10th SFG(A) | On The Shoulder Of Giants

The Originals

10th SFG(A)

The Early Years 1952-1953

In the 1950s 15-20 NATO divisions faced 60-80 Warsaw pact divisions with an additional 170 divisions located in the USSR. The US Army Special Forces was developed as one of the responses to the overwhelming forces facing the NATO troops in Western Europe. The US Army Special Force Soldiers and their Guerrilla troops would slow the USSR assault on Western Europe, allowing time for reinforcements to arrive.

On 19 May 1952, the Third Army activated the 10th SFG(A) at Ft Bragg, NC, under the US Army Psychological Warfare Center, with an authorized strength of 122 officers and men. 20 June 1952, there was 7 soldiers assigned to 10th SFG(A). By Aug 1953, the unit was full strength, with an additional 123 "operational unit"- volunteer personnel.

10th SFG(A)

Commander: COL Aaron Bank

XO: LTC Jack Shannon

S-1: 1LT Carl Bergstrom

S-2: MAJ George Gormlie

S-3: MAJ Art Suchier

S-4: MAJ Raymond Doucette

From New York City, CPT Bank served with the OSS in Europe and Asia. In 1952 COL Banks became the Chief of the Special Operations Branch of the Army’s Office of Psychological Warfare, where he was involved in developing the US Army Special Forces. COL Bank was commander of 10th SFG(A), when the unit was activated 19 June 1952.

In early 1944, LT Shannon was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as part of the Jedburgh project. LT Shannon jumped into France on 27 June 1944 as part of the Inter-Allied Mission BERGAMOTTE (Jedburgh). CPT Shannon served in Burma with Detachment 101. LTC Shannon was the XO for 10th SFG(A), when the unit was activated in 1952. LTC Shannon was first Commander of 77th SFG(A), in 1953.

LTC Carl Bergstrom

CPT Bergstrom was S-1 for the 10th SFG(A) in Ft Bragg and later in Bad Tolz Germany. MAJ Bergstrom would return to Ft Bragg and serve with 77th SFG(A) in 1959.

LTC George Gormlie

From San Diego, Ca, MAJ Gormlie served with the Americal Division in the PTO. MAJ Gormlie served with 187th RCT in the Korean war, where he worked with the XO LTC Aaron Bank. LTC Gormlie was the S-2 for the 10th SFG(A) at Ft Bragg. LTC Gormlie would be S-2 at Bad Tolz and later served as XO.

LTC Oscar "Art" Suchier

From Detroit, Michigan, LT Oscar "Art" Suchier served with F Co, 5th Ranger BN in WW2. MAJ Suchier was serving with the 82nd ABN when he volunteered for Special Forces.

COL Raymond Doucett

Major Doucett was the S-4 for 10th SFG(A) in North Carolina and Germany. Later as an Active-Duty Adviser, LTC Doucett helped establish the USAR Special Forces units in New Jersey (303rd SFOD FC) and New Mexico (307th SFOD FC).

COL Aaron Bank

LTC Jack Shannon

10th SFG(A)-Building the Force

The first 2 Special Forces qualification classes were 8 weeks longs.

10 Nov 1952 - 17 Jan 1953, 1-53

2 Feb 1953 - 31 Mar 1953, 2-53

COL Bank, recognized CPT Brucker's wealth of Special Operation experience in WW2, and actively recruited CPT Herb Bruckner, who was serving in the 82nd ABN at Ft Bragg. CPT Brucker had worked for MAJ Bank with the OSS in China and Counterintelligence Corps Detachment (CIC) in Germany after WW2.

COL Bank tasked CPT Brucker and his team to develop the training for the unit, derived from their OSS and Guerrilla Warfare WW2 experiences in Europe and Asia.

The training focused on individual skills; weapons, commo, demolitions, medical, survival, operations and intelligence, and clandestine activites.

After completion of indivudal training, the FA teams were sent out to Camp MacKall in FTX FREE LEGION and LEGIONAIRE RALLY, where the SF soldiers applied the individual and the team's collective skills while operating in a hostile envirnoment in the country of Erewhon (Nowhere spelled backwards).

Guerrilla Chief CPT Herb Brucker

PFC Johnny Dolin, Mountaineering training

Small Boat training, Little Creek, VA

10th SFG(A) ABN Operation C-119

Major Herb Brucker

CSM Johnny Dolin

Technician Four (T/4) Brucker voluntered for the OSS and trained as a radio operator. T/4 Brucker attended the British Special Operation Executive Training (SOE). Prior to deploying with Jedburgh team Hermit in France in 1944, T/4 Brucker was promoted to 2nd. Later in the war, LT Brucker served another OSS operation with Det 202 in China.

