About Green Berets

United States Army Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive head gear, are an elite military force with a long and storied history. Tracing their lineage back to the commandos of World War II and even further back to the American Revolution's legendary "Swamp Fox," General Francis Marion, the Green Berets currently function in a variety of roles including unconventional warfare, counter terrorism, and long range reconnaissance missions.

History

The 1st Special Service Force was a combined United States/Canadian unit that employed Ranger training with long range reconnaissance missions to achieve remarkable results. This unit was the original model for contemporary Special Forces units. The 10th Special Forces Group was organized in 1952, near the close of the Korean War, and was designed to operate behind the lines in Eastern Europe. With the rising tensions in the Far East the 7th and 5th Special Forces Groups were commissioned to focus on those areas. Today Special Forces soldiers are deployed around the world.

Significance

While conventional forces are capable of delivering massive amounts of firepower and personnel to a traditional war zone, much of the armed conflicts that occur around the world take on the form of guerrilla warfare. The Green Berets are trained to infiltrate behind enemy lines, to organize, train, and lead indigenous populations in counter-insurgency operations. Because they are proficient in the language and understand the culture they are capable of 'winning the hearts and minds of the people they are trying to help.

Function

The Green Berets are tasked with a number of unique missions including psychological operations, direct action, foreign internal defense and counter-terrorism operations, but their distinctive primary mission is unconventional warfare. Frequently referred to as guerrilla warfare, unconventional warfare involves missions of long-duration training, equipping and leading local forces in both overt and covert operations. Other functions include subversion, sabotage, intelligence gathering, downed pilot recovery, long range reconnaissance and escape and evasion.

Geography

The Green Berets operate all over the world at the direction of the Department of Defense. Each member of a Special Forces unit is language proficient and culturally immersed in a particular geographical area. Each Special Forces Group is oriented toward a specific region of the world. The 1st Special Forces Group is responsible for unconventional warfare activities in the Pacific. The 3rd Group is oriented toward Sub-Sahara Africa. The 5th Group covers the Middle East and the 7th Group focuses on Latin America. Other Special Forces Groups are responsible for other areas.

Size

The basic fighting unit of the Green Berets is the A Team, or more formally referred to as a Special Forces Operational Detachment - Alpha. The A Team consists of 12 highly specialized soldiers: a Commander and an Executive Officer, an Operations Sergeant, an Intelligence Sergeant, 2 weapons specialists, 2 medics, 2 engineers, and 2 communications specialists. The redundancy of functions allows the A Team to divide into 2 separate units and to continue to function as a cohesive unit if one member is incapacitated.

Resources

• US Army Special Forces Recruitment