Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces

by Tom Clancy

  Their area of responsibility is a new one for SFC. For the first time, an SFG’s primary orientation is toward Africa. With the exception of the nations along the horn of Africa (Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya), which, because of the Muslim connection, lie within the AOR of CENTCOM and the 5th SFG, the entire continent is now within the AOR of the 3rd SFG (under the overall command of the CINC of EUCOM). Before the change, they had to share North Africa with 10th SFG (under EUCOM) and East Africa with 5th SFG. This AOR unity should allow the group to develop better long-term relationships within the AOR, and maintain a better focus.

  The official shoulder flash (emblem) of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne)

  OFFICIAL U.S. ARMY GRAPHIC

  During the Cold War, the U.S. viewed Africa mainly as a provider of natural resources. Since the chief threat to the obtaining of these resources was seen as left-wing revolutions, U.S. policy toward Africa was aimed at stability—in other words, it was a policy of connivance with the status quo, which explains the decades-long tolerance of South Africa’s policy of apartheid, and dictators like Nigeria’s General Sani Abacha. The status did not, however, remain quo, and by the end of the Cold War, Africa was racked by war, insurrection, ethnic and racial tension, environmental and ecological troubles, and the alarming spread of the HIV virus.

  A decade after the end of the Cold War, much has changed in Africa. South Africa has a strong, multiracial democracy, the wars of insurrection seem to be playing themselves out (though the civil war in Angola is still a serious problem), and the region generally seems to be sorting itself out.

  Though significant problems still exist, so do vast opportunities, and the 3rd SFG is trying to exploit these.

  All three battalions of the 3rd SFG are based at Fort Bragg, and there is no permanent forward-based presence on the African continent.

  As might be imagined, this has both advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage is that the group can train and work together. The downside is that most deployments are “expeditionary” in nature, involving air travel of up to 6,000 miles, and teams then must operate on the least-developed continent on earth. All of this places a premium on field, cultural, and language skills.

  Like the other groups, 3rd SFG has a full plate of training, exercise, and other activities, the full group was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm in 1990- 1991 and to Haiti for Uphold Democracy in 1995.

  Does that mean there’s not enough work for them in Africa? Hardly.

  Their regular missions these days include: • Contingencies—The soldiers of the 3rd SFG have been greatly relieved at the decline in serious contingency situations in Africa: South Africa seems to be making real progress; the nasty little West African civil wars have apparently been resolved; and a democratic turnover of power seems to have occurred in Nigeria. On the other hand, the civil war continues in Angola; Congo is a mess; the tribal problems in central Africa remain ugly; and there seems to be no lessening of the HIV crisis. Still, there exists very little potential for an MRC within the AOR.

  • Operations—The most important long-term 3rd SFG operation is called the African Crisis Response Initiative. ACRI is among the most exciting ideas in recent diplomatic/military history ... and it is quite possibly a model for programs in other regions, such as Southeast Asia and Latin America. Both the end of the Cold War and the French government’s relinquishing of its traditional colonial-era responses to African instability have left a significant power vacuum on the African continent. Though Africa is a far less chaotic place than it has been, the seeds of further conflict still remain. In order to deal with such contingencies, the U.S. Department of State, in 1996, initiated ACRI, a program designed to build a powerful and rapidly deployable force of peacekeepers, manned entirely by troops from selected African nations (with the 3rd SFG as the operational control and training agency). The force will be highly interoperable (standard ammunition, communications, and logistics chains, etc.) and able to rapidly move into a war zone to bring it under control. So far, 3rd SFG has trained over two thousand African troops from six nations (Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, Uganda, and Benin), with others waiting to join.

  • JCS Exercises—ACRI missions have all been four or five ODAs backed up by an ODB for command and control and CA specialists to work with local cultures. Approximately seventy SF soldiers are dispatched overseas for up to seventy days at a time. In addition to ACRI, the 3rd SFG sends out dozens of JCETs, conducting the same kinds of missions that 1st SFG and the other groups run. And, as previously mentioned, it periodically runs missions to augment groups in other AORs.

  • CONUS Training—Like other SFGs, the 3rd makes regular rotations to JRTC, NTC, and the usual litany of specialty and refresher training programs. These include desert warfare training, advanced parachute jumping, AMOUT, and other skills necessary for working in their vast AOR.

  5th Special Forces Group

  If there is a SFG which stands out as “tough,” it has to be the 5th.

  For starters: They are the primary SOF unit within the Special Operations Command of U.S. Central Command (SOCCENT). This means they have the almost impossible task of covering the Muslim areas of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, the Horn of Africa, and central Asia (about as far away from America as you can go and still stand on dry land), a region that is the most restrictive in the world ... and the least tolerant toward Western culture. During recent years, more than a dozen major wars have erupted in the region, terrorist incidents number in the hundreds, and there have been too many skirmishes involving exchange of fire to count. And don’t ever forget that all this is happening on top of the majority of the world’s known oil and gas reserves.

