HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (7th SFG) (A) is an operational
unit Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...
of the
United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, is a branch of the United States Army United States Army Special Operations Comm ...
activated on 20 May 1960. It was reorganized from the 77th Special Forces Group, which was also stationed at
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...
, North Carolina. 7th Group—as it is sometimes called—is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions:
unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces or actions such as subversion, diversion, sabotage, espionage, biowarfare, sanctions, propaga ...
,
foreign internal defense Foreign internal defense (FID) is a term used by the military in several countries, including the United States Armed Forces, United States, French Armed Forces, France and the British Armed Forces, United Kingdom, to describe an integrated or ...
,
direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...
,
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
,
special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...
,
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...
,
information operations Information Operations is a category of direct and indirect support operations for the United States Military. By definition in Joint Publication 3-13, "IO are described as the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer netw ...
, counterproliferation of
weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...
, and
security force assistance Security Force Assistance (SFA) a term originating in the United States Armed Forces for military adviser assistance with "training, equipping and advising allied or 'partner' militaries to enable them to defend themselves without 100,000 Americ ...
.Army Special Operations Forces Fact Book 2018
, USASOC official website, dated 2018, last accessed 28 July 2019
The 7th SFG(A) spends much of its time conducting foreign internal defense, counter-drug, and training missions of friendly governments' armed forces in
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, Central, and
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
as well as the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. 7th SFG(A) participated in
Operation Urgent Fury The United States and a coalition of Caribbean countries invaded the small island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela, at dawn on 25 October 1983. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation with ...
in Grenada in 1983, and in
Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
in Panama in 1989. The 7th SFG(A) has, like all the SFGs, been heavily deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in the War on Terror.


History


World War II

The 7th SFG (A) traces its lineage to the 1st Company, 1st Regiment, 1st Special Service Force (FSSF), which was established on 9 July 1942 at Fort William Henry Harrison,
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
. The unit was a combined Canadian-American
commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...
unit, designed to conduct raids against Germany's fledgling nuclear capability in northern Europe. However, it was relocated to the
Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...
to fight the
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
. Upon the successful completion of the Aleutian campaign, the FSSF was transferred to the Mediterranean theater of operations. The unit earned the nickname " The Devil's Brigade" for fighting with distinction at the Anzio beachhead in Italy. It was the first Allied unit to enter Rome in June 1944. The commander of the 1st Regiment, Colonel Alfred C. Marshall, was killed in action leading that assault. The Force next served as an amphibious spearhead for the Allied landings in southern France in August 1944. The high rate of casualties from these campaigns made it necessary to disband the First Special Service Force at Menton, France on 5 December 1944.


77th Special Forces Group

The 77th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was activated at Fort Bragg, NC on 25 September 1953 under command of Lieutenant Colonel Jack T. Shannon. Its motto was "Any Thing, Any Time, Any Place, Any How." The group built rapidly from an initial strength of only 200 soldiers. The 77th Group wore their famous Green Beret headgear for the first time in a retirement parade for
XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...
commander MG Joseph P. Cleland in June, 1955. In the fall of 1955 it deployed into OPERATION SAGEBRUSH in Louisiana, the largest military exercise in the US since World War II. The 77th carried out unconventional warfare operations, the first time this had been employed in a US military exercise. In 1955–56, 77th Group conducted two cycles of mountain warfare training at
Camp Hale Camp Hale was a U.S. Army training facility in the western United States, constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. Located in central Colorado between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River Valley at an elevati ...
, Colorado known as EXERCISE LODESTAR ABLE and LODESTAR BAKER. In April 1956 the 77th Special Forces Group transferred four detachments to the Pacific theater to serve as the cadre for the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), which activated at Okinawa in June 1957. In 1959, teams from the 77th Special Forces Group began to deploy to Laos under Project Hotfoot in an effort to forestall Communist encroachment in that kingdom. The group also deployed teams to South Vietnam in 1960 to train Vietnamese ranger and special forces personnel.


