8th Special Forces Group ( United States ) The 8th Special Forces Group of the United States Army was established in 1963 at Fort Gulick , Panama Canal Zone . The primary mission of the 8th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) [ ( SFG ( A ) ] was counter - insurgency training for the armies of Latin America . Some training was performed under the sponsorship of the School of the Americas , also located at Fort Gulick . In May 1962 , the advance party from Company D , 7th SFG ( A ) departed from Ft . Bragg , NC to Fort Gulick , Panama , at that time in the Panama Canal Zone , to establish the 8th SFG ( A ) . Three months later , in August 1962 , Major Melvin J . Sowards , Commander of Company D , 7th SFG ( A ) moved the main body of the company to the Canal Zone . They would be followed by augmentation detachments . Upon their arrival , the basic organization of the Special Action Force ( SAF ) was completed and Lieutenant Colonel Sawyer assumed command . The legendary Lieutenant Colonel Arthur D . Simons , aka " Bull " , then took command of Company D , 7th SFG ( A ) January 18 , 1963 and LTC Sawyer became the Executive Officer . On April 12 , 1963 , under the command of LTC Simons , the SAF elements of the 7th SFG ( A ) were officially redesignated , as authorized by the Department of the Army and the 8th SFG ( A ) was activated . Organization . The 8th ' s full designation was 8th Special Forces Group ( ABN ) , Special Action Force ( SAF ) , Latin America . The 8th was the US Army ' s only full SAF . In addition to the two line Special Forces companies , the SAF included a Military Intelligence detachment , a Medical detachment , a Military Police detachment , an Engineer detachment , an Army Security Agency detachment , and a Psychological Operations battalion . Special Forces at this time didn ' t use designators like " battalion " . A Special Forces company ( which later became a battalion ) was commanded by a Lt . Colonel and was designated as a " C " team . The 8th had 2 " C " teams . Each " C " team had 3 " B " teams and each " B " team had 5 " A " teams . The 8th SAF also operated the NCO Academy , Airborne School and Underwater Operations School for the US Army Southern Command ( USARSO ) . They also provided support for the Jungle Warfare School at Fort Sherman , later renamed the Jungle Operations Training Center to be politically correct . Subordinate units . Company A of the 8th Group was tasked with developing and maintaining a High Altitude Low Opening ( HALO ) team , Detachment A - 13 , that was prepared to make covert free - fall entry to denied airspace by jumping from altitudes in excess of 30 , 000 feet . The team trained at the abandoned airstrip at Rio Hato , Panama , and conducted the first HALO school outside of Ft . Bragg , North Carolina , at Fort Kobbe and Howard Air Force base , Canal Zone , in 1970 . The HALO team also had a good - will mission as the " Jumping Ambassadors " and conducted exhibition parachute jumps at carnivals , festivals and other public events throughout Latin America . Notable operations . A Mobile Training Team ( MTT ) from the 8th Special Forces Group trained and advised the Bolivian Ranger Battalion that captured and killed Che Guevara in the fall of 1967 . Prior to that time , MTT ' s from the 8th Special Forces Group trained counter - insurgent units in Venezuela , Colombia and Ecuador that killed three of Che Guevara ' s best friends and Lieutenants that he had personally dispatched to those three nations to foment revolutions . MTT ' s were sent to Argentina from 1962 to 1970 to provide training in recoilless rifles to their army , road construction / maintenance , logistics , as well as English language skills . MTT ' s from the 8th Special Forces Group also assisted the Venezuelan Army in the construction of their jump school . They trained the first students and the cadre for following classes . At the U . S . Army Airborne School at Ft Sherman in the U . S . Canal Zone , a team of the 8th Special Forces Group trained Guatemalan airborne personnel . Deactivation and Reorganization . Colonel Robert J . “ Bobby Joe ” Pinkerton ( August 21 , 1927 - October 15 , 2002 ) was the final commanding officer of the 8th SFG ( A ) from August 20 , 1971 to its deactivation on June 30 , 1972 . He arrived in Panama directly from Vietnam faced with task of deactivating the 8th Special Action Force for Latin America and the 8th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) . Upon retiring the colors of the 8th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) he became the commander of the Security Assistance Force and became dual hatted as the commander of the Atlantic Garrison . On June 30 , 1972 , Lieutenant Colonel Tom Owens was the commander of Company A , 8th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) and became the first commander of the 3rd Battalion , 7th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) . When he retired his company guidon , he exchanged it for the colors of this Special Forces battalion . Additionally , he assumed the responsibilities of carrying on the traditions of his 8th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) predecessors and set the standard for other commanders to follow . One of the reasons for the deactivation of the 8th SFG ( A ) in 1972 was the draw down during the waning years of the Vietnam build up . At the same time , Special Forces was reorganizing into Battalions rather than Companies . It made sense that the 8th became the 3rd Battalion of the 7th SFG ( A ) , because it was an element of the 7th that began the set up of the 8th SFG ( A ) in 1962 . Upon reorganization the 3rd BN 7th SFG ( A ) consisted of 3 SF line companies , " B " Teams with 5 " A " Teams and a Headquarters Company which provided support including a rigger detachment . A - 5 ( A Company ) was designated as The Airborne School Team , A - 10 ( B Company ) was the HALO Team and " The Jumping Ambassadors " and A - 15 ( C Company ) was the SCUBA Team .