United States Army Special Forces

"On November 27, 1990, the US Army lst Special Operations Command 
was redesignated the US Army Special Forces Command (Airborne). 
Its mission is to train, validate, and prepare Special Forces 
units to deploy and execute operational requirements for the 
warfighting commanders. HQ:Ft Bragg, NC

Mission
Special Forces soldiers are carefully selected, specially trained, 
and capable of extended operations in extremely remote and hostile 
territory. They train to perform five doctrinal missions: 

Foreign Internal Defense
Unconventional Warfare
Special Reconnaissance
Direct Action
Combating Terrorism


While Special Forces soldiers are capable of performing all of 
these missions, an increasing emphasis is being placed on FID 
and coalition warfare/support. FID operations are designed 
to help friendly developing nations by working with host 
country military and paramilitary forces to improve their 
technical skills, understanding of human rights issues, and 
to help with humanitarian and civic action projects.

A new collateral task that has emerged as a result of 
Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm is Coalition Support. 
Coalition warfare/support draws upon the Special Forces soldier's 
maturity, military skills, language skills, and cultural awareness. 
It ensures the ability of a wide variety of foreign troops to work 
together effectively in a wide variety of military exercises or 
operations such as Operation Desert Storm.


Personnel
In addition to the individual skills 
of operations and intelligence, 
communications, medical aid, 
engineering, and weapons, each Special 
Forces soldier is taught to train, 
advise, and assist host nation 
military or paramilitary forces. 
Special Forces soldiers are highly 
skilled operators, trainers, and teachers. 
Area-oriented, these soldiers are specially 
trained in their area's native language 
and culture.

Organization
Special Forces Command exercises command and 
control over five active component groups. 
Additionally, it exercises training oversight 
of two Army National Guard groups.

1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Fort Lewis, Wash.
One battalion in Okinawa, Japan

3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) Fort Bragg, N.C.

5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Fort Campbell, Ky.

7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Fort Bragg, N.C.

10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Fort Carson, Colo.
One battalion in Stuttgart, Germany

19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Draper, Utah

20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Birmingham, Ala.

Each Special Forces Group is regionally oriented 
to support one of the warfighting area commanders.

USASFCOM Map

SPECIAL FORCES GROUP (AIRBORNE)
Organization
The Special Forces Group (Airborne) is comprised of one 
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 
one Support Company, 
and three Special Forces Battalions. 

The HHC consists of 28 officers, 3 warrant officers, 
and 58 enlisted soldiers. The SPT CO consists of 
13 officers, 12 warrant officers, and 151 enlisted 
soldiers. Each SF BN consists of 39 officers, 
24 warrant officers, and 320 enlisted soldiers.

Organization Indepth: From Group Support Company

to Operational Detachment (Airborne)

Mission
To plan and support special operations in any operational 
environment in peace, conflict, and war as directed by 
the National Command Authorities.
Capabilities
C2 and Support Elements:
Function as the Army component of a JSOTF or ARSOTF 
when augmented by resources from other services.
Establish, operate, and support an SFOB and three FOBs.
Provide up to three C2 elements (SFODs B) to supported 
conventional headquarters.
Train and prepare operational elements for deployment.
Operational Elements:
Infiltrate and exfiltrate specified operational areas 
by air, land, and sea.
 Air Infiltration (Parachute)



Special Forces Groups Airborne, Special Forces Battalions, 
Operational Detachment Charlie (ODC) Special Forces Companies, 
Operational Detachment Bravo (ODB), 
and Operational Detachment Alpha's (ODA) are static line 
parachute qualified. During training, cloud ceilings of
less than 800ft above ground level (AGL) or winds in excess 
of 13 knots prevent static infiltrations without a waiver. 
Static line operations can not be conducted at altitudes 
greater than 10,000 feet AGL. (HALO/HAHO) Three ODAs per 
SFG can infiltrate by Military freefall 
High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) or 
High Altitude High Opening (HAHO). 
HALO/HAHO operations cannot be conducted in ceilings 
lower than 500 feet AGL. HALO/HAHO operations  cannot 
be conducted at altitudes greater than 36,000 feet AGL 
in combat operations without a waiver. Training safety 
requirements dictate ground visibility and winds less 
than 18 knots for HALO/HAHO operations.

Air Infiltration (Fixed and Rotary Wing Aircraft)
Non-Parachute

ODC, ODB, and ODA personnel and equipment can infiltrate 
via fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Specific infiltration 
techniques include air, land, rappel, and fast rope. 
Capabilities are only limited by aircraft requirements 
and landing site availability. 

Water Infiltration/Exfiltration

All water infiltration techniques may be initiated 
from surface or sub-surface mother craft, dropped by 
parachute from fixed wing aircraft, or delivered by 
rotary wing aircraft. Three ODAs per SFG can infiltrate 
or exfiltrate using closed circuit breathing equipment. 
Three ODAs per SFG are capable of utilizing open circuit 
breathing equipment for non-tactical applications 
(i.e., ship bottom searches and recovery operations). 
Nine ODAs per SFG are trained to infiltrate/exfiltrate 
by combat rubber raiding craft. Twelve ODAs per 
SFG can infiltrate/exfiltrate by surface swim techniques. 
All surface swim operations are limited to sea states not 
to exceed 3 foot chop and 4 foot swell. Surface swim 
operations will not be conducted against currents in 
excess of 1 knot.

