U.S. Army Special Forces / rvn:

“NEW” Sergeant First Class, 1st Special Forces, RVN:

Being constituted on 5 July 1942, the United States Army created and developed the 2d Company, 1st Battalion, First Regiment, of the 1st Special Service Force, which was the combination of Canadian Soldiers and American Soldiers, “A Joint Venture”, organizing a secret “Special Force” in a cohesive multinational unit. And they were then activated on July 9, July 1942, at Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana.

Operating like Commandos, the mountain-trained 1,800 men, some called them “The Devil's Brigade or the Black Devils”. Developed for operating in Norway possibly, and targets there, Romania, or in the Alps. But in February of 1943, English-trained “Norwegian SOE” terminated the operation of the heavy water and deuterium plants in Norway, one of the very missions the FSSF had been created for. They did, however, serve overseas, and in battle, in 1943, fighting at the end of the Aleutian chain against the Japanese, and in Italy, notably at Monte la Difensa, Monte Majo, in 1944, and then at Anzio. Then they did operations in France till the end of the War, and their Disbandment on 6 January 1945.

The 1st Special Forces Group started at Fort Bragg in NC in 1955, and Mandatory Airborne Qualification started there. Starting with Four Special Forces Operational Detachments, i.e., the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th. They were selected from the 77th Special Forces Group and transferred to the Pacific theater over the next year. The 1st Special Forces Group was officially activated at Fort Buckner, Okinawa (Named after the General who was slain during the battle for the control of the island), on 24 June 1957. In 1957, the 1st SFG was established in Japan as the Third Special Forces group of the Army. LTC A. Scott Madding, acting commander, and MSG Robert L. Voss as the sergeant major. Reconstituted 15 April 1960 in the Regular Army, as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces, and activated 4 October 1960.

In Vietnam, teams were deployed on six-month temporary duty at a time. They had several missions there, one was to gather and train groups of indigenous peoples, and gather them together to make small, local fighting units, to ward off the Communist Forces and influences in South Vietnam.  One of other missions of the time was to run Camp Hardy Combat Training Center, at the Northern Training Area of Okinawa.

They set up a base there in Okinawa, the 1st Special Forces Group (1st SFG), and that was a pivotal point in the early stages of the Vietnam War. There, they put the groups of Nung Mercenaries, tribesmen, South Vietnamese, etc. Together with an American Special Forces team, and trained them together into a special reaction unit. Training in unconventional warfare, said to be operating in1957. Working with the South Vietnamese forces and operating the Camp Hardy training center.

The 1st Special Forces Group holds the distinction of having the first and last Special Forces soldiers killed in Vietnam, with1st SFG Captain Harry G. Cramer becoming the first Special Forces soldier killed in Vietnam in 1957.  Captain Richard M. Rees was killed on 15 December 1973. Nearly 3 Decades later, 1st Special Forces Group soldier, Sergeant First Class, Nathan Chapman became the first American to die by hostile fire in Afghanistan, 2 January 2002. The Group was inactivated on 30 June 1974 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, but reactivated on 1 September 1984 at Fort Lewis, Washington State.

This uniform depicts an operator, before the official announcement of our involvement in the Vietnam War, 1963-64, maybe. He has already seen his share of war, but still thinks he might be able to make a difference. He has earned the CIB twice now, one would think WWII, and Korea; he is an old-timer, and knows his business. With no fear of heights, he wears the bright Master Jump Wings on his chest. The uniform has a red scarf, a unit identifier, for coming out of the bush into camp, no one wants to get shot by someone with a nervous or twitchy trigger finger. His fatigues are the WWII tweed pattern used throughout the Korean War and into Vietnam, which pretty much disappeared by 1965-66. Its not exactly clear what unit he fought battles in to earn his “Starred” CIB. I show his patrol cap because the group was new but used to the older equipment, and the operators had 1940s and 50s, so, and you see them with them on, but because of that dont realize they are SF. The patrol cap was very much part of the uniform in the field; the Beret, not so much. The beret has no visor to block the sun and rain either. That said, the Army Field Cap is often associated with the Rangers too, and with as much pride and bravado as the beret..

