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Please sign and spread the word.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... ce-brigade

The U.S. Army has created a new unit known as the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade who's core mission is to advise and assist the training of foreign military forces. A mission already conducted by The U.S. Army Special Forces, or "The Green Berets". 1st SFAB has plagiarized the U.S. Army 5th SFG(A)'s unofficial name of "The Legion", and crassly, 1st SFAB will be issued a blatant knock-off of the U.S. Army Special Forces unique headgear.

As President Kennedy said of the Green Berets, April 11, 1962 -- "A symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom." It is earned, not issued.

Please have the 1st SFAB change their headgear to red, blue, black, or gray, and not assume the moniker of " The Legion"

My cousin was killed serving as a 5th Special Forces medic.

Petition signed. Thanks much for bringing this up in the Forum.

Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I recommend the book "Horse Soldiers" (soon to be movie titled "12 Strong") about the early days of the war in Afghanistan.

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I don't know why certain branches get certain assignments, but the SEALs are special forces. IIRC, each branch is represented. Even the Marine Corps had their Force Recon unit added to SOCOM a few years back. However, I don't think the Coasties are in there yet.

C-dub wrote:

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I don't know why certain branches get certain assignments, but the SEALs are special forces. IIRC, each branch is represented. Even the Marine Corps had their Force Recon unit added to SOCOM a few years back. However, I don't think the Coasties are in there yet.

Not quite correct. SOF is the umbrella term you are thinking of, not "Special Forces". Army Special Forces are specific units and MOS designations.

Each branch has SOF elements - aka Special Operations Forces. The Army has several, including Special Forces (Green Berets), Rangers and the 160th SOAR.

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I recommend doing historical reading on the SEALs and Special Forces. Historically they have very different mission profiles and their training lifecycles reflect that.

For example.......

STS (DevGru) may have some of the finest pipe hitters in the world, but they are not infantrymen. They are highly trained in direct action, recon, etc but they were never in the infantry. That is why you will often hear about missions where Army Rangers were attached to STS or Teams in general. They gave them land combat capabilities that are intrinsic to infantry operations - and our Rangers are the best infantry in the world.


This also goes back to the concept that Army Special Forces has always been designed to project force and create capabilities - not necessarily fire shots. Yes, they are VERY good at that. They are masters of unconventional warfare. Their primary goal, however, has been to integrate with host nation elements - either the rebels or the Government - and training them to succeed. They bring soft skills with them as a result of their selection and training criteria that the SEALs do not necessarily look for. It's not a weakness or strength - it's a matter of mission profile.


They are different units. The GWOT has seen their MPs blur and mix and mesh. You see SF teams doing lots of direct action work while there are SEALs training people. These are highly talented warriors that bring a lot to the table. At the end of the day, though, their charters are not the same. They do not exist for the same reasons, strictly speaking.

When SOCOM was created as a joint command the distinction between Army and Navy Special Operations Forces became somewhat blurred. The Navy calls SEALS "Special Warfare" commands and the Army calls their SOF troops, Special Forces. The distinction is irrelevant when operating as part of SOCOM. One interesting observation I heard about SEALS from an Army SOF guy was that in the beginning of the GWOT, they were pretty bad at larger unit infantry operations because BUD/S and other SEAL training has very little infantry training included. You could always solve that with Marine Force Recon, but these days they apparently receive much more infantry training with the Army before deploying jointly. Then again the Army can't swim...so there .

I'm still irritated about the Army issuing black berets to non-Rangers.

Apparently the Army got the message:

1st Security Force Assistance Brigade

The 1st SFAB has great respect for U.S. Army Special Forces, their many accomplishments and their singularly distinguished history. We also respect the concerns associated with the heraldry of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade.

The 1st SFAB is not a Special Forces organization. We are a conventional force purposefully built to partner with other conventional forces. SFABs will support Army readiness by allowing brigade combat teams to focus on building their readiness for large scale contingencies instead of on the train, advise and assist missions.

In accordance with Army guidance, we will select a new unit name. The Army has also decided the SFABs will wear a Brown Infantry Beret like those worn by many armies. Our new name and photos of the beret will be published once the final decisions are approved.

Thank you for your support as we establish the identity and culture of the #1SFAB.

U.S. Army U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) XVIII Airborne Corps

bblhd672 wrote:

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I recommend the book "Horse Soldiers" (soon to be movie titled "12 Strong") about the early days of the war in Afghanistan.

2nd that recommendation.

Petition signed. This is obscene.

ScottDLS wrote:When SOCOM was created as a joint command the distinction between Army and Navy Special Operations Forces became somewhat blurred. The Navy calls SEALS "Special Warfare" commands and the Army calls their SOF troops, Special Forces. The distinction is irrelevant when operating as part of SOCOM. One interesting observation I heard about SEALS from an Army SOF guy was that in the beginning of the GWOT, they were pretty bad at larger unit infantry operations because BUD/S and other SEAL training has very little infantry training included. You could always solve that with Marine Force Recon, but these days they apparently receive much more infantry training with the Army before deploying jointly. Then again the Army can't swim...so there .

The Army only calls one of its SOF organizations Special Forces. Rangers and 160th SOAR are two others. Special Forces have been involved in many different types of operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

C-dub wrote:

Liberty wrote:Maybe its me , but I've gotten a little confused about the role of the Special Forces. The Navy seal seem to be seeing a lot of action in the Mountains of Afghanistan and and not so much about the Special Forces these days. Seems to me that there is some political castration going on. Maybe it's just some old Army loyalty and Navy rivalry in me ... But it just seems like the SEALs are getting jobs the Special Forces used to do. Things just aren't the same as they used to be 40 years ago.

I don't know why certain branches get certain assignments, but the SEALs are special forces. IIRC, each branch is represented. Even the Marine Corps had their Force Recon unit added to SOCOM a few years back. However, I don't think the Coasties are in there yet.

No, SEALs are not Special Forces, they are Special Operations Forces. There is a difference. And there is only one Special Forces.

bblhd672 wrote:Apparently the Army got the message:

1st Security Force Assistance Brigade

The 1st SFAB has great respect for U.S. Army Special Forces, their many accomplishments and their singularly distinguished history. We also respect the concerns associated with the heraldry of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade.

The 1st SFAB is not a Special Forces organization. We are a conventional force purposefully built to partner with other conventional forces. SFABs will support Army readiness by allowing brigade combat teams to focus on building their readiness for large scale contingencies instead of on the train, advise and assist missions.

In accordance with Army guidance, we will select a new unit name. The Army has also decided the SFABs will wear a Brown Infantry Beret like those worn by many armies. Our new name and photos of the beret will be published once the final decisions are approved.

Thank you for your support as we establish the identity and culture of the #1SFAB.

U.S. Army U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) XVIII Airborne Corps

Idiots.