The primary mission of the 8th Special Forces Group (Airborne) [(SFG (A)] was counter-insurgency training for the armies of Latin America.

Upon their arrival, the basic organization of the Special Action Force (SAF) was completed and Lieutenant Colonel Sawyer assumed command.

The legendary Lieutenant Colonel Arthur D. Simons, aka "Bull", then took command of Company D, 7th SFG (A) 18 January 1963 and LTC Sawyer became the Executive Officer.

In addition to the two line Special Forces companies, the SAF included the 9th Psychological Warfare Company (ABN), predecessor unit of the US Army's present-day 9th Psychological Operations Battalion (ABN), the 146th Engineer, 255th Medical, 550th Military Police, 3rd Civil Affairs (CA), 610th Military Intelligence, and the 401st Army Security Agency (ASA) Special Operations detachments.

The team trained at the abandoned airstrip at Rio Hato, Panama, and conducted the first HALO school outside of Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, at Fort Gulick, Canal Zone, in the late 1960s and 70s.

[11][12] Prior to that time, MTTs from the 8th Special Forces Group trained counter-insurgent units in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador that killed three of Che Guevara's best friends and Lieutenants that he had personally dispatched to those three nations to foment revolutions.

[1] MTTs were sent to Argentina from 1962 to 1970 to provide training in recoilless rifles to their army, road construction/maintenance, logistics, as well as English language skills.

Additionally, he assumed the responsibilities of carrying on the traditions of his 8th Special Forces Group (Airborne) predecessors and set the standard for other commanders to follow.