Distinguished Military Unit: 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne)

"Where ever there's trouble
Night or day
Go the men of the Green Beret
To fan the fire of freedom's dream…"
"A Team" 1966, by Leonard Whitcup, Barry Sadler, and Phyllis Fairbanks

Army Together We Served includes 556 members who have been with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), which was originally constituted on July 5, 1942, as the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Special Service Force; which was then a component of the combined Canadian-American organization sometimes known as "Black Devils" or "Devil's Brigade" (unofficially first called "The Braves"). Detachment 101 of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) is also considered a predecessor of the 1st SFG (A). That unit raised and led a guerrilla force known as the "Kachin Rangers," which wrought havoc behind Japanese lines in Southeast Asia during World War II.

This unit was activated July 9, 1942, at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana, disbanded January 6, 1945, in France, and then reconstituted April 15, 1960, in the Regular Army; concurrently consolidated with Company B, 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion (activated June 19, 1942), and the combined unit redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces on September 30, 1960, with 1st Special Forces Group (constituted June 14, 1957, in the Regular Army and activated June 24, 1957, in Japan). The group was inactivated June 30, 1974, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and reactivated September 1, 1984, at Fort Lewis, Washington (former Company B, 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion, withdrawn February 3, 1986, consolidated with Company N, 75th Infantry, and the consolidated unit redesignated thereafter under that separate lineage). It was redesignated again on October 1, 2005, as the 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Regiment. 

The 1st SFG (A) activated the Group Support Battalion on June 30, 2006, in order to provide increased expeditionary logistical capabilities, and activated the 4th Battalion on August 15, 2011, to enhance the group's expeditionary capabilities to better support the unit's missions. Since September 11, 2001, 1st SFG (A) personnel have played a vital role in fighting violent terrorist organizations around the globe by participating in Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan and Philippines, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Resolve, and Operation Resolute Support. In the ensuing years, they continue to conduct an array of engagement and contingency missions throughout the Pacific, to include war-plan related training on the Korean Peninsula. 

Special Forces training consists of eleven distinct phases. It begins with the six-week Preparation Course focused on fundamentals like physical fitness and land navigation. Follow-up is Special Forces Assessment and Selection, a 24-day test of physical and mental stamina, and then learning a new language in the 53-week Special Forces Qualification Course, which also includes survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE) exercises, advanced special operations techniques (ASOT), and a staged invasion of the fictional country of Pineland. US Army Special Forces are colloquially known as the Green Berets due to their distinctive service headgear. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized the beret to be used exclusively by the US Special Forces. Preparing for an October 12 visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the president sent word to the center's commander for all Special Forces soldiers to wear green berets as part of the event. The president felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the green beret "A symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom." After displaying their survival skills to President Kennedy, when they caught and ate snakes, they were stuck with the moniker "snake eaters." They have five doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterterrorism, and special reconnaissance. Other Special Forces missions, known as secondary, include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, peacekeeping, and manhunts. Components of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) or other US government activities may also specialize in these secondary missions. 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. 

Many of their operational techniques are highly classified. They have a longstanding and close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency, tracing their lineage to the Agency's predecessors in the OSS and First Special Service Force. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) highly secretive Special Activities Center and, more specifically, its Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits from the US Army Special Forces. Joint CIA/Army Special Forces operations go back to MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War and were seen as recently as the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces. Currently, there are seven active Special Forces Groups. 1st SFG(A) is headquartered at JB Lewis–McChord, WA along with its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Battalions, its 1st Battalion is forward deployed at Torii Station, Okinawa. The 1st SFG is oriented towards the Pacific region and is often tasked by PACOM.

In 1943, the unit fought notably on the Aleutian Islands, Italy, and Morocco, following Project Plough during WWII. A major battle for them that year was also at Monte la Difensa, where they suffered 77% of their casualties, which are memorialized in the 1968 film "The Devil's Brigade." Their next engagement at Monte Majo had reduced the force from 1800 strong to only 400. That same year, 1944, they were seen fighting in Operation Shingle at Anzio for 99 days without relief. From August through December, now reinforced to the 2,000 troop level, they saw action in France during Operation Dragoon through the French Riviera sector at Port Cros, Ile du Levant, and L'Escarene.

