A small team of US Army Green Berets recently made a rare appearance in one of the most prestigious off-road races in the US.
Green Beret mobility teams from the 5th Special Forces Group part in the Mint 400 off-road race used their unique special-operations vehicles and highlighted a little-known insertion method used by Green Berets.
The Mint 400 race is the oldest and most prestigious off-road race in America and was started in 1968.
The driver of the lead vehicle said that the Mint 400 was the best place to stress the vehicle in a short amount of time.
The level of intensity, time crunch, and the whole team working together with support personnel in anything other than the Mint 400 are not realistic outside of a real deployment.
Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group took part in the race in 2020 and drove GMV 1.1s for two 100 mile laps. The Green Berets earned an award for assisting other drivers by towing them when they were stuck or needed repairs.
The 5th Special Forces Group has a large area of operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia that requires robust ground mobility capabilities.
The Green Beret officer in charge of the mobility team was excited to push their limits and see what they could do.
These vehicles are not built for speed, but we are looking to push the limit with them, according to Eric.
The GMV 1.1s that were involved in this year's race were not the same as those that raced in 2020, but they still made an impression on spectators.
The Special Forces major said in the release that it was shocking to a lot of the fans that it came straight from training.
The Ground Mobile Vehicle 1.1 has a top speed of 73 mph, an operational range of over 400 miles, and the ability to climb surfaces with a 60% grade.
The vehicle can be taken on a helicopter and carry up to seven people. The modular design of the vehicle allows operators to tailor its configuration and cargo to their mission requirements, and it can be armed with anything from a Mark 19 grenade launcher to a GAU-19.50-caliber Gatling gun.
Special Forces mobility teams use vehicles like Ground Mobile Vehicle 1.1 to carry out their specialty: long-range ground operations, often behind enemy lines. A typical mobility team consists of four vehicles and three operators.
The 5th Special Forces Group is one of seven such groups. Each group has four battalions and three companies.
The ODAs are the basic tactical element of the Army Special Forces.
ODAs are made up of 12 Green Berets who specialize in unconventional warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, and foreign internal defense.
Although the Green Berets on those teams go through the same process, they specialize in different types of insertion methods.
One of the six teams in a Green Beret company will be a military free-fall team. The rest will either be mobility, mountain, or non-specialized teams.
Green Berets who do not want to go through the military free-fall school or the Combat Diver qualification course are assigned to a mobility team.
The US Army Special Forces were formed in 1952. The British Special Air Service and the Long Range Desert Group used unarmored trucks and US-made Jeeps to conduct raids and ambushes in North Africa during World War II.
A defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran, and a graduate of the University of Baltimore, are some of the things that Stavros Atlamazoglou is.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
