3rd Special Forces Group

USASOC Turns 27 Years Old Today, December 1, 1989

Time flies when you are having fun, or in the case of the United States Army Special Operations Command, when you are employed so heavily, the years, never mind the days and months fly by.

On today’s date in 1989, USASOC was activated and although it wasn’t that long ago, the world, as well as the command has changed a great deal. The command was activated just days before the US would invade Panama, or in the case of many troops involved from USASOC, namely the 3rd Bn, 7th Special Forces Group and SOCSOUTH, they’d just pick up and move out from their team rooms.

The command was activated and went right into Just Cause, and shortly thereafter Desert Shield, Desert Storm. And it seemed like the op-tempo never slowed down.

Since 9/11 and the quick invasion of Afghanistan right after that, no major command in the Army has been involved in the Global War on Terror as heavily as USASOC.

History: On Dec. 1, 1989, the Department of the Army established USASOC at Fort Bragg, N.C. , as a major Army command to enhance the readiness of Army special operations forces.

In addition to reporting to the Department of the Army, USASOC also functions as the Army component of the U.S. Special Operations Command, or USSOCOM, located at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. USSOCOM is the unified combatant command responsible for all Department of Defense special operations forces within the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

From the USASOC Command Page:
Structure: With an allocated strength of approximately 23,000 Soldiers, USASOC commands both active-duty and Army Reserve special operations forces. The command also provides oversight of Army National Guard special operations forces’ readiness, organization, training, and employment in coordination with the National Guard Bureau and state adjutants general.

USASOC controls seven major subordinate elements, which in turn train and maintain forces for deployment by USSOCOM to combatant command theaters worldwide.

USASOC has four major subordinate commands that include the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) (Provisional), U. S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command, all located at Fort Bragg, N.C. Located elsewhere is the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga.

The 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) (Provisional), Fort Bragg, N.C., controls five active Special Forces groups and has training oversight for two groups in the Army National Guard. The Green Berets are uniquely selected, trained and equipped for deployment around the world during peacetime, conflict, and war. Regionally and culturally oriented, Special Forces Soldiers are experts in unconventional warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense and combating terrorism. The command also includes the 4th and 8th Military Information Support Groups (Airborne), the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne) and the 528th Sustainment Brigade (Airborne).

The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) at Fort Bragg, N.C., is one of the Army’s premier education institutions, managing and resourcing professional growth for Soldiers in the Army’s three distinct special-operations branches: Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Military Information Support.

The 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga. , is the Army’s premier light infantry force. The Rangers are flexible, highly-trained and rapidly deployable Soldiers with specialized skills who can be employed against a variety of targets. The regiment’s three battalions plan and conduct direct action missions in support of U.S. policy objectives.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command organizes, mans, trains, resources and equips ARSOAC units to provide responsive, special operations aviation support to Special Operations Forces and is the USASOC Aviation staff proponent

1st SFC: The US Army 1st Special Forces Command is tasked with organizing, equipping, training, and validating forces to conduct full spectrum special operations in support of USSOCOM, Geographic Combatant Commanders, American ambassadors, and other governmental agencies.

Special Forces Green Berets deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, information operations, counter-proliferation of WMD, and security force assistance.

There are five active component and two National Guard Special Forces Groups. Each SF Group is regionally oriented to support the US interests in their specific area.

1st SFG(A): Joint Base Lewis-McChord Washington

3rd SFG(A): Ft. Bragg, NC

5th SFG(A): Ft. Campbell, KY

7th SFG(A): Eglin, AFB FL

10th SFG(A): Ft. Carson, CO

19th SFG(A): Draper, UT

20th SFG(A): Birmingham, AL

4th Military Information Support Group: The 4th MISG remains the Army’s only active military information support operations unit.

The ranks of the 4th MISG include regional and language-trained experts who understand political, cultural, ethnic and religious subtleties. With functional experts in all aspects of tactical communications, the 4th MISG offers joint force commanders unmatched abilities to influence target audiences as well as support to U.S. diplomacy.

95th Civil Affairs Brigade: 95th Civil Affairs Brigade Soldiers enable military commanders and U.S. Ambassadors to improve relationships
with various stakeholders in a local area to meet the objectives of the U.S. government.

95th Civil Affairs Brigade teams work with U.S. Department of State country teams, government and nongovernmental organizations at all levels and with local populations in peaceful, contingency and hostile environments.

