"Green Berets" redirects here. For other uses, see Green Berets (disambiguation).
"United States Special Forces" redirects here. Not to be confused with United States special operations forces.
For broader coverage of this topic, see Special forces.
U.S. Army Special Forces
Special Forces branch insignia
Active
19 June 1952 (10th Group first established)[1][2]
9 April 1987 (Special Forces Branch official birthday)[3]
Country
United States
Branch
United States Army
Type
Special operations force
Role
Unconventional Warfare
Foreign Internal Defense
Direct Action
Counter terrorism[4]
Special Reconnaissance
Part of
1st Special Forces Command United States Army Special Operations Command United States Special Operations Command
Headquarters
Fort Liberty, North Carolina
Nickname(s)
Green Berets, Quiet Professionals,[5] Commandos, Soldier-Diplomats, Snake Eaters, Bearded Bastards[6]
Motto(s)
De Oppresso Liber
Color of Beret
Rifle green
March
"The Ballad of the Green Berets"
Engagements
Korean War
Cold War
Laotian Civil War
Dominican Civil War
Vietnam War
Salvadoran Civil War
Operation Urgent Fury
Operation Just Cause
Gulf War
Somali Civil War • Operation Restore Hope
Operation Uphold Democracy
Bosnian War
Kosovo War
1999 East Timorese crisis
War On Terror • Operation Enduring Freedom
• Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa
• Iraq War
• War in North-West Pakistan
• Operation Juniper Shield
• Operation Inherent Resolve
• Operation Freedom's Sentinel
Lord's Resistance Army insurgency[7]
Operation Atlantic Resolve[8]
Website
www.soc.mil/USASFC/HQ.html
Military unit
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.[9]
The core missionset of Special Forces contains five doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterterrorism,[4] and special reconnaissance.[10] The unit emphasizes language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops; recruits are required to learn a foreign language as part of their training and must maintain knowledge of the political, economic, and cultural complexities of the regions in which they are deployed.[11] Other Special Forces missions, known as secondary missions, include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, peacekeeping, and manhunts. Other components of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) or other U.S. government activities may also specialize in these secondary missions.[12] The Special Forces conduct these missions via five active duty groups, each with a geographic specialization; and two National Guard groups that share multiple geographic areas of responsibility.[13] Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works[14] and doctrinal manuals are available.[15][16][17][18]
Special Forces have a longstanding and close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency, tracing their lineage back to the Agency's predecessors in the OSS and First Special Service Force. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) highly secretive Special Activities Center,[note 1] and more specifically its Special Operations Group (SOG), recruits from U.S. Army Special Forces.[19] Joint CIA–Army Special Forces operations go back to the unit MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War,[20] and were seen as recently as the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).[21][22]
^Venhuizen, Harm (14 July 2020). "How the Green Berets got their name". Army Times. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^"History of the Special Forces". GoArmy. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
^"Army Birthdays: Branch Birthdays". United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.; "General Orders No. 35: Army Special Forces Branch" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Headquarters Department of the Army. 19 June 1987. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
^ ab
"Army Special Forces: Mission and History". military.com. 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
"Special Forces Officer". goarmy.com. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
"THE UNITED STATES ARMY SPECIAL FORCES". greenberetfoundation.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
"ASSESSING U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND'S MISSIONS AND ROLES". govinfo.gov. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
^Stanton, Doug (24 June 2009). "The Quiet Professionals: The Untold Story of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012.
^Gentile, Carmen (9 November 2011). "In Afghanistan, special units do the dirty work". USA Today. Archived from the original on 13 December 2011.
^William Bishop, Mac (6 March 2017). "Inside the Green Berets' Hunt for Wanted Warlord Joseph Kony". NBC News. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022.
^Robles, Nelson (29 March 2017). "Special Operations Troops From 15 Countries Conduct Allied Spirit VI". Department of Defence. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022.
^Goldberg, Maren (n.d.). "Green Berets: United States military". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
^""Special Forces Core Missions - Army National Guard"".
^Lee, Michael (24 March 2022). "The US Army's Green Berets quietly helped tilt the battlefield a little bit more toward Ukraine". MSN. FOX News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
^Joint Chiefs of Staff (17 December 2003). "Joint Publication 3-05: Doctrine for Joint Special Operations" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
^"USASOC Headquarters Fact Sheet". United States Army Special Operations Command. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^Waller, Douglas C. (1995). The Commandos: The Inside Story of America's Secret Soldiers. New York: Dell Publishing. ISBN 978-0440220466. OCLC 32941898.
^FM 3-05: Army Special Operations Forces(PDF). U.S. Department of the Army. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2022.
^"FM 3-05.102 Army Special Forces Intelligence" (PDF). Federation of American Scientists. Department of the Army. July 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 April 2022.
^"Joint Publication 3-05.5: Special Operations Targeting and Mission Planning Procedures" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Joint Chiefs of Staff. 1993. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 13 November 2007.
^"Interview U.S. Army General Tommy Franks". Campaign Against Terror. Frontline. PBS. 8 September 2002. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022.
^Waller, Douglas (3 February 2003). "The CIA's Secret Army". Time. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007.
^Plaster, John L. (1998). SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 978-0451195081. OCLC 39543945.
^Haney, Eric L. (2002). Inside Delta Force. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 978-0385336031. OCLC 57373772.
^Pelley, Scott (2 October 2008). "Elite Officer Recalls Bin Laden Hunt". 60 Minutes. CBS News. Archived.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
and 22 Related for: United States Army Special Forces information
The UnitedStatesArmySpecialForces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations...
SpecialForces Qualification Course (SFQC) or, informally, the Q Course is the initial formal training program for entry into the UnitedStatesArmy Special...
ArmySpecialForces lineage U.S. Army reveals the existence of the SpecialForces in Europe, circa 1959 U.S. ArmySpecialForces, circa 1962 Special Operations...
The 20th SpecialForces Group (Airborne) (20th SFG) (A) is one of two Army National Guard groups for the UnitedStatesArmySpecialForces. 20th Group—as...
The UnitedStatesArmy (USA) is the land service branch of the UnitedStates Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated...
United Kingdom SpecialForces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment...
The UnitedStatesArmy Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the UnitedStatesArmy and de facto aerial...
Members of the U.S. ArmySpecialForces will emphatically assert that the "Green Beret" is a hat and not the man who wears it. Nevertheless, for a time...
(CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Force Green, is a special operations force of the UnitedStatesArmy, under operational control...
Vietnam on May 2, 1968, while serving as a member of the UnitedStatesArmySpecialForces during the Vietnam War. Roy P. Benavidez was born in Lindenau...
The UnitedStatesArmyForces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest UnitedStatesArmy command. It provides expeditionary, regionally engaged, campaign-capable...
operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the UnitedStates Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department...
UnitedStates Marine ForcesSpecial Operations Command (MARSOC) is a component command of the UnitedStatesSpecial Operations Command (SOCOM) that comprises...
the Army of Northern Virginia, is a UnitedStatesArmySpecial Operations unit which serves as the intelligence gathering component of Joint Special Operations...
The structure of the UnitedStatesArmy is complex, and can be interpreted in several different ways: active/reserve, operational/administrative, and branches/functional...
The UnitedStatesArmy uses various equipment in the course of their work. The Pentagon bought 25,000 MRAP vehicles since 2007 in 25 variants through rapid...