- Joined
- May 31, 2004
- Messages
- 344
- Points
- 53
After my return from the Playground of the Orient (my recruiter had a warped sense of humor) I spent some time in an Armored Cav Regt until I ran into a guy I had gone through basic with who was a CPT in the Special Forces, this was in 1974 so we are still talking about the Army Green Berets. He talked me into coming over so I made some connections and joined what was then called "the other Army".
Airborne qualification was the only major requirement at the time although you would have to pass rigorous courses to complete qualification.
The "Q", or qualification course was nothing like airborne or Ranger school, none of the loud harassment, but it alternated between strong academics and hands on exercises all designed to stretch your limits. I think most of the reason for this was that the lowest ranking EM was an E-4.
We earned our berets at the end of Q course and then began our individual training. Probably the most intense individual training was for Special Forces medic. The course was a year long at Ft. Sam Houston and involved the famous (or infamous) dog ward, where a medic was assigned a stray dog about to be put down, the dog was gunshot and the medic had to save its life. We had great confidence in our medics, they could perform an appendectomy if need be.
The force structure of Special Forces was unique and generated much criticism and suspicion from regular officers. Initially officers were rotated into a Special Forces detachment for a two year tour, but these officers rarely got into the assigment and simply kept afloat until their tiem was up and they could move on. By the time I joined this had changed and officers were qualified as Special Forces almost becoming a separate branch.
In a regular infantry unit the smallest combat unit that can operate for long periods independantly is a battalion. In Special Forces the smallest unit that existed was designed to operate independantly for long periods of time, this was the "A" team.
An "A" team had either 12 or 14 men, depending on the mission and was designed to be split without restricting its capabilities. There were two officers, a CPT and a 1LT, a team sergeant, an E-8, and assistant team segeant, E-7, two light weapons experts, two heavy weapons experts, two radio men, and two engineers. Where there were two specialists, the senior one would be an E-7 and the other would be an E-6. In this fashion the team could be split in half and function as effectively as a whole team. Crosstraining was required, each NCO would have to be proficient at two jobs so talent depth was guaranteed. The team sergeant functioned in the capacity of an operations officer, being responsible for training and planning the ops when in the field. The assistant team sergeant functioned as the intelligence expert on the team. Each of these sergeants were crosstrained in another job. In this original organization it is easy to see why officers felt they had no function, they really didn't. When officers began to be assigned permantly to SF structure this changed and officers began to function as team managers.
Noticable in this description is a complete lack of support organization. No organic equipment was assigned other then personnel gear and weaons so a higher level unit, called a "B" team was created. This unit had admin and logistical support capability for several "A" teams, was usually the equivelant of a company HQ and was commanded by a senior CPT or MAJ. Each "B" team had a functioning S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4.
A "C" team was created to function as a battalion level unit, again providing logistical and admin support. A quirk of the SF emerged here, neither the "B" or "C" team had organic equipment assigned. For vehicles or anything else they needed, they had the authority to draw on higher commands.
"C" teams were organized under a Group, a regimental HQ sized unit that functioned like a regular army brigade HQ.
In the late 70's a requirement began to arise requiring more specialists for a mission then an "A" team could provide, so specialists would be borrowed from several teams and grouped together for a specific mission. When they began looking for a name for this organization that consisted of only a HQ with no obvious ongoing function and only a permanant force consisting of staff functions, some wag suggested "D" team and so Delta force was created. Later, specialists would be called from other services for short term missions. When someone says they belonged to Delta Force for two years, you can legitimately raise your eyebrows. At least in the early days, things may have changed since I left.
If this is interesting to anyone I can continue in another installment. Thanks for your indulgence.
Rotorwash
Airborne qualification was the only major requirement at the time although you would have to pass rigorous courses to complete qualification.
The "Q", or qualification course was nothing like airborne or Ranger school, none of the loud harassment, but it alternated between strong academics and hands on exercises all designed to stretch your limits. I think most of the reason for this was that the lowest ranking EM was an E-4.
We earned our berets at the end of Q course and then began our individual training. Probably the most intense individual training was for Special Forces medic. The course was a year long at Ft. Sam Houston and involved the famous (or infamous) dog ward, where a medic was assigned a stray dog about to be put down, the dog was gunshot and the medic had to save its life. We had great confidence in our medics, they could perform an appendectomy if need be.
The force structure of Special Forces was unique and generated much criticism and suspicion from regular officers. Initially officers were rotated into a Special Forces detachment for a two year tour, but these officers rarely got into the assigment and simply kept afloat until their tiem was up and they could move on. By the time I joined this had changed and officers were qualified as Special Forces almost becoming a separate branch.
In a regular infantry unit the smallest combat unit that can operate for long periods independantly is a battalion. In Special Forces the smallest unit that existed was designed to operate independantly for long periods of time, this was the "A" team.
An "A" team had either 12 or 14 men, depending on the mission and was designed to be split without restricting its capabilities. There were two officers, a CPT and a 1LT, a team sergeant, an E-8, and assistant team segeant, E-7, two light weapons experts, two heavy weapons experts, two radio men, and two engineers. Where there were two specialists, the senior one would be an E-7 and the other would be an E-6. In this fashion the team could be split in half and function as effectively as a whole team. Crosstraining was required, each NCO would have to be proficient at two jobs so talent depth was guaranteed. The team sergeant functioned in the capacity of an operations officer, being responsible for training and planning the ops when in the field. The assistant team sergeant functioned as the intelligence expert on the team. Each of these sergeants were crosstrained in another job. In this original organization it is easy to see why officers felt they had no function, they really didn't. When officers began to be assigned permantly to SF structure this changed and officers began to function as team managers.
Noticable in this description is a complete lack of support organization. No organic equipment was assigned other then personnel gear and weaons so a higher level unit, called a "B" team was created. This unit had admin and logistical support capability for several "A" teams, was usually the equivelant of a company HQ and was commanded by a senior CPT or MAJ. Each "B" team had a functioning S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4.
A "C" team was created to function as a battalion level unit, again providing logistical and admin support. A quirk of the SF emerged here, neither the "B" or "C" team had organic equipment assigned. For vehicles or anything else they needed, they had the authority to draw on higher commands.
"C" teams were organized under a Group, a regimental HQ sized unit that functioned like a regular army brigade HQ.
In the late 70's a requirement began to arise requiring more specialists for a mission then an "A" team could provide, so specialists would be borrowed from several teams and grouped together for a specific mission. When they began looking for a name for this organization that consisted of only a HQ with no obvious ongoing function and only a permanant force consisting of staff functions, some wag suggested "D" team and so Delta force was created. Later, specialists would be called from other services for short term missions. When someone says they belonged to Delta Force for two years, you can legitimately raise your eyebrows. At least in the early days, things may have changed since I left.
If this is interesting to anyone I can continue in another installment. Thanks for your indulgence.
Rotorwash
More please!