Land Infiltration/Exfiltration

54 ODAs and 9 Support Operations Team Alpha 
per SFG can infiltrate/exfiltrate an operational area 
by foot. Foot movement limiting factors include terrain, 
water availability, enemy presence and soldier load. 
Tactical foot movement distance is limited to 0.5-6 
kilometers per hour based on terrain, vegetation and weather. 
9 ODAs assigned to the 10 th and 1st SFG, 7 ODAs assigned 
to the 3rd and 7th SFG and 6 ODAs from the 5th SFG can 
infiltrate using High Altitude/Technical Mountain techniques. 
36 ODAs from the 10th SFG & 36 ODAs from the 1st SFG can 
infiltrate using ski techniques and 
Mobile Over Snow Transports. 54 ODAs assigned to the 
5th SFG and 18 ODAs assigned to the 3rd SFG are trained and 
equipped to infiltrate/exfiltrate by Ground Mobility 
Vehicles. 

Land mobility by GMV is limited to approximately a 150 
mile radius with full combat load without resupply. 
Conduct operations in remote and denied areas for extended 
periods of time with little external direction and support.
Develop, organize, equip, train, and advise or direct 
indigenous military and paramilitary forces.
Plan and conduct unilateral SF operations.
Train, advise, and assist US and allied forces or agencies.
Perform other special operations as directed by the NCA 
or a unified commander.

The group headquarters commands and controls assigned and 
attached forces: Plans, coordinates, and directs SF operations 
separately or as part of a larger force.
Trains and prepares SF teams for deployment.
Provides command and staff personnel to establish and operate an SFOB.
Provides advice, coordination, and staff assistance on the employment of 
SF elements to joint SOC, JSOTF, security assistance organization, 
or other major headquarters.
Provides cryptomaterial support to the SFOB and its deployed SF teams.

Special Forces Operational Detachment-D

Publicly known as the "Delta Force", this highly secretive 
unit is composed of the most experienced, skilled, and 
motivated Special Forces soldiers. Their missions are counter-
terrorism, hostage rescue, counter nuclear-prolifiration, and 
sensitive direct action.This unit came about after Col. Charles 
Beckwith returned from a year duty with the United Kingdom 
Special Air Service on an Allied Officer exchange program. He 
was one of a few Allied officers that were publicly accepted as 
fully meeting their stringent standards. He had to convince the 
Department of the Army that there existed a need for this 
specialized unit and justify the cost of their training and 
special equiptment. Finally, he received permission to form the 
Delta Force at a remote area of Eglin AFB, FL. All members 
receive training at specialized schools in all of the services. 
They work closely with the U. S. Navy SEALs and other Allied 
counter-terrorism units world-wide.

Special Forces Detachment - Korea
SFDK has been deployed on a Foreign Internal Defense mission since 
1961, and remains deployed to present.  It is the longest standing 
deployed Special Forces Operational Detachment (Abn) in the history 
of the US Army Special Forces.

UNCLASSIFIED OPERATIONS
DATES	OPERATION	LOCATION
1952 - 1989	Cold War	Eastern Europe
1952 - 1953	Direct Action	North Korea
1952 - 1958	Counter-Insurgency	Tibet
1957 - 1975	Counter- Insurgency	Southeast Asia
1958 - 1959	Counter- Insurgency	Indonesia
1960 - 1961	Insurgency	Cuba
1960 - 1975	Insurgency	laos
1961 - 1964	Insurgency	North Vietnam
1967 - 1968	Counter- Insurgency	Bolivia
1970	Son Tay Raid	North Vietnam
1970	Counter- Insurgency	Angola
1980	Incursion	Iran
1980 - 1988	Insurgency	Afghanistan
1980 - 1989	Insurgency	Nicaragua
1982 - 1993	Counter- Insurgency	El Salvador
1989	Just Cause	Panama
1990	Desert Shield	Kuwait-Iraq
1991	Desert Storm	Iraq-Kuwait
1991 - 1996	Provide Comfort	Northern Iraq
1992	Restore Hope	Somilia
1994	Uphold Democracy	Haiti
1994 - Present	UN Charter	Bosnia
1999	Op Allied Force	Kosovo
2001-Present	Enduring Freedom	Afghanistan
2003-Present	Iraqi Freedom	Iraq

LOCATIONS
1st Training SFGA Ft. Bragg, NC Operational Area World-wide	1st SFGA Ft Lewis, WA 1st Bn. Torii Station, Okinawa, Japan Operational Area: East Asia-Pacific	3rd SFGA Ft. Bragg, NC Operational Area: Sub-Saharan Africa	5th SFGA Ft. Campbell, KY Operational Area: SW Asia-NE Africa
7th SFGA Ft. Bragg, NC Operational Area: Latin America	10th SFGA Ft. Carson, CO 1st Bn. Bad Toelz, Germany Operational Area: Europe-Mediterrian	19th SFGA ARNG Camp Williams, UT Operational Area: Latin America	20th SFGA ARNG Birmingham, AL Operational Area: European Theatre

Special Operational Detachment-D (Delta Force)

History of the Special Forces Green Beret

U.S ARMY SPECIAL FORCES COMMAND (AIRBORNE)

Mission

Personnel

Organization

SPECIAL FORCES GROUP (AIRBORNE)

Organization

Mission

Capabilities

Air Infiltration (Parachute)

Air Infiltration (Fixed and Rotary Wing Aircraft) Non-Parachute

Water Infiltration/Exfiltration

Land Infiltration/Exfiltration

Special Forces Operational Detachment-D

Special Forces Detachment - Korea