The Green Beret was originally unauthorized for wear by the U.S. Army. However, in 1961, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy authorised them for use by the Special Forces [link]. Preparing for an October 12 visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President sent word to the center's commander, Brigadier General William P. Yarborough, for all Special Forces soldiers to wear the beret as part of the event. The President felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the Green Beret "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom." Aside from the well-recognized beret, Special Forces Operatives are also known for their more informal attire than other members of the U.S. Military.
Organization
U.S. Army Special Forces is divided into five Active Duty Special Forces Groups (SFG). Each Active Duty SFG has a specific regional focus. The Special Forces soldiers assigned to these groups receive intensive language and cultural training for countries within their regional area of responsibility:
1st Special Forces Group - 1st Battalion stationed in Okinawa, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions headquartered at Fort Lewis, Washington. 1st SFG has responsibility for the Pacific.
3rd Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 3rd SFG has responsibility for all of Africa except for the eastern Horn of Africa.
5th Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 5th SFG has responsibility for the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa (HOA).
7th Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 7th SFG has responsibility for Latin and Central America as well as the Caribbean (along with 20th SFG).
10th Special Forces Group - 1st Battalion stationed near Stuttgart, Germany, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado. 10th SFG has responsibility for Europe, mainly Central and Eastern, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel and Lebanon.
19th Special Forces Group - One of the two National Guard groups for the Special Forces. Headquartered in Draper, Utah, with detatchments in Washington, West Virginia, Ohio, Rhode Island, Colorado, California, and Texas. 19th SFG has responsibility over Southeast Asia (shared with 5th SFG), as well as the Pacific (shared with 1st SFG).
20th Special Forces Group - One of the two National Guard groups for the Special Forces. Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, under Southern Command, with battalions from Alabama (1st Battalion), Mississippi (2nd Battalion), and Florida (3rd Battalion), with detatchments in Louisville, Kentucky and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 20th SFG has an area of responsibility covering 32 countries, including Latin America south of Mexico, the waters, territories, and nations in the Caribbean sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The area is shared with 7th SFG.
Training
A completely new recruit to the United States Army, who has signed on for the Special Forces, starts his (all United States Special Forces are currently closed to females, though one woman partially completed the training programme in 1981) training in Fort Benning, Georgia. This consists of basic training and Infantry training combined in a 14-week course. After graduation, he moves to Airborne training, which lasts for 3 weeks. Upon graduation from Airborne school the potential Special Forces Soldier is next shipped to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for Phase I, Special Forces Assessment & Selection (SFAS), an evaluation which lasts twenty four days. If the potential recruit makes it past this stage, he usually returns to his previous unit to await a class date to begin the Special Forces Qualification Course ("Q Course"). Afterwards, recruits usually attend the Primary Leadership Development Course/Basic Non-Commissioned Officer's Course at Camp Mackall before officially beginning Phase II, a five-week block of instruction in Small Unit Tactics. In late 2005, three weeks of SERE training was integrated into an expanded Phase II curriculum, and follows immediately upon successful completion of the Small Unit Tactics phase. The recruit then ships back to Fort Bragg for Phase III of the Q course, where he trains within one of five specialities within Special Forces, those being: 18A, Detachment Commander; 18B, SF Weapons Sergeant; 18C, SF Engineer Sergeant; 18D, SF Medical Sergeant; and 18E, SF Communications Sergeant. 18A-C and E training courses are 14 weeks long, the 18D training course is 46 weeks long. Upon graduation the soldier attends Robin Sage, a large-scale unconventional warfare exercise (Phase IV) and language school (Phase V) before being awarded the Special Forces tab.
Soldiers who successfully complete SFAS and who are not already Airborne qualified will be assigned a class date to attend Basic Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia prior to reporting to Ft. Bragg.
Special Forces Jobs and Duties
18A - The Detachment Commander, usually a Captain, is the Commanding Officer of the 12 man team.
John Wayne's movie The Green Berets was about the early years of the Vietnam war where Green Beret advisors were sent to SE Asia to aid the South Vietnamese in fighting the Communist North.
The popular 80s TV show The A-Team was about a group of Vietnam War-era Special Forces soldiers convicted for a crime they didn't commit.
The 2005 TV series, E-Ring, portrays a former Special Forces operative, played by Benjamin Bratt, who has transferred over into the Pentagon.
Video games
America's Army, a popular US Army-sponsored first person shooter game, features training and "deployment" for the US Army Special Forces. To gain access to Special Forces maps and training, as well as Special Forces weapons, you need to complete vehicle and weapons identification training, escape & evade training, and Airborne training.
Ubisoft's Ghost Recon video game series features a fictitious squad of US Special Forces operators from Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina . This squad, sometimes called the Ghosts, is commanded by Captain Scott Mitchell. The series has made these soldiers "see action" in Russia (Ghost Recon 1), Eritrea (Ghost Recon Desert Siege), Cuba (Island Thunder), Colombia (Jungle Storm), North Korea (Ghost Recon 2), Kazakhstan (Ghost Recon 2 Summit Strike), and Mexico City (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter).
