After graduation from Jump School at Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore) in 1968 an SF recruiter came up to a small group of us and asked, "Any of you guys want to be your own boss?". I ended up serving in the 10th Group and later the 5th Group. Grew up in MACV-SOG as a OneZero out of CCC. In Ops, I always carried 600 rds ammo, ten frags, two WP, two CN grenades, two smoke, and one claymore. Plus the best weapon (when it worked) the prick 25. Life was serious, teams stayed to themselves. Practiced IA drills constantly when not on OPS. Went native with the Yards. Was on the receiving end of pretty near ever weapon the NVA had. Lucky to be alive. Still keep up my skills.
My brother has a similar story with similar time-line. He was 5th SF and was in the highlands with the "Yards" as you put it. (Montagnards) Have to wonder if you crossed paths at some point.
Well let’s see what I can add. “5th Legion” was coined by COL John Mulholland. After the SFOQC I served my first assignment as a young CPT in 10th Group. The day I checked in at Fort Devens Massachusetts (being a kid from Brooklyn NY, I was thrilled to be close to home) the Adjutant handed me orders to 1st Bn at Panzer Kaserene ,Bad Tolz Germany. My CO there was Charlie Beckwith. He mentored me and I became his buddy. When I rotated with him CONUS to Bragg, he assigned me to COL Bob “Black Gloves” Mountel & the Blue Light Team, while Charlie selected the men and stood up SFOD-Delta. We were assigned to the new 1st Special Operations Command. Then Charlie and I in 1980 were at Desert One together during “Eagle Claw”. Afterwards He brought me along to stand up JSOC and later as a MAJ he sent me to Fort Belvoir, assigned to COL Jerry King and his Army of Northern Virginia the USAISA.
Haha. Great video! I spent time in 3rd and 7th SFG(A). Here's my take: 1st: The Samurai Group (before combatives were cool). Key phrases: "Flexible like a rubber dick", "Let's settle this in the Dojo". 1st Group was were I wanted to go after the Q because they were actively doing MTTs and were in good locations, but they sent me to 3rd instead. :( 3rd: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. In the beginning, we didn't have much of a budget and had to have bake sales to sponsor our trips. We got the guys that were kicked out from other SF Groups and new guys straight out of the Q. It led to a very "anti establishment" kind of vibe with plenty of outside the box thinkers. Reminded me of the Dirty Dozen. It was a blast. 5th: Prior to 9/11 those guys weren't doing crap or were training in terrible places in the Middle East. "I hate my life" was the typical attitude from guys over there. After 9/11 they got what they wished for, but never got a break. 7th: "Hookers and Blow". Great TDYs, great Host Nation soldiers and great locations. Loved it! 10th: The rule followers with that German dry sense of humor. They have a whole Bn in Germany and it seriously reflected on the Group. In my SFARTAETC class, half were from 10th. Their presence, made it a "Viking" kinda of class and very fun. Overall, I'd say that the Group's stereotypes were based on the cultures they worked in. It was always fun to work with guys in other Groups and see how different, but the same we all were. DOL brother!
Wow this is awesome lol. Wish I would have had this before I made the video. So cool to hear about this type of stuff from different generations. Thanks brother. DOL.
My step dad was 1st group in the 90s, he knocked my mom up while at fort Lewis and my little bro was born at Madigan in 93. I remember him teaching me curse words in Thai when I was 6. I joined in 05 and went 11B. No SF for me. I was in Ramadi in 06 and the military was never the same for me after that so I got out in 08. Missed stop-loss cut off by a month. Thanks for your videos, I always looked at my step dad the way a young man looks at his favorite professional athlete. Thanks for being a real one brother.
So you were there while TF Bruiser was happening with Jocko and Chris Kyle? Its blowing up right now on Spec ops vet podcasts and even a few infantry Marines in Ramadi have come forward to talk.
