8th Special Forces Group
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| 8th Special Forces Group | |
|---|---|
 8th Special Forces Group beret flash |
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| Active | 1963-1972 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | U.S. Army |
| Role | counter-insurgency training for Latin American armies |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Gulick |
The 8th Special Forces Group of the United States Army was established in 1963 at Fort Gulick, Panama Canal Zone. It was deactivated in 1972. The primary mission of the 8th SFG was counter-insurgency training for the armies of Latin America. This was done primarily at the School of the Americas.
The 8th's full designation was 8TH Special Forces Group (Abn) Special Action Force, Latin America. The 8th was the US Army's only full SAF. A SAF included a Military Intelligence company, a Medical company, an MP company, an Engineer company, an Aviation company, a Psychological Operations company and may have had one or two others.
Special Forces at this time didn't use designators like "company" everything was Team oriented. The 8th had 3 "C" teams each "C" team had 4 "B" teams and each "B" team had 6 "A" teams. The 8th SAF ran the NCO Academy for the 193rd Inf BD as well as the Jungle Warfare School later renamed Jungle Operations Training Center to be politically correct.
A Mobile Training Team from the 8th group trained and advised the Bolivian Ranger Battalion that captured and killed Che Guevara in the fall of 1967. But they were not part of the capture and execution. Only the training
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