History

Committed to Serving Special Forces and Veterans

Committed to Serving Special Forces and Veterans

Black Special Forces Medal of Honor Winners

Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for actions in trying to relieve members of A-Camp Lang Vei on 6-7 February 1968.  

Sergeant First Class William M. Bryant was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for their actions in leading his Mike Force indigenous troops during an intense attack by NVA forces

SFC Melvin Morris received the Medal of Honor for various actions on September 17, 1969, while commanding the Third Company, Third Battalion of the IV Mobile Strike Force (Mike Force) near Chi Lang, South Vietnam.

Black Special Forces Distinguished Service Cross Recipients

CSM (R) Tyrone Adderly received the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallantry as a member of the Son Tay Raid rescue force that executed a daring raid on a North Vietnamese prison in November 1970

First Lieutenant Merkerson distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions as senior Special Forces advisor to a Vietnamese task force conducting a search and destroy mission in Binh Dinh Province.

Black Special Forces Silver Star Recipients

Colonel Paris Davis (born 6 May 1939) is a retired United States Army officer who was twice nominated for the Medal of Honor, for his actions on 18 July 1965 during the Vietnam War, however both times the paperwork relating to this nomination disappeared

MSG Ernest Hayward served as a Special Forces qualified Operations and Intelligence Specialist.  He was assigned to Det A-332, 5th SFG(A).  MSG Hayward was fatally wounded on October 25, 1965, in the Binh Long province of South Viet Nam. He Was 37 Years old. 

Sergeant First Class Mel Hill was the team member assigned to RECON Team ASP, Command Central North in the covert unit MACVSOG. SFC Hill became the Team Leader for the world’s first combat High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump into Laos in 1967 while serving in MACVSOG

The President of the United States of America, authorized by an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Stephan D. Johns, United States Army, The President of the United States of America, authorized by an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918.

Black Special Forces Trailblazers: LTG Antonio Fletcher

LTG Fletcher is currently the highest-ranking Black Special Forces Officer.  No other Black SF Officer has reached the rank he currently holds. Lieutenant General Fletcher began his career in the 197th Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia

Black Special Forces Trailblazers: BG (R) Remo Butler

Brigadier General (Ret) Remo Butler was born November 16, 1951, in Egypt, Mississippi. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1974 with the U.S. Army upon his graduation from Austin Peay State University.

Black Special Forces Trailblazers

CPT (R) Chalmers Archer is believed to be one of the first Blacks to attend Special Forces Training in 1952

COL (R) Earl Atkinson was the first Black Special Forces Soldier to pass Selection and Assessment and graduate from the Operators Training Course for the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D)

Black Special Forces Trailblazers

Command Sergeant Major Joseph Dennison was the first Black Command Sergeant Major of a Group.  CSM was the 5th SFG(A) CSM during the Groups move to Fort Campbell Kentucky in 1988. 

CW4 Charlie “Black Frog” Simmons was the first Black SF Soldier to attend the Special Forces Warrant Officer Course in 1984

CW5 John Wade was the first Black SF Soldier to be promoted to CW5  He enlisted in the Army on 14 July 1981. 

SGM Alsee Richardson was the first Black Soldier to graduate from the Golden Knights Assessment and Selection program and became a member of the U S Army Parachute Team in 1970

Black Special Forces Pioneers

Earl Graves was a nationally recognized authority on Black business development and the founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine.  In 1972, he was one of the ten most outstanding minority businessmen in the country by the President of United States, President Nixon

LTC (ret) Earl Woods served two tours in Viet Nam.  One as an Infantry Officer and the second tour as a Special Forces Officer.  Upon return stateside he later fathered a son born in 1975 whom he named Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

CSM Love served his country for more than 30 years, fought in two wars, and was among the first African American Soldiers to qualify as a Green Beret. The Rock Hill, SC native was 86 when he died in 2014. 

Colonel H.E. Bynum was the 5th SFG (A) Commander from Jun 80-Dec 1982

 

Black Special Forces Pioneers

SGM (ret) Willie ”Track Shoe” McCloud is a Distinguished Member of the Regiment

COL (R) Gus Benton was the 3rd SFG (A) Commander from Jun 2008-Jun 2010

COL (R) Michael Ball was the 7th SFG (A) Commander from Jun 2015-Jun 2017

COL (R) Edward Short was the Battalion Commander of the 1st Battalion, 3rd SFG(A) in the mid-90s

 

A group of soldiers walking along the beach.

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A close up of soldiers in fatigues and boots
A close up of soldiers in fatigues and boots

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