@@jportega9404 we got there in Oct so we only worked with team 3 guys for like a month. I'm pretty sure bruiser was in western ramadi while we were at Corregidor. Team 5 rotated in and we worked with them until the beginning of March. I'll say this... Ramadi was the wild fking west between the time I got there and probably right before the SEALs left for sure but I NEVER heard of any units killing civilians on purpose (definitely not more than once). That marine XO really comes across sounding like he full of sh*t. They were in a rowdy ass sector for sure but to blame the SEALs is silly man. AQ used Ramadi as a beacon for Jihad and dudes from all over the middle east and even eastern europe showed up there to kill Americans. Those marines need to take a chill pill
Thanks. Eric Deming's and the Marines talking say that Jocko let Chris Kyle loose on Ramadi to take out civilians and it angered the locals so much that they joined the foreign fighters looking to take out as many Americans as they can. The locals took out their anger on the way more exposed Marines. Few cities in Iraq had the locals up in arms against Americans aside from Ramadi and Fallujah as I hear from guys and that nearly all the terrorists were foreigners from outside sneaking into Iraq or their story goes. I'm waiting on Deming and the Marines involved to show up at a couple more spec ops vet pods. Deming went public a few years ago on 60 minutes about the drug issue in the Seals and their brass came down hard and booted out a bunch of guys with less-than-honorables.
@@jportega9404 lo and behold a new pod with Jocko and General MacFarlane dropped yesterday. 3:34:00 exactly they talk about my battalion in Ramadi. After finishing it this morning I didn't hear anything contrary to what I already knew you should check it out.
A good friend of mine was in 7th group and he worked with Tim Kennedy of all people. Apparently the other guys find him just as annoying as the rest of us🤣
@@user-wc8lu7qd2m the only thing that I can think of is he was on John Mcphees CIF team but even then John had to whoop that ass because he was a out of line. First time the whole team whipped him, second time John gorilla stomped him because Tim was trying to intentionally injure his other CIF teammates so he could take their place on the helicopter. Shrek had to smash him🤣
@@iamthelizardking6239 yeah. And he did the least amount of actual operating possible. He was only there because of status not skill. CIF teams were always a joke to me anywho.
@@ValhallaVFT Tempting haha 5th puts a pretty good counteroffer with their "simulating the happiest Doncaster resident" experience, I wonder if the guys from the 75th that go SF usually end up there
10th Group, the REAL 1st Group. When I stationed in Bad Toelz in 1/10, we were called the Bavarian National Guard. Lots of good beer and good food. Didn’t run around in loin cloths and a butt pack like the 1st and 7th guys. Skiing uphill with a 75lbs rucksack to build an igloo and live in it for a week. Good memories.
Panzer Kaserene. Ohh how I remember 1/10 as a young CPT A-Team CO just out of the SFOQC. Charlie Beckwith was my boss back then in late ‘70’s. and the Hofbrau Haus. Roast pig knuckle, spaetzle and Weiss bier. Yeah the German National Guard! I had a Senior Parachutist rating with a combat jump star, and our German friends still made me take their basic parachutist course to get my German wings.
@@ejp75 When I first came into Group I put Germany at the top of the list as my assignment of choice, and it worked. 30 years later I was assigned to Heidelberg...as a retired civilian. It took a little while, but it worked. 🤓👍
Spent a decade with 19th Group. The Guard groups are widely dispersed, so it varies, but for the elements in Utah, yes there are many that are LDS. They may not drink or smoke or swear unless they are Jack Mormons, but they make really good Soldiers, especially in the Warrior-Diplomat role because of their high moral standards and serving Mormon missions their language and foreign cultural skills are next level, they are truly fluent. I suspect that is why the Utah Guard also has an MI Linguist Brigade. I have enjoyed being with 19th Group. Good people, good area (Utah is beautiful,) good training and good missions.
The way you described 5th is pretty accurate lol generally speaking of course im sure there's plenty of people who like it but retention, substance abuse/accidental overdose and suicide were big problems when I was there. And you absolutely get some of the worst countries I went to Tajikistan and Jordan not exactly vacation spots Jordan reminded of Iraq without all the destroyed buildings and Tajikistan was similar to Afghanistan without the violence.
