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Everardo Laboy
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is the special operations branch of the United States Army.[9] Although technically an Army branch, the Special Forces operates similarly to a functional area (FA), in that individuals may not join its ranks until having served in another Army branch.
The core missionset of Special Forces contains five doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterterrorism,[4] and special reconnaissance.[10] The unit emphasizes language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops; recruits are required to learn a foreign language as part of their training and must maintain knowledge of the political, economic, and cultural complexities of the regions in which they are deployed.[11] Other Special Forces missions, known as secondary missions, include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, peacekeeping, and manhunts. Other components of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) or other U.S. government activities may also specialize in these secondary missions.[12] The Special Forces conduct these missions via five active duty groups, each with a geographic specialization; and two National Guard groups that share multiple geographic areas of responsibility.[13] Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works[14] and doctrinal manuals are available.[15][16][17][18]
The primary mission of the Army Special Forces is to train and lead unconventional warfare (UW) forces, or a clandestine guerrilla force in an occupied nation.[23] The 10th Special Forces Group was the first deployed SF unit, intended to train and lead UW forces behind enemy lines in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe.[24] As the U.S. became involved in Southeast Asia, it was realized that specialists trained to lead guerrillas could also help defend against hostile guerrillas, so SF acquired the additional mission of Foreign Internal Defense (FID), working with Host Nation (HN) forces in a spectrum of counter-guerrilla activities from indirect support to combat command.[25]
Special Forces personnel qualify both in advanced military skills and the regional languages and cultures of defined parts of the world. While they are best known for their unconventional warfare capabilities, they also undertake other missions that include direct action raids, peace operations, counter-proliferation, counter-drug advisory roles, and other strategic missions.[26] As strategic resources, they report either to USSOCOM or to a regional Unified Combatant Command. To enhance their DA capability, specific units were created with a focus on the direct action side of special operations. First known as Commander's In-extremis Force, then Crisis Response Forces, they are now supplanted by Hard-Target Defeat companies which have been renamed Critical Threats Advisory Companies.[27][28][29][30][31]
SF team members work closely together and rely on one another under isolated circumstances for long periods of time, both during extended deployments and in garrison. SF non-commissioned officers (NCO) often spend their entire careers in Special Forces, rotating among assignments to detachments, higher staff billets, liaison positions, and instructor duties at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. With the creation of USSOCOM, SF commanders have risen to the highest ranks of U.S. Army command, including command of USSOCOM, the Army's Chief of Staff, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[32]
Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from purpose-formed special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces.
During the Korean War, individuals such as former Philippine guerrilla commanders Col. Wendell Fertig and Lt. Col. Russell W. Volckmann used their wartime experience to formulate the doctrine of unconventional warfare that became the cornerstone of the Special Forces.[33][34]
In 1951, Major General Robert A. McClure chose former OSS member Colonel Aaron Bank as Operations Branch Chief of the Special Operations Division of the Psychological Warfare Staff in the Pentagon.[35][36]
In June 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was formed under Col. Aaron Bank, soon after the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which eventually became John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was split, with the cadre that kept the designation 10th SFG deployed to Bad Tlz, Germany, in September 1953. The remaining cadre at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) formed the 77th Special Forces Group, which in May 1960 was reorganized and designated as today's 7th Special Forces Group.[33]
Until 2014, an SF group has consisted of three battalions, but since the Department of Defense has authorized the 1st Special Forces Command to increase its authorized strength by one third, a fourth battalion was activated in each active component group.[51]