His last service was with the 508th ABN RCT Force, the patch worn from October 15th, 1951 till 22 March 1957. Adapted from the 82nd ABN insignia, as its cadre came from there, the unit combined elements from the 508 ABN. Infantry Rgt., 320th ABN. Artillery BN., 598th ABN. Engineer CO., and the 319th ABN. Quartermaster CO. They fought in WWII, but not Korea, being reformed in 1951, in Fort Bragg, but then inactivated in March 1957 as part of the reactivation of the 101st Airborne Division as a combat unit. They would serve in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and 1966, Panama, and Grenada.

“New” Sergeant, 5th Special Forces Group:

Elements from the 5th Special Forces Group deployed to Vietnam in 1964 and operated until 1971 from Nha Trang. Over They trained and operated with some 42,000 Civilian Irregular Defence Group personnel, and operating with members from the 5th SFG, launched cross-border (MACV-SOG) operations,in doing so, they earned 18 Medals of Honor, making them one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War. The 5th Special Forces Group, Black Flash was used this Beret Flash from 1961–1963 and 1985–2016, from 196 - 1984, and after 2016, they used the flash with the South Vietnamese flag running through it.

“Updated” Example of Tiger Striped Uniform:

Often, rather than used as a jacket, and the tendency to be on the smaller size, being the Vietnamese stature then was pretty light compared to an American, though they too tended to, well hving little extra fat on them, so, lower pockets on jackets were removed, and the bottom tucked into their trousers, the extra pockets used on another. Rank on these uniforms for the field often lacked any insignia whatsoever; it was the norm, regardless of rank.

5th Special Forces Group, Sergeant First Class, Barry Sadler:

Getting a story for him.

“New Pictures” 2nd Lieutenant, ODA-321 CIDG (Civilian Irregular Group) 1964-65:

The 60s and 1970s were the best times to grow up in the US. But as I am thinking about it, there were quite many in their late teens or early 20s, they had volunteered early on, and later many were drafted to fight a war overseas, to keep war off our shores, and to help the people of South Vietnam; they would have their memories nonetheless. This is the story of one guy. his uniform tells us quite a lot, albeit non-regulation and, to the untrained eye, quite ominous. U.S. Special Forces troops first deployed to Vietnam in 1957. On the 24th of June 1957, the First Special Forces Group was activated at Okinawa, and in the course of a year, a team from this unit trained 59 men from the Vietnamese Army at the Commando Training Centre in Nha Trang, RVN. The trainees would later become the instructors, instructor cadre, for the First Vietnamese Special Forces units.

Up to 1961 the Government of South Vietnam and the U.S. Mission in Saigon, in dealing with the insurgency had placed primary emphasis on developing the regular military forces, which for the most part was focused on the regular military forces, the most part excluded the ethnic and religious minority groups.

Under the U.S. sponsorship of the U.S. Mission of Saigon in 1961, however, several programs were initiated in the late part of the year to broaden their counterinsurgency effort by developing the paramilitary potential of certain minority groups. Special Forces Detachments were assigned to “The U.S. Mission in Saigon” to provide training and advisory assistance in the conduct of these programs, which eventually came to be known as the “CIDG” or Civilian Irregular Defence Group Program. The development of paramilitary forces amongst the minority groups became the paramilitary mission of the Special Forces operation in the Republic of Vietnam.

Originally, the focus was on the Montagnards, people living in the strategic Central Highlands. The first was taken in October 1961 with the beginning of a project designed to prevent the Rhade tribesmen in Darlac Province from succumbing to the Viet Cong control. Exploratory talks were held with the Rhade leaders in Darlac to seek their participation in a village self-defence program. In November of 1961, the first medical specialist troops of the U.S. Special Forces were employed in Vietnam in a project originally designed to assist the Montagnard tribes in the high plateau county around Pleiku. Out of this modest beginning grew one of the most successful programs for using civilian forces ever devised by a military force, the Civilian Irregular Defence Group. Eventually, the organisation, development, and operation of the CIDG proved to be the chief work of the U.S. Special Forces in the Vietnam War.

