich, “Ensuring Readiness for Active and Reserve-Component SF Units”
Special Warfare Magazine (March 1992) 27.
and some of the standard operating procedures (SOP) used for JCET rotations
and unit level telephone tree rehearsals could be utilized for “the big game”. The
Group commander received the alert notification on January 31, 1991 at 11:30
P.M. and by February 23, the whole 1,400 member Group and its equipment
were moved to Ft. Bragg, NC for post mobilization training. As far as the
certification and validation process, the 7th SFG evaluators were impressed by
the fact that all three battalion’s within the group were validated in 45 days, while
the usual Active Component SF validation is 90 days for one battalion.13 Early
1992 saw the threatened deactivation of 19th Special Forces Group along with
the 11th, 12th, and 20th Special Forces Groups. After the numerous issues
created by the activation of the Army Reserve and National Guard for Operation
Desert Storm, the Department of Defense decided to take a closer look at the
viability of Army Reserve and National Guard units in SF. When it was all said
and done, the ARNG SF Groups were kept and the USAR Groups were
disbanded in 1994. Some have argued that this decision undermined the
Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 and have stated that only
7 years after that decision, the Global War on Terror was initiated. This is a major
point because out of those two USAR Groups that were deactivated, one was
aligned to Southwest Asia, the same place we would send our forces to battle
terrorism.14 Another major mission for ARNG SF was participation in the Bosnia
rotations of the late 1990’s. Many of the 20th Group soldiers served as liaisons
between NATO forces and local nationals. Other tasks included unconventional
13
SGT Scott D. Hallford, “Federalization: 20th SF Group becomes the first RC SF unit to be
activated”. Special Warfare Magazine (March 1992) 28-29.
14
Colonel Raphael Semmes Duckworth, "1993 Offsite Agreement Undermining Goldwater-
Nichols and Special Forces Capabilities," U.S. Army War College (February 5, 2007): 5
warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, and
Sergeant, he stated that some other missions that took place were snatch and
grab missions for war criminals in Bosnia. Finally, the Reserve Component
was phased out, giving more ARNG soldiers the opportunity to attend the same
In the 21st Century, ARNG SF has grown into an invaluable partner within
the Army Special operations community. One of the unique things that the ARNG
SF brings to the table over their Active Component brethren is civilian acquired
skills as firefighters, policeman, State Department, CIA and DEA field agents,
lawyers and business owners. These skills also translate to high levels of mission
Baghdad and Kabul. 19th Group continued to conduct Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)
and JCET exercises and added Portugal, Bangladesh, Burma, and Mongolia to
its catalog of missions. Members of Group Support Company and the 1st
Nepal when terrorists flew commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. 2nd Battalion, 20th SFG participated in
Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and the United States from 6-
20 September 2000 and culminated after four days of round-the-clock training
designed to prepare these seven Latin American nations and the U.S. in 33
Health evaluated the training. By late 2001, the ARNG SF Groups were starting
to mobilize soldiers for the Global War on Terror, now known as Overseas
Contingency Operations (OCO). Shortly after 19th SFG had completed the
mobilizations for OEF and ONE, it immediately began putting Utah members on
Active Duty in support of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Heber,
Park City, West Jordan, and Ogden, Utah. Members of the 19th Group primarily
performed security in and around the venues located in Park City and Heber. By
2002, 19th and 20th SFG units started to enter Afghanistan to replace 5th SFG
units and to augment 3rd SFG units. The ODA’s from 5th Bn. 19th SFG were
integrated into the SF campaign plan initially to replace the rotating 5th SFG
teams. 19th was also initially assigned to Joint Special Operations Task Force-
South (JSOTF-South) in March 2002 before coming under 3rd SFG on April 1,
2002. In late April 2002, some 2nd Bn units started to conduct combat operations
humanitarian support and search for weapons caches and burial sites in Tora
Bora,15 3rd Bn. 20th SFG arrived in Afghanistan in early 2002 with 100 soldiers to
15
Charles H. Briscoe and others, Weapon of Choice: ARSOF in Afghanistan (Fort Leavenworth:
Combat Studies Institute Press, 2001), 277-278.
(CJSOTF-A) headquarters at Bagram Air Base.16 These two groups have
continuous rotated in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001 with no end in
site. The down side of the current operational tempo is that some ARNG SF
soldiers have paid the price in this current operating environment from both
groups. One Chief Warrant Officer Four from Bravo Company, 3-20th SFG was
awarded the Silver Star for Valor in 2008 for his actions in Iraq. In civilian life, he
continental United States during Hurricane Katrina when some assets from 20th
SFG helped to save over 4,000 people during search and rescue operations in
Louisiana. The ARNG will continue to be a relevant force within the Special
operations inventory and will continue to serve its communities and this nation
faithfully.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sutherland, Ian D.W. LTC (Ret.), Special Forces of the United States
Army, (San Jose: R. James Bender Publishing, 1990), 310.
16
Charles H. Briscoe and others, Weapon of Choice: ARSOF in Afghanistan (Fort Leavenworth:
Combat Studies Institute Press, 2001), 210.
3. Department of the Army, Guerilla Warfare and Special Forces Operations
(FM 31-21), (Washington DC, 1958), 30-36.
114th Sig Det (RMU Type E) 151st SF Opn Det (Team FA)
134th SF Opn Det (Team FC) 152nd SF Opn Det (Team FA)
135th SF Opn Det (Team FC) 153rd SF Opn Det (Team FA)
137th SF Opn Det (Team FC) 154th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
141st SF Opn Det (Team FA) 155th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
142nd SF Opn Det (Team FA) 156th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
143rd SF Opn Det (Team FA) 157th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
144th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 158th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
145th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 159th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
146th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 160th SF Opn Det (Team FA)
147th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 161st SF Admin Det (Team AA)
148th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 162nd SF Admin Det (Team AA)
149th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 163rd SF Admin Det (Team AA)
150th SF Opn Det (Team FA) 164th SF Admin Det (Team AA)
Taken from a “Brief History Of the 19th SFG (ABN)” dated 1 October 1979,
19th SFG (A) Archives.
6. Sutherland, Ian D.W. LTC (Ret.), Special Forces of the United States
Army, (San Jose: R. James Bender Publishing, 1990), 471-473.
8. SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st
Special Forces, A History " 19th Special Forces Group Archives (June
2008) page 3-4
10. SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st
Special Forces, A History " 19th Special Forces Group Archives (June
2008) page 6
11. SSG Wade R. Burn, et al., "19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) 1st
Special Forces, A History" 19th Special Forces Group Archives (June
2008) 4.
12. COL Joseph K. Dietrich, “Ensuring Readiness for Active and Reserve-
Component SF Units” Special Warfare Magazine (March 1992) 27.
13. SGT Scott D. Hallford, “Federalization: 20th SF Group becomes the first
RC SF unit to be activated”. Special Warfare Magazine (March 1992) 28-
29.