A Special Forces group is historically assigned to a Unified Combatant Command or a theater of operations. The Special Forces Operational Detachment C or C-detachment (SFODC) is responsible for a theater or a major subcomponent, which can provide command and control of up to 18 SFODAs, three SFODB, or a mixture of the two. Subordinate to it is the Special Forces Operational Detachment Bs or B-detachments (SFODB), which can provide command and control for six SFODAs. Further subordinate, the SFODAs typically raise company- to battalion-sized units when on unconventional warfare missions. They can form six-man "split A" detachments that are often used for special reconnaissance.[52]
The ODB is led by an 18A, usually a major, who is the company commander (CO). The CO is assisted by his company executive officer (XO), another 18A, usually a captain. The XO is himself assisted by a company technician, a 180A, generally, a chief warrant officer three, who assists in the direction of the organization, training, intelligence, counter-intelligence, and operations for the company and its detachments. The company commander is assisted by a senior non-commissioned officer, an 18Z, usually a sergeant major. A second 18Z acts as the operations sergeant, usually a master sergeant, who assists the XO and technician in their operational duties. He has an 18F assistant operations sergeant, who is usually a sergeant first class. The company's support comes from an 18D medical sergeant, usually a sergeant first class, and two 18E communications sergeants, usually a sergeant first class and a staff sergeant.[52]
A Special Forces company normally consists of six Operational Detachments-A (ODA or "A-Teams").[55][56] Each ODA specializes in an infiltration skill or a particular mission-set (e.g. Military Freefall (HALO), combat diving, mountain warfare, maritime operations, etc.). Each ODA Team's number is unique. Prior to 2007, number typically consisted of three digits reflecting the Group, the specific ODB within the battalion, and the specific ODA within the company.[54] Starting in 2007, though, the number sequence was changed to a four-digit format. The first digit would specify group (1=1st SFG, 3=3rd SFG, 5=5th SF, 7=7th SFG, 0=10th SFG, 9=19th SFG, 2=20th SFG). The second digit would be 1-4 for 1st through 4th Battalion. The third digit would be 1-3 for A to C Companies. The fourth digit would be 1-6 for the particular team within that company. For example, ODA 1234 would signify the fourth ODA in Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group.[54]
An ODA consists of 12 soldiers, each of whom has a specific function (MOS or Military Occupational Specialty) on the team; however, all members of an ODA conduct cross-training. The ODA is led by an 18A (Detachment Commander), a captain, and a 180A (Assistant Detachment Commander) who is their second in command, usually a Warrant Officer One or Chief Warrant Officer Two. The team also includes the following enlisted soldiers: one 18Z (Operations Sergeant) (known as the "Team Sergeant"), usually a Master Sergeant, one 18F (Assistant Operations and Intelligence Sergeant), usually a Sergeant First Class, and two each, 18Bs (Weapons Sergeant), 18Cs (Engineer Sergeant), 18Ds (Medical Sergeant), and 18Es (Communications Sergeant), usually Sergeants First Class, Staff Sergeants, or Sergeants. This organization facilitates 6-man "split team" operations, redundancy, and mentoring between a senior NCO and their junior assistant.[citation needed]
The Special Forces soldier trains on a regular basis over the course of their entire career. The initial formal training program for entry into Special Forces is divided into four phases collectively known as the Special Forces Qualification Course or, informally, the "Q Course". The length of the Q Course changes depending on the applicant's primary job field within Special Forces and their assigned foreign language capability, but will usually last between 55 and 95 weeks. After successfully completing the Special Forces Qualification Course, Special Forces soldiers are then eligible for many advanced skills courses. These include, but are not limited to, the Military Free Fall Parachutist Course, the Combat Diver Qualification Course, the Special Operations Combat Medic Course,[60] the Special Forces Sniper Course,[61] among others.[18]
In 1981 Capt. Kathleen Wilder became the first woman to qualify for the Green Berets. She was told she had failed a field exercise just before graduation, but she filed a sex discrimination complaint, and it was determined that she "had been wrongly denied graduation. Wilder, a former military intelligence officer, was ultimately allowed to wear the Special Forces Tab when it was created in 1983, and continued to do so over her 28-year career until she retired as a lieutenant colonel. Army Times reported that in July 2020, the first woman to complete the Army Special Forces Qualification Course graduated and moved on to a Green Beret team.[62][63][64][65][66][67]
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