75th Ranger Regiment
Col. Mark W. Odom continued to command the regiment during 2012, while Command Sgt. Maj. Rick Merritt turned over his responsibilities to Command Sgt. Maj. Nicholas Bielich II on Jan. 11, 2012. The Regiment remained engaged throughout the year. For many in the Regiment, 2012 was all about a very special anniversary. In 1942, the very first Rangers were recruited and trained, the 1st Ranger Battalion was formed, and the unit committed to combat in North Africa shortly thereafter. This 70-year legacy of service to the country and the world is something every Ranger is proud of, and they are happy to point out to every other soldier in USASOC that they were the very first U.S. Army SOF soldiers. “Rangers lead the way!”
Rangers from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, practice fast rope insertion and extraction out of an MH-47 from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment during 2nd Battalion’s Task Force Training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., March 27, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Connor Mendez
Army Special Operations Aviation Command (ARSOAC)
A new generation of leadership arrived in 2012 to take command of ARSOAC, which turned a year old after its christening on March 25, 2011. The names of ARSOAC’s first command team read like a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) history of the past several decades. Brig. Gen. Kevin W. Mangum (an alumni of Task Force 160 back in the 1980s) stood up the command, and ARSOAC’s first Command Warrant Officer was the legendary Night Stalker Chief Warrant Officer 5 David F. Cooper, holder of the Distinguished Service Cross. But time moves on.
On June 13, Mangum turned over command of ARSOAC to Brig. Gen. Clayton M. Hutmacher, another former commander of the 160th SOAR. Mangum then headed down to Fort Rucker, Ala., to take command of the U.S. Army’s Center of Aviation Excellence. Just two weeks later, Cooper retired from the U.S. Army after a spectacular 27-year career. He handed over his duties as the ARSOAC chief warrant officer to Chief Warrant Officer 5 Robert D. Witzler. Command Sgt. Maj. David L. Leamon continues to serve as the ARSOAC senior enlisted adviser.
160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)
On July 20, Col. John W. Thompson turned over command of the 160th SOAR to Col. John R. Evans at a ceremony held at Fort Campbell, Ky.
“J.T., [Thompson] you have done what all command teams inspire to do,” Hutmacher said at the ceremony. “You left the formation better than you found it. You have taken the Regiment to the next level and you should drive away justifiably proud of what you have accomplished over the last two years.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Chambers continued to act as the Regiment’s senior enlisted adviser, and the 160th overall continues to enjoy excellent support both financially and in terms of end strength. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV airframes and systems continue to mature. However, the aging of legacy aircraft, particularly the A/MH-6 “Little Bird” airframes, some of which date back to the 1960s, is becoming a problem, and the aircraft will require replacement sometime in the next few years. In addition, sometime in the next decade there will be a need to recapitalize the MH-60 airframes, which are now more than 20 years old.
A Little Bird approaches during a USASOC capabilities exercise, April 25, 2012. The AH-6 and MH-6 Little Birds are aging. USASOC photo
95th Civil Affairs Brigade (CAB)
On June 22, friends and family of the 95th CAB gathered to see Col. James C. Brown take command of the unit from Col. James J. Wolff.
“You cannot go anywhere in the world that is important to the United States of America and not find an Army special operations soldier. …,” said then-USASOC Commander Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland, who hosted the ceremony. “In many cases, it’s going to be a civil affairs soldier or a civil affairs team … helping to connect organizations, official and unofficial, military and non-governmental, to bring relief, aid, and infrastructure. … Or they’re committed downrange in the war fight, actively supporting the combat operations and the stability operations in that great counterinsurgency effort we have in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, or in the Philippines, and of course, until we finished our operations in Iraq, and certainly in OIF … But all that takes leadership. And under Jay Wolff, that leadership has just been extraordinary.”
Command Sgt. Maj. Tony Duncan continued to serve as the brigade’s senior enlisted adviser through 2012. The brigade also became one of the first in the U.S. Army to receive a new generation of radios for service in the field. These included the new Harris-built AN/PRC-152 that will replace the AN/PRC-148 Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio, and the Harris AN/PRC-117G radios that will replace the AN/PSC-5D satellite communications unit. The new equipment echoes the brigade’s growth, as the 91st, 92nd, 96th, 97th, and 98th Civil Affairs battalions grow to an end strength of 1,800 by 2017.
U.S. soldiers with Special Operations Command Europe’s 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Detachment Alpha 0114, train with their Hungarian counterparts in small arms techniques at Szolnok Air Base, Hungary, July 13, 2012. The combined training event was designed to foster interoperability between U.S. and Hungarian forces in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Tyler Placie, U.S. Air Force
4th Military Information Support Operations Group (MISOG)
For decades, the Army’s Psychological Operations (PsyOps) community lived an uncertain existence, being reluctantly accepted in wartime, and normally neglected if not mistreated during peacetime. But the “long war” of the past dozen years finally convinced the national leadership that PsyOps, now redesignated as military intelligence support operations (MISO) is an essential mission in overseas operations, and it has finally been shown some respect and budgetary support. In 2010, the 4th Psychological Operations Group (POG) was reflagged as the 4th Military Information Support Group (MISG) reflecting the DoD-wide shift to the MISO mission. As part of the SOF expansion plan that came about as a result of the 2006 “Quadrennial Defense Review,” the entire U.S. Army MISO community was consolidated into the Military Information Support Operations Group (Airborne) – or MISOG – on Aug. 4, 2011.
On July 13, Nils C. Sorenson handed over his command flag to Col. Robert A. Warburg. Previously, Warburg had served as the chief of staff at the JFKSWCS, along with a brigade command tour in Europe. Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas W. Hedges Jr., handed over his duties to Command Sgt. Maj. David S. Randall on Oct. 10, in a ceremony hosted by Warburg.
“Command Sgt. Maj. Hedges worked tirelessly to realize the MISOC vision and most importantly established standards for the force that will endure for many years,” said Warburg. “Command Sgt. Maj. Tom Hedges epitomizes all of the values we hold dear in the military – 32 years of selfless service, unflinching loyalty and integrity, moral and physical courage, always on point – laser-focused on the unit mission. He is classic command sergeant major and teammate.”