| 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) | |
|---|---|
 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)Beret Flash | |
| Active | 19 June 1952 – present[1] |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Special Forces |
| Role | Primary tasks:
|
| Size | 4 battalions |
| Part of |  1st Special Forces Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Carson,Colorado |
| Motto | "De oppresso liber"[2] (to free the oppressed) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
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| Insignia | |
| Background trimming | _Flash.png) |
| 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, worn by all 1st SFC(A) units | .png) |
| Former 10th Special Forces Group Beret Badge, worn from 1955–1962[4] |  |
| Former 10th SFG(A) recognition bar, worn by non–special operations qualified soldiers in lieu of a beret flash fromc. 1960s–1984[5] |  |
| U.S. Special Forces Groups | ||||
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The10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active dutyUnited States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions:unconventional warfare (UW),foreign internal defense (FID),direct action (DA),counterinsurgency,special reconnaissance,counterterrorism,information operations,counter-proliferation ofweapon of mass destruction, andsecurity force assistance.[6] 10th Group is responsible for operations within theEUCOMarea of responsibility, as part ofSpecial Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).[7]
In 2009, as part of a newSOCOM directive, the group is now also responsible for operations within theAFRICOM area of responsibility.[8] 10th SFG(A) was deployed toSaudi Arabia in 1991 during theFirst Persian Gulf War, and has been heavily involved in thewar on terrorism, deploying toGeorgia,North Africa,Afghanistan, and consistently toIraq.
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) was activated on 19 May 1952 and 10th SFG was activated on 19 June 1952, atFort Bragg, North Carolina, under the command of ColonelAaron Bank.[1][9]
The first Special Forces Course graduated in 1952 and the Group grew to 1,700 personnel. In September 1953, 782 members of the Group deployed to Germany and established the Group headquarters atLenggries in Bavaria. An additional 99 personnel deployed to Korea where they were assigned to the 8240th Army Unit which was training anti-Communist North Korean partisans on the off-shore islands. The remaining personnel stayed at Fort Bragg where they formed the77th Special Forces Group (redesignated as the 7th SFG in 1960).[1][10] In 1968, the majority of the unit transferred toFort Devens,Massachusetts, with the exception of 1st Battalion, which remained in Germany. Between 1994 and 1995, 10th SFG(A) moved toFort Carson,Colorado, which remains its current home.
10th Group began training withunconventional warfare groups from friendly countries in the 1960s, beginning withNATO allies. The group has also trained various components of the militaries of severalMiddle Eastern countries, includingLebanon,Jordan,Yemen,Iran, as well asKurdish tribesmen. Units of the 10th SFG(A) have participated inhumanitarian missions to theCongo,Somalia, andRwanda.
In 1950, theLodge Act was passed, which provided for the recruiting of foreign nationals into the United States military. It was originally planned that half of the members of the Special Forces would be native Europeans. Many of the initial members of the 10th SFG (A) were Lodge Act recruits, who were strenuously anti-Communist.[11] Among the more notable of these men was MajorLarry Thorne, a formerFinnish Army soldier andWaffen-SS veteran who was awarded theMannerheim Cross duringWorld War II.[9]
The 10th SFG (A) was constituted 19 May 1952 and activated on 11 June 1952, atFort Bragg, North Carolina, under the command of ColonelAaron Bank.[9] The group was split in 1953, with one half being sent to Germany, while the other half remained at Fort Bragg to form the core of the77th Special Forces Group (redesignated as the 7th SFG in 1960).[10] By the end of June 1952, the group had 122 officers and men assigned.[9] Many had beenOSS,Ranger, andAirborne troopers during World War II. The group's mission was to conduct partisan warfare behind Soviet lines in the event of a Soviet invasion of Europe.[12]
On 10 November 1953, the 10th SFG (A) was split in half, with one half deployed toBad Tölz andLenggries inWest Germany, and the other remaining in Fort Bragg to become the 77th Special Forces Group (which in 1960 became the7th Special Forces Group).[12] The green beret was authorized for wear by Col. William E. Ekman, the group commander, in 1954, and it became group policy. By 1955, every soldier in the unit wore a green beret as part of the uniform. However, the Department of the Army (DA) did not recognize the beret as headgear. The DA banned the wear of the beret, but in 1961 it was restored by PresidentKennedy, a major champion of the Special Forces.[13] The 10th Group encountered publicity for the first time in 1955 whenThe New York Times published two articles about the unit, describing them as a "liberation" force designed to fight behind enemy lines. Pictures showed soldiers of the group wearing their berets, with their faces blacked out to conceal their identities.[9]
The A-teams of 10th Group began exchange training with unconventional forces in friendly countries, including United Kingdom, Germany, France, Norway, Spain, Italy, and Greece.[9] In the summer of 1960, 10th Group deployed to thenewly independentCongo, to evacuate Americans and Europeans toLeopoldville, where there would be a larger evacuation, led by Belgian paratroopers. The group evacuated 239 civilians without a single casualty in only nine days.[9]
As the United States became increasingly involved in Vietnam, counter-insurgency became the primary focus of the Special Forces, rather than the traditional unconventional warfare. While the 10th SFG(A) was never deployed to Vietnam, the soldiers and officers assigned to it did rotate through the country as part of different special forces groups.[14]During the Vietnam War, detachments of 10th Group began training Middle Eastern special warfare forces. In Jordan, B Detachment established the first airborne school, and King Hussein attended the graduation parachute jump.[14] In 1963, Company C of 10th Group trained 350 officers andNCOs of a guerrilla force fighting the socialist government in Yemen.[14] Detachments also traveled to Iran to train the Iranian Special Forces, along with Kurdish tribesmen in the mountains of Iran.[14] A-Teams also trained Turkish andPakistani special forces.[14] In 1968, 10th Group, minus the 1st Battalion, was transferred toFort Devens, Massachusetts. 1st Battalion remained in Bad Tölz, Germany.[citation needed]
