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I understand how ODA's (A-Team) designations are assigned. As the SF Group is the 1st part of this what's up with the odd order.
1st 3rd 5th 7th then 10th? and then for NG its 19th and 20th.
As there are 5 AOR's I would expect SF Groups 1st thru 5th. Is there a method to this non sequential madness or is this just how the Army counts?
1st 3rd 5th 7th then 10th? and then for NG its 19th and 20th.
As there are 5 AOR's I would expect SF Groups 1st thru 5th. Is there a method to this non sequential madness or is this just how the Army counts?
Posted in these groups: 
Special Forces
Special Forces
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 3
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The first SF Group formed was the 10th in 1952. It was numbered the 10th to give the impression we had more than one or multiple. Col. Aaron Bank was it's first commander a former OSS member. Now we have had groups that were disbanded or merged through the times. Hope that helps answer a bit. See some of us still remember promotion board questions , lol.
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SFC (Join to see)
Magic! Actually during WWII the Army deployed magitions to disguise units and cities to make it appear they were elswhere for enemy bombing raids and troop movement. So yes itt is funny, LOL but very true too.
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MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca
Thanks for the history lesson SFC (Join to see) I've often wondered about the numbering myself.
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CMSgt James Nolan
SSG John Erny That is the US philosophy: We will never lose, because we don't know what we are doing from one minute to the next; thus how could anyone else know.
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Many times the Army does use the numbers to define unit. For example in the Airborne world most are in the 500's. Like the 501st, 504th, 505th, and the 507th. They are all parachute infantry. In the case of the 325th Infantry they were glider.
From what I understand I don't believe there was any method behind. When the Army starts new type of unit with no lineage it is fairly commonly to start with numbers. That would explain when the numbers are low. An example of this is the 82nd and the 101. The army had over 90 divisions in WWII. They just started at 1 and worked their way up.
There was also 11th and 12th group up till the 90's. They were Army reserve but they were deactivated and the 19th and 20th were established in the National Guard.
From what I understand I don't believe there was any method behind. When the Army starts new type of unit with no lineage it is fairly commonly to start with numbers. That would explain when the numbers are low. An example of this is the 82nd and the 101. The army had over 90 divisions in WWII. They just started at 1 and worked their way up.
There was also 11th and 12th group up till the 90's. They were Army reserve but they were deactivated and the 19th and 20th were established in the National Guard.
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LTC Paul Labrador
IIRC when the numbering system for divisions was devised, the low numbers were all the Regular Army divisions with higher numbers being NG and Reserve divisions.
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CPT (Join to see)
LTC Paul Labrador I am not sure about the numbers. I never heard that. My unit was the 30th INF DIV. That is a pretty low number. National Guard divisions in World War I included the 26th; 27th; 28th; 29th; 30th; 31st; 32nd; 33rd; 34th; 35th; 36th; 37th; 38th; 39th; 40th; 41st; and 42nd. Most divisions initially came from one state or region, but the 42nd Division was made up of National Guard units not already assigned to other divisions, and included representation from 26 states and the District of Columbia.
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LTC Paul Labrador
CPT (Join to see), as far as Regular Army, they only got up to like 25th or 26th and it was NG and Reserve after that. Looking it up, I think 25th ID was the change point.
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CPT (Join to see)
I am still not sure about this. LTC Paul Labrador Even in WWI the last number used for a div was the 102nd. I see that a block was used for the NG but WWII was when most guard units were federalized. My unit was the 3rd North Carolina and became the 120th Infantry of the 30th DIV.
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SFC (Join to see) MSG Wade Huffman CPT (Join to see) -- for additional context for this thread and for your comments thus far, here is a link to view the entire organizational structure of US Army Special Forces Command (USASFC). It's here in a part of RP called RP Universe. Check it out! Are we missing anything?
Note: must view on desktop. Link: https://www.rallypoint.com/universe?unit_id=usasfc-us-army-special-forces-command-fort-bragg-nc
Note: must view on desktop. Link: https://www.rallypoint.com/universe?unit_id=usasfc-us-army-special-forces-command-fort-bragg-nc
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CPT (Join to see)
Looks good to me. I like this feature. I wish the Army would have done this. It goes to show that private entities have the capability to out the the gov in simple tasks. I have used this tool a few times.
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SFC (Join to see)
Wow, I just had the time to look at the organizational structure chart thread. That was amazing. It just doesn't go to ODA's and number however for security purposes I prefer that. People don't need to know what team number you are assigned to. Especially a deployed one!
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