In the beginning of the 1970s, a program of Vietnamization began, where everything the US Forces had controlled would go back to the South Vietnamese, and they would start receiving fewer and fewer pars and supplies, the CIDG would not work with the ARVN, who did, really dis-like them, so it began falling appart, there were hard feelings, and, eventually the Montagnard’s paid the price, and the North took out their vengeance on them as well, it was a sad end, a dark spot on the war in the end..

This Second Lieutenant wears a lightweight / In-Country produced version of the early, lightweight, 4 colour, “Duck Hunter” camouflage. he tried to match trousers, shirt, and cap, but they are all just a bit different if you look closely, and the cap is Marine Corps style 8-point flat top “Cover”. Realizing he is flashy enough, he has applied a locally made “Special Forces” patch in a subdued format. Sometimes working with and around South Vietnamese Forces, he wears their equivalent rank, the 2nd Lieutenant, on his shirt above the buttonhole. He has the CIB from a previous War, and his jump wings, but they don’t match. Interestingly, none of the pockets has button closures. As with most of the A-Teams in Vietnam, ODA-321 will eventually produce its unofficial patch. Canvas cartridge belt, 3x20 round, 5.56mm magazine, ammo pouches with a canteen, complete the Officer’s equipment. He does not carry the standard .45 Auto pistol as he has exchanged it for the new M-16 rifle for its higher rate of fire. Early in the conflict, he still wore black leather jump boots. He wore either his group's Green Beret or a camouflage hat out in the field.

Updated Pictures: 5th Special Forces Group, Second Lieutenant, Vogel Leutnant, Operating with the LLBD:

In the very early 1970s, the ERDL camouflage pattern had become an issue item. Before that, camouflage was not issued, but it was acquired in its various available forms, the “Tiger-Stripes” pattern being the most famous, and most common, even more popular, but they used what they could get when they needed them. But this was the standard “Fatigue” style being used. Camouflage uniforms were generally completely devoid of insignia before 1969. The 5th SP Beret Flash, a Black shield (during the Vietnam War, the RVN flag was added to the background), they carried over for years of use “Stateside” and was even reissued for use once or twice. He wears the LLDB (RVN Special Forces) pocket hanger patch. Operating out of Nha Trang, the South Vietnamese actually had them from February 1956 to April 1975, with the fall of Saigon.

*UPDATED PICTURES: Mike-Force (Special Forces) Indigenous Group Advisor:

With increasing Viet Cong reports around Saigon in late 1964, the South Vietnamese controlled the area in the III Corps operations zone. The door opened for the CIDGs; they had ample capabilities, and their mission was to be a quick reaction force, so to speak, for SF Camps and Southern-supported villages under attack by the Viet Cong. The "Mike Force" was named after Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Miguel de la Pena, who supervised its creation. Originally, it was composed of Nung people, one of the ethnic groups that had migrated from southern China back in the 4th century. The Mike Force application was soon used on other organized groups, as well as the Bahnar, Hmong, Jarai, the Khmer Krom minorities, as well as the Degar peoples, commonly known as the known as Montagnards.

The Mike Force’s mission was country-wide from top to bottom. The idea was to have a quick-reaction group not for stop-gap orders, but more for quickly securing, reinforcing, and recapturing CIDG A Camps. The second purpose was as a “Special Reconnaissance Capability (for where other Recon and LRP groups could not go- special zones), and the third mission would be for “Search and Rescue”, “Search and Destroy Operations, and then some Recon Team Missions being assigned.

This is not to be confused with the Tiger Force; this Black-Op Group job was primarily tasked with counter-gorilla warfare, that is to create fear and the enemy, secretly operating from well behind the enemy lines, aimed at places like maybe a training center, or port, ammo dumps, more emphasized on body-count, rather than force multiplication.

Unfortunately, in typical US form, the American political actions of 1970 had the ‘Mike Forces’ disbanded after the “Vietnamization” of all the Vietnamese Armed Forces, giving the war's Allied’ control to the South Vietnamese Military, and less and less US control (which had taken over in 1965.

This completely let down all the CIDG forces and ruined the loyalty of all these indigenous personnel when U.S. Special Forces abandoned them! telling them they were commanded by the South Vietnamese now. And that was an awful call. Many Montagnards were Christian, and like the Jews of Europe in WWII, the South Vietnamese did not treat them as equal human beings, but as sub-peoples, generally referring to them as savages! (As if the South Vietnamese were so civilized).

