All language subtitles for Beyond The Battlefield - EP-02 - The Green Berets

[gunshots]

- Hey, get one of your guys to
run down

and reset the plate rack.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Yeah, I think that’s better,
three.

- Finish on the blue target.

♪

Good on the right? Good left?

♪

- Shooters, are you ready?

[air horn blasts]

- The United States military
is legendary,

a powerful presence
throughout the world.

But what do
civilians truly know

about the people,
places, and history

behind this institution?

All right, let’s rock it.

My name is Remi Adeleke.

As a Navy veteran, I’ve had
the honor to serve my country

in ways I never expected.

- Stand by.

- Now I want to take you on
a journey across America

to discover what lies

beyond the battlefield.

♪

[upbeat music]

♪

Special Ops,
or Special Operations,

is a secretive realm
of the US military.

These elite units operate
outside of

conventional warfare
all around the world.

The Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
and Air Force

each have a Special Operations
Command.

Fort Liberty in North Carolina

is the home of
Army Special Operations,

the famous Green Berets.

Army Special Operations
Command directs

over 32,000 military
personnel,

and many call Fort Liberty
home.

The base is also where
the best of the best try out--

and then train--
to become a Green Beret.

Today, I’m at Fort liberty to
go deep with the Green Berets

and learn about the role
special forces have played

in the United States
military history.

- Hey, Remi,
very nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you, General.
- Welcome to Fort Liberty.

- My first stop is
to meet with

Major General
Patrick Roberson,

the deputy commanding general

of US Army Special
Operations Command,

to get the lay of the land.

Tell me about the history of
Fort Liberty.

Was it always Fort Liberty?

- No, it was Fort Bragg
and became Fort Liberty.

This has been a base
since World War I.

And then, in the 1950s,
that is when the Army decided,

hey, special forces,
this is something that we need.

They built special forces here.
This is the origin point.

- The Special Forces
have many missions,

but what makes this group
unique in the military

is working with people around
the world on the ground,

to support them in ways that
benefit both those countries

and the United States.

And this mission dates back
to one of the biggest

inflection points in history.

- US Army Special Forces,
the Green Berets,

they can trace their history
back to World War II

and something called the OSS,

or Office of Strategic
Services.

♪

In 1941, we’re on the verge
of entering World War II,

but we’re very unprepared
for the war.

♪

- December 7th, 1941,

a date which will live
in infamy.

- The major powers
are warring.

Germany at this point
has utilized

special operations forces
very successfully,

and incorporated them into
their blitzkrieg tactics,

and have overrun
most of Europe,

and they’re pressing
into Russia.

Things are very, very grim
for the Allies in 1941.

US special operations forces
don’t exist at all.

President Roosevelt designates

William J. Donovan to become
the director of something

called the
Coordinator of Information.

Donovan is one of the most
decorated soldiers

in World War I.

He really sees the need for
another way of war.

And what he is doing is
tapping into something

that is in American DNA,

and that is
unconventional warfare.

♪

Going all the way back to the
origins of the United States,

it’s something that
follows through

with Francis Marion in
the Revolutionary War,

the light infantry
in Washington’s army.

Donovan understands that
we have a past

of unconventional warfare,
and wants to tap into that.

The ideal candidate
for an OSS person

would be a PhD that
could win a bar fight.

Somebody that was uber smart,
but incredibly tough.

They took people from
all walks of life--

American life
as well as foreigners.

Remarkable individuals that
changed the course

of World War II.

[explosions and gunfire]

- [speaking German]

- In 1944, it’s a titanic
struggle across the globe.

160,000-plus troops,

large numbers of planes,
paratroopers

are all directed at Normandy.

This is the greatest invasion
in history, D-Day.

♪

But a critical component to
this

is the OSS’s
Operation Jedburgh.

- The Jedburghs were
very small teams,

two, three, or four
in each team,

who were parachuted into
occupied Europe

on the eve of D-Day

to link up with the resistance
fighters in France

and in the low countries.

♪

Each team had maybe
three nationalities--

an OSS member from
the United States,

a British member of the
Special Operations Executive,

and then a member of
the French or the Dutch

or the Belgian resistance.

♪

Their mission was basically to

attack German lines
of communication,

drawing a large number of
German troops

to try to find them and
eliminate them,

which meant that
those German forces were

not available
on the front line.

- And they are causing chaos
behind the lines,

derailing trains,

providing intelligence,

tying up large numbers
of German forces.