US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School: The JFKSWC trains, educates, develops and manages world-class Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces warriors and leaders in order to provide our nation with highly educated, innovative and adaptive operators.

1st Special Warfare Training Group

Special Warfare Education Group

Special Warfare Medical Group
Special Warfare Warrant Officer Institute

David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Officer Academy

Directorate of Training and Doctrine

Branch Proponents (CA, PSYOP, & SF)

Army Special Operations Capabilities Integration Center

ARSOF Training, Leader Development, and Education

ARSOF Personnel Policies and Programs Center

US Army Special Operations Aviation Command: The USASOAC traces its lineage back to the early 1960s when Special Forces were just beginning to expand and the unit supported the 5th, 7th and 1st SFGs in Vietnam. After the debacle at Desert One in 1980, the Army dedicated a command specifically for Special Operations Aviation. Today, 160th SOAR has almost 3000 soldiers and more than 200 aircraft.

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment: Ft. Campbell, KY

75th Ranger Regiment: The Ranger Regiment has four geographically displaced battalions ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. Their capabilities include air assault and direct action raids seizing key terrain such as airfields, destroying strategic facilities, and capturing or killing the enemy.

1st Ranger Bn: Hunter Army Airfield, GA

2nd Ranger Bn: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA

3rd Ranger Bn: Ft. Benning, GA

75th Ranger Special Troops Bn:

USASOC has certainly grown since the early days of the command and it will continue to grow. The demands placed upon the Special Operations troops of the military has continued to stretch the units to their breaking point. The demand for high-quality Special Operations troops is higher now than ever before.

With the US government using Special Operations troops as their “Go-To” first unit of choice, USSOCOM and USASOC will be tasked to do more and more as the events of the world play out.

Photos: USASOC

Niger Agrees to Grant Authority to U.S. Military to Arm Drones

Reports from CNN earlier this week are saying that the government of Niger has granted the US military the authority to arm its drones in Niger. US military officials had been seeking the authority to arm its drones for months prior to the ambush of a US Special Forces unit that left four soldiers dead.

Since that attack in October has goaded US officials to press the Niger government with a renewed sense of urgency to allow the arming of drones.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters that a remotely piloted drone aircraft arrived overhead within minutes of the soldiers’ request for support but defense officials told CNN that it was unarmed due to the previous prohibition on armed drones.
It is unclear what if any authority military commanders have to conduct drone strikes in Niger.
“The Government of Niger and the US stand firm in working together to prevent terrorist organizations from using the region as a safe haven. For operational security reasons, I will not comment on specific military authorities or permissions,” Maj. Audricia Harris said.
The New York Times was the first to report Niger’s granting of authority to arm drones.

There are currently around 800 US troops in the country of Niger, most are helping to build a new drone operational base in the town of Agadez. The current base for drone operations is located near the civilian airport in the capital of Niamey.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Daily Beast: Green Beret Murdered After Discovering SEALs Stealing Cash

The story about the Green Beret found murdered in his apartment in Mali has taken an ominous twist. A recent piece penned by the Daily Beast, says SSG Logan Melgar of the 3^rd Special Forces Group was murdered by two Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six after he found out about the pair’s stealing of cash designed to pay informants involved in intelligence gathering operations.

The story, which claims that they got from official sources says Melgar found out about the SEALs illegal activity and was concerned. He told his wife over the phone his concerns and said that he’d explain more after he returned home.

This account is based on five members of the special-operations community who were not cleared to speak publicly. Representatives of both U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) declined comment for this story, as the Navy Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS) has an active investigation into Melgar’s death. NCIS would not comment beyond confirming the investigation is underway.
As the elite troops do in so many countries, they operate in the shadows, with comparatively little oversight—and what their actions actually look like on the ground can be much dirtier than the heroic image the Pentagon prefers to portray.
For example, part of the intelligence gathering operation in Mali involved a fund used to pay informants.
Melgar, two special operations sources say, discovered the SEALs were pocketing some of the money from the informant fund. The SEALS offered to cut him in, but Melgar declined, these sources said.
It is unknown what specifically started the June 4 altercation at 5 a.m. but it escalated. Melgar lost consciousness—and, worse, stopped breathing. The SEALs attempted to open an airway in Melgar’s throat, officials said. It is unknown whether Melgar died immediately. The SEALs and another Green Beret, according to former AFRICOM officials, drove to a nearby French clinic seeking help. Melgar was dead when he arrived at the clinic, the official said. Asphyxiation was the cause of death.

