Green Berets

Name given to the U.S. Army Special Forces, for the color of their headgear. Founded by Colonel Aaron Bank in 1952, the Green Berets are trained for unconventional warfare and special operations.

The Green Berets are an elite unit of soldiers skilled in hand-to-hand combat, stealth tactics, the use of explosives, amphibious warfare, rock climbing, and mountain and ski fighting. The Special Forces are organized into teams of 12 soldiers, with two experts in every specialty. They must volunteer and undergo a difficult training. All should speak at least two languages and have at least a sergeant's rank. They must be willing to work behind enemy lines, in civilian clothes if necessary. Their official motto is De opresso liber: “to liberate the oppressed.”

The Green Beret headgear was originally designated in 1953 by Special Forces Major Herbert Brucker. Soon it spread throughout all the Special [Page 303]Forces troops, although the Army did not authorize its official use. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, on a visit to Fort Bragg, headquarters of the Special Forces, encouraged all troops to wear their berets for the event. After the visit, the president sent a message saying that the green beret would be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead. Since then, the green beret has been the official headgear of all U.S. Army Special Forces.

The Green Berets became famous during the conflict in Vietnam, where they were initially involved in training South Vietnamese troops in counterinsurgency and transforming tribal and minority native groups into anticommunist combatants. During the early years of the Vietnam War, different Special Forces teams were involved in advising the South Vietnamese. In February 1965, the Fifth Special Forces Group established its permanent headquarters in Nha Trang, and Vietnam became its exclusive operational province until 1971, when the group returned to Fort Bragg.

Some Special Forces troops remained in Thailand, where they launched secret missions into Vietnam until the end of 1972. The Green Berets eventually established 254 outposts throughout Vietnam. The Special Forces fought in numerous battles against the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army. During their presence in Vietnam, the Fifth Special Forces Group won 16 of the 17 Medals of Honor awarded to the Special Forces in Vietnam.

Back home after the Vietnam War, the Green Berets had to cope with controversial reactions to their role in the conflict. Three Special Forces groups were inactivated, and there was an attempt to expand the skills of the remaining troops. Through a program called SPARTAN, the Fifth and Seventh Special Forces groups worked with Native American tribes in Florida, Arizona, and Montana to build roads and medical facilities. However, the Green Berets also were deployed in Central and South America, conducting clandestine operations against guerrilla forces (mainly Marxist and communist ones). In 1968, the Green Beret Special Forces were involved in tracking down and capturing Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the Bolivian forest.

An honor guard from the First Special Forces Group (the Green Berets) transporting the flag-draped coffin of a fellow soldier who was killed during the war in Afghanistan in 2002. The Green Berets are specially selected and trained soldiers who go deep behind enemy lines to disrupt enemy communications and supply lines and to blow up military targets. They are trained to fight anywhere in the world—in mountains, desert, the arctic, or jungle.

U.S. Army.

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