Hoo-ah: 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) get 4th Battalion

Fort Campbell has a new Green Beret battalion, which is standing up in the first phase of a major expansion of Special Forces units over the next several years.

Brig. Gen. Michael Repass calls the creation of a new battalion of the 5th Special Forces Group a historic event.

The battalion will add 400-500 new soldiers to the post on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Officials have said each of the five active groups in the Army Special Forces will gain a new battalion under the expansion plan.

The 5th Special Forces Group is frequently deployed, with rotations about every six months. Repass says the new battalion will provide strategic relief for the existing soldiers in 5th Group.

Col. Chris Conner, commander of the 5th Special Forces Group, said the battalion took about a year to set up and all the detachments will be fully staffed by October. It will take several months to complete the battalion, but said one company will be ready to accompany the group on the next tour to Iraq, Conner said.

The 5th Group, whose geographical focus is the Middle East, was among the first on the ground in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. It has since shifted its operation to Iraq, but Repass said the Special Forces unit will still be needed even if there is a troop drawback.

"As long as our nation is committed to operations there, we will have Special Forces units there," Repass said.

Repass said recruiting has increased in order to supply the five planned new battalions with soldiers.

"We're the kind of organization that attracts people. We create about 750 Green Berets each year for the past two years," Repass said.

He said the Special Forces previously had trouble meeting recruiting goals because of the capacity of their training school at Fort Bragg, N.C. But they have expanded the school, Repass said

Officials estimated the new battalion could add up to 1,000 more people living and working around the base.

"We have older soldiers that are more experienced and because they're older they tend to have families," Repass said.

The next group scheduled to add a battalion will be 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, Repass said.