Latest 2018 SFA Convention Schedule

The following has been posted to the 2018 Special Forces Association National Convention site - www.sfa2018.com. We posted the changes to the hotels and Convention schedule (see below) on 14 December 2017.  The only additional changes at this time is the scheduling of two "soft events":  a Wine Tasting trip to  La Vina Winery, a local New Mexico Winery, which be on Thursday 14 June 2018 and a El Paso Lower Valley Spanish Mission Trail tour which will on Friday 15 June 2018. 


Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel is the Anchor Hotel

Because of rehab construction delays at our planned anchor hotel, we have moved the 2018 Convention to the Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel and it's co-located partner, the Microtel Inn and Suites. This two hotel campus will provide over 350 rooms plus overflow accommodations of an additional 100 rooms at the Marriott, one block away. The other overflow hotels are:   The Radisson, Hawthorn; Comfort Suites; Chase Suites, Fairfield Inn and Town Place Suites.  Other hotels at the airport location will also adhere to the $98 per night contract rate. Click on the map below for a larger view.   

The plusses in this change of hotels offers the closet location to the Airport, adjacent to the short term parking - right across the street as a matter of fact. The Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel offers large meeting area/room for the hospitality room; free breakfast; pool and water slide; and is 10 minutes to the downtown venues for the Convention Banquet, Green Berets Movie and Green Beret night at the El Paso Chihuahuas baseball.

Those who have already committed to the Paso Del Norte Hotel are being accommodated on a first come, first served basis at the new Hotel HQ. You are supposed to be re-registered and contacted for your payment information by Debbie Lowrance (915) 778-4241.  Previously registered attendees should feel free to contact Debbie before she contacts you.  Be sure to obtain a confirmation number.  New registrations can call her directly and avoid the national booking number. 


Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel and Water Park
Convention Anchor Hotel
Address: 2027 Airway Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 778-4241

Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham El Paso Airport
Convention Associate Anchor Hotel
Address: 2001 Airway Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 519-1164

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham El Paso Airport
Convention Bronze Sponsor
Special SFA Convention pricing at $89
Address: 6789 Boeing Dr, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 613-3798

Comfort Suites El Paso Airport
Convention Bronze Sponsor
Special SFA Convention pricing at $89
Address: 1940 Airway Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (520) 257-3113

El Paso Marriott
Address: 1600 Airway Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 779-3300

Radisson Hotel El Paso Airport
Address: 1770 Airway Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 772-3333

Chase Suite Hotel El Paso
Address: 6791 Montana Ave, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 772-8000
POC:  Rene Baz, rbaz@chasesuites.com

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott El Paso Airport
Address: 6611 Edgemere Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 772-2202

Towne Place Suites by Marriott El Paso Airport
Address: 6601 Edgemere Blvd, El Paso, TX 79925
Phone: (915) 493-6781

Change 2

The events previously scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday have mostly flip flopped - the new schedule is below. The Golf Outing remains unchanged for Wednesday.

Change 3

The annual picnic is now at the War Eagles Museum on Wednesday. The event will now be named the "Whole Enchilada Picnic" and will be organized by Robert Phillipson and our brothers from SFA Chapter 80 from nearby Las Cruces, NM. This takes the place of the previously scheduled "Mexican Fiesta Lunch" picnic originally scheduled for Friday.

Schedule of Events

As previously announced in December, the annual picnic is now at the War Eagles Museum on Wednesday. This event, the "Whole Enchilada Picnic", is organized by Robert Phillipson and our brothers from SFA Chapter 80 from nearby Las Cruces, NM. 

