1st Special Forces Group (United States)

1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)
1st Special Forces Group beret flash
Active24 June 1957 – 28 June 1974
4 September 1984 – present
CountryUnited States United States of America
Branch United States Army
TypeSpecial Operations Forces
RolePrimary tasks:
  • Unconventional Warfare (UW)
  • Foreign Internal Defense (FID)
  • Direct Action (DA)
  • Counter-Insurgency (COIN)
  • Special Reconnaissance (SR)
  • Counter-Terrorism (CT)
  • Information Operations (IO)
  • Counterproliferation of WMD (CP)
  • Security Force Assistance (SFA)
Size4 Battalions: One at Torii Station, Okinawa, Japan, three in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
Part of 1st Special Forces Command
Garrison/HQJoint Base Lewis-McChord
Motto(s)First in Asia[1]
EngagementsVietnam War
War on Terror
Insignia
Former 1st SFG(A) recognition bar, worn by non-Special Forces qualified soldiers—in lieu of a beret flash—from the 1960s to 1984[3]
1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) shoulder sleeve insignia, worn by all 1st SFC(A) units
U.S. Special Forces Groups
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3rd Special Forces Group

The 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) (1st SFG) (A) is a unit of the U.S. Army Special Forces operating under the United States Pacific Command. It is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions throughout the Indo-Pacific Command area of operations: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, information operations, counterproliferation of weapon of mass destruction, and security force assistance.[4][5][6]

Unit history

[edit]
1st SFG(A) operators instructing Pa Wai Airborne soldiers at Thailand in 1998.[7]
A 1st SFG(A) operator from the 1st Battalion armed with a SOPMOD Block II variant M4A1 carbine with other nation's Special Operations Forces (SOF) include 3 JSDF's SBU operators disembark from an MH-60S helicopter to take up fighting positions during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

The 1st Special Forces Group is responsible for operations in the Pacific. Currently, the First Battalion is stationed at Okinawa while the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and Group Support Battalions are stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.[7][8]

1st Special Forces Group's history began at Fort Bragg, NC, in 1955. Four Special Forces Operational Detachments - the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th - were selected from the 77th Special Forces Group and transferred to the Pacific theater over the next year. 1st Special Forces Group was officially activated at Fort Buckner, Okinawa, on 24 June 1957, with LTC A. Scott Madding as commander and MSG Robert L. Voss as the sergeant major. The 1st Special Forces Group holds the distinction of having the first and last Special Forces soldiers killed in Vietnam: Captain Harry Cramer killed 21 October 1957, and Captain Richard M. Rees killed 15 December 1973. Decades later, another 1st Special Forces Group soldier became the first American to die by hostile fire in Afghanistan: Sergeant First Class Nathan Chapman killed 2 January 2002.[9][10][11]

The 1st Special Forces Group on Okinawa was one of two Special Action Forces/Security Assistance Forces (SAF) built around Special Forces Groups. The other was built around the 8th Special Forces Group in Panama. SAF Asia[12] was flexible and 1st Group could task organize a detachment for any time of mission in the Pacific rim. During the Vietnam War, it sent teams to Vietnam for six-month temporary duty. It also ran Camp Hardy Combat Training Center in the Northern Training Area of Okinawa to train SF, Navy SEALs, and US Marines deploying to Vietnam. It also earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation for its work during the year 1973.[13]

Following the war in South Vietnam, and the withdrawal of American military forces from Southeast Asia, the emphasis on military actions shifted away from the Asia-Pacific region and focused more on Europe and NATO. Special Forces, which had grown to a total of seven groups in 1963, faced severe cuts in the peacetime army; as a result, 1st Group was inactivated 28 June 1974 at Ft. Bragg, NC. After a 10-year hiatus, the need for an Asian unconventional warfare force was recognized, and Alpha Company, 1st Battalion was reactivated at Fort Bragg on 15 March 1984. This company and the remainder of the 1st Battalion were assembled and deployed to Torii Station, Okinawa during the spring and summer of 1984. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, along with Headquarters and Service Company were officially reactivated 4 September 1984 at Fort Lewis, Washington.[14]

Brought back to life as part of overall growth in the support to U.S. strategic efforts in Asia, the unit focused on the Pacific Command area of operations but were routinely deployed out of Asia to support unified commanders throughout the world. Unit members supported theater security engagement within the PACOM area of operations, contingency operations in Haiti, Central Asia, and Bosnia. Operational Detachments "Alpha" deployed to Haiti to conduct Coalition Support Team missions in 1993–94 in support of U.S. Joint Task Force 190 and Multi-National Force operations supporting Operation Uphold Democracy. Additional ODAs conducted Humanitarian Demining Operations in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam earning Humanitarian Service Medals for their efforts in both Laos and Thailand. Elements from the 1st SFG (A) conducted training with military units from newly created states from the former Soviet Union that supported the development of the Central Asian Battalion (CENTRASBAT), a regional peace-keeping force in the mid-1990s.[15] By the end of the millennium, 1st SFG (A) soldiers had deployed for the Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina.[citation needed]

