
The first Special Forces unit in the Army was formed on 11 June 1952, when the 10th Special
Forces Group was activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A major expansion of Special Forces
occurred during the 1960s, with a total of eighteen groups organized in the Regular Army, Army
Reserve, and Army National Guard. As a result of renewed emphasis on special operations in the
1980s, the Special Forces Branch was established as a basic branch of the Army effective
9 April 1987, by General Orders No 35 dated 19 June 1987.