Reorganization as 7th Group

In 1960, the 77th was reorganized and redesignated as the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. In the 1960s, the need for mobile training teams exceeded the capability of the US military, so the 7th Group provided the cadre for the 3rd Special Forces Group and the 6th Special Forces Group.


Vietnam

The 7th Group was active early in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, first operating in Laos ( Operation White Star), and later in other global
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
operations in addition to Southeast Asia (
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
, Thailand, and
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
). 7th Group was the first unit in South Vietnam to have a member earn a
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
,
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Roger Donlon.


Latin America


Beginning of operations in Latin America

At the same time, Special Forces were expanding into
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. In May 1962, the advance party from Company D, 7th Special Forces Group departed for Fort Gulick, Panama, in the
Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending on each side o ...
, to establish the 8th Special Forces Group. In 1965 the 7th Special Forces Group participated in Operation Power Pack in the Dominican Republic. 8th Group was deactivated in 1972 and the unit redesignated as the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. The entire 7th Special Forces Group was scheduled for inactivation on 1 October 1980, and was unfunded after that in the completed and approved US Army Program Objective Memorandum (POM). Army Chief of Staff General Edward C. Meyer reversed the decision after USSOUTHCOM briefings and discussions with LTG Wallace H. Nutting, the CINCSOUTH, and LTC Charles Fry, the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group commander, regarding the growing threat to Central America and the need for U.S. Army Special Forces to respond to the threat.


Special Forces Activities in El Salvador

Throughout the 1980s, 7th Special Forces Group played a critical advisory role for the
Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
armed forces, which grew from a force of 12,000 to a total of 55,000 men. The Salvadoran military became a highly trained
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
force under the tutelage of 7th Group. Due to the success of special forces in El Salvador, the 3rd Special Forces Group was reactivated in 1990.


Special Forces Activities in Honduras

The 7th Special Forces Group played an important role in preparing the Honduran military to resist and defeat an invasion from
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. 7th Group also trained the Honduran military in counter-insurgency tactics, which enabled Honduras to defeat the Honduran communist-backed guerrillas.


Counter-Narcotics Operations

7th Special Forces Group also became involved in counter narcotics operations in the Andean Ridge countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The goal was not just to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, but to stem the violence that resulted from the drug trade in those countries.


Beginning of Operations against Manuel Noriega

During the 3 October 1989 coup against Noriega by some of his troops, members of 7th Group conducted reconnaissance operations near the road that led from the cuartel of Battalion 2000 to
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
, giving the US Southern Command advanced early warning of the elite Panamanian unit moving to rescue Noriega, who was being held captive in the Panamanian Comandancia. Meanwhile, one 7th Group Company was being readied to take custody of Noriega. When the coup was over and Noriega was released, that company prepared a raid on the Carcelo Modelo where American Kurt Muse was being held for operating an illegal radio station that was broadcasting anti-Noriega programming. That mission was later turned over to 1st SFOD-D and performed on D-Day during Operation Just Cause. From 19 December 1989 to 31 January 1990, elements of the 7th Special Forces Group participated in
Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
to restore democracy to Panama. The 7th Group conducted combat operations on D-Day against multiple strategic targets. Over the next two weeks, 7th Special Forces Group conducted many reconnaissance and direct action missions in support of the operation.


Raid to destroy Radio Nacional equipment

The 7th SFG was stationed in Hangar 450, at
Albrook Air Force Station Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama. It was closed on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which specified that United States military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zon ...
. The Panamanian radio station called Radio Nacional broadcast recordings of pro-Noriega propaganda to encourage the Panamanian population to continue fighting as an insurgency against the Americans. As the 7th SFG high command wanted the propaganda broadcasts to be disabled, a force of 7th SFG operators was sent in to disable the broadcasts. They would be going in with little intelligence. A team of operators flew in on helicopter transports to the radio station and fast-roped onto the roof of the seventeen-floor building, while a ground team attacked from below. The Americans had speed and surprise on their side. They blew the radio antenna off the roof with explosives, then assaulted the radio stations offices. There was no staff present and the broadcast source was an automated recording. The operators destroyed the radio equipment with rifle rounds and explosives, causing the automated radio transmissions, which were on the AM band, to cease. The operators then began to exfiltrate, but at one point, they were confronted by an armed civilian security guard, aiming his weapon at them. Not wishing to kill him, they shot him in the shoulder, then treated the injury and turned him over to Panamanian firefighters responding to the fire. The force then safely returned to hangar 450.