[twangy apprehensive music]

- It was an important mission,
but it was carried out

by very few people.

The total number of Jedburghs
was, I think, about 300.

♪

Their mission was essentially
over within three months

because all of the territory
in which they were operating

had been overrun by
the Allied Invasion Force.

♪

- After the war, these men
are the heart of

what becomes the Central
Intelligence Agency

as well as Special Forces.

♪

- You know, after World War II,

a lot of these units
like the OSS

kind of divided,
became part of the CIA.

Then during Korea,
during the Cold War,

noted that, hey, we need
a force that’s capable of

doing unconventional things,
deep raids,

direct action missions.

We need to build back

a permanent
Army Special Operations Force.

And we’re out there competing
every day with our adversaries

around the world.

At any given time,
in this command,

probably between 3,000 and
5,000 members of the command

are deployed forward,
70 to 80 different countries.

- Yeah.

- Remi,
I hear you’re a Navy man.

I know this. A Seal, even.
- Yes, sir.

- But Army-Navy game,
Boston this year, coming up.

Are you ready?
- Ah, Navy’s gonna take it.

- Navy?
I don’t know about that.

- How about we warm ’em up
for it?

- Let’s do it. Let’s do this.

OK.
- Oh, that was a bad one.

No spiral on that.
- There we go.

- Basketball was my sport.
[laughter]

I don’t think Peyton would
be pleased with this.

[laughs]

- The path to becoming an
Army Special Forces soldier

starts at the John F. Kennedy

Special Warfare Center
and School

at Camp Mackall,
part of Fort Liberty.

People from all parts
of the military,

and even some people with
no military experience,

go through a grueling physical
and mental assessment,

with only the best of the best
selected to move on.

The school is named after
President Kennedy

because he recognized
the need and potential

for Army Special Forces
at a pivotal time.

♪

- John F. Kennedy had been
a real proponent of

the Special Forces.

He is the one that made
their green beret

their official headgear.

He gave speeches saying,
this is the wave of the future,

to learn how to fight
unconventionally.

- This division is performing
a most vital function.

The United States of America
has obligations and alliances

which stretch
around the world.

- Many people at that time
were expecting

nuclear World War III
to break out.

And so, this was seen as
an alternative form of warfare

that the US should learn
how to fight.

- Training to be a Green Beret
is a long way off

for those who are
just starting out.

There are a couple of hurdles
to get through first.

- So we’re coming up to
the first gateway

into the pipeline.

The Nasty Nick is one of
the series of events.

And the purpose is to assess
and select candidates

to entry into the Special
Forces Qualification Course.

- So most candidates
pass this course?

Or what would you say
the attrition rate is on it?

- Throughout the entirety
of the course,

we’re looking at about
a 30% select rate.

♪

So it’s common, when we have
distinguished visitors,

to invite them to run
the Nasty Nick.

So it’s our gift to you
in your experience here.

We have a cadre of men here.

They will run the course
with you

and challenge you to keep up.

- All right, let’s rock it.

[intense rock music]

♪

Why you guys wear helmets?

At our old course,
we don’t wear helmets.

If we die, we die.
[laughter]

[upbeat music]

♪

Good job, fellas.
Gave me a run for my money.

- Welcome to Camp Mackall.
- Thank you, sir.

- The home of Army
Special Operations Forces.

I know this must blow your mind
as a former Navy Seal, right?

Where the real magic
happens, right?

- Brigadier General
Will Beaurpere oversees

the John F. Kennedy
Special Warfare Center.

Green Berets’ assessment and
selection includes

the Nasty Nick I got to
experience for myself.

There are two other paths for
Special Operations hopefuls:

civil affairs and
psychological operations.

- We’re looking at
the physical capability,

their ability to assimilate
and demonstrate a skill.

And then, finally,
we measure their ability

to work as a team.

So every one of
our special operators,

whether they’re gonna be
a Green Beret,

a Civil Affairs soldier,
or a PsyOp soldier,

will go through a language

and regional and cultural
expertise program.

Because our job, ultimately,

is about working with
Indigenous partners overseas.

- Let’s talk about PsyOps.
- Yep.

- Let’s talk about
Civil Affairs,

and how they play a role in
what SF does

and what the guys do as far as
training partner forces.

- So Civil Affairs soldiers,
we’re really looking

more at cognitive skills
and their ability to interact

with a partner or
the interagency, right?

