10th Special Forces Group (United States)
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 of weapon of mass destruction, and security force assistance.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 group has also trained various components of the militaries of several Middle Eastern countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Iran, as well as Kurdish tribesmen.[11] Among the more notable of these men was Major Larry Thorne, a former Finnish Army soldier and Waffen-SS veteran who was awarded the Mannerheim Cross during World War II.[9] The 10th SFG (A) was constituted 19 May 1952 and activated on 11 June 1952, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, under the command of Colonel Aaron Bank.[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] 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.[9] An MTT from the 1st Battalion, Bad Tölz, Germany deployed to Somalia for four months to conduct disaster relief operations in June 1985.The Boston 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.10th Group coordinated the ground relief effort, and was credited by General Galvin, the EUCOM commander, as having "saved half a million Kurds from extinction".Following the ethnic conflict in Rwanda, 10th Group deployed to Entebbe airfield, Uganda where they assisted displaced persons in returning to their homes.
Beret FlashUnited StatesUnited States ArmySpecial Forces1st Special Forces CommandFort CarsonColoradoSomaliaGulf WarWar in AfghanistanIraq WarOperation Freedom's SentinelAaron BankParis DavisShoulder Sleeve Insignia8th Special Forces Group12th Special Forces GroupUnited States Army Special Forcesunconventional warfareforeign internal defensedirect actioncounterinsurgencyspecial reconnaissancecounterterrorisminformation operationscounter-proliferationweapon of mass destructionsecurity force assistancearea of responsibilitySpecial Operations Command EuropeSOCEURAFRICOMSaudi ArabiaFirst Persian Gulf WarWar on TerrorismGeorgiaNorth AfricaAfghanistanFort Bragg, North CarolinaLenggries77th Special Forces GroupFort DevensMassachusettsMiddle EasternLebanonJordanKurdishhumanitarianRwandaLodge ActLarry ThorneFinnish ArmyWaffen-SSMannerheim CrossWorld War IIFort BraggRangerAirborneBad TölzWest Germany7th Special Forces GroupKennedyThe New York Timesnewly independentLeopoldvillePakistani special forcessniper rifleM21 sniper rifle20th Groupinvasion of KuwaitSaudi Arabian National GuardBattle of KhafjiBoston HeraldSaddam HusseinOperation Provide ComfortGeneral GalvinOperation Restore Hope1st Belgian Para-Commando Battalion10th Mountain Divisionethnic conflict in RwandaEntebbeEuropeJoint Combined Exchange TrainingOperation Enduring Freedom – Trans SaharaMilitary of MaliMilitary of Mauritania352d Special Operations GroupUS Air ForceOperation Enduring FreedomOperation Iraqi FreedomSpecial Activities DivisioninvasionOperation Viking HammerPeshmergaAnsar al-Islamal-Qa'idaSilver StarsBronze StarsPanzer KaserneBöblingenSindelfingenRegionStuttgart, GermanyM4 carbineSOPMODMedal of HonorGary GordonDelta ForceBattle of MogadishuNikolaj Coster-WaldauBlack Hawk DownFrancisco RubioUS Armylieutenant colonelflight surgeonSteve McQueenThe Great EscapeFinnishWinter WarContinuation WarLodge-Philbin ActArlington National CemeteryKenneth TovoNathan WeberNBC WashingtonOsprey Publishing