All in all, the full unit is said to have accounted for 12,000 German casualties and 7,000 enemy prisoners taken. The 1st SFG(A) predecessor, 1st Special Service Force, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Silver-Gilt Star, as well as the Distinguished Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism. In 2006, the Canadian members of the 1st Special Service Force received the United States Army's Combat Infantryman Badge for participation in front-line combat. On February 3, 2015, the 1st SSF was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress can give to civilians.

The 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) holds the distinction of having the first and last Special Forces soldiers killed in Vietnam: Captain Harry Cramer was killed on October 21, 1957, and Captain Richard M. Rees was killed on December 15, 1973. Decades later, another 1st Special Forces Group soldier became the first American to die by hostile fire in Afghanistan: SFC Nathan Chapman was killed on January 2, 2002. During the Vietnam War, the 1st SFG(A) sent teams for six-month temporary duty. It also ran Camp Hardy Combat Training Center in the Northern Training Area of Okinawa, which involved SF units, Navy SEALs, and US Marines deploying to Vietnam. It earned the MUC for its efforts during the year 1973. Starting in February 2002, elements of the 1st SFG (A) deployed to conduct unconventional warfare in the Southern Philippines by and with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in order to assist the Government of the Philippines (GOP). Over the next three years there, 1st SFG(A) members built an admirable record training six light infantry battalions and three light reaction companies from the AFP, treating over 31,000 Filipinos in MEDCAP events, helping to professionalize the AFP, and providing operations and intelligence fusion teams to actively assist in targeting terrorist cells. Throughout 2003–2004, the 1st SFG(A) deployed many soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. By November 2004 the unit deployed an entire battalion to Afghanistan as part of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A). The 1st SFG(A) supported the Global War on Terrorism with operations in those theaters as well as maintaining US security relationships with partner nations throughout the Pacific until 2021. 

1St Special Forces Group (Airborne) campaigns:
World War II
Aleutian Islands
Naples-Foggia
Anzio
Rome-Arno
Southern France (with arrowhead)
Rhineland

1st Special Forces Battalion additionally entitled to:
War on Terrorism
Global War on Terrorism

2d Special Forces Battalion is additionally entitled to:
War on Terrorism Campaigns to be determined

Decorations:
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered Pacific Area1972-1973
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered Asia 2002
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered July-August 1972
Company C, 1st Special Forces Battalion, additionally entitled to:
Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered Central and Southern Iraq 2007
Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered Central Iraq 2008-2009
Company C, 2d Special Forces Battalion, additionally entitled to:
Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered Central and Southern Iraq 2007

Army TWS also includes 720 members who are enrolled in the Special Forces Association. The 1968 film Anzio featured Peter Falk as Corporal Jack Rabinoff, who identified himself to co-star Robert Mitchum as a member of the American-Canadian 1st Special Service Force. Three documentaries have been made about the force: "Black Devils" in 2000, an episode of History Channel's "Dangerous Missions" series, written produced and directed by Darryl Rehr; Daring to Die: The Story of the Black Devils, written and directed by Greg Hancock and Wayne Abbot; and Devil's Brigade, a 2006 TV miniseries produced by Frantic Films In November, 2019. A Bravery In Arms documentary was produced of the First Special Service Force assault on Monte Majo. In the documentary, the actual location of the battle was shown. Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds features a character named Lt. Aldo Raine, aka "Aldo the Apache," played by Brad Pitt, who wears the unit's crossed arrows collar insignia and red arrowhead shoulder patch. Tarantino cited the 1st SSF as an influence. The Devil's Brigade by Robert H. Adleman & George H. Walton is an autobiography and historical reference for the First Special Service Force. The Marvel Comics character Wolverine claimed several times that he was a member of the Devil's Brigade during the war — being Canadian-born during the last years of Queen Victoria's reign, it fits. He also claimed he took part in the Anzio and Cassino battles. In 1981, Capt. Kathleen Wilder became the first woman to qualify for the Green Beret. Wilder, a former military intelligence officer, wore the Special Forces tab from when it was created in 1983 and continued to do so over a 28-year career until she retired as a LtCol. In 2024, there are about 2,300 women currently serving in Army Special Forces, making up 8% of strength, which includes Special Forces and Rangers.