Because Civil Affairs
fundamentally

are about civil military
relations.

Psychological Operations are
a little bit different, right?

This is about influence.

- Yes,
some jobs require a hammer,

some jobs require a scalpel.

And they’re the scalpel.

- The Special Forces, they are
unique in the US military

in that they’re intensively
trained to understand

countries, cultures,
speak their languages,

and really learn
how to operate within

whatever environment of
conflict or unrest may exist.

♪

In 1989, the relationship
between the United States

and Panama was as bad
as it had ever been.

Manuel Noriega was
playing both sides.

On the one hand,
he was helping supply the US

with intelligence about

the South American
drug trafficking cartels,

but he was actually helping to
facilitate drug trafficking

and profiting from it.

On December 16th, 1989,

Noriega’s troops killed
a US Marine at a roadblock.

And that was the trigger
for Operation Just Cause.

- I will protect the lives of
Americans in Panama,

whether they’re military
or civilian.

♪

- It was the largest US combat
operation since Vietnam.

- I was assigned to
3rd Battalion PsyOps

Special Forces group,
which was in Panama.

The challenge was going to be
finding Noriega.

- The goal was also to
try to prevent

the Panamanian defense forces
from

coming to the aid of Noriega.

- 50 or 60 guys were able to
interdict that movement

across
the Pacora River Bridge.

Those guys were studs.

♪

- Noriega holed up in the
Vatican embassy for a week.

And they began
broadcasting rock music.

Many of us considered it
a psychological operation

because it was known that
he hated rock music.

And this, it was
really deafening, 24/7.

It worked in the end.
He surrendered

and then was later convicted
on the drug charges.

- In the aftermath of that,

every day we were getting on
helicopters

and going out to
these villages

and kind of trying to take
their pulse to see,

were they supportive?

Kind of figure out
what was needed,

whether it was water, or food,
or construction materials.

Civil Affairs can be that
conduit

between the US government
and the local populace.

The PsyOps component
of Just Cause

was creating that message
for the Panamanian people

that the military was
here to help.

Things like leaflet drops

and people with loudspeakers
on vehicles

going through the streets.

That’s what existed,
as opposed to today,

where we have social media
platforms and PsyOps has

a thousand more subtle ways to
message

than they did in 1989.

- This combination of
Civil Affairs, Special Forces,

and Psychological Operations,

they really accomplished a lot
of missions in Panama,

and were seen after that as

a valuable tool
in the tool kit.

- Now that I’ve got a taste of

what it takes to become
a Green Beret,

it’s time to see where newly
minted Special Forces land

in the Special Forces group.

Thank you so much
for having me, Colonel.

- Remi, great to host you here
at 3rd Special Forces Group.

- Absolutely, this is awesome.

There are seven
Special Forces groups:

five active duty
and two reserves.

Each group is responsible for
a different part of the world

and works directly with
the people of those countries.

Colonel John Bishop is head of
3rd Special Forces Group,

based here at Fort Liberty.

- 3rd Special Forces Group is

about 2,400 United States
Army soldiers.

For 3rd Special Forces Group,

we support Special Operations
Command Africa.

And so we focus primarily
in Africa,

but we also conduct operations
quite often in the Middle East.

♪

- The core element of
a Special Forces group

is called an Operational
Detachment Alpha,

better known as an ODA
or an A-team.

♪

Each team has 12 members

that train in
a particular specialty.

Their job is to go
into a combat zone,

find a guerrilla force
or even willing civilians,

and train, supply,
and support them in a mission.

- Each one of those teams have
specialty skill sets

regarding military
freefall capability

or combat dive capability,
maritime capability,

mountain capability.

- So if a job needs to be done
in a specific place,

that ODA will be able to
get that job done

because they have everything
that they need.

- Absolutely.

- There are five jobs
within each ODA:

weapons, engineering,
communication,

medical, and intelligence.

These jobs, known as military
occupational specialties,

are divided among
the 12-person teams

which can run as
a self-sufficient unit

downrange.

♪

- We’ll start over here.

The Weapons Sergeant are
responsible for

all the weaponeering of
the team,

from our M4s,
the basic 5.56 rifle,

our Glock 19s,
9 millimeter pistol.

Then we have our Mossberg here,
our shotgun.

- That’s for door entry.

- Yeah, this is--
our main use is for door entry.

You know, unless you’re rolling
around the bushes of Vietnam,

guys don’t generally just use
this as their primary weapon.