And in 1974, the indigenous people who had remained of the Mike forces in Vietnam, and all their tribes of origin, were systematically hunted down, town by town, they were murdered, and annihilated by the North Vietnamese Army. After the U.S. forces had bailed and when the South crumbled, it fell quickly to the mass Communist forces.

The Tigerstripe Uniform was something the South Vietnamese had developed, in a few main patterns, generally using a Black and brown over green, or black and green over lighter brown or olive color, and something Vietnamese Forces had adapted and experimented with, they were “generally” bought in the largest they could get sizes, but were still small and tight on the Americans bodies, they were more often than not, 2 breast pocket affairs, in Vietnamese cuts, and construction. The Americans tucked the jackets into the trousers, and they became shirts. There were 4-pocket jackets custom-made, from time to time, and the SEALs had some official patterns that had ammo pockets added from and back of the shoulders, etc. Although you see them being worn with insignia, name tapes, official decorations, AirborneJump Wings, and CIBs on them, what they were for use base in their camp, but they rarely left from there, like pretty much all special forces, Army Navy, what have you, completely sterol uniforms were used in the field, maybe with Name and Army tapes above the pocket flaps but that’s it. I’ve heard that a common practice was to wear black pajamas like the enemy did, while going out on missions, especially if they crossed the fence into Cambodia and Laos.

*Note: I tried to put these uniforms together with what information I had available to my friends and me, at the time, and there are 1000 variations, in colors and patterns, and only a handful really, available at the time. I have since found an awesome book that covers these “Tiger-Stripe Uniforms of the Vietnam War”. Ya, called “Tiger Patterns”, A guide to the Vietnam War’s Tiger-Stripe Combat Fatigue Patterns and Uniforms. By Sgt. Richard Denis Johnson. A large, beautifully formatted book. Pointing out a few particulars on this and others in the collection, I am “Fixing Them Up”, respectfully so, Big Thanks out to him, but I still have to use what is available today, originals are beaucoup bucks, or falling apart, a disposable item to begin with, they were discarded before leaving the country, I should think.

“Updated” MACV-Special Observation Group, Captain McDanail:

MACV-SOG was composed of three units organized under three field commands - CCN, CCC, and CCS. These units deployed small patrols of USSF and indigenous Soldiers in "hatchet teams." This uniform represents a “Base” uniform, in that in the field, insignia was often not used at all, if anything name and branch.

“Updated” Special Forces Captain / Mike Forces, IV Corps, A-503 Nah Trang, Mekong Delta, Republic of South VietNam:

The Mobile Strike Force Command, or MIKE Force, was a key component of U.S. Army Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Detachment A-503 worked with the 5th Special Forces in the Delta, but they were their own entity. They served with the indigenous soldiers selected and trained through the large minority, ‘non-Vietnamese, Civilian Irregular Defense Group (GIDG) composed of the persecuted Degar, Bahnar, Hmong, Nung, Jarai, Khmer Krom, and the Montagnard peoples. MIKE FORCE was active under the Military Advisory Command Vietnam of the Army Special Forces from 1964 to 1970.

Mike Forces’ Mission was to act as a country-wide fast reaction force for securing sites, reinforcing, and recapturing CIDC A-CAMPS, as well as conduct special reconnaissance patrols, search and rescue, and search and destroy missions.

IV Corps was the Southernmost of the 4 sections of South Vietnam, and that’s where Detachment-503’s Camp was located, at Nha Trang in the Mekong Delta. Captain Rust wears a Saigon tailor-made custom uniform variation for use while training his group of people. he’s got a custom cover for his helmet, again for training, but he preferred the beret. He had matching trousers bloused into his jump boots. They usually lived off the land and traveled lightly, often just the web belt and holster, or with the web straps and magazine pouches.

The area of operations was huge, with many waterways that were being used for infiltration, so the CIDG used Air Boats and rubber boats and, the like, often used by these forces, through the Mekong, very quickly, along the tributaries of the Delta.