Successful Destruction of pro-Noreiga broadcasts

After the American Special Forces operatives came back to Hangar 450. They deployed again to destroy the FM broadcasts of pro-Noreiga propaganda. The American commandos placed demolition charges which finally and successfully destroyed the remote FM antenna. After successfully destroying the antenna, the broadcasts were finally off the air.


Final Stability Operations

When combat operations ceased, Operational Detachments-A and -B fanned out over the entire country, living in villages with the people. 7th Group soldiers restored public utilities such as water and power while maintaining a watch on the (then) new Panamanian Police Force. Non-commissioned officers served as temporary judges and mayors gaining enormous support from the populace.


Global War on Terrorism

Since early 2002, the 7th SFG has deployed almost nonstop in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...
in Afghanistan. 7th SFG along with the 3rd Special Forces Group are the two SFGs responsible for conducting operations in Afghanistan. The Group has also deployed in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...
numerous times, but not as often as Afghanistan.


Relocation

In 2011, 7th SFG(A) relocated from
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, to
Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
, Florida, as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round.


Subordinate units


Gallery

File:130205-A-YI554-197 (8516320302).jpg, Soldiers from the 7th SFG(A) practice
SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...
techniques from a MH-47 Chinook at
Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...
, February 2013 File:U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group Airborne Conduct Halo Jump ldN9u-kl8-c.webm, Soldiers from the 7th SFG(A) conduct
HALO jump High-altitude military parachuting is a style of parachuting in which personnel, equipment, or supplies are airdropped from an aircraft flying at a high altitude. The technique is often used in covert operations. High-altitude military parac ...
operation from a
CV-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport aircraft, military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed ...
File:US Army 160th SOAR deploy 7th SFG to US submarine.jpg, MH-60L from 160th SOAR deploys an ODA from 7th SFG(A) on board a U.S. submarine File:Special Forces Medic in Afghanistan.jpg, Lieutenant R. Gutierrez from A Co, 1st Bn, 7th SFG(A) gives an
Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...
boy a coloring book in Kandahar Province during a meeting with local leaders, September 2008 File:TIGRES Eglin AFB 383938.jpg, Honduran Tigers during a shooting drill at an
Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
range


Notable soldiers

* Brigadier general Donald Blackburn, early commander of the 7th SFG * Colonel Roger Donlon, Detachment Commander ODA 726, Medal of Honor recipient * Sergeant Major Brendan O'Connor, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during Operation Kaika while serving with the 7th SFG. * Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, Vietnam veteran and songwriter who served with the 7th Group as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant, author of Ballad of the Green Berets. * Colonel
Arthur D. Simons Arthur D. "Bull" Simons (June 28, 1918 – May 21, 1979) was a United States Army Special Forces colonel best known for leading the Sơn Tây raid, an attempted rescue of U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War from a North Vietnamese p ...
, early officer of the 7th SFG, 1958, led the Son Tay raid * Major Lauri Törni, aka Major Larry Thorne, a former 7th SFG soldier who was killed on a 1965 covert MACV-SOG mission in Vietnam * SMA Michael Weimer, former 7th SFG soldier,
Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), also known as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as Task Force Green, is a Special operation forces, special operat ...
operator, and 17th
Sergeant Major of the Army The sergeant major of the Army (SMA) is a unique noncommissioned rank and position of office in the United States Army. The holder of this rank and position is the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army, unless an enlisted soldier is servin ...


References

{{US Army SFG
007 The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
Special Forces 007 Military units and formations established in 1960