- Yeah, yeah.
[chuckles]

- This is one of
our blood-carrying kits.

Our medical sergeants
carry it on target.

- So with all of this gear
that we just went through,

and I’m sure there’s more
that a team carries,

how long can that sustain
a team in the field?

- The team can operate for,
you know,

long, extended periods of time

just living off your host
nation relationships.

That’s really
what Special Forces is big on.

So yeah, we carry out
a limited amount of supply.

You can only carry
what you got in your ruck.

But living off those networks
that you’ve created,

living off those relationships,

that’s kind of
our bread and butter.

- Those relationships with
people on the ground

can be the difference
between life and death

for a Green Beret,

as Colonel Paris Davis
and his ODA learned

in the jungles of Vietnam.

♪

- I was one of
the first people

to go into
a Special Forces unit.

For me, it was
the 5th Special Forces,

which was located
at Fort Bragg.

♪

- The 5th Special Forces Group
was formed in September 1961.

And just one year later,
they were in Vietnam

to train resistance forces
against the Viet Cong

and against the invading
North Vietnamese.

♪

The Viet Cong were
ferocious insurgents,

the North Vietnamese
a formidable army.

[gunfire]

It was a very brutal,
bloody guerrilla war.

[gunfire]

♪

- Our main mission was,
and still is today,

to train the Indigenous

so that they can fight
at our side.

- And the essence of it
was really

gaining the trust of
the villagers.

And this was where
the Special Forces ability

to integrate into a very
foreign culture paid off

and became their hallmark.

Over time, this grew,

and a total of
42,000 Vietnamese

formed into these
local defense groups.

[helicopter blades whirring]

- Where we were,
we were in Dien Bien province,

and it was noted to have more
Viet Cong in it

than anywhere else.

♪

The Viet Cong,
they had built a camp

about 30 klicks from us.

We took about 100 men,
four Americans.

We’re taking machine guns,
we’re taking ammunition,

with the idea that we’re going
to have a big battle.

We went in, and we just
sort of cleaned house.

We were out there
really, really happy

that we had caught them
like that.

And then we heard the bugles.

We heard the bugles.

♪

All of a sudden, the Viet Cong
started coming out

in waves of people
from every which way.

[machine gun firing]

The Vietnamese soldiers
that we had trained,

none of them ran.

The battle lasted
for two days.

My hand, you can see
it’s all messed up here,

I was shooting with
this finger here.

This was the only finger
that wasn’t messed up,

didn’t have blood or whatever.

- During the brutal battle,
Colonel Davis single-handedly

rescued several
wounded Green Berets

while Vietnamese allies
kept up the fight.

- Captain Davis directed
the helicopter extraction of

his wounded colleague,

not leaving the battlefield
himself

until after all friendly forces

were recovered or
medically evacuated.

- Through the course of
the Vietnam War,

the 5th Special Forces Group

gained kind of a reputation of

being on the front lines of
the hottest conflicts.

And there were
20 Medal of Honor recipients

out of the 5th Special Forces
group.

The Special Forces expanded
dramatically

during the Vietnam War.

And then,
once that war was over,

there was a contraction.

The contraction was
partly natural

because the war was over,

but there was also a reaction

because it was the first war
the United States had lost.

There was a period
of backlash,

saying, we don’t need
these forces,

we’re going to draw them down.

And that was the low point of
their existence, frankly,

until the next conflict
came along.

- An A-team’s work of
preparing for the mission

is never finished.

I’m headed to the firing range
at Fort Liberty

to dive deeper into
one particular ODA specialty,

which happens to be
my favorite, weapons.

[gunshots]

And brush up on my skills and
get up to speed with

the latest tactical
training methods

with a Master Sergeant here at
Fort Liberty,

one of the best shooters
in the country.

- Back here, you’re going to
get a little bit more wobble.

But once you get kind of
further out,

slight bend in your elbow.

Still roll that shoulder
forward.

- I haven’t shot in two years.

So I’m not up to speed
on this new stuff.

- Took me a long time to learn.

[gunshots]

- The Master Sergeant’s
favorite way

of training his troops is to
put them through their paces

in a competition of
speed and accuracy.

- Usually the guys, the teams,
they’ll come through here.

We start them off the first
couple of days very baseline,

but then it gets a
lot more advanced,

a lot of shooting and moving,

quick target acquisition,
transitions.

Keeps morale kind of high, too.

And gives them something fun
to do with their day,

doing some hard line training.
- Banter.