I'm retired Marine, not SF but spent 2 years (09-11) down range with them. I worked with 1st totally chill with board shorts and flip flops, 3rd broke EVERYTHING they touched (if a vic went down for maintenance, was usually their's), 5th rules, regs, and structure for days and 7th polar opposite of 5th shady as hell but knew all the back channels to get things done (they would be the guys slipping officials bottles of booze to get things pushed through, hell I'm pretty sure I'd still be stuck in country with an expired visa if it weren't for them). This is just my 2 cents on what I saw working with them. All in all when you get a few from each group working together it made for a pretty great team. Best 2 years of my career.
I had a friend attached to 3rd Group during the early days of GWOT and said at the time they had reputation in the community for being coke heads and steroid use.
Within the groups, battalions have these reputations. The bushman and the cif company were known for steroids. Coke is hard to come by in Afghanistan, 7th would be known for that.
7th Group guys should have the highest offspring count IMO cause I don't know how you get away with being deployed there and not just decide to massively procreate with the ladies there. Some of the most beautiful women in the world reside there, and you, as an SF guy, have the brawn, funds, and charms to sway as many as your arms can carry.
I was in JBLM and had friends from BJJ in 1st Group. They were dope and lighthearted. They were running ops in the Philippines at that time. They let me in that magnificent gym with them and work out with them for the combatives tournament. I was a big dude and the MSG there was a big dude so we were constantly grappling partners. They had a mat and a rope to climb and bags. They were good dudes. My unit got jealous and put a stop to it. I meet a third grouper who was getting out after losing his leg and he was like “*scoff* 1SFG, fucking Draft Dodging Ladyboy Loving nerds. I’d still have my leg if my deployments were to the Philippines.” 😂😂😂
@@DailyFix21the world has confused you on cheating brother. Being unfaithful or cheating is being with someone other than the man or woman you signed a lifelong contract with.
I was embedded with a 3rd Group AOB for a year in RC-East, AFG. I've had the pleasure of working with 18 series soldiers from all of the Groups, as a team from every Group eventually rotated through our AOB. Almost every one was a consummate professional, save only for a single 3rd Group team who came in acting like they were too cool for school, but they drank the SOTF Kool-Aid before arriving, so that played a large role in their attitudes. The only "beef," that I saw, was towards the 19th Group soldiers, but that blew over after a month or so. Good video - definitely saw different attitudes and approaches between the different Group teams. Some came in pissing vinegar and ready for action while others came in calm, mellow, and ready to go the marathon.
Truth! 😆 1st SFG is the best. It is the lattes and Birkenstocks group. It's also the group where your spouse can have a life. JBLM is surrounded by large cities with great jobs or universities, unlike many of the other groups. (also, the teams aren't as tight for that very reason - there's a life outside the team room)19th SFG is the Mormon group and 20th, wow... don't deploy with those guys to South America or you'll end up having to testify in court.
Baseball cap, t-shirt, board shorts and those cheap vinyl flip flops for me when I was in Asia. It's generally hot there, especially South East Asia, so maybe an iced latte but I feel like that'd be more true if you were stationed in Japan or got to visit Korea.
I was an Army Range Officer (DAC) for 22 years and spent the last 10 supporting the 7th at Eglin. You nailed all but location. Camp Bull Simons is in Crestview about 45 minutes N of Destin. Not nitpicking, but it was more Southern AL than babies beaches and beer. I tell you, it was great to work with them. Especially SFAUC and C3/7. 90% of the Group were very professional and took shit seriously on the range. Planning through recovery. Great last assignment for me. Got to work with a 1SFG team late 90s when I was working ranges in Korea. Great guys with a real sense of humor. Got to play OPFOR in some CQB. [I'm also retired 22yr 11C] CCMCK is a great way to punch holes in someone's tactical hypothesis. On both sides. 😅 Saying that: There's little that can compare with being a DAC standing between a SFG and an MRTFB. Never a dull moment.😅 Keep up the great vids man.