PVT Johnny Dolin was one of the early volunteers for Special Forces. PFC Dolin served with 10th SFG(A) and 77th SFG(A) as a medic.

10th SFG(A) Gallery-Ft Bragg, NC

10th SFG(A) Detachment equipment display at Ft Bragg, NC

SSG Vahan Sipantzi

10th SFG(A) ABN OPs

10th SFG(A) Headquarter sign, Ft Bragg

CPL Foster McFarland

10th SFG(A) weapons training at Ft Bragg, NC

10th SFG(A) ABN OPs

10th SFG(A) Gallery 8240th AU Korea

To support Special Operations in Korea, the Far East Command (FEC) requested fifty-five officers and nine enlisted men from the 10th SFG(A) to be levied in early 1953. Ultimately, 99 Special Forces volunteers, 77 officers and 22 enlisted men, were sent from Fort Bragg between February and September, 1953 were sent to the 8240th Army Unit.

The mission of the 8240th AU was 2 parts; first, to develop and direct partisan warfare behind enemy lines and within Allied lines and secondly to supply partisan groups and agents operating behind enemy lines by means of water and air transportation.

After a short period of training the 10th SFG(A) troops went out to their assignments, not as teams, but as individuals or 2-3 man teams assigned to the units working within the 8240th.

During Guerrilla operations with the 8240th AU in Korea, the first 2 US Army Special Forces soldiers killed in action were, 2LTJoesph Castro and 1LT Douglas Payne.

7th ID TLO team, top to bottom: SFC Blademar Navejar, CPL Russell Shafer, MSG John Kessling and CPT Charles Bushong

(L-R) 10th SFG (A) troops and UN counterparts assigned to 8240th AU, April 1954. 1LT Brain Passey, 1LT Murl Tullis, 1LT Rueben Mooradian, CPT Bliss Croft. 1LT Charlie Norton (in Aussy slough hat), CPT John Sullivan (AUS Army), LT Johnson (AUS Army), Mike Layton and LT George (Brit Army).

1LT Murl Tullis (L) and Myron "Mike" J. Layton (R) and , assigned to 6th Partisan Infantry Regiment,

April 1953

10th SFG(A) Officers assigned to the 8007th Army Unit at Camp Drake, Japan. From left to right, 1LT Sam C. Sarkesian, 1LT Warren E. Parker, CPT Francis W. Dawson, 2LT Earl L. Thieme and 1LT Leo F. Siefert.

1LT Douglas W Payne

Douglas Payne, was from Hastings Michigan. PVT Payne served in the US Army during the occupation of the Philippines and Japan. LT Payne was recalled to service in 1951 and Special Forces qualified in 1953. LT Payne was assigned to the 8240th AU in Korea and killed on 21 July 1953, just days before the war ended.

2LT Joseph M Castro

From Garrett Texas, LT Castro was recalled to service in 1951. LT Castor volunteered for Special Forces and graduated the qualification course in 1953. LT Castor was assigned to the 8240th AU and killed on 17 May 1953.

SGT Layton served with 82nd ABN during WW2. LT Layton graduated the second Special Forces Qualification Course at Ft Bragg in 1953. After graduation, LT Layton was sent to the Korean. LT Layton served with 8240th Army Unit, 6th PIR during the Korean War. CPT Layton was DET 2 Commander, USAR 301st SFOD(FD), Tacoma, WA and later a Company Commander in USAR 17th SFG(A). Mike Layton was a lauded newspaper journalist and author.

MAJ Myron "Mike" Layton

Not yet 18, he entered the US Navy in 1943. Seaman Tullis was stationed at Pearl Harbor, the Midway Islands and aboard the USS Baltimore when it went to Nagasaki, Japan. Upon his discharge as a Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class in 1946. LT Tullis volunteered for Special Forces at Fort Bragg in 1952. LT Tullis was assigned to United Nations Partisan Forces (Korea) 8240 Army Unit. CPT Tullis later served with Special Forces at Fort Bragg with the 77th SFG(A) and, 10th SFG(A) in Bad Toltz.

