19th Special Forces Group

The 19th Special Forces Group is one of two National Guard groups of the United States Army Special Forces. Headquartered in Draper, Utah, with detachments in Washington, West Virginia, Ohio, Rhode Island, Colorado, California and Texas, the 19th SFG shares responsibility over Southwest Asia with the 5th Special Forces Group, and the Pacific with the 1st Special Forces Group.

History
Activated on 1 May 1961 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the soldiers of the 19th SFG received their parachuting instruction at Fort Benning until the mid-1970s when the idea was born for a cost effective course to be taught for the 19th SFG, and other western U.S.-based military components, in the western territory of the country. In keeping with the rigorous high standards of the Airborne, the Aerial Fire Depot, a Smokejumper base founded around 1940 in Missoula, Montana, was selected as the site, and the first course was completed there in May 1978. This experiment was short lived. 19th SFG(A) paratroopers now attend the same Airborne training as their active duty counterparts and every other paratrooper in the US military at Fort Benning, Georgia. The group, headquartered in Utah, draws soldiers from more than a dozen states across the country and is deployed in support of Special Operations in various places around the world. Their official motto is De Oppresso Liber (Latin: "To Liberate the Oppressed"), a reference to one of their primary missions to train and assist foreign indigenous forces.

Activation
On 13 November 2002, the following units of the 19th SFG were called to active duty:

In April 2007, the 5th Battalion of 19th SFG and troops from the 2nd Battalion were called to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
 * A Company, 1st Bn/19th SFG—Fort Lewis, Washington
 * B Company, C Company, and Support Company 1st Bn/19th SFG—Utah
 * A Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Rhode Island
 * B Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Ohio
 * C Company and Support Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Kenova, West Virginia
 * A Company, B Company, C Company and Support Company from the 5th Bn/19th SFG—Colorado
 * A Company (California National Guard)
 * B Company (Colorado National Guard)
 * 5th Bn/19th SFG Headquarters and Support Company, 5/19th

The unit came home with no deaths and very few minor injuries.

On September 2008, the following units of the 19ths SFG were called to active duty (Operation Enduring Freedom XIII)


 * A Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Rhode Island
 * B Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Ohio
 * C Company, 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Camp Dawson West Virginia
 * Support Company and HHC 2nd Bn/19th SFG—Kenova West Virginia