The Special Forces Association (SFA) is a non-profit fraternal organization for current and retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, also known as "Green Berets." Established in 1964, the association is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with 84 chapters located in the United States as well as Panama, South Korea, Germany, Thailand, Philippines and Okinawa. Chapters meet in their respective areas and conduct meetings, hold reunions and host social functions for their members.
Membership is open to any person who is or has been a member of Special Forces, including those in the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard. Those wishing to join must apply, providing certified documentation proving past or current assignment with a special forces unit. Associate membership is also available to individuals who do not meet this criterion, but who have "contributed significantly to the support of Special Forces, or its lineage, in the accomplishment of its mission."[1]
The Association publishes The Drop,[2] a quarterly magazine providing news and information about its members, and sponsors an annual convention.
Gary Ivan Gordon was a master sergeant in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. At the time of his death, he was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army's premier special operations unit, the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1SFOD-D), or "Delta Force". Together with his comrade, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, Gordon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993.
Randall David Shughart was a United States Army Delta Force operator who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu, during Operation Gothic Serpent in October 1993.
Lauri Allan Törni, later known as Larry Alan Thorne, was a Finnish-born soldier who fought under three flags: as a Finnish Army officer in the Winter War and the Continuation War ultimately gaining a rank of captain; as a Waffen-SS captain of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS when he fought the Red Army on the Eastern Front in World War II; and as a United States Army Major when he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War.
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
James Phillip Fleming is a former United States Air Force pilot who served in the Vietnam War. Born in Sedalia, Missouri, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a six-man MACV-SOG reconnaissance team, stranded between heavily defended enemy positions, near Đức Cơ, Vietnam in 1968.
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) was a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit which conducted covert unconventional warfare operations before and during the Vietnam War.
William Dawson Waugh was a United States Army Special Forces soldier and Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary operations officer who served more than 50 years between the United States Army's Green Berets and the CIA's Special Activities Division.
Robert Lewis Howard was the most highly decorated officer of Vietnam United States Army Special Forces and Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War. He was wounded 14 times over 54 months of combat, was awarded the Medal of Honor, eight Purple Hearts, a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and four Bronze Stars.
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.
Franklin Douglas "Doug" Miller was an American and United States Army Special Forces staff sergeant during the Vietnam War who was awarded the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions above and beyond the call of duty on January 5, 1970. He was also awarded a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and six Purple Hearts during his six years service in Southeast Asia.
Loren Douglas Hagen was a United States Army Special Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions during the Vietnam War as Recon Team (RT) leader of a small special reconnaissance unit "RT Kansas", manned by USASF Green Berets and highly trained Montagnard commandos from Task Force One Advisory Element aka Command & Control North, a division of Studies and Observations Group in the Vietnam War. Hagen was the last member of the U.S. Army to earn a Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War.
The Special Warfare Memorial Statue — known informally as Bronze Bruce — was the first memorial in the United States to soldiers who had served in the Vietnam War. It was created in 1968 by sculptor Donald De Lue (1897–1988) and dedicated on November 19, 1969. The statue is the centerpiece of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command's Memorial Plaza at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, which honors all Army special operations soldiers. The statue depicts a Special Forces soldier as most all of the Army special operations soldiers killed in Vietnam were SF.
John Stryker "Tilt" Meyer is an American author and U.S. Army Special Forces combat veteran of service in covert reconnaissance with the Studies and Observations Group, also known as MACV-SOG. Meyer has published three works of nonfiction related to his experiences in the Vietnam War; the first was Across the Fence: The Secret War in Vietnam published in 2003.
Project GAMMA was the name given in 1968 to Detachment B-57, Company E, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970. It was responsible for covert intelligence collection operations in Cambodia. The teams were highly effective at locating Viet Cong operations in Cambodia, leading to their destruction. When assets began to disappear, they identified a South Vietnamese officer as the mole. On the advice of the CIA, they took extrajudicial steps and murdered him. Seven officers and one non-commissioned officer were arrested and tried. When the CIA refused to answer summons for witnesses for national security reasons, the charges were dropped.
The Pakistan Army Special Service Group or SSG is the special forces unit of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear.
The U.S. Army Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from purpose-formed special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups (OGs) of the Office of Strategic Services. Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces.
George Washington Bacon III was an American soldier and intelligence officer. He served as a Green Beret in the U.S. Army, Paramilitary Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and finally as a mercenary soldier.
Paris D. Davis is a retired United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor on 3 March 2023 for his actions on 18 June 1965 during the Vietnam War. He was twice previously nominated for the Medal of Honor, but both times the paperwork relating to his nomination disappeared. Davis, then a captain with the 5th Special Forces Group, was instead awarded the Silver Star. He subsequently commanded the 10th Special Forces Group.
Michael Gerard Stahl is a medically retired US Army Special Forces soldier. A highly decorated combat veteran with 24 months in Vietnam, Stahl was the Intel Sgt for A-102 at Tien Phuoc Special Forces Camp and later spent time in covert reconnaissance with the top secret unit known as Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group. It is here he served as the 1-0 for RT Michigan out of CCN. He was seriously wounded on August 8, 1970, and medevac'd to the continental US.
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