The History of Special Forces; Origins, Misconceptions, and Facts | Dr. Sacquety returns!

Pineland Underground

Did you know the Special Forces Operation Detachment Alpha hasn't always had twelve people in it?

Did you know only 1% of the first official Special Forces organization was made up of members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)?

The history of Special Forces is a tapestry, weaving together organizations like Merrill’s Marauders (or Unit Galahad), the Philippine resistance movements in WWII, the original PSYWAR School, and the Ranger Regiment's early days.

Join us as we host Dr. Troy J. Sacquety, the Army Special Operations Forces' Command Historian, as he dives deep with us on the nuances and facts of the impetus and history of the Special Forces Regiment.

And listen through the end to hear the controversial history of the green beret!

About the guest:

Dr. Sacquety earned an MA from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and a PhD in Military History from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining the USASOC History Office staff in August 2006, he worked several years for the Central Intelligence Agency. His research interests include Army and Office of Strategic Services special operations during World War II, and U.S. Army Civil Affairs.

About the hosts:

Maj. Ashley "Ash" Holzmann is an experienced Psychological Operations Officer who served within the re-established PSYWAR School at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School. He is now transitioning to attend grad school at Arizona State University with a follow-on assignment at West Point's Army Cyber Institute where he will research mis/disinformation.

Sgt. Maj. Derek Riley is one of the most experienced Civil Affairs Non-commissioned Officers in the Army Special Operations Regiment. He has incredible deployment experience and serves within the Civil Affairs Proponent at the United States Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School.

From the episode:

Brief biography of Brig. Gen. Evans Carlson:

https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/People/Whos-Who-in-Marine-Corps-History/Abrell-Cushman/Brigadier-General-Evans-F-Carlson/

All Special Forces Groups in the 1st Special Forces Regiment trace their official U.S. Army lineage and honors to the FSSF activation on 9 July 1942:

https://arsof-history.org/first_special_service_force/legacy.html

The Coordinator of Information (COI), which became the Office of Strategic Services (OSS):

https://www.soc.mil/OSS/the-beginning.html

The origins of the OSS and its relationship with modern Army Special Operations:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n4_oss_primer_page_1.html

British Special Operations Executive:

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/SOE

The French Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (BCRA):

https://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/bcra-dgse

The OSS also required immense amounts of coordination and logistics to be successful:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n1_supplying_resistance_page_1.html

Jedburghs (including their epically great patch):

https://www.soc.mil/OSS/jedburghs.html

The Green Berets, written by Robin Moore, was the book mentioned from the Vietnam era:

https://www.specialforceshistory.info/books/the-green-berets-robin-moore.html

Detachment 101:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v4n3_myitkyina_part_2_page_1.html

Special Forces in the Korean War:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v2n2_catch_as_catch_page_1.html

Special Operations in the Korean War:

https://www.army.mil/article/268487/army_special_operations_in_the_forgotten_war_commemorating_the_70th_anniversary_of_the_korean_armistice

The Alamo Scouts:

https://www.army.mil/article/214389/the_alamo_scouts

The Alamo Scouts have been recognized as Distinguished Members of the Special Forces Regiment:

https://www.swcs.mil/Portals/111/sf_alamo-scouts.pdf

A diary of the Alamo Scouts:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v4n3_alamo_scouts_page_1.html

Maj. Gen. McClure:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v7n2_mcclure_page_1.html

Brig. Gen. Russel Volckmann:

https://arsof-history.org/icons/volckmann.html

Col. Wendell Fertig:

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/MR-Book-Reviews/January-2017/Book-Review-011/

Lt. Col. Melvin R. Blair:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v7n1_smoke_bomb_hill_page_1.html

Lt. Martin Waters:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v4n1_myitkyina_part_1_page_1.html

Col. Aaron Bank:

https://arsof-history.org/icons/bank.html

Colombian Lanceros:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/pdf/v2n4_colombian_sof.pdf

8240:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v3n3_wolfpack_donkeys_page_1.html

Formation of the Rangers:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v2n3_rangers_wwii_page_1.html

The history of Special Operations Command (not to be confused with 1st SOCOM):

https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/1800521/

The history of 1st SOCOM:

https://arsof-history.org/1stsocom/index.html

The Lodge Act:

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP57-00384R001000010010-1.pdf

Program of Instruction (POI) is essentially the syllabus for Army instruction.

The Special Forces tab was approved in 1983:

https://web.archive.org/web/20000510192433/http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/airborne/sf_tab.htm

History of the ODA and its size over time:

https://arsof-history.org/articles/v19n1_evolution_of_the_special_forces_oda_page_1.html

The history of the green beret:

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2023/10/10/how-the-green-beret-became-the-symbol-of-us-army-special-forces/

Edson Raff's involvement:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-22-me-passings22.1-story.html

95th Civil Affairs patch:

https://www.shopmyexchange.com/army-unit-patch-95th-civil-affairs-brigade-ocp-/7048045

Want a deeper dive on the conflict in Burma? Dr. Sacquety did another interview at the following link:

https://www.fpri.org/multimedia/2024/06/an-american-irregular-warfare-success-story-oss-detachment-101-in-burma-during-wwii/

Detachment 101 and John Ford:

http://www.easaul.com/oss-detachment-101.html

The Range of Military Operations (ROMO):

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/concepts/joc_deterrence.pdf?ver=2017-12-28-162015-337

Recommended Civil Affairs reading:

The Hunt Report:

https://www.civilaffairsassoc.org/post/2018/05/08/civil-affairs-centennial-ca100-the-hunt-report

Civil Affairs articles from the ARSOF Historian's Office:

https://arsof-history.org/pdf/handbook_civil_affairs.pdf

Recommended Special Forces reading from the episode:

The Green Berets by Robin Moore:

https://www.amazon.com/Green-Berets-Robin-Moore/dp/0312984928

From OSS to Green Berets:

https://www.amazon.com/Oss-Green-Berets-Special-Forces/dp/0891412719

Dr. Sacquety is also the author of the book The OSS in Burma: Jungle War against the Japanese:

https://us.amazon.com/OSS-Burma-against-Japanese-Studies/dp/0700619097/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Army Special Operations Recruiting:

SOF Recruiting Page (soc.mil)

https://www.soc.mil/USASOCHQ/recruiting.html

GoArmySOF Site:

https://www.goarmysof.army.mil/

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