The SEALs story was that Melgar was drunk and was killed in a combatives exercise. One of the SEALs was a mixed martial arts fighter. Except that no alcohol was found in Melgar’s system. One of the sources used in the story told the authors that Melgar didn’t drink at all. That sent red flags up in the community and General David Bolduc, the then commander of the Special Operations Command Africa alerted the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.

To read the entire article from The Daily Beast, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Congress Claims No Knowledge of US Troops in Niger Prior to Ambush

In a typical Washington dance known as the “Potomac Two-Step”, anything that goes right will have a hundred fathers, but if anything goes wrong, that operation is an orphan.

Several members of Congress are now claiming this week they had no idea the U.S. military had a presence in Niger after four troops from the 3rd Special Forces Group were killed there in an ambush on October 4.

The fact that Special Forces and other US troops were in Niger since 2013 wasn’t a black operation or a secret. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been openly posting on Twitter about U.S. involvement in Niger for years. And thousands of troops serve across Africa every day. And the Senate Armed Services Committee has been briefed on their involvement in Niger since the deployments are not classified.

Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania told CNN Monday he was not aware of the U.S. military’s involvement in Niger. He’s not alone. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also said he didn’t know.
“When you consider what happened here—the four sergeants lost their lives—I think there’s a lot of work that both parties and both branches of government need to do. Not only to stay more informed, but to focus on why we’re there and what happened to get to the bottom of this,” Casey said.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Sunday he was unaware U.S. troops were in Niger and had only been given a “little insight” on the October 4 ambush. Graham said lawmakers would be briefed next week “as to why they were there and what they were doing.”
Senate documents, however, show Graham was in attendance at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in March when General Thomas D. Waldhauser, AFRICOM’s commander, specifically discussed the U.S. military’s presence in Niger.

SOFREP’s Jack Murphy was asked to be a guest on the BBC and put the presenters straight when asked about the deployment and the ridiculous notion that this is “Trump’s Benghazi.”

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

White House Chief of Staff Kelly “Stunned” Over Trump Criticism

In another turn of events from earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Thursday he was “stunned and broken-hearted” over the comments that Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) made after President Trump called the widow of a soldier who was killed in Niger two weeks ago.

Kelly came to the aid of the President who was criticized in how he tried to comfort the widow of SGT La David Johnson of the 3^rd Special Forces Group. “There’s no perfect way to make that phone call,” said Kelly, who appeared at a regular White House press briefing. “It’s not the phone call parents, family members are looking forward to,” he said.

Kelly said the comments Trump made to Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, were similar to those spoken to him after his son was killed in Afghanistan. “He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed,” Kelly said. “He knew what he was getting into when he joined” the military. “And when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this Earth, his friends,” said Kelly. “That’s what the president tried to say to the four families yesterday.”
Kelly said that the conversation in the aftermath of a military death is one of the only aspects of American life that has not been politicized. Yet, “it eroded a great deal yesterday by the selfish behavior of a member of Congress,” he said. “I thought at least that was sacred,” he said.
Trump on Wednesday denied telling the widow of a U.S. soldier killed by Islamic State-linked militants in Niger that her husband knew “what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurts.”

Kelly spoke about his own son’s death in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and how difficult that time was. Trump took to Twitter to lambast Rep. Wilson over her comments, calling her actions, “sad.”

To read the entire article from The USA Today click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Trump’s Call To Special Forces Widow Creates a Firestorm

President Donald Trump’s call to the grieving widow of SGT La David Johnson has created an imbroglio between the White House and a Florida Democratic Congresswoman.

Johnson was one of four soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group who were killed two weeks ago in Niger in an ambush while they were training and advising the local troops on a Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The Green Berets and support troops were returning from a mission when they were ambushed by a numerically superior force with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Johnson, a wheeled vehicle mechanic was initially separated from the other troops and was presumed missing but was found a few days later, having been killed in the fighting.

Trump’s call to Myeshia Johnson took place in a car right after she had met the casket of her husband at the airport. Like so many scenes of those in the past, it was an emotional, gut-wrenching experience for Johnson’s widow, who not only lost her husband but the father of her young children. That’s where the story differs.

