5th Special Forces Group (United States)

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (5th SFG (A), 5th Group) is one of the most decorated active duty United States Army Special Forces groups. The 5th SFG (A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War and played a pivotal role in the early months of Operation Enduring Freedom. 5th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: 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., USASOC official website, dated 2018, last accessed 28 July 2019

As of 2016, the 5th SFG (A) was primarily responsible for operations within the CENTCOM area of responsibility as part of Special Operations Command, Central (SOCCENT). The group specializes in operations in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa. The 5th SFG (A) and two of its battalions spend roughly six months out of every 12 deployed to Iraq as Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula.

History Unit lineage

The 5th SFG (A) traces its lineage to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st Special Service Force, a combined Canadian-American organization that was constituted on 5 July 1942 and activated four days later on 9 July at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana. The 1st Special Service Force disbanded on 5 December 1944 in Villeneuve-Loubet, France.

5th Group was constituted on 15 April 1960, concurrently consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion (activated 1 September 1943). The consolidated unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Organic elements were constituted on 8 September 1961. 5th Group was reactivated 21 September 1961 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

On 1 October 2005, the unit was redesignated as the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Regiment.The United States Army Center of Military History, Force Structure and Unit History Branch, Lineage and Honors Information

Cold War Vietnam War

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began activating special forces units, including 5th Special Forces Group, to fight the growing Viet Cong insurgency.Kelly, 5–6 The 5th SFG was first deployed as a battlefield advisory group for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). In 1964, the Group hired Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian producers to make fatigues, boonie hats, and other items of Tigerstripe fabric. By February 1965, the war was in full swing and the Group was deployed as a mainstay battle force using unconventional and conventional warfare.

From 1961 to 1963, the group wore a black flash bordered in white, designed primarily to provide visibility against the Green Beret. The group's personnel in Vietnam adopted a variant flash, which added diagonal yellow stripe with three narrow red over-stripes to the existing black background and white border. This version was worn from 1963 to 1970. These colors symbolize the 1st and 7th SFG soldiers who served under 5th SFG during the Vietnam War. From 1970 to 1985, the variant flash was adopted by the entire Group, rather than just those serving in Vietnam. The unit's flash reverted to the plain black version on 16 January 1985. On 23 March 2016, the 5th Special Forces Group once more changed over to the Vietnam-era flash.

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was unique in the Vietnam War for its heavy usage of watercraft, particularly Hurricane Aircat airboats. It launched a wide-ranging campaign against Viet Cong forces in the Mekong Delta in July 1967. Conducted with the South Vietnamese Army, civilian irregulars, and the U.S. Navy and Air Force, the campaign was built around the use of some 400 watercraft, including 84 airboats, as well as helicopters, Navy warships, and civilian vessels.Kelly, 1973, 97 The extensive naval operations required an overhaul in tactics to allow the 5th Special Forces Group to best employ the speed and firepower of the Aircat airboats. When used with armed helicopters, Patrol Air Cushion Vehicle hovercraft, and support from Air Force reconnaissance planes, Navy river patrol boats, and artillery, these watercraft enabled "telling victories over the Viet Cong" and turned the flood season into a tactical advantage for the United States.Kelly, 1973, 108 The use of watercraft, increases in troop strength, and introduction of other tactics—deploying more soldiers to Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) bases, distributing improved handbooks to commissioned and non-commissioned officers, etc.— allowed the 5th Special Warfare Group to take the fight to the enemy, capturing large swaths of territory in the Delta, making the 50 percent of the territory and CIDG bases that were previously too overrun with Viet Cong to enter safe enough to operate in, and mounting operations and establishing CIDG bases deep in Viet Cong territory. These gains were not without cost, however: 55 Special Forces and 1,654 Vietnamese were killed during 1967, as well as an estimated 7,000 Viet Cong.Kelly, 1973, 108–110

The June 1969 killing of suspected double agent Thai Khac Chuyen, and the attempt to cover it up, led to the arrest in July of seven officers and one non-commissioned officer of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) including the new commander, Colonel Robert B. Rheault in what became known as the "Green Beret Affair". Chuyen was working with the 5th on Project GAMMA when the Green Berets learned he might be a double agent. He underwent about ten days of rigorous interrogation and solitary confinement before he was shot and dumped into the sea. National newspapers and television picked up the story, which became another lightning rod for anti-war feeling. Finally, in September 1969, Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announced that all charges would be dropped since the CIA, which may have had some involvement, refused to make its personnel available as witnesses.