Following the military cuts after the end of the Vietnam War, operational deployments decreased in both number and frequency. However 10th Group still deployed frequently to Europe to train withNATO allies.[9] From 11 May 1983 to 25 October 1985, 10th Group deployed 17 Mobile Training Teams (MTT) to Lebanon, to support the Lebanese Army. The teams created a training program for over 5,000 officers, NCOs, and soldiers, which included basic training sites, unit training, unit combined arms live fire training, and urban live fire training. Theentry of the Syrian Army into Lebanon ended the program prematurely.[9] An MTT from the 1st Battalion, Bad Tölz, Germany deployed toSomalia for four months to conduct disaster relief operations in June 1985. In 1986, a detachment of 10th Group trained the nucleus of the Nigerian Airborne forces.[9]
The 10th Group was the leading force behind the development of theM25sniper rifle in the late 1980s, at Fort Devens. The rifle is an improvement on the previousM21 sniper rifle, itself a modification of theM14 semi-automatic rifle. During this era the 10th Group acted as the annual training (AT) host for its sister unit in the Army Reserve, the 11th Group. ATs would typically take place during the summer months. As part of its AT support, the 10th Group ran a two-week Basic Airborne course for new 11th Group personnel who were not yet Airborne qualified. The 10th also ran a two-week jumpmaster course for 11th Group personnel. Typically the 10th would run an Airborne course one year and a jumpmaster course during the next. For example, the 10th ran a Basic Airborne course for 11th Group personnel in July 1978 and a jumpmaster course in July 1979. In addition to 11th Group personnel, the 10th sent its own support personnel through its in-house Airborne course, and members of the ARNG's20th Group were known to attend as well.
Following the Iraqiinvasion of Kuwait, an MTT deployed to Kuwait to train theSaudi Arabian National Guard. During theBattle of Khafji, the MTT accompanied the SANG forces into battle, coordinated troop movements, called in airstrikes, and assisted with artillery fire support. Other elements of 10th Group deployed to southeast Turkey in support of operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. TheBoston Herald reported: "The 10th Special Forces Group's penchant for secrecy is so exacting the base publicist didn't know the unit had gone to war until they were on their way home from Operation Desert Storm."[15] Following the end of the Gulf War,Saddam Hussein turned his attention to Iraq's Kurdish minority, causing over half of a million Kurds to flee into the mountains on the Turkish-Iraqi border. Under the leadership of Colonel William Tangney, all three battalions of 10th Group were deployed to the area forOperation Provide Comfort, a UN humanitarian effort. 10th Group coordinated the ground relief effort, and was credited byGeneral Galvin, theEUCOM commander, as having "saved half a million Kurds from extinction".[9]
DuringOperation Restore Hope, 10th Group deployed a Coalition Support Team to support the1st Belgian Para-Commando Battalion. In addition to supporting the Para-Commando unit, the CST assisted the10th Mountain Division, and provided security for meetings with Somali leaders. Following theethnic conflict in Rwanda, 10th Group deployed toEntebbe airfield, Uganda where they assisted displaced persons in returning to their homes.[9]
On 2 September 1994, 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG(A) transferred toFort Carson,Colorado, followed by 3rd Battalion on 20 July 1995. The group headquarters moved to Fort Carson on 15 September 1995, ending a 27-year presence in Massachusetts.[7] Affiliated for operations with Special Operations Command –Europe, 10th Group is continuing to conductJoint Combined Exchange Training and FID/anti-terrorist operations as part ofOperation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara.[16]Such activities have included training theMilitary of Mali and theMilitary of Mauritania.[17] The 1st and 3rd Battalions of 10th Group also participated in training in Senegal in 2006, along with the352d Special Operations Group of theUS Air Force.[18] 10th SFG(A) has also deployed numerous times in support ofOperation Enduring Freedom andOperation Iraqi Freedom, but mostly to Iraq, since the start of thewar on terrorism. 10th SFG(A) andCIA'sSpecial Activities Division Paramilitary Officers were the first to enter Iraq prior to theinvasion. DuringOperation Viking Hammer, they organized the KurdishPeshmerga to defeatAnsar al-Islam, an ally ofal-Qa'ida, for control of a territory in Northeastern Iraq that was completely under Ansar al-Islam's control. This battle, one of the most important engagements for Special Forces since Vietnam, led to the elimination of a substantial number of terrorists and the discovery of a chemical weapons facility at Sargat (the only facility of its type discovered in the Iraq war). ThreeSilver Stars and sixBronze Stars for valor were conferred for this engagement.[19] These terrorists would have been part of the subsequent insurgency had they not been eliminated during this battle, which could be called the Tora Bora of Iraq. While several key leaders escaped into Iran, it was a sound defeat for al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam.[20] The Americans then led the Peshmerga against Saddam's northern Army. This effort kept Saddam's forces, including 13 Armored Divisions, in the north and denied them the ability to redeploy to contest the invasion force coming from the south. This effort likely saved the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of coalition service members.[19][20][21]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from10th Special Forces Group Lineage and Honors.United States Army Center of Military History.Archived