8th Special Forces Group (United States)

8th Special Forces Group
8th Special Forces Group beret flash
Active	1963-1972
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Army
Role	counter-insurgency training for Latin American armies
Garrison/HQ	Fort Gulick

The 8th Special Forces Group of the United States Army was established in 1963 at Fort Gulick, Panama Canal Zone. It was deactivated in 1972. The primary mission of the 8th SFG was counter-insurgency training for the armies of Latin America. Some training was performed under the sponsorship of the School of the Americas, also located at Fort Gulick.

The 8th's full designation was 8TH Special Forces Group (Abn), Special Action Force, Latin America. The 8th was the US Army's only full SAF. In addition to line Special Forces companies, the SAF included a Military Intelligence detachment, a Medical detachment, a Military Police detachment, an Engineer detachment, a Security Agency detachment, and a Psychological Operations battalion.

Special Forces at this time didn't use designators like "battalion". A Special Forces company (which later became a battalion) was commanded by a Lt. Colonel and was designated as a "C" team. The 8th had 2 "C" teams. Each "C" team had 3 "B" teams and each "B" team had 5 "A" teams. The 8th SAF also operated the NCO Academy and Underwater Operations School for the US Army Southern Command (USARSO) and provided support for the Jungle Warfare School at Fort Sherman, later renamed the Jungle Operations Training Center to be politically correct.

Company A of the 8th Group was tasked with developing and maintaining a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) team, Detachment A-13, that was prepared to make covert free-fall entry to denied airspace by jumping from altitudes in excess of 30,000 feet. The team trained at the abandoned airstrip at Rio Hato, Panama, and conducted the first HALO school outside of Ft. Bragg, NC, at Ft. Kobbe and Howard Air Force base, CZ, in 1970. The HALO team also had a good-will mission as the "Jumping Ambassadors" and conducted exhibition parachute jumps at carnivals, festivals and other public events throughout Latin America.

A Mobile Training Team from the 8th group trained and advised the Bolivian Ranger Battalion that captured and killed Che Guevara in the fall of 1967. However, they were not part of the capture and execution.