5th Special Forces Group (United States)
The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (5th SFG (A), 5th Group) is one of the most decorated active duty United States Army Special Forces groups. The 5th SFG (A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War and played a pivotal role in the early months of Operation Enduring Freedom. 5th 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.
5th Special Forces Company D Hurricane Aircat airboats on the Mekong near the Cambodian border in 1966
Special Forces Operational Detachments 555 and A-595 were inserted into Afghanistan at night in zero-visibility conditions aboard two MH-47 Chinook helicopters.
Members of ODA 595, part of Task Force Dagger, and Afghan forces ride into northern Afghanistan in October 2001 on horseback.
Major Mark E. Mitchell is decorated for his combat actions during the battle by General Bryan D. Brown, chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is the special operations branch of the United States Army. Although technically an Army branch, the Special Forces operates similarly to a functional area (FA), in that individuals may not join its ranks until having served in another Army branch.
Special Forces soldiers from Task Force Dagger and Commander Dostum on horseback in the Dari-a-Souf Valley, Afghanistan, circa October 2001.
ODA 525 team picture taken shortly before infiltration in Iraq, February 1991
Soldiers from each of the Army's seven Special Forces Groups (beret patches, l. to r., of 1st, 5th, 7th, 10th, 19th, 20th and 3rd SFG) at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy in November 2011.
A MH-60L from 160th SOAR deploys an ODA from 7th SFG(A) on board a U.S. submarine for a joint exercise