- We call ’em beer shoots.
- Yeah, yeah.

- But I think there’s still
a lot to be learned from it.

You know, gets the heart rates
going.

Gets them going against
each other.

Competition breeds excellence.
- Yep.

Speaking of competition,
it’s time for us to face off--

best two out of three.

- All right, bro.
- All right. man.

- Stand by.

[air horn blasts]

[upbeat rock music]

♪

- [chuckles]

- Good run, man. Good run.

We all know
how shooting is, man.

It’s a perishable skill.
- Yep.

- This is what I’m doing
every day

for like, the past two years.

- Makes it easy for you to
train other guys,

to get them down.
- It does.

As far as shooting and moving,

I think that’s one of
the biggest takeaways.

It allows guys to explore
their skill sets.

- And just get better.

- All right, here we go.

- Stand by.

[air horn blasts]

[intense rock music]

♪

- Good one. [chuckles]
- Good run.

- Good run, man. Good run.
- Yeah, man.

It’s just taking
some getting used to.

But hey, that’s why
training is important.

- Yeah. I tell guys all the
time when they come out here,

like, no matter how good
you are at something,

you can always become better.
- Absolutely.

So I’m assuming
all this training has

a big impact on what happens
out there in the field.

- Oh, definitely.

The stakes are higher,
you know, when we go downrange.

We should make
all our mistakes here,

so when we go downrange
we’ve made our mistakes

and we don’t pay for it
in blood.

- Yes.
- Training is paramount.

- Paramount, yep.

Practice makes perfect
when you get downrange

or deployed overseas,
potentially to a war zone.

And no mission exemplifies
that more than

the Son Tay raid in Vietnam,

one of the most famous POW
rescue missions in history.

- The Vietnam War,

just one of the many struggles
in a Cold War

that the Americans are
fighting

against the Soviet Union
as well as Communist China.

But by 1970,
the war is changing.

The United States is
turning the war over

to the South Vietnamese.

But American prisoners
are languishing

in camps in North Vietnam.

They are suffering
horrendous conditions;

torture, beatings, starvation.

There’s a desire
to free these men.

- At age of 18, I volunteered
for the draft.

In walks this guy with
a Green Beret on.

He was about four ax handles
across the shoulders,

and he was looking
for volunteers.

And I thought, "You know what?
If I’m gonna go to Vietnam,

I’m gonna go with the best."

So I stuck my paw up,

and that started my career
in Special Forces.

♪

My buddies were telling me,
"Hey, Bull Simons is

looking for volunteers."

We knew it was
a rescue mission,

but we didn’t know
where and who.

- Bull Simons is a key member
of the planning staff

to plan this raid out.

And it’s because of
his World War II training.

In World War II, Bull Simons
is part of something called

the 6th Ranger Battalion.

They have to go deep behind
Japanese lines

to free
nearly 500 American POWs.

It’s the precursor
to the Son Tay Raid.

♪

- The training was
very intense.

- Almost 170 times, they
trained on a POW camp

that was an exact replica of
what they were going into.

- We trained with live fire.

It was at a point where

you knew the guy to your left
and right,

what he was supposed to do,

and what you were
supposed to do.

And you had that in your sleep.

They came in and told us
to pack our bags,

we were leaving.

Bull Simons said, "Gentlemen,

"we’re gonna rescue
60 to 70 POWs.

"Chances of coming back
are about 50/50,

"so if you feel like
this is not for you,

then now’s the time
to step forward."

And nobody did.

- The mission involves
going deep behind the lines

in North Vietnam,

about 23 miles northwest
of Hanoi,

where there are 12,000 enemy
troops surrounding this camp

within about
a 15-minute drive.

So they have
mission impossible here.

They have to go in
and free the prisoners,

but they have to do it
within 26 minutes

because they know that within
a half an hour,

thousands of reinforcements
will arrive

and they will all be dead.

- We were going into
the hornet’s nest

and we were gonna stir the pot.

- They travel three hours
by helicopter

to this remote area.

They crash land
one of the helicopters.

They breach some of the walls.

They attack the guards.

- Dick Meadows is
on a bullhorn,

shouting that this was--

we’re Americans,
were here to save you.

Stay down and we’ll be in.

Well, we heard nothing
in return.

And that’s when I heard,
"negative items."

"Items" was code word for POWs.

- The planning is exceptional.

The intelligence, for
the most part, is quite good.