I was civilian contractor at SOTF-SE Afghanistan. 3rd group had just stood up 4th battalion and they moved in. Had ODAs from 7th & 20th as well. Took me about one week to figure out the qualifications. They don’t care if you’re in shape, can shoot, do your job, read, etc. The main requirement to be selected and get a Green Beret is being able to constantly mess with and take crap from your comrades. Those other things come in handy but flicking shit at each other 24/7 will get you farther. Lol
7th group members as some of them having a second family in Colombia, lol;..I hear the same thing for those deploying to the Philippines and finding a Filipino wife...which I hear they make good wives
1st group accurate..but also a bunch of whiny bitches.. 3rd Group had a bad rap in the 90s..but GWOT proved their grit, 5th Group my Alma mater..had a rep for being in combat zones for their entire career burnout yes..7th group accurate with Colombian girlfriends…drug temptation is common, 10th group another group of whiny bitches…lol it’s all good fuck them if they can’t take a joke, joke them if they can’t take a fuck!
@@1anre if plain white guys keep marrying the Latinas, in 20 years, we won't have big booty Latinas anymore. Those are strictly made with 100% latin blood. Conserve the big booty Latinas at all costs
When I was in Group, that was the stereotype I ended up hearing a lot for 7th Group. Lol. I've met several guys who were in 7th Group who said that they definitely have a kid or two in Central America. 1st Group does kind of have the reputation for being the vacation Group, but honestly only the guys who receive top marks and are considered the most elite get to go to 1st Group. At least that's how I understood it just before I went off from Active Duty.
@@richardshaw7236 I was able to get into the box a few times… actually able to visit my buddy’s in their team room once. That was an honor to be invited into the Charlie Co team room.
5th Grp must’ve changed. Pops was a 30 year SFer. He was in all you mentioned. He was one of only a handful who were in MACVSOG & Det-A, Berlin. I grew up between 60 miles south of Fayettnam and Okinawa.
Funny but true video. I was in 3rd SFG from 2002 -2005 then 2008 - 2012. Great place to grow up. I was not tracking the Swinger reputation, but the Warrior culture was definitely there. Of note, only in the last decade has 3rd SFG been able to "home grow" their Commanders. In my time, I called us "5th SFG East" because our Group Commanders and usually 2 of 3 Battalion Commanders came over from 5th SFG. Thankfully, after two decades of non-stop combat deployments, I see pure 3rd SFG commanders. Finally, the experienced mid to senior grade NCOs were awesome. They were so experienced. We also had a lot of very competent Warrants who often get a bad wrap, but that was not my experience. They were pros, too. Hopefully, now that the teams are out on Chicken Road and not 500 meters from the USASOC/USASFC HQs, they have a little more fun, but yes, Fayettenam does suck compared to all other Group locations minus 5th SFG who sadly were trapped in the dead middle of Fort Campbell when I was there in the late 90s at the 101st.
I was in the 10th in the 70's at Ft. Devens MA, 2 BNs and the 1st BN in Bad Tolz . At the time they were downsizing SF after Vietnam. The 5th and the 7th were the only other active SF Groups other than the school at Bragg. Anyways, the guys in the 5th and 7th use to refer to us guys in the 10th as the Country Club Group ... Hard to deny the truth lol. And the swinger thing you were referring to in you video was bad in the 10th and especially the guys and gals in Tolz.
I have great respect for the SF past and present. What ironically impresses me the most is the language skills and the constant training in things not directly involving combat.
Oh shoot didn’t know there were so many group meme stereotypes haha. 1st group sounds like a nice assignment 😂 japan, Hawaii, even Southeast Asia sounds nice. Vacation group best group? Though on a serious note do green berets still have the language component tied to that Cold War era mission of trying to rally locals against their government or getting them on-side? What was your language training like? And how’s it different from the students being like translators at Defense Language Institute?
Retired 18Z. ODA 522 (5th) and 026 (10th), enjoyed my time in both GP's. Team's are very insulated from each other and Group's even more so, not sure about your conclusions, but it was humorous. I came from a paratrooper background E-6 (P) 82nd Abn/509th ABCT, and you find out quickly that being on a TM is NOTHING like big Army.
