5th Special Forces Group ( United States ) The 5th Special Forces Group is an active duty United States Army Special Forces ( SF ) Group that was activated on 21 September 1961 , at the height of the Cold War . It is one of the most decorated special operations units in the United States military . The 5th SFG ( A ) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War . Today , 5th Group is primarily responsible for operations within the CENTCOM area of responsibility , as part of the Special Operations Command , Central ( SOCCENT ) . Unit history . The 5th SFG ( A ) traces its lineage to the 1st Battalion , 3rd Regiment , 1st Special Service Force , a combined Canadian - American organization which was constituted on 5 July 1942 . It was activated four days later on 9 July at Fort William Henry Harrison , Montana . During World War II , the 1st Special Service Force was disbanded on 5 December 1944 in Villeneuve - Loubet , France . 5th Group was constituted on 15 April 1960 , concurrently consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion ( activated 1 September 1943 ) . The consolidated unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company , 5th Special Forces Group , 1st Special Forces . Organic elements were constituted on 8 September 1961 . 5th Group was reactivated 21 September 1961 at Fort Bragg , North Carolina . On 1 October 2005 , the unit was redesignated as the 5th Special Forces Group , 1st Special Forces Regiment . Vietnam War . Fearing the growing threat of the Viet Cong insurgency to the Vietnamese government , President John F . Kennedy begin activating special forces units in anticipation of their insurgency combat expertise in 1961 . The 5th Special Forces Group was amongst those units activated in 1961 , and while attending training at the Special Warfare Center , Kennedy visited the units and personally approved the distinctive Special Force ' s Green Beret . The 5th SFG was first deployed as a battlefield advisory group for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) . By February 1965 , it was deployed as a mainstay battle force once the war was in full swing . and irregular units of the Vietnam People ' s Army , and other communist bloc insurgents . They used unconventional and conventional warfare , and were some of the last soldiers the United States pulled out of Vietnam . In June 1969 the killing of a suspected double agent Thai Khac Chuyen , and the attempt to cover it up , led to the arrest in July of seven officers and one non - commissioned officer of the 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) including the new commander , Colonel Robert B . Rheault in what became known as the “ Green Beret Affair ” . Mr . Chuyen was working with the 5th on Project GAMMA when he underwent some ten days of rigorous interrogation and solitary confinement before being shot and dumped into the sea . National newspapers and television picked up the story which became another lightning rod for anti - war feeling . Finally in September 1969 Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor announced that all charges would be dropped since the CIA , which may have had some involvement , refused to make its personnel available as witnesses . In April 1970 , 5th SFG began reducing its number of personnel in Vietnam . Later in November and December , further reductions in personnel and extraction of companies ensued , ending in a complete withdrawal of the group by March . On 5 March 1971 , 5th SFG returned to Fort Bragg . During their time in Vietnam , members of the unit earned 19 Medals of Honor , making it the most prominently decorated unit for its size in that conflict . Members of the unit continued to conduct intelligence operations in Southeast Asia until the collapse of the South Vietnamese government on 29 April 1975 . 5th SFG ( A ) Honors - Vietnam War . During ten years of service in Vietnam , thirteen Special Forces soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor , the nation ' s highest award for conspicuous gallantry and exceptional heroism under fire . Nine Special Forces soldiers of Military Assistance Command , Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group ( MAC - V SOG ) also received the Medal of Honor . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Awarded posthumously The Military Assistance Command , Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group ( MACV - SOG ) was a joint unconventional warfare task force created by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a subsidiary command of the Military Assistance Command , Vietnam ( MACV ) . The unit would eventually consist primarily of personnel from the United States Army Special Forces . Others assigned to MACV - SOG came from the United States Navy SEALs , the United States Air Force , the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) Special Activities Division , and elements of the United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance units . The Studies and Observations Group was in fact controlled and missioned by the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities ( SACSA ) and his staff at the Pentagon . After 1967 " administrative " support was provided by HQ 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) , 1st Special Forces , Vietnam ; SOG was never assigned to or missioned by HQ 5th SFG ( Abn ) . In additional men of the Special Forces earned the following number of awards : < nowiki > * < / nowiki > 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) Mike Team B55 conducted seek and destroy missions during January - February 1969 in the Rung Sat Special Zone ( RSSZ ) , an area about 20 miles south - southeast of Saigon and under operational command