But the prisoners
had been moved.

- It was heartbreaking for us.

- Tragically, there are
no prisoners there,

but everything else goes off

exactly as they were
planning it.

Excellent training
had direct results.

It’s a textbook example of
a Special Operations mission.

- The raid had more of
an impact than Terry realized.

Years later, at a reunion,

he was able to speak to
some of the POWs.

- The day after the raid,

they brought all the POWs
from 13 camps

in North Vietnam
into Hanoi Hilton.

And these were guys that
some of them had

been in solitary, you know,
three or four years.

And they were actually now
having the opportunity

to help one another.

And if you talk to any POW
today from that era,

they’ll tell you the best thing
that happened to them

was the Son Tay raid.

[gunshots]

- We are at the range
on Fort Liberty,

pretty much dedicated to
training

3rd Special Forces Group.

So we have
one of our shoot houses here

that we can go live in.

- While each member of
a Special Forces ODA

is responsible for
their specialty,

the full team must work as
a tight, cohesive unit

to ensure
a successful mission.

Training in a shoot house
like this one

hones these skills in
a high-pressure setting.

- Once every two years,
we’ll do a six-week train-up,

just focusing on
Close Quarters Battle, or CQB.

All right, so here’s just
a general three-room set of

a live shoot house.

There are bullet traps to
protect any ricochets

or any outside fragmentation.

Then, moving through here,
we can go live in this house

as far as
any explosive breaching,

any shotgun breaching,
mechanical breaching,

anything like that.

So a common tool we’ll use is
our shotgun here.

We’re focusing on the door
and the lock with this.

- So why would you say
it’s important to keep up on

this particular skill set?

- ’Cause, ultimately, it can
save your life one day.

So you want to stay up on
your tactics and techniques,

especially when you’re put in
a high-stress situation.

Also, since we teach

our host nation partner forces
CQB tactics,

it also helps them
in their fight.

And then we’ll be alongside
with them

on most of those cases.

So as long as we’re all
on the same page

about how a CQB is conducted,

then we can accomplish
the mission.

- Yeah.

This partnership
with other nations

can be a high-wire
balancing act,

clearly seen in the aftermath

of one of America’s
darkest days.

[somber music]

♪

- The Special Forces,
like all of us,

were watching the news

when the Twin Towers
in New York were attacked.

And when al-Qaeda
became known as

the perpetrators of the attack,

the Special Forces knew
they were going to be deployed.

- Within days of
the 9/11 attacks,

the Bush administration
had decided to

go to war against the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan,

with whom al-Qaeda had
found safe haven.

- Our war on terror begins with
al-Qaeda.

[applause]

- The objective of
Operation Enduring Freedom,

first and foremost, was to
go in and find bin Laden

and capture him.

In the process, of course,

that meant taking down
the Taliban regime.

The options were launch
a frontal conventional

military invasion

or use the Special Forces
playbook

and link up with
Indigenous forces

that had been fighting
the Taliban for years.

And you had power-brokers
or warlords.

The primary group was called
the Northern Alliance.

Colonel John Mulholland,

who was the commander of
the 5th Special Forces Group,

made a proposal that his group
be sent into Afghanistan

to partner with those
Northern Alliance elements.

Colonel Mulholland
chose the term

TF Dagger, Task Force Dagger.

It is simply a term
that represented

the Special Forces unit

that went into
northern Afghanistan.

[helicopter blades whirring]

- The campaign with
the Northern Alliance was

a classic unconventional
warfare campaign.

The first US Special Operations
Forces infiltrated

on October the 19th.

One of the most memorable
episodes

in Task Force Dagger’s fight
were

the missions conducted by
ODA 595,

led by Captain Mark Nutsch,
who linked up with

an Uzbek warlord
called Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Dostum’s troops made
fairly heavy use of cavalry.

And that meant that when
ODA 595 arrived,

they had little choice
but to mount up.

♪

Mark Nutsch was brought up
on a cattle farm in Kansas

and was actually used to
riding horses,

but only one other member of
his team

had ever ridden
a horse before.

But it all worked out fine.

- It was a further testament
to their adaptability.

Overall, the operation
went quite rapidly.

- Go, come on,
come on, come on!

- By November,
the Taliban had collapsed.

[gunfire]

- There’s really no way
to view

the stunning initial successes
of Task Force Dagger

as anything but
a complete validation

of Special Forces training

and of unconventional warfare
doctrine in general.