What a cool video as an outsider. My stepdad had a good friend Miles that was SF. For Christmas one year he sent me his beret with his 12th group badge. I believe that was a reserve group that is now decommissioned. I treasure it, and it's on my bookshelf now. Then Miles went to the 5th group I believe. I know he was in Panama in the 80's. Did some mop up in the first gulf war. I know when he was training in the arctic, they had contests who could piss the most before it froze. He would have been an elder in the early GWOT days. Started as a Marine. Then went Army, and I think he was in a few SF groups over the years. He told my stepdad "I'm almost 60 and I'm still getting shot at." I believe he still lives in Montana. If anyone could help me find him, I'd like to reach out.
I spent a lot of time with 1st SFG in Korea back in 88'. My BC was Lt.Col David L. Grange. Grange picked me up out of the turtle farm with 2 other guys, we were the first group of guys trained on the new SINCGARS radios, and he wanted us in his unit. We did DMZ like everyone else, but also, Grange had his guys from DELTA there for the 88 Olympics as a security and reaction force. I got to work with them and teach them all about the radio system and how to use it. Later , they would come over to our Infantry side and get tested for EIB's. All of them were good guys. Not party animals, not assholes, really nice, willing to talk to you, good people.
I was in A Co 1/503rd WPNs PLT 87-89 with Col Grange. Seven of us extended on the same day to stay in his BN. I think 18 people total in our Company. Best Commander who ever walked the planet, in my opinion. Guy was hard as nails a master tactician, smart and seemed to know everyone by name. He constantly pushed us to our limit, but we loved it. Every challenge built us up and he took heat for us when 2ID came at us. As a patrol leader, I hated the SINCGARS during the DMZ patrols. Fkin batteries fried if they got wet and you couldn't bag em. No radio = no HoW = no approaching the GPs = humping to the MSR and flaggin (which could take an hour). Glad they fixed that.
I rode motorcycles with a bunch of guys and there was a tiny dude, maybe 5-03 and 120#, very quiet and humble, never said much. Found out later he was 3rd bat, 75th Rangers, and was the radio operator, lugging that big radio with the rest of his ruck while the big dudes ran light.
I'm too old to join but SOT-A and, C.A.G. really intrigues to me anyway. I knew a retired SOT-A who got me interested in amateur radio, and once I got my technician license It lead me into a rabbit hole that even retired SF 18-E guys have thier hands in the hobby.
I can definitely confirm the rumor about 3rd GRP with the swinger mentality. I have meet a lot of SF dudes while being stationed and deployed. However, some of those stereotypes do fit the bill. lol.
Hey now...3rd Group is the shit. lol but hes right, we all make fun of each other and fight each other when we're not fighting terrorists. It pretty regular to walk into a team room and dudes are thrashin it out on the team room floor, then at 2pm, close the door and pass the drinks around.
LOL so true. I was stationed at Campbell and still live in the Clarksville Area. Campbells mentality is everyone deploys in 101st . Yes this means you too 5th GP. LOL. Campbell really doesn't know how to relax and sit its butt down. its either NTC, JRTC , training or deploying. the air assault and pathfinder school is full of students as well as fast rope, SPIES and FRIES training. Need a job as a retiree, range control stays busy too lol. No surprise. 160th SOAR stays busy. heck, the the whole aviation brigade is constantly flying. I also was stationed at fort Carson where 2d and 3d BN 10 SFG is located. The ODA guys seem to love CO a lot more. Colorado Springs is gorgeous, the only thing that suck would be the airborne jumps hitting the DZ harder because the air is so much denser with the high altitude. 10th group built a really nice O course almost like the nasty nick at MacKall. I also was stationed at Bragg in the 82D. this was the 90s when 3d and 7th was at bragg and socom was still at MacDill AFB. I guess when SOCOM move to Bragg . its Bragg to me not liberty, 7th GP said " OK , then we go to Florida since we all can't fit on bragg and watch 82D hog up all the DZs for airborne operations LOL. 18th ABN Corps said we built two PXs and two commissaries and a new free fall training facility, what more do you want LOL. Can you see the facial expression on Q Course students when they PCS'd to Bragg for school to tell their families to move to bragg because were stuck at 3d SFG. start looking for a home in spring lake or bragg BLVD or All American . Stay away from the merc. that part of fayetteville is the true meaning of fayettenam. LOL.
