Since 9/11 , the 3rd SFG ( A ) has been heavily involved in Afghanistan and Central Asia . Two of 3rd Group 's battalions spend roughly six months out of every twelve deployed to Afghanistan as part of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan . In 2008 , ten members of ODA 3336 were awarded Silver Stars for combat action during the Battle of Shok Valley . It was the largest set of citations for a single battle since the Vietnam War . After the citations were read then-commander of United States Army Special Operations Command , Lieutenant General John F. Mulholland , Jr. , stated : Members of the 3rd SFG were involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq , 26 Green berets from the group were given the task of securing a key crossroads near Debecka in Northern Iraq between the cities of Irbil and Kirkuk . If they succeeded , they would cut highway 2 , preventing the Iraqi army moving north into Kurdistan and allow friendly forces to take the crucial Kirkuk oilfields . The 26 Green Berets were divided into two A-teams ; ODA 391 and ODA 392 , they were equipped with GMVs ( Ground Mobility Vehicles ) - modified Humvees with 50 caliber HMGs and Mark 19 Grenade launchers that could travel a thousand miles without resupply . the ODAs conducted battle training in Fort Bragg , North Carolina and Fort Pickett , Virginia between October and December 2002 , On March 8 , 2003 , the ODAs flew from Pope Air Force Base to Romania and on 26 March 2003 they infiltrated northern Iraq via a MC-130 Combat Talon landing at Al-Sulaymaniya , some 60 miles east of Kirkuk . In their first few days in Iraq they participated in Operation Viking Hammer and then on April 1 , 2003 , they moved to Irbil and onto a staging area where they linked up with ODA 044 , 10th SFG and their Peshmerga allies . On April 4 , 2003 , they were given a new mission , code-named Northern Safari , they were to seize the Debecka intersection until relieved by the 173rd Airborne Brigade 's artillery component , On April 5 , they moved into position to seize the intersection and then on April 6 they ran into Iraqi army forces and the Battle of Debecka Pass ensued , resulting in American and Peshmerga victory . The Special Forces secured the crossroads and endured two days of Iraqi artillery fire and then into Kirkuk to secure the oil facilities to prevent their destruction by Iraqi forces
9/11
September 11 attacks
3rd Special Forces Group (United States)