10th Special Forces Group Flash Patch With Crest

The 10th was the first Special Forces Group, activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in June 1952 under Colonel Aaron Bank. In November 1953 the 10th split in two. Half went to Bad Tolz and Lenggries in West Germany, and the half that stayed at Bragg became the 77th Special Forces Group, later the 7th. Europe has been the 10th's region ever since.

Most of the group moved to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in 1968, while the 1st Battalion stayed in Germany. It moved again in the mid 1990s, with group headquarters reaching Fort Carson, Colorado, on September 15, 1995. The 1st Battalion is still forward at Panzer Kaserne near Stuttgart. After the Gulf War all three battalions went into northern Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort, and in 2003 the group worked with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to defeat Ansar al-Islam in Operation Viking Hammer. The 10th falls under Special Operations Command Europe, and since 2009 its area has taken in Africa as well.

The patch is a small shield, 1.85 inches wide by 2.25 inches tall, sized like a beret flash, with a cut edge and a raised green border. A green field carries the Special Forces crest in white and black: two crossed arrows behind an upright dagger, set in a curved black scroll. The scroll reads DE OPPRESSO LIBER in white. Green, white and black are the only colors on it. The backing is iron-on, and it can be sewn on too.

De Oppresso Liber means "to free the oppressed," and it has been the Special Forces motto through every one of the 10th's missions, from the Cold War years in Bavaria to the mountains of northern Iraq. The 10th's commander authorized the green beret for the group in 1954, two years after it stood up, and President Kennedy restored it for all Special Forces in 1961 after the Army had banned it. Men who wore this flash learned languages, worked alongside partner forces and spent long stretches far from home. Many of them served in more than one group over a career, but the 10th was first.

Mount it in a shadow box with your beret, Special Forces tab and jump wings, or put it on the vest you wear to a chapter meeting. It is a good gift for a Green Beret who served with the 10th at Bad Tolz, Devens or Carson. Small patch, long history.