Former Bushman 3rd Grouper. Happier to be deployed down range than to be home in Fayette-nam. Bragg and Fayetteville both suck. I'd go back if I could though.
To funny I was in 3rd group and the swinger thing is so true to laugh at now,but yeah I left 73rd rangers in 84 and and transferred to 3rd group in 84 when fucking shit was really crazy ,but it on my brother
The group you’re assigned is based off your language, so if you get Chinese, 1st, Spanish? 7th group. Etc. best way to get the group you want is a request a language that will send you there.
@@ValhallaVFT fuck, I speak Spanish. But I went marines, got blown up, now I'm out. I was looking at army sf tho prior to enlisting. But too late now. Oh well. Now I got plenty of money to spare, time to spare, and rehabbing my body. Gonna go live it up when I'm back to normal
I was 4th Psyops group Airborne Ranger, we were attached to 3rd group SF in Panama, they got us to Noriega place so we could jam Van Halen to scare him out , it worked.
Comment: Not in 1st group, though supported 1st group in the early 90's both professionally (set up land nav courses) and personally (was 135 lbs) so perfect size for the delta's for repelling and mock medical extracts as they were spinning up for working with indigenous forces in Asia. Question: What were the differences between the ODA's in 1st group at Lewis (JBLM) versus the Okinawa mafia (1/1)?
That probably needs a video all to itself. There is a lot of difference ranging from the culture, how we train/deploy, etc. in generality though, Oki is laid back, Lewis is more mission focused. Positives and negatives to each.
Served w/ 1SFG, 5SFG, and 10SFG, including down-range (2001-2006). In a good way, I found more similarities - than differences - among them in terms of professionalism. Command climate might vary a bit, based on the personalities of the individual Group, Bn and Co commanders. Notwithstanding constant rotations down range, morale always seemed high in SF. Although now retired, if called upon, I would gladly go back and serve in the Grps.
As an 11b who was at Carson I had a couple buddies in 10th. Hippy group is spot on lmao. Sgt [redacted] as my tightest buddy has mentioned that to me before lol
I talk about this type of stuff in detail in my video about if you can choose your own group/mos/language. The short answer is not really, the long answer is it’s possible based of circumstance. And honestly all the groups spent a ton of time in combat, 3rd and 5th maybe a little more than the others.
Love the vids man, quick question would you recommend a younger guy to go ranger instead of sf considering that sf seems to have a more mature crowd? Both seem like solid options but there seems to be a age gap between the 2
So if I can speak German could I go to 10th group, or do I have no say in where I go? I want to learn Russian as my language as well. Also how does it work to get to the 1st battalion detachment in Germany? Do you just have to be assigned there or can you request?
You need to hold a greencard to join the Army, and you have to be full citizen to join the SOF such as 75th Ranger Regiment. Same with all other branches. I’ve been trying to join for years
I’m American with German blood but I can speak German and want to go to 10th group. And I was wondering how it works to go to SF detachments other counties. Like the 1st battalion for 10th group is in Stuttgart Germany
I made a wishlist post Airborne school in preffered order: 10th, 7th, 5th, 3rd, and lastly 1st. The good news is I got one on my list, the bad news it was my last choice 😂
I see the Army still pulls one over on you if you make a list in preferred order. Should've listed 1st Group first then made it really seem like you wanted to go to Asia. 😄 When I was in the Army, everyone made it sound like going to 7th Group was like winning the lottery. Maybe that's true if you went to South America but I was often sent to Central America where it was hot, humid, insects everywhere and prostitutes at every corner. Not to mention the gangs and if you did dumb things there maybe even get caught up with a Cartel or two. Lol.