In April 1970, 5th SFG began reducing its number of personnel in Vietnam. Later in November and December, further reductions in personnel and extraction of companies ensued, ending in a complete withdrawal of the group by March. On 5 March 1971, 5th SFG returned to Fort Bragg. The 6th SFG at Fort Bragg was reflagged as the 5th SFG with the transfer of colors. Personnel and equipment were not transferred. Sixteen Soldiers assigned to or administratively assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during the Vietnam War were awarded the Medal of Honor; making 5th Group the most prominently decorated unit for its size in that conflict. Members of the unit continued to conduct intelligence operations in Southeast Asia until the collapse of the South Vietnamese government on 29 April 1975. Soldiers of the 5th were some of the last U.S. troops pulled out of Vietnam.

The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was a joint unconventional warfare task force created by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a subsidiary command of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV). The unit would eventually consist primarily of personnel from the United States Army Special Forces. Others assigned to MACV-SOG came from the United States Navy SEALs, the United States Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Activities Division, and elements of the United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance units. The Studies and Observations Group was in fact controlled and missioned by the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities (SACSA) and his staff at the Pentagon. After 1967 the HQ 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), provided administrative support to MACV-SOG Special Forces soldiers in Vietnam.

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was headquartered at Fort Bragg until 10 June 1988, when the Group colors were cased at a ceremony marking its departure.

Move to Fort Campbell In the mid-1980s, the Army decided to move 5th Group from Fort Bragg. The original destination was Fort Bliss, Texas, because of its ideal training environment. In 1986, the Chief of Staff of the Army decided that the training environment should not be the principal factor in determining where to move the Group. He requested another analysis that considered such factors as total cost, military construction cost, and the impact of unit moves and activations on post populations. After this analysis, he decided to move the Group to Fort Campbell by the end of 1988. The Secretary of the Army approved the plan.

The colors were uncased on 16 June 1988 at the unit's new home at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, by Maj. Gen. Teddy G. Allen, Commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Col. (now MG ret.) Harley C. Davis, Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne); and Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Dennison.

Late Cold War

In 1989, Operation Salam established United Nations demining training camps for Afghans at Risalpur and Quetta in Pakistan. By 1995, these camps trained 17,055 mine-clearance personnel. Operation Salam also aimed to help Afghan refugees identify mines and undertake due precautions.

5th Group soldiers who participated in this operation received the United Nations Special Service Medal (UNSSM) for service with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA).

Persian Gulf War Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) added to its combat history during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In August 1990 the group was called upon to conduct operations in Southwest Asia in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. During this crisis, the Army's First Special Operations Task Force consisting of elements of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), comprising 106 special operations teams, performed a wide variety of missions. These spanned a wide scope of operations, including support to coalition warfare; conducting foreign internal defense missions with the Saudi Arabian Army; performing special reconnaissance, border surveillance, direct action, combat search and rescue missions; and advising and assisting a pan-Arab equivalent force larger than six U.S. divisions; as well as conducting civil-military operations training and liaison with the Kuwaitis. The border surveillance mission assigned the 5th Special Forces was key to providing actionable intelligence to the US and Pan-Arab Forces. New military relationships were forged between the U.S. and the Arab states.

General Norman Schwarzkopf described the Special Forces as "the eyes and ears" of the conventional forces and the "glue that held the coalition together."

During the period of 2 August 1990 – 30 November 1995, selected unnamed members were awarded the Southwest Asia Service Medal, Saudi Arabia Kuwait Liberation Medal, Kuwaiti Kuwait Liberation Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Valorous Unit Award reference General Orders 14.

Operations Restore Hope and United Shield

On 3 December 1992, U.N. Security Resolution 794 authorized the U.S. led intervention "to use all necessary means to establish a secure environment for humanitarian relief operations in Somalia as soon as possible." Select members of the unit were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the United Nations Medal.

Global war on terrorism War in Afghanistan

After 11 September attacks, the U.S. government acted quickly. The following day, President Bush called the attacks more than just "acts of terror" but "acts of war" and resolved to pursue and conquer an "enemy" that would no longer be safe in "its harbors". 12 September 2001 By 13 September 2001, the 5th Special Forces Group was ordered to stand up a forward headquarters to conduct operations in Afghanistan.