OK just a note here on Tiger Strips, I’m kind of shooting from the hip on some of these, I am not an expert on the uniform what-so-ever, I try to copy black and white or old instamatic pictures, but I may be off, but there is a great book that is out there, I’ll refer you too that may clear up any questions you may have, or how far off I am, its called TIGER PATTERNS, A guide to the Vietnam War’s Tiger-Stripe combat fatigue patterns and uniforms, by Sgt. Richard Denis Johnson. He can tell you far more than I will ever remember.

Uniforms with patches and names are rarely used in actual Special Forces Operations in the field, as well with the other US. Military Special Operations Groups of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. The M1 helmet, with the tiger-striped helmet cover, is questionable at best. I had it for some time and thought maybe airborne jump training was a possibility, but I had no idea if there ever was any.

Specialists, 5th SF Group, CIDG Assault Force:

Typical, Tigerstripe Field Uniform:

The Special Forces had been in Vietnam since the early 1960s, following other observing, and Secret Operators, like the Office of Strategic Service, Military Assistance Advisory Group, and other intelligence operations, had reconnoitered and evaluated the South Vietnamese Forces, which they deemed not strong enough, didn’t trust their government, or ours, nor in large want to have anything to do fighting a war, since the demise of the French, and likely a quagmire would ensue, so they were then ordered to start training all indigenous forces to support the ARVN and US / Allied Forces. The government did not follow through with the advice, and other powers were calling the shots.

It was John F. Kennedy who sent the very first large force of U.S. military personnel to support the ineffectual autocratic regime of South Vietnam in their fight against the communist Viet-Minh North. Three years later, the South Vietnamese government was failing, and, with JFK having been murdered in November 1963, the newly sworn-in President, Lyndon B. Johnson, ordered limited bombing raids on North Vietnam. Congress had authorized the use of U.S. troops in the Republic of Vietnam.

By 1965, North Vietnamese offensives left President Johnson with two choices: Either escalate U.S. involvement or withdraw and pull out. As we know, LBJ ordered the sending in of American forces, and the troop levels soon reached some 300,000 troops in the country, and the U.S. Air Force commenced the largest bombing campaign in history. A prerequisite was to be an NCO just to sit in on the evaluations, but exceptions were made due to necessity and a person’s training or expertise in a certain field. There would be some very interesting individuals who became a part of this institution, and some moved on to very high positions in the Army. They would come from all over to go through the courses, and those who got all the way through became proficient in specific talents such as signals, medicine, shooting, training indigenous peoples, etc. We were then cross-trained in many different curricula and went on to do amazing things. Some of it is still classified, though long after the event, and therefore has gone unrecognized.

This particular Tiger-Stripe uniform could, I suppose, have been used by any of the special operators out there, being used by the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, or CIA, but I think I’ll have it here now. The odd cape was store-bought, a hunter’s type hat popular in the era. The “Shirt” or, in this case, jacket, is in a rare configuration, with a single “cigarette-type” Pocket on the chest, and two lower pockets more like a military field jacket. These Vietnam-obtained Tiger-Stripe shirts usually had 2 breast pockets only, though the Navy SEALS officially had a few made up with extra pockets on the back shoulders, and across the front for their machine gunners, and then some of the thumpers with M79s had vests and shorts with a bunch of grenade-sized pockets all over them.

“New” 5th Special Forces Group, Sergeant First Class, CARR:

The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), sometimes called the "Legion". They were activated in 1961 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are now headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 5th Special Forces Group “Airborne” was the primarygroup operating there. They might be called Black Ops now, but they were conducting unconventional warfare, counterinsurgency, and direct-action missions. They officially deployed there in 1964, and they conducted covert operations from Nha Trang until 1971. They trained over 42,000 (CIDG) personnel, launched cross-border operations (MACV-SOG), and earned 18 Medals of Honor, making them one of the most decorated units of the war.

The Sergeant First Class was a later pattern of jungle fatigue, with the subdued insignia per regulations of 1968-69. He had served a prior tour in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne, prior to going to schools and training, and now with another famous outfit. He may have worn a sterrol uniform and boonie hat on actual operations, though they were not expendible, and if not necessary, might stay behind at base. Depending on the area of operations, they could not afford to be captured and interrogated; there was also a very real, a price on their heads. But then, if they didn’t go on a patrol - how did he actually know they went on it, or what they saw on it?

