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Special Forces “Green Berets” or “Snake-eaters” are organized as follows:

An ODA or Operational Detachment-A or “A-Team” is the basic unit. It consists of twelve personnel (18A Detachment Commander-Captain, 180A Assistant Detachment Commander-CWO or CWO2, 18Z Operations Sergeant-Master Sergeant, 18F Assistant Operations Sergeant/Intelligence Sergeant-SFC, 2x 18B Weapons Sergeants, 2x 18C Engineer Sergeants, 2x 18D Medical Sergeant and 2x 18E Commo Sergeants. These eight men can hold ranks from SFC, SSG to SGT with one usually being of higher rank. This organization can be split into two 6-man teams for operational purposes.

An ODB or Operational Detachment-B or “B-Team” is the headquarters element of a Special Forces Company and is usually composed of 11-13 soldiers. The mission of the B-Team is to support the company’s A-Teams in field and garrison. A ODB is comprised of an 18A Detachment Commander-Major, 18A Detachment Executive Officer-Captain, 180A Company Technician-CWO3, 18Z Sergeant Major, 18Z MSG who assists the XO and technician in their duties, 18F Operations Sergeant-SFC, 18D Medical Sergeant-SFC, 2x 18E Commo Sergeants-SFC/SSG.

An ODC or Operational Detachment-C or “C-Team” is the headquarters element of a Special Forces Battalion. A ODC usually consists of three companies (A, B and C) and a Headquarters & Support Company. It is commanded by a LTC with a MAJ as XO and a CSM as senior NCO. There are an additional 20-30 SF personnel who fill the key positions in operations, logistics, intelligence, communications and medical.

A Special Forces Group is usually assigned to a Unified Combat Command or a theater of operations. Typically a SF Group consists of 3-4 battalions, supported by a HQ & HQ Company, a Group Support battalion and a Chemical Recon Detachment.

There have been 11 Special Forces Groups in the US Army, these are
1st Special Forces Group, stationed at Joint base Lewis-McChord, Washington, it is oriented towards Pacific region operations.

3rd Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, it is oriented towards operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, oriented towards operations in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa.

6th Special Forces Group. Currently Inactive. Was based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Assigned to Southwest Asia and Southeast Asia.

7th Special Forces Group, stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This group is oriented towards the western hemisphere, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

8th Special Forces Group. Currently inactive, was responsible for training of Latin America in counter-insurgency tactics.

10th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado with one battalion forward deployed to Panzer Kaserne, Boblingen, FRG. Oriented towards Europe, mainly Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon and Northern Africa.

11th Special Forces Group. Inactive.

12th Special Forces Group. Inactive.

19th Special Forces Group, a National Guard unit headquarted in Draper, Utah with companies in Washington, West Virginia, Ohio, Rhode Island, Colorado, California and Texas. Oriented towards Southwest Asia (with 5SGA), Europe (with 10 SGA) as well as Southeast Asia (with 1 SGA).

20th Special Forces Group, the second National Guard unit with headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, with 1st Battalion in Alabama, 2nd Battalion in Mississippi, 3rd Battalion in Florida and with companies and detachments in North Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Maryland. Area of responsibility covers 32 countries, including South America, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.