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson, claims that she was in the car with Johnson and that the President told Myeshia Johnson that “he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.” Wilson also claims that the President didn’t even know the soldier’s name and that after the call, Johnson “broke down” sobbing. Wilson’s claim was corroborated by Cowanda Jones-Johnson, a family member who raised Johnson and who was also in the car at the time of the call.

Wilson later spoke on CNN and lambasted Trump saying that “Mr. Trump is crazy” and later told a CNN reporter that the President “has a brain disorder.” As one would expect, it was quickly picked up by the national media and became an even bigger story after the President responded, first in a meeting in the Cabinet Room and then like he’s normally done via Twitter.

President Trump first denial was at the White House to the reporters, there for the Cabinet meeting, “I didn’t say what that congresswoman said. Didn’t say it at all,” Trump told reporters during a meeting on tax reform in the Cabinet Room. “She knows it. And she now is not saying it. I did not say what she said.” He added that he “had a very nice” conversation with Johnson’s widow, and that “she sounded like a lovely woman.”

Trump said that he had proof that Wilson made up her claims but neither he nor White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered any proof of it. Sanders did state that there are no recordings of the President’s phone calls but alluded that there were many other people in the room during the conversation. That is when the situation devolved into a Twitter war of words began, with Trump stating,

Wilson didn’t back off her earlier statements and sent her own Tweet out.

Later she spoke with a CNN affiliate and added more fuel to the already stoked fire. “That is what stood out in everyone’s heart,” she said. “You don’t say that. He is the President of the United States. This is a soldier who gave his life for his country. He is a hero in our minds, in our community’s minds. That is an insult to the entire Miami Gardens community,…And I hope he didn’t say this to the other three families.”

Wilson also claims that she was “livid” at the President’s remarks and tried to grab the phone in the car to speak with the President but was blocked from doing so by a Master Sergeant from the military, who was no doubt part of the Survivor Assistance detail. Which was the correct answer on two parts. First, the proper protocol is that the President’s conversations with families are private and for them only. And the second is that the last thing you need is for a third party to inflame nerves of the bereaved family that are already stretched to the breaking point.

Having been involved in a couple of these situations in the past, the feelings of the family are always to be treated very, very carefully. Every word spoken, every action taken has to be under the consideration that the family has had an integral part of it ripped away and never to return. They are dealing with the heartbreak of losing a loved one and on the day that the casket returns home is a gut-wrenching, experience when all of the bad feelings become reality. We’ve watched this play out many times, too many times and any outsiders, be they the military assistance teams or the local representative, lending their support has to be there as a calming influence.

Just one wrong word can be catastrophic. During the funeral for my Team Sergeant from Panama in 1990 at a tiny North Carolina graveyard, the immediate family of his and his in-laws harbored a deep grudge against one another. At the gravesite for him, just one misspoken word sparked a melee with punches thrown by too many people to count. And our pallbearers and honor guard who were there to say goodbye to our comrade had to break it up while in uniform. It was a situation, I hope never to see repeated.

Did the President actually say these words? I don’t know, but given his lack of filter in the past, I tend to believe it. Was it a deliberate attempt to hurt the feelings of SGT Johnson’s widow? No, I don’t buy that a bit. But as we’ve seen in the past, President Trump’s lack of filter and speaking off the cuff can get him in trouble.

And of all the times he needed to think thru what he was going to say, this was it. Losing a soldier for the military is a sad fact of the job. We as soldiers, know this better than anyone. We accept it, know that it is, in fact, the worst part of the job. We know that the table we sit around will have an occasional empty chair. It is part of what we were aware of when we volunteered. But he wasn’t speaking to the troops, and that’s where he needed to choose his words very carefully.

Nothing that he could say will take away the pain and anguish of Myeshia Johnson or any of the other three families from the 3rd SFG who lost loved ones on that day in Niger. But his words will stick with them for the rest of their lives because when they think back on the day his body came home, they will remember the call from the President of the United States. He speaks for the country as a whole and they should be words that stick with them in a positive, healing and caring way. There should never be any gray area in this…ever.

Regardless of whether he said it as it is being portrayed or any other way, he failed this family on the worst possible day for them. And because of that, we as a country didn’t do them right either. They deserve that.

