History of the United States Army Special Forces
During the Korean War, individuals such as former Philippine guerrilla commanders Col. Wendell Fertig and Lt. Col. Russell W. Volckmann used their wartime experience to formulate the doctrine of unconventional warfare that became the cornerstone of the Special Forces.
Some of the Office of Strategic Services were similar in terms of the mission with the original U.S. Army Special Forces function, unconventional warfare (UW), acting as cadre to train and lead guerrillas in occupied countries.
The "Green Beret Affair": U. S. Special Forces received a severe damage to its reputation when in July 1969 Colonel Robert Rheault, Commander of 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), six subordinate military intelligence officers, attached to MACVSOG's Project GAMMA Operational Detachment B-57 including his headquarters staff intelligence officer, and a sergeant first class (SFC) were arrested for the murder[20][25][26] of Thai Khac Chuyen, a suspected North Vietnamese double agent.
In September 1969 Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announced that all charges would be dropped since the CIA, in the interests of national security, had refused to make its personnel available as witnesses; implying some sort of involvement.
[32] Immediately after the September 11 attack on the United States, President George W. Bush instructed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to come up with a plan to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan who harbored Al Qaeda.
[38][39][40] On 20 October 2001, an element of ODA 595 guided in the first JDAM bomb from a B-52, impressing General Dostum and his Northern Alliance forces who soon used it for Psychological warfare – taunted the Taliban over their radio frequencies.
Already demoralized from the lack of air support TF Hammer were raked with mortar fire from al-Qaeda fighters that had been registered in advance of the operation, causing the Afghan militia to suffer over 40 casualties.
[34]: 54, 83, 86, 92 [32] Until the arrival of General Stanley McChrystal in 2009, counterinsurgency was focused on Direct Action against insurgents on a localised level and often led by Green Beret teams, who were also recruiting and training Afghan Militia Forces to provide security in their area of operations.
[34]: 139, 144 On January 25, 2008, a small element of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers led by SSG Robert James Miller was conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol through the Gowardesh Valley, Kunar Province, when they engaged a force of 15–20 insurgents occupying prepared fighting positions.
After approximately three hours of searching, they were unable to locate their target, so they began to withdraw from the village; it was at that time that they lost their aerial reconnaissance assets, which were pulled away to assist coalition forces in other parts of the country.
[48] Green Berets have also been assisting Afghan forces in Helmand Province, where on the January 5, 2016, during a major operation aimed at reclaiming territory held by the Taliban, Staff Seargent Matthew McClintock of A Company, 1st Battalion, 19th SFG was killed by small arms fire during an hours long battle in the Marjah district.
[55] On October 17, DEA agents, supported by a US Army Green Beret A-team and Afghan counter-narcotic units conducted a warranted search in a remote village in Farah province.
After a brief gunfight with insurgents near the compound outside the remote village, they discovered a "superlab" belonging to the Hadimama drug trafficking network that was led by two suspected Taliban commanders and facilitators.
A Kunduz provincial police spokesman said that as of Friday morning (November 4), there were 24 civilian fatalities, including women and children, as many as 10 others were injured during the operation, which occurred in the village of Buze Kandahari, a Taliban-dominated area.
From February to July 2002, 10 ODAs and 3 ODBs (Operational Detachment Bravos) of 1st SFG provided training, advice, and assistance to 15 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Infantry Battalions.
[59] On 2 October 2002, a bombing at an open-air market outside the gate of Camp Enrile Malagutay in Zamboanga City killed a U.S. Special Forces soldier from A Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st SFG.
ODAs from 1st Battalion of 1st SFG also assisted in the design of a Joint Special Operations Group (JSOG), including AFP air force rotary wing lift assets.
Based on a PACOM assessment recommending such a deployment, the Secretary of Defense approved a second iteration of OEF-P to combat terrorism in the Southern Command Area of Responsibility, specifically on Sulu.
From October 2005 to July 2006, JSOTF-P units assisted Task Force (TF) Comet-the AFP command on Sulu-in setting conditions to deny terrorist sanctuary.
ODAs advised their partner army and marine infantry battalions en route and area security to facilitate Filipino sponsored medical, veterinary, and engineer civilian action programs, along with various population engagement activities.
They were based in the Harir valley outside Irbil and tasked to develop ground truth intelligence while organising and training the Peshmerga; they were also there to monitor Ansar al-Islam and plan for a future operation against them.
[34]: 97–118, 170 Along with CIA/SAD officers, the Green Berets led one of the most successful campaigns in Iraq, particularly the 10th SFG along with its Kurdish allies defeated six Iraqi Army Divisions with limited air support and no SF soldiers were killed.
During May and June 2007, many Shia arrest operations were conducted by the British SAS and TF-17s Green Berets and Iraqi commandos led to Muqtada al-Sadr to initially flee to Iran, and in August he declared a Mahdi Army ceasefire with the coalition.
[34]: 304 In 2002, the United States created the Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI) which was aimed at counter-terrorism and enhancing regional peace and security in Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.
[70][71] In June 2005, the United States replaced the PSI[72] with the launch of the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI/TSCTP) for Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Nigeria,[70][73] with the support from the Department of Defense's Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (OEF-TS).
[75] The first test of the TSCTI, which "kicked off" the Saharan counterterrorism initiative was Flintlock 2005, lasted from 6–26 June 2005, and was designated by the Bush administration as the largest American military exercise in Africa since World War II.
[74] In April 2007, Green Berets went to Niger for the first part of Flintlock 2007; The TSCTP also involved smaller, regular training exercises conducted by US Army Special Forces personnel throughout the region.
In March 2017, NBC News reported that Green Berets have been ordered to "apprehend or remove" Joseph Kony, one of the world's most notorious warlords from the battlefield, along with his top commanders.
The cooperation between U.S. special forces and the UPDF has led to notable successes: In January 2015, Green Berets were present after Dominic Ongwen turned himself in to authorities; previously in October 2012, an Invisible Children, Inc. program that encourages defections from the group and the rehabilitation of former fighters and escaped abductees resulted in notable defections, including several bodyguards; the LRA's "chief intelligence officer" who walked for four days from Sudan into CAR, was handed over to the UPDF with U.S. special forces present.
[82] LtCol Matt Maybouer, the commander of the operation said that "U.S. soldiers are not engaged in direct combat;" Green Beret teams conducting patrols carryout zone reconnaissance: a coordinated search for recent LRA activity.