LTC Murl F Tullis

John Kessling joined the Merchant Marine in 1944 at the age of 16. After WW2, Kessling enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1946, was assigned to 504th PIR. MSG Kessling applied for and was accepted into Special Forces training in October 1952. Assigned to the 18th Special Forces Operations Detachment, District B of the 10th SFG (A). MSG Kessling SF qualificationon 25 February 1953. MSG Kessling was one of 22 enlisted men assigned to the 8240th Army Unit, 6th Partisan Infantry Regiment (PIR), Tactical Liaison Office (TLO) located with 7th Infantry Division (ID), 40th ID and 2nd IDs and the Ethiopian Regiment.

CSM John E Kessling

10th SFG(A)-FTX CLEO

FTX CLEO was a Group-level exercise conducted in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest, from July through September 1953, to evaluate the training and readiness of the 10th SFG(A). COL Bank tasked MAJ William Ewald, Commander of 13th SFOD, with conducting the evaluation. Troops from the 10th SFG(A), the Army Field Forces personnel, and locals supported the exercise.

MAJ Ewald and his team established a base camp area, Camp Castro, near Margaret Georgia, to serve as the maneuver control element headquarters in Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest. During the FTX, MAJ Edson also served as Commander of the 13th SFOD.

FTX CLEO, the first Group-level exercise, closed at the end of Sep, proved the 10th SFG(A) was mission ready.

During the FTX, a pair of tragic events occured. On 4 Aug 1953,

PFC Donald Sevits Jr, was injured in motocycle accident, unexpectedly he died several weeks later. On 19 Sep 1953, a 3/4 ton truck over-turned on a sharp turn, several soldiers were injured, PFC Dennis L Bailey, CPL Ian D.W. Sutherland and, MSG Lawrence Alligood. Tragically 2 soldiers were killed, MSG John . Meyers, from Youngstown Ohio and MSG James D Gilland Reidsville, NC

Camp Castro in the Chattahoochee National Forest of Georgia was named in honor of 2LT Joseph M. Castro, a former 10th SFG soldier killed in action in Korea. MAJ William Ewald established the 10th SFG headquarters here during FTX CLEO, to evaluate the Group’s ability to perform its operational mission.

10th SFG(A) troops jumps into Northern Georgia as part of Exercise CLEO

Alanta Journal, 13 Sep 1953

13th SFOD Operations Center for FTX Cleo in Camp Castro

Born in Kassel, Germany. William Ewald's family emigrated to the US in 1928. SGT Ewald served with the NJ National Guard. During WW2 LT Ewald served with the 9th ID from North Africa, to Italy, to Normandy and Central Europe. MAJ Ewald would serve in 10th SFG(A) and then 77th SFG(A). LTC Ewald would take a Mobile Training Team (MTT) from 77th SFG(A) to establish the ARVN Ranger program in 1960.

LTC William Ewald

LT Mattice served with the 504th PIR, 82nd ABN, in Italy, Holland and Belgium, during the battle of the Bulge, and the final days of Germany. LTC Mattice was Aaron Bank's XO for 10th SFG(A) in Bad Tolz

From Jefferson City, TN , CPL Sutherland served with 10th SFG(A) as a medic and later with 77th SFG(A). LTC Sutherland served 3 tours in Vietnam with 5th SFG(A), MACV-CSD-PRU and MACVSOG. After retirement, Ian D.W. Sutherland wrote the book "1952-1982, Special Forces in the US Army".

LTC Ian D.W. Sutherland

LTC Edson Mattice

10th SFG(A) Exercise Tenderfoot

CPT Herb Brucker, LT Johnny Raymond and LT Caesar J. Civitella were involved in the developmen of the training for the (E&E) exercise for called TENDERFOOT, that was for US Navy and USMC pilots. This training was based on the survival training that the 10th SFG(A) soldiers recieved. TENDERFOOT I was conducted in 1953, where the pilots, who instead of getting in their aircraft the ‘ready alert’ pilots were taken directly to a waiting transport plane and flown to Camp Mackall. The course started with the pilots given classes in survival skill training, including; map reading, firemaking, catching and cooking game. Followed by the class split up into 2-man teams and then made to evade in a simulated enemy country. Upon capture, they were placed in a POW camp and subjected to interogations, sleep deprivation and hard physical labor, all designed to build their knowledge of resistence.

MAJ Caesar J. Civitella

LTC Johnny Raymond

Ceasar Civitella joined the U.S. Army in February 1943 and volunteered for the OSS Operational Groups (OG). SGT Civitella served with Company A of the 2671st Special Reconnaissance Battalion, (Separate) (Provincial) in Europe until end of WW2. After returning to the Army and receiving a commision, LT Citivella served as one the first Special Forces instructors at the Psychological Warfare center. LT Citivella joined the 77th SFG(A) in Aug 1953.

