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1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)

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1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)
1st Special Forces Command Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: The arrowhead alludes to the American Indian's basic skills in which Special Forces personnel are trained to a high degree. The dagger represents the unconventional nature of Special Forces operations, and the three lightning flashes, their ability to strike rapidly by air, water or land.[1][2]
Active1989–present[2]
Country United States of America
Branch United States Army
TypeSpecial Operations
Size22,971 personnel authorized (FY2014):[3]
  • 22,845 military personnel
  • 126 civilian personnel
Part of US Army Special Operations Command
United States Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQFort Liberty, North Carolina
EngagementsWar on Terror
Commanders
Commanding GeneralMG Lawrence G. Ferguson[5][6]
Deputy CommanderVacant
Command Sergeant MajorCSM David R. Waldo
Insignia
Beret flash of the command
Distinctive unit insignia and regimental insignia of the special forces
1st Special Forces Command overview (4:06)

The 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) is a division-level special operations forces command within the United States Army Special Operations Command.[7] The command was first established in 1989 and reorganized in 2014 grouping together the Army Special Forces (a.k.a. "the Green Berets"),[8][9][10] psychological operations, civil affairs, and support troops into a single organization operating out of its headquarters at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.[2][11]

Mission

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The mission of 1SFC (A) is to organize, equip, train, and validate forces to conduct full-spectrum special operations in support of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Geographic Combatant Commanders, American ambassadors, and other governmental agencies. The new command includes all seven Special Forces groups (including the five active duty and two Army National Guard groups), two Psychological Operations groups, a civil affairs brigade, and a sustainment brigade. The Command has the ability to rapidly deploy a high-level headquarters to run sustained, unconventional campaigns in foreign theaters.[12][13]

1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)[14]
Name Headquarters Structure and purpose
Special Forces Groups Various Each special forces 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 via seven geographically focused groups:[14]
Psychological Operations Groups Ft. Liberty, North Carolina Tasked to work with foreign nations to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to U.S. objectives via two operational groups that provide scalable, regionally oriented, and culturally astute special operations psychological operations forces to combatant commanders, U.S. ambassadors, and other agencies. Their mission is to advise, plan, develop, synchronize, deliver and assess military information support operations and other information related capabilities across the range of military operations.[14]
  • 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne)
    • 1st Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (USSOUTHCOM)
    • 5th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (USINDOPACOM)
    • 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (USEUCOM)
    • 7th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (USAFRICOM)
    • 8th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (USCENTCOM)
  • 8th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne)
    • 3rd Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (Dissemination)
    • 9th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) (Tactical)
95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) Ft. Liberty, North Carolina The 95th enables military commanders and U.S. ambassadors to achieve national objectives by countering adversary control and improving a partner’s control over populations. The 95th accomplishes this as a member of the ARSOF team and through its relationships with the U.S. Department of State, government and non-governmental organizations, and local populations via five geographically focused battalions:[14]
528th Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) Ft. Liberty, North Carolina The 528th provides enduring logistics, signal support, and medical care to Army Special Operations Forces (RSOF) and joint elements worldwide and is task organized with a various elements based at each Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) and Army Service Component Command (ASCC) via the following units:[14]
1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) structure 2020

1st Special Forces Regiment

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All seven Special Forces Groups were redesignated as part of the 1st Special Forces Regiment, and as such, were made part of its historical lineage, with all the campaign credits and battle honors that go with it. The Regiment is ceremonial, not operational.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: U.S. ARMY SPECIAL FORCES GROUP (AIRBORNE)". U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c Sacquety, Troy J. "THE SPECIAL FORCES PATCH, History and Origins". The ARSOF Story: U.S. Army Special Operations History. Office of the Command Historian. Retrieved 27 March 2021. Reprinted from Veritas, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2007.
  3. ^ Report to Congressional Committees: Special Operations Forces: Opportunities Exist to Improve Transparency of Funding and Assess Potential to Lessen Some Deployments (PDF) (Report). United States Government Accountability Office. July 2015. GAO-15-571. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ Brooks, Drew (21 December 2016). "'We're a significant presence:' General updates Fort Bragg troops on Islamic State fight". Stars and Stripes. The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.; Tribune News Service. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Brigadier General Lawrence G. Ferguson (USA) Commanding General 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)". gomo.army.mil. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. ^ "1st Special Forces Command changes leaders at Fort Liberty". fayobserver.com. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.(subscription required)
  7. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (26 November 2014). "The U.S. Army Has Quietly Created a New Commando Division". Medium.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. ^ Venhuizen, Harm (14 July 2020). "How the Green Berets Got Their Name". Army Times. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ^ Goldberg, Maren (n.d.). "Green Berets: United States military". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  10. ^ "USASOC Headquarters Fact Sheet". United States Army Special Operations Command. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. ^ Brooks, Drew (28 July 2017). "1st Special Forces Command gets new leader". The Fayetteville Observer. Fayetteville, N.C. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  12. ^ Rogers, Darsie. "1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)" (PDF). Benning Army. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  13. ^ Scott Tyson, Ann (17 December 2014). "NEW ELITE DIVISION-LEVEL UNIT CREATED BY ARMY". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e Army Special Operations Forces Fact Book 2018 Archived 2016-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, USASOC official website, dated 2018, last accessed 28 July 2019
  15. ^ FROM LEYTE TO THE LEVANT, A Brief History of the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion (Airborne), OFFICE OF THE COMMAND HISTORIAN (USASOC), by Christopher E. Howard, dated 2019, last accessed 27 November 2020
  16. ^ "Lineage and Honors Information Special Forces". history.army.mil.
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