- The 5th Special Forces Group
was actually pulled out

after these first few months.

They left Afghanistan,
and they were told to prepare

for what became
the invasion of Iraq.

3rd Group and 7th Group
rotated

in and out of Afghanistan

as they undertook two
very significant missions.

One was the building of
Afghan commando forces.

♪

The second thing that
the Special Forces did

was a massive effort called
the Afghan Local Police

and Village Stability
Operations.

And this was really a replica
of the civilian defense groups

that were formed in Vietnam.

♪

- So much of
the Special Forces’ work

is connecting with people
and furthering a shared goal,

but it’s still important to
keep up with

direct action training:

raid and ambush tactics
that are the bedrock

of any boots on the ground
mission.

- We’ll go outside, do a little
demonstration for you.

- All right, man.
Let’s do it, brother.

Appreciate it.

[intense music]

♪

- Going hot.

[gunshots]

- Going hot.

[gunshots]

[intense music]

♪

Clear.
- Right there.

- All right, guys.

Let’s go and wrap up
the range here.

Pick up,
clean up all the targetry,

and let’s clean up
the shoot house, all right?

♪

- We do a fine job of
making operators here.

It takes a little bit of heart
and some determination,

and you just got to know
why you’re here.

- Yeah, I try to tell
young people all the time,

you know, it’s not just about
knowing your why.

But it’s also about having
a deep-rooted emotional

reason as to why.
- That’s right, yeah.

- After seeing the culmination
of training,

I wanted to speak with someone
who had put it into action

on a battlefield at
the highest level,

Sergeant Major
Matthew Williams.

- My goal had always been to
do some sort of public service.

I’ve always kind of really
believed that

that’s something everybody
should do

in one way or the other.

You know, 9/11 obviously
changed our generation, right?

It changed the way
we saw the world, frankly.

And so,
I found the 18 XRAY program,

which allows
kids off the street

to come here
and try their hand at

being a Special Forces
soldier.

Our main goal is to
go around the world,

help people
fend for themselves

and make their lives better,
and in turn, make ours better.

So I really liked the mission.

I was very fortunate

to get in 3rd Special Forces
Group in 2007.

When it came to picking
groups, everybody then knew

it was 5th Group and
3rd Group were

going to the war, basically.
- Yeah, yeah.

- 5th group was going to Iraq.

3rd Group was going to
Afghanistan.

And, you know,
that’s why we were here.

So I chose 18 Bravo first.

And I ended up in 18 Bravo as
a weapon specialist

right after graduating
Q Course,

and ended up in Afghanistan
about ten days later

on my first ODA,
so that was it.

You know,
walked in the team room.

Team said, hey, we’re going to
Afghanistan in about a week.

And I was like, "all right."
- Yeah.

- And we had the best mission
in the country at the time.

We were partnered with
the 1st Commando Kandak,

Afghan commandos.

Our sole purpose was to
train them, right?

So as a 18 Bravo,
it was immediate.

Small unit tactics,
weapons handling, you know.

Everything I learned here

in the Q Course
and at Camp Mackall

was immediately useful
when I got downrange.

- We gather today to honor
the spirit of a warrior.

He put the safety of others
above his own,

ran toward danger,
and met it face to face.

We thank you for Master
Sergeant Matthew Williams,

an exemplar of heroism
whose heart, soul,

and very life were
tested in battle,

producing the stronger man
we honor today.

[resonant music]

- You got the Medal of Honor.
Much respect to you.

And thank you for your
sacrifice and your dedication

to not just your team,
but to this country.

- I mean, you too. Yeah.

It takes a lot just to
get out there and do it.

- Absolutely, absolutely.

- You know, I still look back
on my first few trips

and the opportunities
that we had

and the things
we were able to do.

And I’m awestruck at
how awesome it really was.

It’s kept me around this long.

’Cause I got the opportunity
to come here to Swick

and teach at our combat
marksmanship school,

in close quarters
combat school.

Now I get to see these kids
that are about to

start the journey
that I went on.

And it’s motivating every day
just to see them

and understand what it is
they’re about to do.

- We’re going to go
real nice and slow.

And I’m immediately
closing the gap on him.

- William’s words prove how
important the mission of

Army Special Forces is for
our country and the world.

Since their founding,

Green Berets have taken on
any fight,

no matter how unconventional.

♪

And I’ve seen up close

that there’s no better place
than Fort Liberty

to select, train, and deploy
these elite soldiers.

♪