Photos: US Army, White House, Twitter

“What Were Green Berets Doing in Niger?” – Their Job

This hasn’t been the best of weeks for the United States. We had the largest mass shooting in our history in Las Vegas and then news came out that a Special Forces team, from the 3rd Special Forces Group working with local troops from Niger, were ambushed and suffered four dead in the firefight. There were two Special Forces A-team members and two support soldiers killed in action, who were out on the operation. Two other wounded Green Berets were flown to a military hospital in Germany where they are expected to recover.

A joint Special Forces, Nigerien operation was attacked 120 miles north of the West African country’s capital, Niamey, near the border with Mali.The terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb, or AQIM, is suspected of carrying out the deadly attack. SOFREP’s Derek Gannon has been on top of this breaking situation since it occurred. He’s had the best breakdown of the information as it has unfolded. You can find some of his work here:

We are not even going to get into the topic of second-guessing or armchair quarterbacking this mission. The details are still fuzzy and the men performing these operations are highly trained professionals. They were all veterans of multiple deployments and know better than most the risks that are involved. The self-serving Pentagon CYA comments about risk assessments are an insult to the men who get tasked with performing these operations. But we digress…

But whenever a situation like this happens, which thankfully is rare, the first question everyone wants to ask is “Why did this happen?”. Many friends and relatives who aren’t or have never been in the military have been constantly asking “What are U.S. troops doing in Niger?” I even heard, “Is Trump starting an undeclared war in Africa?”

To answer this, the first thing that people must understand is that President Trump isn’t running some “black-ops” secret war without the knowledge of the American people. Special Operations Forces have been operating in Africa for decades. While most Americans are aware of the wars ongoing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, the others, the “shadow wars” are going on all over the world and our Special Operations Forces are involved. And on any given day, Special Operations Forces from all of the services can be found in nearly 100 countries around the globe.

After the 9-11 attacks, President Bush initiated a counterterrorism program in which the U.S. worked with the militaries of Niger, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania, to track down criminals and terrorists in the region. It was later expanded to several other countries.

In 2013, Islamic militants overran parts of Mali, where the local government asked France to launch a military intervention to drive them out. This was called Operation Serval.

As former President Obama was winding down operations in Afghanistan, he directed more assets be allocated towards Africa. The 3rd SFG has had Africa as one of its bases of operations since its reactivation in 1990. They were also operating in the Caribbean but have been active participants in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The 3rd SFG has distinguished itself in the war in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

The US currently has close to 6000 troops in Africa with close to 800 in Niger. Most of those troops are at two drone bases that the US operates inside the country to keep an eye on the terrorists from ISIS who are flocking from the hot spots of Syria and Iraq as the Islamic State is being routed out of both of those.

The U.S. military has been in a train, advise and assist mode in West Africa for over a decade and Special Operations Forces are at the forefront of that. Those soldiers from the 3rd SFG were there conducting a FID (Foreign Internal Defense) Mission with the Nigerien military as well as advising Nigerien special operations during direct action counter-insurgency operations within the country.

The area of UW (Unconventional Warfare) and FID are two of the areas where the Special Forces groups of the Army are without peer. Their ability to build rapport, speak the local languages and know the customs, of the target nation, makes them the premier UW/FID force in USSOCOM.

Special Forces troops work in the shadows, in those gray areas where there is no right or wrong answer when dealing with foreign governments and military units. One day they may be teaching basic patrolling to a green host nation unit. The next they may be asked to be a diplomat and discuss the on-going strategy with a high-level member of the host nation government.

Special Forces troops such as these men in the 3rd SFG are enablers or what we called in an earlier time, force multipliers. They’re going to teach, assist and advise the host nation forces to root out these Al-Qaeda terrorists from their lands. No one is better at doing these Direct Action type missions than our Special Operations Forces (Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Marine Raiders and Green Berets).

But when the SF are allowed to do their mission, the host nation soldiers will do the heavy lifting, the SF will be there to advise and assist. The host nation soldiers will get all the credit as the SF blends back into the shadows. They are the true “Quiet Professionals.” Which means American troops don’t have to do the fighting there.

Most Americans don’t know that on a daily basis these SF troops could be leading a reconnaissance patrol in Africa, advising a Colombian counternarcotics unit on a drug raid, conducting counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan or advising a Filipino unit doing live operations against Islamic State insurgents.