Johnny Raymond from Breaux Bridges, LA served with the US Navy in the Pacific, during WW2. LT Raymond served in the Korean War with the US Army 5th Regimental Combat Team, where he served as a platoon leader and a company commander. CPT Raymond joined the 10th SFG(A) in 1953. CPT Raymond would stay at Ft Bragg with the 77th SFG(A), when the 10th SFG(A) went to Germany.

Evening Eagle 19 Sep 1955

10th SFG(A) Documents

CSM Edward Montgomery

10th SFG(A) Activation orders, 19 May 1952

CPL Edward Montgomery served with the 508th PIR 82nd ABN during WW2 as a Medic. CPL Montgomery jumped into both Normandy and Holland. SFC Montgomery graduated in the 1st Special Forces class at Ft Bragg. CSM Montgomery was one of the original Special Forces Medics.

SFC Edward Montgomery's 10th SFG(A) SF Medic class

completion certificate

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10th SFG(A) Documents

SFC Edward Montgomery's US Forest Service Smoke Jumper

training Certificate

10th SFG(A)Propblast card

Advanced Military Mounteering Certificate from Camp Hale

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At the end of WW2 a number of Insurgencies were still raging across USSR-occupied Eastern Europe.

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)
Mirdita Tribesmen under Gjon Markagjoni in Albania.
The "Forest Brothers" in the Balkans
The "Haiducii", a Romanian anti-communist resistance movement
Anti-Soviet resistance groups in Moldovia
The Polish "cursed soldiers"
The "Goryani" movement in Bulgaria
In Yugoslavia, the Chetniks and Croatian ultra-nationalist insurgents known as the "Crusaders"

In the early 1950s. the US Army Intelligence and the CIA estimated there was 200,000-500,000 Guerrillas and their supporters were still active in the USSR occupied areas.

The CIA funded a Georgetown university project, that produced a classified series of "Resistence Factors and Special Forces Areas" books in the mid 1950s, on the USSR- occupied countries, USSR and China.

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Following the brutal crack-down to protests in occupied Eastern Germany in June 1953 and the increasing threat of a USSR invasion of Western Europe, the Joint Chief of Staff ordered the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) to deploy to Germany.

10th SFG(A) was transported by the USNS General A.W. Greely from Wilmington, NC to Bremerhaven Germany, on 10 Nov 1953. The unit would occupy Flint Kaserne in Bad Tölz and the Prinz Heinrich Kaserne in Lenggries, both located in the Bavarian region of Southern Germany.

10th SFG(A) Commander: COL Aaron Bank

10th SFG(A) XO: COL Edson Mattice

10th SFG(A) S-1: CPT Bergstrom

10th SFG(A) S-2: LTC George Gormlie

10th SFG(A) S-3: MAJ Art Suchier

10th SFG(A) S-4: MAJ Raymond Doucette

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10th SFG(A) Gallery-Germany

In 1953, the 10th SFG(A) arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany, 21 November, and immediately departed by train for Bad Tölz, Germany. The site was the former training site for the SS candidate school during World War II. The 10th SFG(A) troops got to work removing much of the items from the previous owners and moving in the unit equipment.

Col Bank, directed his staff to quickly start the unit training cycle. MAJ Suchier and CPT Brucker and team identifed training areas and developed training plans for the unit. Early in 1954 training began and in the spring of the year all operational teams participated in Field Exercise 54-1.

On 1 December 1954, Col. Aaron Bank, was transferred to the office of G-3, Seventh Army, and on 21 December 1954, Col William E. Ekman, an experienced airborne commander, assumed command of the Group.

10th SFG(A) Soldiers lead their Guerrillas on a Direct Action mission, during an exercise.

10th SFG(A) FA Detachment, equipment layout

10th SFG(A) Soldiers receiving cultural training, to blend in with the European Populace

CPT Herb Brucker's FA, L-R CPT Brucker, MSG Anthony Kuselka, MSG Myron "Mumbles" Johnson, SFC Clyde "Doc" Knox and SFC Robert Sted

10th SFG(A) Soldiers on an Guerrila Warfare Exercise in Germany

B GEN William Ekman

From St Louis, MO, LT Ekman was a West Point graduate, class 1938. LTC Ekman Led the 505th PIR in Normandy , Holland and the Battle of Bulge. On 15 December 1954, COL Ekman assumed leadership of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Bad Toelz, Germany; commanding the organization until July 1956,

10th SFG Documents-Germany