Worn in lieu of the standard blue Army flash, organizational flashes are issued to personnel authorized to wear the maroon, green, or tan berets issued to members of Airborne, Special Forces, or Ranger units (or units closely associated with them). Flashes are positioned on the beret so they are directly above the left eye when the beret is worn correctly; Enlisted personnel center their “unit crests” (Distinctive Unit Insignia or Regimental Distinctive Insignia) on flashes and Officers center nonsubdued rank insignia on them.
Parachutist and Air Assault badges are worn on ovals, which are officially called background trimming, and the combination is considered a single item when calculating number and placement of badges, tabs, and other accouterments. Ovals are worn on the Army Service/Dress uniform and the Army Maternity tunic.
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While it traces its origins to the 1942 formation of the 1st Special Service Force (“Devil’s Brigade”), the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was constituted under its current designation in April 1960. Heavily involved in counterinsurgency training throughout the 1960s and up until the First Gulf War through the use of Mobile Training Teams, all three of the Group’s battalions were deployed to the Iraqi-Turkish border area during Operation Provide Comfort following the First Gulf War to coordinate relief efforts to the Kurdish minority there. General John Galvin, Commander of U.S. European Command, credited the Group with saving some 500,000 Kurds.
Throughout the first decade of the new millennium, the Group was deployed to Iraq on several occasions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and then in 2010 was sent to Afghanistan for a series of tours as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Group and its component units have been awarded a plethora of Meritorious Unit Commendations, Valorous Unit Awards, and Army Superior Unit Awards since 1995, with the most recent being Meritorious Unit Commendation for service in support of Combined Special Operations Task Force Ten between 1 June 2013 and 15 February 2014.