Another reason that many of our countrymen were surprised to hear that we have troops in Africa is that it doesn’t affect them. Unfortunately, most Americans aren’t truly invested in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria as well as the countless shadow wars that going on. Oh, they’ll support the troops when they see them coming home and won’t fail to thank them for their service, but for the majority of America, the war is being fought by “somebody else.”

We are creating an almost new caste of society in the United States, the military family. So many of the people that have served have sons, daughters and grandsons and granddaughters serving. The All-volunteer military is the way to go and no one is arguing for a return of the draft here, but we have an increasingly large segment of our society that has little to no stake in what is going on, other than the residual effects on our economy etc. I wonder how many high school students could even find Iraq or Afghanistan on a map. Compare that to a few generations ago. Every school kid could probably find the tiny speck of Iwo Jima on a map back then.

So while it isn’t totally surprising that many Americans didn’t know that we had Special Forces troops in Africa, to answer the original question, “What are Green Berets doing in Africa, the shortest and best answer is…they are doing their job.

Photo: US Army Special Operations Command

SSG Robert J. Miller Awarded Medal Of Honor October 6, 2010

As we wait to find out more of the details of the latest combat operation in Niger where a Special Forces team from the 3rd Special Forces Group, 3rd SFG(A) was involved in an action where several Green Berets were killed or injured, today marks another special day for the 3rd SFG(A), and one its members.

On this day in 2010, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor, posthumously to the parents of SSG Robert J. Miller.

Miller, a Green Beret from 3rd Group’s ODA-3312 was on his second tour of Afghanistan in 2007-2008. He’d previously been decorated for valor on an earlier deployment and was the only member of his team that spoke Pashto the native Afghan dialect.

The Afghan soldiers, part of the ANA (Afghan National Army) liked and trusted Miller and he had made a good rapport with the allied troops. On January 24, 2008, the ODA and their Afghan counterparts were tasked with a combat reconnaissance mission designed to root out insurgent safe havens located in the ridges of the Chen Khar valley.

With support from UAVs to scout out insurgent players on the slopes and F-15s and A-10s providing airstrikes, the combined SF/ANA team moved into the valley blanketed by almost a foot of snow. Enroute, the team had to clear two boulders from the road, a favorite insurgent trick to slow down or stop convoys on the road.

The team reached their initial objective around 0100 on January 25, a suspected insurgent compound which was empty. Then the SF troops got word that the UAV spotted 15-20 insurgents across the river on the slope, preparing to attack the coalition troops. Miller leaped into the turret of his GMV (Ground Mobility Vehicle) and began engaging the enemy with his Mk. 19 40 mm automatic grenade launcher. The F-15 and A-10 air support made ground support strafing runs.

The team’s Mk. 19 broke down and Miller was unable to fix it. He moved to the rear of the GMV and began firing on the M-240B machine gun.

When the firing ceased, Miller’s team leader, Major Robert Cusick, ordered Miller to take the point of a patrol up to do a battle damage assessment. Miller, Cusick and six other Green Berets and a team of 15 ANA crossed the river and climbed up the valley.

Miller moved forward with a SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) when an insurgent broke free from some rocks, shouting “Allah Akbar” rushed Miller. It was at this point that the valley came alive with over 200 insurgents pouring fire down on the exposed team. Cusick later recalled it like as being in the middle of a July 4th fireworks display.

Miller killed the insurgent with his SAW and immediately laid down suppressive fire for the remainder of the team.

Cusick was seriously wounded with a gunshot to the collarbone area. Miller was hit in the torso but was able to spin around and kill the insurgent. But then he did what no one, American or insurgent expected…he attacked. Moving forward, he single-handedly took on the enemy force and his SAW, which was highly visible due to the flash of the muzzle attracted an enormous amount of insurgent fire, so heavy, that the Americans reported that although he was close, was impossible to reach.

Miller kept up the fire and moved on insurgent positions, eliminating them one at a time with a mixture of SAW fire and hand grenades. It wasn’t until his ammunition and grenades expended, that he was killed by rifle fire.

His team twice tried to reach him but to no avail, finally a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) arrived and the coalition forces were able to recover Miller’s body. He single-handedly dealt a crippling blow to the enemy, killing 16 and wounding and another 30. His selfless actions allowed his team to seek cover and evacuate the wounded.

