Today in SF History: January 17

Today in Special Forces History:

1944: OSS Operational Groups personnel moved to permanent HQ, Stromclarig in Scotland. 

Today in SF History: January 16

Today in Special Forces History:

1969: SSG Drew Dix awarded the Medal of Honor for action 31 Jan 68 (during the Tet Offensive). 

1964: Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) formed. 

Today in SF History: January 15

Today in Special Forces History:

1951: Guerilla Section, 8th Army G3 Miscellaneous, established. Korea.

Today in SF History: January 14

Today in Special Forces History:

1970: Battle of Camp Ba Xoai, Republic of Vietnam.

1943: Alaska Scouts set up OP at Kiska Island.

Today in SF History: January 12

Today in Special Forces History:

1944: Alaska Scouts land on Amchitka Island. 

Today in SF History: January 10

Today in Special Forces History:

1969: US Army Special Warfare Center is renamed US Army Institute for Military Assistance. 

Today in SF History: January 6

Today in Special Forces History:

1991: TF PROVEN FORCE activates in Turkey. This force was based around elements of the Eurocentric 10th Special Forces Group and Special Operations Command Europe. 

1961: 24th Special Forces Group (USAR) organizes. This is one of many short-lived SF Groups in the reserve components. In the end, only the 11th and 12th would remain in the USAR and the 19th and 20th in the National Guard. The 11th and 12th were disbanded in 1994 as part of Clinton Administration defense cuts. 

1945: 1st Canadian-American Special Service Force disbands. 

Today in SF History: January 3

Today in Special Forces History:

1944: Training of Jedburgh personnel begins, UK. 

Today in SF History: January 1

Today in Special Forces History:

1883: 62 William Joseph Donovan born in Buffalo, New York. "Wild Bill" Donovan received the Medal of Honor for conspicuous valor in World War I. He was a classmate of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Roosevelt selected to serve as America's first peacetime spymaster in the years before the war. Donovan's job as Coordinator of Information grew during the war; the organization he headed became the Office of Strategic Services and is the direct ancestor of both the CIA and Special Forces.   

Three OSS elements were most foundational to SF: The clandestine three-man Jedburgh resistance-support teams, the thirty-man independent Operational Groups, and the CBI Theater's Detachment 101, which worked with indigenous guerillas. 

Accordingly, if Aaron Bank is the father of SF, Bill Donovan is its grandsire.

Today in SF History: December 31

Today in Special Forces History:

1968: Special Forces officer James N. "Nick" Rowe escapes from Viet Cong captivity.  

1943: 62 Americans arrive in the UK -- candidates for the radio operator position on Jedburgh teams. 

Today in SF History: December 30

 Today in Special Forces History:

1952: 8240th Army Unit infiltrates radio team JESSE JAMES III into North Korea. 

Today in SF History: December 29 

Today in Special Forces History:

1952: 8240th Army Unit infiltrates radio team JESSE JAMES II into North Korea. 

Today in SF History: December 28

Today in Special Forces History:

1952: 8240th Army Unit infiltrates radio team JESSE JAMES I into North Korea. 

Today in SF History: December 27

Today in Special Forces History:

1943: First Alamo Scouts establish their first training center, New Guinea, South Pacific. 

Today in SF History: December 23

Today in Special Forces History:

1943: 55 American officers arrive in the UK as candidates for the Jedburgh three-man international clandestine operations teams.  

1942: Joint Chiefs directive authorizes the formation of OSS Detachment 101 for th China-Burma-India theater of war. 

Today in SF History: December 20

Today in Special Forces History:

1989: Operation Just Cause (invasion of Panama) kicks off. Special Forces teams perfom quiet but vital operations ensuring the successful overthrow of General Manuel Noriega, the Panamian narcodictator who had declared war on the USA, expecting no retribution. Noriega iis coming to the end of a prison sentence for narcotrafficking. 

Today in SF History: December 18

Today in Special Forces History:

1989: Execution Order issued for operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama. Among the Special Operations Forces participating were several SF ODAs from 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, still based in Panama at the time. 

Today in SF History: December 17

Today in Special Forces History:

1943: First OSS Operational Group recruits arrive in the UK. The Operational Groups were 15-man elements that foreshadowed the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha in their concept and construction. 

Today in SF History: December 16

Today in Special Forces History:

1971: SGT Brian Buker awarded MOH for action on on 5 April 1970. Buker died in the act and so was, like most MOH recipients, a posthumous awardee. He was 21 years old, and came from Maine.

One nexus of our daily life in the 10th Special Forces Group at Ft. Devens, MA, was the clean, warm swimming pool named after Buker. We swam, on my team, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at about three PM. Seeing Buker's name on the sign for the pool every day made me look him up, which in those pre-internet days took some doing. For you, it's a mere click away here. (Note that that site misspells his first name... it's Brian, not Bryan). 

When the Army handed most of Devens over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Buker Pool was one of the first buildings destroyed. No idea why

Today in SF History: December 12

Today in Special Forces History:

1974: Then-SSG Jon Cavaiani awarded MOH for action on on 4 July 1971. I would later serve under then-SFC Cavaiani in 10th SF Group; he'd go on to serve as the command sergeant major for the unit commonly known as Delta before retiring. An outstanding guy who still works to better people's lives in California.