  The official shoulder flash (emblem) of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

  OFFICIAL U.S. ARMY GRAPNIC

  Add to this: Their AOR has grown to include a new CENTCOM responsibility—the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, known familiarly as the “Stans.” The Stans are fiercely Islamic, deeply distrustful of the states on their borders, and potentially great petrochemical powers. Since they border such bastions of stability as Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the 5th’s new responsibility is already looking like a prescription for high adventure.

  The 5th SFG’s AOR makes everything they do, from transporting men and equipment to just coordinating phone calls home with a time zone difference of nine or ten hours a major hassle.

  Commanding this unit is Colonel Daniel Brownlee, and he is assisted by CSM Denzil Ames.

  The group’s personnel range over a region three times the size of the continental U.S., with almost 430 million people. There are seventeen major ethnic groups, further complicated by the abundance of (often mutually unfriendly) Islamic, Christian, and Jewish religious groups. To cover all this, 5th SFG personnel are trained in five different languages—Arabic, Farsi, Pushtu (an Iranian dialect), Russian (for the Stans), and Urdu (for Muslims in Western Pakistan)—and they must be close to angelically sensitive to the many cultural differences of the region.

  As if they don’t have enough challenges, the 5th is not allowed by any of our regional allies to permanently base units in the region, which means all missions and deployments must be made from CONUS. In other words, they get lots of frequent flyer miles! Most 5th SFG NCOs travel more than the president, which is really saying something.

  All this stretches the 5th about as far as you can stretch a military unit.

  And, to make things even more interesting, they have seen more real combat in the last decade than any other group in SFC.

  In short, the 5th’s OpTempo is the busiest in SFC, and there is no indication that this will change. Life in the 5th is tough. Very tough!

  Of course, life was never easy for the 5th.

  During Vietnam, as decoration and casualty figures demonstrate, they bore the brunt of the fighting and dying in SFC. And when the war ended
, they had to carry on after four other groups were disestablished ... and after their own ranks had been gutted to support other units, such as Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta (the famous Delta Force). Later, when the 1st and 3rd SFGs were reactivated, 5th SFG was banished from Fort Bragg and sent to a set of fifties-era facilities on the rump end of Fort Campbell (just about the shabbiest of the SF headquarters). There they struggle along, sucking hind tit to Campbell’s other occupants, the mighty 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault—the famous Screaming Eagles) and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR—the Nightstalkers), in priority and funding.

  Simply put, it’s business as usual for the 5th SFG, and they probably would not want it any other way!

  The 5th SFG was formally stood up in 1960, and have not had to case their colors since.62 They are, of course, justifiably proud of their long record (second only to the 10th SFG in continuous service). Here are a few additional highlights:• Contingencies—The two really big problems in the 5th SFG AOR are of course Iran and Iraq. On those occasions when the Persian Gulf bullies have not been making war on each other or on their own ethnic minorities, they have been invading their smaller neighbors, disrupting maritime traffic, and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. In 1998 alone, three major battalion-sized deployments were made in support of operations against Iraq, and are likely to continue until Saddam Hussein leaves power.Add to that the new crises erupting in the AOR, ranging from the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea (currently the world’s largest armed conflict) to the presence in Afghanistan of the Isama bin Laden terrorist group. In between are several dozen slow-burning disputes, any one of which could require a major deployment of 5th SFG units and personnel.

  • Operations—While it is technically true that none of our allies in the region allow permanent forward basing of SOF units and personnel, what is allowed (and asked for) is regular rotations of SOF units into the AOR. This effectively gives SOCCENT a regular force level there. The 5th SFG’s operational activities center on Camp Doha, north of Kuwait City. Here the U.S. Army maintains a vast pre-positioning base, filled with enough armor, vehicles, aircraft, and weapons to equip a full-sized armored brigade, a Patriot missile battalion, and a complete SF battal-ion.The Army rotates about a third of the 5th’s capacity into Camp Doha, effectively keeping a minimum force in Kuwait to deter Iraqi and Iranian aggression. In the event of a crisis, additional units can fall onto the pre-positioned gear at Camp Doha, and be ready to fight in a matter of days.The primary continuing exercise in Kuwait is known as Iris Gold, which is a special liaison operation with the Kuwaiti military. Three-man SF teams in specially built vehicles operate with the four brigades of the Kuwait Army, providing liaison and spotting services for American airpower to support the Kuwaitis in the event of an invasion.

  In the event of a crisis, two additional companies of SF soldiers can be quickly deployed to Kuwait, to be followed by a battalion ODC to support combat search and rescue of downed Allied aircrews and deep reconnaissance/strike missions.

  In addition to support operations in Kuwait, 5th SFG also contributes to ACRI and several peacekeeping efforts.

  • JCS Exercises—Despite the 5th’s high OpTempo for continuing and contingency operations, there is still a requirement for JCET training in the region. While the 5th does less of this than the other groups (and sometimes gets help from other groups), a large quota of such missions remains. These range from firearms training for national police forces to establishing a military specialty like sniping in an Army without these skills.

  • CONUS Training—The 5th SFG, like every other military force, must train to keep sharp. Though the OpTempos make these deployments increasingly rare, whenever possible, they try to get each battalion into NTC every two years. More critical are maintenance of perishable skills such as MFF, AMOUT, UWO, and maritime operations. These are being kept up, but just barely.