On October 6, 2010, President Obama’s comments about Miller at the ceremony with his parents left no doubt as to the heroism that was involved on that bloody night: Rob Miller — and all those who give their lives in our name — endure in each of us. Every American is safer because of their service. And every American has a duty to remember and honor their sacrifice.
If we do — if we keep their legacy alive, if we keep faith with the freedoms they died to defend — then we can imagine a day, decades from now, when another child sits down at his desk, ponders the true meaning of heroism and finds inspiration in the story of a soldier — Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller and a generation that “fought day and night, fighting for what they thought was right.”

Miller’s MOH Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded, in the name of the Congress, the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.
Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism while serving as the weapons sergeant in Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3312, Special Operations Task Force 33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on January 25th, 2008.
While conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol through the Gowardesh Valley, Staff Sergeant Miller and his small element of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers engaged a force of 15 to 20 insurgents occupying prepared fighting positions. Staff Sergeant Miller initiated the assault by engaging the enemy positions with his vehicle’s turret-mounted Mk 19 40-millimeter automatic grenade launcher, while simultaneously providing detailed descriptions of the enemy positions to his command, enabling effective, accurate close air support.
Following the engagement, Staff Sergeant Miller led a small squad forward to conduct a battle damage assessment. As the group neared the small, steep, narrow valley that the enemy had inhabited, a large, well-coordinated insurgent force initiated a near ambush, assaulting from elevated positions with ample cover.
Exposed and with little available cover, the patrol was totally vulnerable to enemy rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire.
As a point man, Staff Sergeant Miller was at the front of the patrol, cut off from supporting elements and less than 20 meters from enemy forces. Nonetheless, with total disregard for his own safety, he called for his men to quickly move back to cover positions as he charged the enemy over exposed ground and under overwhelming enemy fire in order to provide protective fire for his team.
While maneuvering to engage the enemy, Staff Sergeant Miller was shot in the upper torso. Ignoring the wound, he continued to push the fight. Moving to draw fire from over 100 enemy fighters upon himself, he then again charged forward through an open area in order to allow his teammates to safely reach cover.
After killing at least 10 insurgents, wounding dozens more and repeatedly exposing himself to withering enemy fire while moving from position to position, Staff Sergeant Miller was mortally wounded by enemy fire. His extraordinary valor ultimately saved the lives of seven members of his own team and 15 Afghan National Army soldiers.
Staff Sergeant Miller’s heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty and at the cost of his own life are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

Photos US Army

Op-Ed: First Woman Battalion Commander in a Special Forces Group

A career Quartermaster, LTC Megan A. Brogden assumed her new position as a battalion commander of the 3^rd SFG(A) Support Battalion.

Her change of command ceremony marked a milestone for the Army’s Special Operations Command. Brogden is the first woman to assume command of a battalion within any of the Army’s seven Special Forces groups. While it is a first in terms of gender diverseness, the matter of her gender has little to do with whether she’ll be successful in her latest assignment. And it shouldn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of determining her fitness to command.

“It was a very humbling moment,” she said after the ceremony on Fort Bragg’s Meadows Field. “It’s such a great organization.”

Brogden is quick to downplay talk of herself as a GI-Jane type of groundbreaking role model, instead focusing on her opportunity to excel in her career field that she’s been in since entering the service in 2000 from a ROTC scholarship.

“I don’t necessarily see it as much of a milestone,” she said. “I didn’t go to Ranger school or selection. It’s a lot about timing.”

Officials have called Brogden’s assuming command a historic moment for 3rd Group and the rest of the Special Forces Regiment. But during the change of command, leaders made clear that she was chosen for her expertise and leadership, not because she is a woman.

LTC Brogden, official Department of the Army photo.

And other than the fact that she’s the first woman, her command of a support battalion in an operational Special Forces group should matter very little. As long as her troops do their job to support the line battalions, her tenure will be a success. Being SF qualified or a man isn’t a precursor to success as a support battalion commander.

The biggest thing she and her troops need to do is perform the three basics and develop a mindset of supporting the line battalions while deployed, in training and while at their home station. The 3rd SFG(A) Support Battalion mission is to provide rapidly deployable logistical, medical, administrative, communication, chemical, all-source intelligence support to the 3rd SFG(A).

