The 5th Special Forces Group, 5th SFG(A), is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group that was activated on 21 September 1961, at the height of the Cold War. It is one of the most decorated special operations units in the United States military. The 5th SFG(A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War. Today, 5th Group is primarily responsible for operations within the CENTCOM area of responsibility, as part of the Special Operations Command, Central (SOCCENT).
By 13 September 2001, the 5th Special Forces Group was ordered to stand up a forward headquarters to conduct operations in Afghanistan.[14] On 19 October, Operational Detachment Alpha 555, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was the first of several 5th Group teams to infiltrate into Afghanistan, and work with the Northern Alliance to bring down the Taliban government. The 5th SFG (A) traces its lineage to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st Special Service Force, a combined Canadian-American organization which was constituted on 5 July 1942. It was activated four days later on 9 July at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana. During World War II, the 1st Special Service Force was disbanded on 5 December 1944 in Villeneuve-Loubet, France.
5th Group was constituted on 15 April 1960, concurrently consolidated with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion (activated 1 September 1943). The consolidated unit was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Organic elements were constituted on 8 September 1961. 5th Group was reactivated 21 September 1961 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.[4]
On 1 October 2005, the unit was redesignated as the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Regiment.[4]
After 11 September attacks, the U.S. government acted quickly. The following day, President Bush called the attacks more than just "acts of terror" but "acts of war" and resolved to pursue and conquer an "enemy" that would no longer be safe in "its harbors".[22] By 13 September 2001, the 5th Special Forces Group was ordered to stand up a forward headquarters to conduct operations in Afghanistan.[23]
The unit received its orders in mid-October. Their mission was wide-open: to assist General Abdul Rashid Dostum in conducting unconventional warfare operational area to make the area unsafe for terrorists and Taliban activities.[23] Task Force Dagger, established on 10 October 2001, was built around the 5th SFG with helicopter support from the 160th SOAR, and assigned to infiltrate northern Afghanistan in order to advise and support the commanders of the Northern Alliance.[24]
The first group of Task Force Dagger included seven members of the CIA's Special Activities Division and Counter Terrorist Center (CTC) led by Gary Schroen, who formed the Northern Afghanistan Liaison Team.[25][26] The CIA team infiltrated Afghanistan into the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, on 26 September, only 15 days after 11 September attacks.[27] They brought three cardboard boxes filled with $3 million in $100 bills to buy support.[28] Known by the callsign Jawbreaker, the team linked up with Northern Alliance commanders and prepared for the introduction of Army Special Forces into the region.
Additional teams
By 18 November 2001, 10 ODAs from 5th Special Forces Group were operating in Afghanistan.
ODA 534 from Charlie Company, 1st Btn, 5th SFG was split between the Darya and Balkh Valleys supporting General Atta Mohammad.
ODA 553 from Bravo Company, 2nd Btn, 5th SFG[47] was inserted on 2 November. The ten-man team in Bamyan supported General Karim Khalili and his militia in the northern regions of Afghanistan. Together the men worked to flush Taliban forces from the region with a number of cities quickly falling to Kahili's tribal forces.
ODA 554 from Bravo Company, 2nd Btn, 5th SFG[47] was in Herat supporting General Ismail Khan.
ODA 555 ("Triple Nickel") from Bravo Company, 2nd Btn, 5th SFG[47] was, with ODA 595, one of two ODA units inserted on 19 October. They supported General Shariff in the Panjshir Valley.[46] It linked up with General Fahim Akhtar Khan in the Bagram/Kabul area of the Panjshir Valley, near the fortifications surrounding Bagram Air Base. Air Force Combat Controller Sgt. Calvin Markham used a SOFLAM Laser Target Designators to identify targets for airstrikes on the enemy armor and artillery. He set up a series of strikes on the fields of targets around the airbase, guiding wave after wave of precision-guided munitions onto tanks, armored personnel carriers, guns, and fortifications around Bagram.
ODA 555 worked closely with Northern Alliance forces under warlord Fahim Khan. They called in airstrikes that dropped up to 15,000 lb BLU-28 'Daisy Cutter' bombs on Taliban troop positions with devastating effect along the Shomali Plain.[45] ODA 555 accompanied Khan's militia and fought alongside them in numerous engagements. They sometimes called in airstrikes danger close to stop Taliban attacks. They were with the Northern Alliance militia when they captured Mazar-e Sharif on 9 and 10 November, and with the assistance of ODA 595 and Jawbreaker, accompanied the militia when they captured Kabul on 13 and 14 November.
ODA 574 ("Texas One-Two") from Alpha Company, 3rd Btn, 5th SFG[47] deployed from K2 just outside of Tarin Kowt on 14 November, along with Pashtun militia leader, Hamid Karzai. As Karzai's forces pushed south towards Kandahar, an error by an attached USAF TACP resulted in a 2,000lb GPS-guided JDAM hitting the ODA's position, killing and wounding several Special Forces and Afghan militiamen. Assisted by the remaining ODA 586 soldiers, with reinforcements from ODA 750 and ODA 523, Karzai was able to negotiate the surrender of Taliban forces around Kandahar and go on to become the first Afghan president.
ODA 583 from Bravo Company, 3rd Btn, 5th SFG[47] deployed late on 21 November to the Shin Narai Valley supporting Gul Agha Sherzai near the Shin Narai Valley.[46] During their infiltration, one of the helicopters experienced a mechanical failure and made an emergency landing. Another helicopter was dispatched but dropped the team in the wrong location. The 583 finally joined the CIA team and Sherzai and pushed towards Kandahar. The 583 set up observation posts overlooking Kandahar International Airport and over the next few days, called in ongoing air strikes on the Taliban positions. On 7 December, ODA 583 helped Sherzai's forces capture the airport and very soon the city of Kandahar.
ODA 585 from Bravo Company, 3rd Btn, 5th SFG[47] inserted by helo on 23 October into Kunduz to support General Burilla Kahn.[46] Despite initial missed air strikes that left Burillah unimpressed, 585's senior enlisted member Master Sergeant Bolduc called in another wave of F-18 strikes that in four passes obliterated several Taliban command bunkers and collapsed several sections of the enemy's trench lines. The display of coordinated airpower by 585 earned General Burillah's respect and proved their value to the Afghans. ODA 586 Eventually joined 585 and General Burillah's men for the final assault on the provincial city of Konduz, seizing it on 11 November.
ODA 586 from Bravo Company, 3rd Btn, 5th SFG[47] was in Farkhar supporting General Daoud Khan in the Takhar province, who took the capital city of Taloqan on 11 November. Khan's troops, supported by airstrikes called in by 586, eventually took the city and provincial capital of Konduz on 26 November.
ODA 595 from Charlie Company, 3rd Btn, 5th SFG[47] was with ODA 555 of two ODA units inserted on 19 October. They helped General Dostrum outside Mazar-e-Sharif.[46] ODA 595 were instrumental in helping the Northern Alliance to capture several thousand foreign and Afghan Taliban and bringing hundreds more local Afghans over to the Northern Alliance side. Over two months they destroyed several hundred enemy vehicles, liberated about 50 towns and six northern provinces comprising hundred square kilometers.