Following the 11 September attacks, members of the 1st SFG (A) deployed to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and sustained back-to-back battalion rotations to the Philippines. Starting in February 2002, elements of the 1st SFG (A) deployed to conduct unconventional warfare in the Southern Philippines by and with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in order to assist the Government of the Philippines (GOP).[16]

Over the next three years, 1st SFG (A) members built an admirable record in the Philippines training six light infantry battalions, three light reaction companies from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), treating over 31,000 Filipinos in MEDCAP events, helping to professionalize the AFP, and providing operations and intelligence fusion teams to actively assist the AFP in targeting terrorist cells. Throughout 2003–2004, the 1st SFG (A) deployed many soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively. By November 2004 the unit deployed an entire battalion to Afghanistan as part of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force- Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A).[17]

Today, 1st SFG (A) supported the Global War on Terrorism with operations in the Philippines, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as maintaining US security relationships with partner nations throughout the Pacific until 2021.[18]

Lineage

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Constituted 5 July 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, First Regiment, First Special Service Force, a combined Canadian-American organization

Activated 9 July 1942 at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana.[19]

Disbanded 5 December 1945 in Menton, France

Reconstituted 15 April 1960 in the Regular army. concurrently consolidated with Company B, 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion (activated 19 June 1942), and consolidated unit re-designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces

Consolidated 30 September 1960 with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group (constituted 14 June 1957 in the Regular Army and activated 24 June 1957 in Japan), and consolidated unit designated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces (organic units concurrently constituted and activated 4 October 1960)

Group inactivated 28 June 1974 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Activated 4 September 1984 at Fort Lewis, Washington

(Former Company B, 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion, withdrawn 3 February 1986, consolidated with Company N, 75th Infantry, and consolidated unit re-designated as Company N, 75th Ranger Regiment – hereafter separate lineage)

Organization

[edit]
Current structure of the 1st SFG(A)


Campaign participation credit

[edit]

* signifies Earned Credit

World War II: Aleutian Islands*, Naples-Foggia*, Anzio*, Rome-Arno*, Southern France (with arrowhead)*, Rhineland*

Decorations

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "INDIGENOUS APPROACH PODCAST: 1ST SPECIAL FORCES GROUP - PREFERRED PARTNERS IN INDOPACOM". Small Wars Journal.
  2. ^ Sisk, Richard (26 August 2016). "Green Beret Killed by IED Was on Patrol with Afghan Special Forces". Military.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022.
  3. ^ Rottman, Gordon L. (2012). US Army Special Forces, 1952-84. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1782004462. OCLC 813846700. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  4. ^ "ARSOF Fact Book 2018". United States Army Special Operations Command. 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021.
  5. ^ "1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)". GlobalSecurity.org. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Interview U.S. Army General Tommy Franks". Campaign Against Terror. PBS. Frontline. 8 September 2002. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b Hocker, Kayla (9 December 2020). "1st SFG (A) celebrates the legacy of elite forces during Menton Week". Army.mil. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022.
  8. ^ "1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)". United States Army Special Operations Command. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
  9. ^ Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (17 April 2016). "After 13 years, CIA honors Green Beret killed on secret Afghanistan mission". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020.
  10. ^ Piasecki, Eugene G. (2009). "Training the Trainers: Donald D. Blackburn and the 77th Special Forces Group (Airborne)". Veritas. Vol. 5, no. 1. ISSN 1553-9830. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021.
  11. ^ Briscoe, Charles H. (2008). "Sidebar: 8th Special Forces Group". Veritas. Vol. 4, no. 1. ISSN 1553-9830. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021.
  12. ^ Piasecki, Eugene G. (2017). "Special Action Force Asia". Veritas. Vol. 13, no. 1. ISSN 1553-9830. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022.
  13. ^ Bowery Jr., Charles H. (7 January 2019). "Lineage and Honors 1st Special Forces Group 1st Special Forces Regiment". US Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021.
  14. ^ Jacobson, Jake. "1st Special Forces Group". Special Forces Association Chapter 78. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021.
  15. ^ "1st SFG (A) History". United States Army Special Operations Command. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
  16. ^ "All About the 1st Special Forces Group". Our Military. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021.
  17. ^ Loveluck, Louisa (7 April 2021). "U.S. and Iraq conclude talks on troop presence". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Special Forces Soldiers Reinforce Arctic Combat Skills". Army.mil. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021.
  19. ^ "First Special Service Force". Army History. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Lineage and Honors 1st Special Force Group. United States Army Center of Military History.

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