The 5th Special Forces Group is headed back to its Southeast Asia roots.
5th SFG(A) was activated on 21 September 1961 and traced its roots to the old “Black Devils” of the U.S./Canadian 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 1st Special Service Force in WWII, hence the black in its unit patch.
The all-black U-shaped shield it has worn on its Green Berets since the mid-1980s is now being retired in favor of the Vietnam-era flash that was both a nod toward the Republic of Vietnam as well as the two Special Forces groups that preceded the 5th into the war.
“We are going to be reverting back to what we wore during the Vietnam conflict,” Sgt. Jacob Mahaffey, a spokesman for the group, told Military.com. “It may be in the April or May time frame.”
An announcement posted Nov. 18 on Facebook noted the change would occur during a March 23, 2016 ceremony at Gabriel Field on Fort Campbell.
The flash commemorates both the flag of the Republic of Vietnam, where the old 5th cut its teeth, and that of the old-school groups that preceded it. The Yellow diagonal band represented the 1st SFG (A) and the Red diagonal band represented 7th SFG (A).