One of the biggest complaints the A-teams had in my time in Special Forces was that the Support Battalion personnel other than the communications companies were more self-supporting than focused on taking care of the teams, which is their reason for being in the first place.

In a classic UW (Unconventional Warfare) scenario, the Group’s Support Battalion would help set up an SFOB (Special Forces Operating Base) in an austere environment and form the core of Group’s support staff for a Joint Special Operations Task Force. Until the operation would mature into a Theater Level type venture, the Group’s Support Battalion would be the lifeline for the Operational Detachments for supply and Combat Service and Support. The Group Support Battalion and its commander will be responsible for setting up tailored capability packages to support SF units that may be involved in Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief missions as well.

Brogden served two tours with a Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan and Kuwait and should have ample experience in helping run service and support for Special Operations Forces.

And that’s how she’ll ultimately be judged. No one cares if she’s tabbed out, can clear a building of bad guys, can shoot the eyes out of a gnat at 100 meters or can carry a ruck 20-miles in five hours or less, that isn’t her job. While some people may watch her with more of a jaundiced eye because of her gender, it shouldn’t matter at all, but we have seen this type of thing before. However, her job is to ensure that the guys who do those things have everything they require from the Combat Service and Support personnel.

From reading about her experience and her assignments LTC Brogden is more than qualified to do the job and it sounds like the Army put the right person in the position, regardless of her gender. Speaking from a personal standpoint, I could care less that she’s a woman and it would have zero concerns with that if I am either on an A-Team or commanding one in 3^rd Group.

She is authorized to wear the Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Rigger Badge, and the German Parachutist Wings. So, she has the requisite background to know what type of support will be needed to support the line battalions. That is all that is required and no more of the support staff. The A-teams are the bread and butter of the Special Forces Groups. They need the support of the support personnel. Go back to the SOF Truths and #6 is “Most Special Operations Require Non-SOF Support.”

And as long as LTC Brogden does that, she’ll be successful in her newest assignment. I congratulate her on the command and can say that I wish her all the best. Take care of the troops. That is all. I don’t care that she’s woman. No one else should either.

Photos courtesy Fayetteville Observer, US Army

3rd SFG Honors Their Fallen Operators With a 5K Memorial Run

The upcoming week at Ft. Bragg and every other military base in the United States will be a hub of activity as the bases prepare for Memorial Day to honor the fallen of all of the United States’ conflicts.

But the 3^rd Special Forces Group, 3^rd SFG(A) is getting a bit of jump on the activities of the base by conducting a 5K Memorial Run this weekend to honor the fallen members of the unit in their own way. Soldiers and family members ran and walked to show that 3^rd group is a family and many wore shirts honoring the 50 members of the unit that have paid the ultimate price of freedom. Others placed placards along the route with pictures of the fallen warriors.

But in remembering, the unit chose to focus not on loss, but on the legacies that remain.
“We’re doing this because the ones we represent can’t,” said Col. Bradley D. Moses, the group commander. “But none of them would trade places with us.”
Moses said the group, which has more than 2,600 soldiers, was a close-knit family.
“All of us do this job because we love it,” he said. “This is the moment in time to honor that. It’s more celebration than race.”
Because of the relatively small size of the unit, the loss of one soldier echoes deeply within the 3rd Group, officials said. And when that happens, the group promises to keep the memories of the fallen alive.
The run is part of those efforts. Many soldiers and family members wore shirts featuring the names of all 50 3rd Group soldiers have been killed in combat in the unit’s history and the words “Care for the wounded. Honor the fallen. Continue the mission.”
But Saturday’s event was a time the soldiers and their families could pause for fellowship and reflection on 3rd Group’s and the nation’s fallen.
“This is the opener for our memorial week,” Moses said
Moses said that family atmosphere was exactly what leaders hope for.
He said it’s not something that can be created at will, but instead was fostered over constant deployments for the last 16 to 17 years.
“We’ve learned to rely on each other in times of need,” Moses said. “This truly is a family. We love what we do, and we love each other.”

While other events celebrating Memorial Day during the upcoming week will be a somber affair, the run with family members was not. It was a chance for the entire unit, both military and family members to celebrate the lives of those who were briefly a part of the unit and sadly of those gone too soon.

To read the entire article from the Fayetteville Observer click here:

Photos courtesy Fayetteville Observer