Special Forces, Sergeant First Class, RVN 1969:

(Re-editing)

“NEW” Staff Sergeant, Special Forces, Tiger Stripes:

Along with working and living with the indigenous peoples in Vietnam, and creating and training them into a cohesive unit. The CIDG had its “Mike Forces” or reaction force to reinforce the various Special Forces Compounds. They worked with South Vietnamese civilians as well. They would patrol, search for the enemy, and get larger forces to deal with them. There was the Delta Project, that was the Special Forces reconnaissance project that collected operational intelligence in the very remote areas of Vietnam, and there was Project GAMMA (the codename given to Detachment B-57), which was responsible for covert intelligence collection operations in Cambodia from 1966 to 1970. All these operations were highly successful programs, but as the politics played out, and the US involvement wound down, Vietnamization went into effect, and a controlled pullout began. Eventually, SF teams were withdrawn and reallocated to areas along the Laos and Cambodian borders as expendable, early relay groups, and the attitudes of the people began to get concerned with their futures, which proved to be called for.

Staff Sergeant, Special Forces, RVN, 1970S

This is another variation of the uniforms seen in Vietnam, a later example, but he just hasn’t been able to ditch his bright SF shoulder patch. Hell-bent on leather, he may have been looking forward to the assignment still, hearing all kinds of horror stories, and training hard to be sharp, so he can maybe make a difference. Unfortunately, there is no real story here; his story is lost in the annals of military history, recorded in brief notes. But he represents one of the all-volunteer Special Forces People, who took the challenge and went to do a Tour in Vietnam, to help the South Vietnamese and help train the people living in small hamlets throughout the region, to help them fight the Communists and gain intelligence, through operations working with the various local indigenous peoples there. As I understand it, the operation of the Special Forces in Vietnam was successful, when they suffered losses, command was often pointed at. I dont know if that is true, but one has to sal I takes special people to take on these jobs to help other countries, and all of them did their best.

This one is dedicated to all the lost servicemen and women in the Vietnam Conflict and all the souls who lost their lives during that time we call the Vietnam War, and to the POW/MIAs still over there and have never been able to be re-acquainted with their homeland. The uniform shows the Non-Commissioned, Subdued / Metal collar rank approved for (Enlisted and NCO) wear in December 1967. However, pin-on enlisted rank insignia in GCM (gold colored metal) were approved for wear on certain clothing items in 1975. Officers, however, have worn metal collar rank for a much longer time (Early 1900s), I assume, but the subdued showed up about the same time as the final year of the 1960s. The Beret looks to be much green the one normally seen being used; the beret is a spin on the British Commando and Marine use, which are darker; whatever the reason, my point is, they vary.

Leaving this uniform as is. The uniform is MIA.

“New” 7th Special Forces Group, Captain, Palmer:

The U.S. Army Special Forces,” Vietnam” (Provisional) began to come together in 1962, with the thought they could provide advisors to work with those in the South Vietnamese government, and to support the ARVN defense forces, and to develop a Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), an indigenous force, to operate outside the big cities. They would organize, train, equip, and employ different groups independently of one another, but they could also work together. In this mission, the Special Forces operated in a reconnaissance and reporting role to higher command; some groups also served as small reaction forces that could support each other’s hamlets. The 77th would be reflagged as the 7th Special Forces Group in 1961.

This uniform depicts a Captain assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, so a bit about the group. Elements of the Group were sent to the Republic of Vietnam in 1961. The 7th mission was to advise and work with the South Vietnamese Army, but they would be very involved in operations throughout Laos and Thailand, taking up where MAAG left off. During the Vietnam War, the 7th Special Forces Group was officially recorded as being involved in Vietnam right off. Still, they were operating in Southeast Asia, Laos, Thailand, as well as Vietnam. The first Special Forces Troop to earn the Medal of Honor in Vietnam was with this group.

M65-style fatigue blouse with completely subdued insignia, as per 1968 regulations. The jungle fatigues came out, but not everyone got them right away.