#167: The Legion Has Spoken - 5th Special Forces Group COL Gabe Szody & CSM Travis Esterby

The Special Forces Groups are where America’s Green Berets get to work. 5th Special Forces Group has been involved in every conflict, known and unknown,  across the Middle East since its inception. Doing hard things isn’t considered an ask; it’s the standard. 

To dig into the mission of The Legion, Fran Racioppi traveled to Fort Campbell, KY to sit down with the command team, COL Gabe Szody and CSM Travis Esterby, to define what Combat Power means to Special Forces and how the Army’s Warfighting Functions are applied across Special Forces detachments.

They explained why Green Beret’s regional affiliation is critical to expertise, how detachments are simultaneously preparing to combat peer adversaries and terrorist organizations, and how America is tying in cyber and space at the most tactical level. 

COL Szody and CSM Esterby also share their perspective on recruiting, how technology is changing the Special Forces teams, and how they are enforcing standards at every level. 

Watch, listen or read our chilly spring morning conversation from Gabriel Field as we honor 5th SFG’s sacrifice and contributions to America’s national security.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:22 Welcome to Gabriel Field
• 5:01 Mission of 5th Special Forces Group
• 7:01 5th Special Forces Group’s Top Priorities
• 9:45 Regional Alignment
• 11:04 By, with, and through
• 14:10 Crisis in the Middle East
• 15:49 5th Group’s impact in Afghanistan
• 17:50 Defining LSCO
• 22:01 SOF’s role in LSCO
• 25:32 SOF-Space-Cyber Triad
• 27:30 LSCO decision making
• 30:17 Terrorist attack
• 32:28 Defining Standards and Fundamentals
• 36:36 Reinforcing the Team Sergeant
• 38:04 Why the Army
• 45:13 Special Forces Recruiting Challenges
• 50:57 Integrating New Technology
• 57:36 Daily Habits

Quotes

• “25 Medal of Honor recipients. More Medal of Honor recipients than any other O-6 headquarters. Some divisions don’t have as many.” 
• “5th Group’s job is to go forward and win our nation’s battles, whatever that may be.” 
• “The top priority is to ensure that whatever battalion is going out the door is trained and ready to execute their mission.” 
• “One of the things we can’t assume risk on is not being good at lethality.”
• “By, with, and through, that’s where you gain your rapport.”
• ”I don’t think there’s a crystal ball available that could tell you what direction the Middle East is going.”
• “I’m just proud to be here. I’m proud to be part of this organization and to have the history that we have.”
• “If the big one kicks off, we will be what the nation needs us to be”
• “It’s our access and placement forward the line of troops that’s unique.”
• “In LSCO, you got to be thinking at least 96 hours out.”
• “I would rather train for my worst day than anything else.”
• “You’re going to be held accountable and you’re going to deploy. Those are my two guarantees.”
• “You have to have leaders willing to learn.”
• “I made the smartest decision of my life when I was probably the biggest idiot, and that was to join the Army.”
• “We are getting the right people. The people that want to serve, that want to be challenged. They’re doing it for all the right reasons.”
• “Our secret sauce here at 5th Group is our people. That’s really our superpower.”

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