of the US and Vietnamese Navies . The 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) , 1st Special Forces , earned the following unit awards in the Vietnam War : United States Army Special Forces campaign participation credits number fourteen ( see " Campaign Participation Credit " below ) for the Vietnam War and range from 15 March 1962 to 31 December 1970 . Relocation . The 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) remained at Fort Bragg until 10 June 1988 , when the Group colors were cased at a ceremony marking its departure from Fort Bragg . The colors were officially uncased by Maj . Gen . Teddy G . Allen , Commander of the 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) and Fort Campbell , Kentucky Col ( now MG ret . ) Harley C . Davis , Commander of the 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) , and Command Sgt . Maj . Joseph Dennison on 16 June 1988 at its new home at Fort Campbell , KY . Late Cold War . In 1989 , through ‘ Operation Salam ’ , demining training camps for Afghans were established at Risalpur and Quetta in Pakistan under UN auspices . From 1989 – 1995 a total of 17 , 055 mine clearance personnel were trained at these camps . Part of Operation Salam ’ s agenda was also to impart mine awareness to Afghan refugees to identify mines and undertake due precautions . The UNSSM for service with the United Nations Office for the Co - ordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan ( UNOCHA ) was awarded to 5th Group soldiers who participated in this operation . Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm . The 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) added to its combat history during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm . In August 1990 the Group was called upon to conduct operations in Southwest Asia in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait . During this crisis the Army ' s First Special Operations Task Force , ( ARSOTF ) , consisting of elements of the 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) comprising 106 special operations teams performing a wide variety of missions that spanned the scope of operations : support to coalition warfare ; conducting foreign internal defense missions with the Saudi Arabian Army , performing special reconnaissance , border surveillance , direct action , combat search and rescue missions ; and advising and assisting a pan - Arab equivalent force larger than six U . S . divisions , as well as conducting civil - military operations training and liaison with the Kuwaitis . The border surveillance mission assigned the 5th Special Forces was among the most vital in providing " ground truth " to the US and Pan - Arab Forces . New military relationships were forged between the US and the Arab dictatorships which continue their importance today . General Norman Schwarzkopf described the Special Forces as " the eyes and ears " of the conventional forces and the " glue that held the coalition together . " During the period of 2 August 1990 – 30 November 1995 , selected unnamed members were awarded the Southwest Asia Service Medal , Saudi Arabia Kuwait Liberation Medal , Kuwaiti Kuwait Liberation Medal , National Defense Service Medal and the Valorous Unit Award reference General Orders 14 . Southwest Asia . Selected members of the unit are eligible to wear the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating in the following activities between December 95 – 18 March 2003 in SW Asia : Operations Restore Hope & United Shield . On 3 December 1992 , U . N . Security Resolution 794 authorized the U . S . led intervention " to use all necessary means to establish a secure environment for humanitarian relief operations in Somalia as soon as possible . " Select members were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the United Nations Medal . Operation Enduring Freedom . By 13 September 2001 , the 5th Special Forces Group was ordered to stand up a forward headquarters to conduct operations in Afghanistan . On 19 October , Operational Detachment Alpha 555 , 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) was the first of several 5th Group teams to infiltrate into Afghanistan , and work with the Northern Alliance to bring down the Taliban government . Major Mark E . Mitchell of the 5th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) in Operation Enduring Freedom was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry in November 2001 at Qala - i - Jang Fortress , Mazar - e Sharif , Afghanistan . Operations Iraqi Freedom & New Dawn . During Operation Iraqi Freedom 5th SFG ( A ) assisted in the capture of Saddam Hussein and was deployed throughout Iraq as part of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula ( CJSOTF - AP ) . 5th Group teamed up with various National Guard support groups from many different states : Virginia , Texas , Louisiana , New York , etc . 5th Special Forces Group , 1st Special Forces Regiment Honors . World War II : * Aleutian Islands ; * Naples - Foggia ; * Anzio ; * Rome - Arno ; * Southern France ( with arrowhead ) ; * Rhineland Vietnam : * Advisory ; * Defense ; * Counteroffensive ; * Counteroffensive , Phase II ; * Counteroffensive , Phase III ; * Tet Counteroffensive ; * Counteroffensive , Phase IV ; * Counteroffensive , Phase V ; * Counteroffensive , Phase VI ; * Tet 69 / Counteroffensive ; * Summer - Fall 1969 ; * Winter - Spring 1970 ; * Sanctuary Counteroffensive ; * Counteroffensive , Phase VII Southwest Asia : * Defense of Saudi Arabia ; * Liberation and Defense of Kuwait ; * Cease - Fire War on Terrorism : To be determined 1st Battalion additionally entitled to : 2d Battalion additionally entitled to : 3d Battalion additionally entitled to :