  The official shoulder flash (emblem) of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

  OFFICIAL. U.S. ARMY GRAPHIC

  7th Special Forces Group

  Is there an SFG where life is “fun”?

  Well, yes ... after a fashion.

  If there’s an AOR that’s fun, it’s the 7th SFG’s—Latin America and the Caribbean. And the men of the 7th SFG know more about having “fun” downrange than any other soldiers in the command. I might also say that you’d be hard-pressed to find a better group of representatives for our nation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

  You can find the 7th SFG right across the street from USASOC headquarters at Fort Bragg in an almost identical buff-colored building complex as the 3rd SFG’s. It is tasked with providing SOF services and units to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).

  In recent years SOUTHCOM and Special Operations Command, SOUTHCOM (SOCSOUTH), have been kept busy: First, they’ve had to move from their former bases in Panama to new centers in Miami, Florida, and Puerto Rico.63 And then the recent regional boundary shuffle has given them additional territory—the Caribbean region (formerly part of Atlantic Command). Now everything south of the U.S. border, with the exception of Mexico, falls under the responsibility of SOUTHCOM.

  The 7th SFG traces its roots back to the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment of the Devil’s Brigade. They were reborn in 1960 when the 77th SFG was split. Since then, they have had a primarily Latin American mission, which usually meant dirty little conflicts like the one in El Salvador.

  But times are changing. Today the 7th SFG operates in a region emerging from centuries of economic exploitation and political repression to economic growth and democracy.

  As I said, the 7th SFG operates in an AOR you could almost call fun.

  On top of that, the language requirements are modest (Spanish, Portuguese), nowhere in the AOR is more than a few hours’ flying time from Fort Bragg, and the missions take place no more than a time zone or two away from ours. Such things ease the strains on 7th SFG personnel, and allow them more discretionary time for training and other development projects. They also tend to get more time at home base (which improves quality of life within the command, and therefore retention).

  The personality of 7th’s commander also helps.64 Colonel Ed Phillips is a tall and joyous man, clearly in love with both his life in SF and with his soldiers. He is backed by CSM Richard Tudor, and a staff of dedicated SF professionals. The 7th SFG may have a good time at their chosen profession, but don’t think they have it easy. They are as dedicated as anyone in SFC; and they run as many downrange missions as any group:• Contingencies—Now that the great dictatorships (in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Panama) are history, and the Marxist governments (in Nicaragua and Cuba) have either gone away or have been neutralized by events, Latin America has become a much kinder, gentler place. For now, the only significant risks of conflict in the region center on Cuba (What happens when Fidel Castro dies?) and Colombia (Will the government collapse under the pressure from narcotics traffickers/terrorists ?).To prepare for this second eventuality (which could cause serious problems), the 7th has been heavily involved in Colombia in counternarcotics and counterterrorist training through the JCET program, and has been preparing other governments’ militaries, in case the shoe drops in Colombia.

  • Operations—The end of the Cold War has not seen a decline in the number of continuing 7th SFG operations. One of recent note was the world’s smallest and most successful peacekeeping operation: Once upon a time Ecuador and Peru were at war over a border. The 7th SFG was sent down to deal with the problem. And after several years of hands-on engagement with the two combatants, there is now a legally established and recognized border between the two nations. (The operation terminated in the winter of 1998-1999.)

  • JCS Exercises—Though the 7th SFG has few real-world operations and contingencies, they are not sitting at home cutting the grass and waiting for happy hour. On the contrary, after two centuries of bad memories of American interventions, Latin America offers a
full slate of real-world challenges. We clearly need to clean up our past messes. To this end, the 7th SFG is one of the most heavily tasked units in the JCET program, with several hundred downrange missions run per year. Many of these are humanitarian, such as building infrastructure like clinics and public utilities, as well as the more usual military, paramilitary, and police force training.

  • CONUS Training—Because of the relatively relaxed security situation in SOUTHCOM, the 7th can train more than other SFGs back in the U.S. The group not only attends more JRTC and NTC rotations than the other groups, they also dedicate a large portion of their time to experimental projects and exercises (these benefit all the groups).

  The official shoulder flash (emblem) of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

  OFFICIAL U.S. ARMY GRAPHIC

  10th Special Forces Group

  The headquarters of the 10th SFG sits in Fort Carson, Colorado, on a mountain prairie that looks like a scene from High Plains Drifter. As you stare at it, you can have a hard time remembering that the 10th is the SF unit assigned to the European mission within SOCEUR.

  Located in a mountain valley near Colorado Springs, Fort Carson is home to a variety of Army units, including the 7th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.65 It is a far cry from their old barracks in Bad Tölz, West Germany, and their one-time home at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Now they have state-of-the-art facilities at Fort Carson, and at Panzer Kasern, Germany (near Stuttgart), they have a new home for their forward-deployed 1st Battalion.

  The 10th SFG, established back in 1952 by Colonel Aaron Bank, is the longest-lived of all of the groups. And like all the other groups, the 10th traces its spiritual lineage to the Devil’s Brigade, where it claims the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment as its parent unit. Today it is headed by Colonel Richard Mills and his CSM, Henry Ramirez.