Tuesday 12 June 2018
0800-2000          Convention Registration - Wyndham Hotel Lobby
1700-1830          SFA President's Reception
0800-2200          Hospitality Room Open -  Wyndham Hotel

Wednesday 13 June 2018
0800-2000          Convention Registration continues - Wyndham Hotel Lobby
0800-2200          Hospitality Room Open -  Wyndham Hotel
0800 - ??            Golf Outing, Butterfield Trail Golf Course
0900-1200          Briefing (TBD)
0900-1800          SF Marketplace
1000-1200          Chapter Presidents' Meeting
1200-1400          War Eagles Museum Tour and Whole Enchilada Picnic
                            Free OH-6A "Loach" rides
                            Sky Diving available through Sky Dive El Paso (at your own cost & risk!)
1900-2200          50th Anniversary showing of the film classic "The Green Berets" starring 
                            John Wayne - at the historic Plaza Theater with special guest and
                            cash bar

Thursday 14 June 2018
0800-2200          Hospitality Room Open -  Wyndham Hotel
0900-1200          Briefing (TBD)
0900-1800          SF Marketplace
1000-1330          New!  La Vina Winery Tour ($15 fee covers transportation and wine tasting)
1400-2200          Cattleman's - Indian Cliff Ranch Dinner   

Friday 15 June 2018
0800-2200          Hospitality Room Open -  Wyndham Hotel
0900-1200          Briefing (TBD)
0830-1300          New!  Spanish Mission Trail Tour ($10 fee covers transportation)
0900-1800          SF Marketplace
1000-1200          General Membership Meeting
1900-2200          Green Beret Night at the El Paso Chihuahua's - AAA Baseball (tickets at $20 at the gate)

Saturday 16 June 2018
0800-2200          Hospitality Room Open -  Wyndham Hotel
0900-1130          Vietnam Memorial Ceremony Excursion
0900-1800          SF Marketplace
1700-1800          Pre-Banquet Cocktail Hour, El Paso Convention Center
1800-??              Annual SFA Banquet, El Paso Convention Center

Sunday 17 June 2018
0800-1000          Bloody Mary Morning Breakfast and Send Off, Wyndham Hotel

Special Forces Association 50th Annual Conference

This is an article, "Green Berets storming Columbia – for 50th annual conference" that came out of the The State, South Carolina's Home Page.



Green Berets – Army Special Forces troops – were made famous in the 1960s when President John F. Kennedy ordered them to wear their distinctive head gear and John Wayne made a movie about them. Formed during World War II, the Green Berets have served in every conflict since, rallying and training native people – often behind enemy lines – to fight with Americans and their allies.

In June, the National Special Forces Association will hold its 50th annual conference in Columbia, attracting more than 1,000 Green Berets from around the world, including veterans from every conflict since World War II. “We’re going to have a very unique group of guys, said John Rollinson of the S.C. Special Forces Association, based in Camden.

It will be the first time the conference has been held in South Carolina. The seven-day conference will be held beginning June 9 at the Marriott Hotel along Main Street.

“It’s something we wanted to do for Columbia and South Carolina,” said Rollinson, a Palm Beach, Fla., native who served in Vietnam in 1965-1966 and again in 1969. “We’re a very military-friendly state, and we hope this will open up Columbia as a destination for other military conferences.”

Matt Kennell, chief executive of Columbia’s City Center Partnership, which encourages and guides development in the central business district, said the conference will be another boost for a rebounding Main Street.

“That’s a terrific crowd and a group of people we want to honor,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to expose all those people to what’s going on Main Street.”

Free the oppressed

The origin of the modern-day Special Forces occurred in World War II with the Office of Strategic Services, called the OSS. It was formed to go behind enemy lines in Europe and other fronts to gather much-needed intelligence and organize armed resistance groups.

But its roots stretch back much farther than that – to the Revolutionary War and guerilla fighters including Daniel Morgan, Ethan Allen and South Carolina’s own Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox.”

Marion “was one of the first unconventional warfare soldiers in the Continental Army and the South Carolina State guard,” said conference chairman Mike Mika of Cayce, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam.

In 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was formed in conjunction with the Psychological Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It and the 77th Special Forces Group (now the 7th) specialized in reconnaissance, counter-terrorism and organizing and working with foreign troops.

Training includes foreign languages and immersing the troops in the culture of the country in which they will operate. The bearded soldiers seen on the news working in Afghan villages are often Green Berets.

“We live with them,” Rollinson said. “We eat what they eat. We are with them all the time.”

The Green Berets now have soldiers in 90 countries around the world. But it was in Vietnam that Special Forces earned their reputation and their headgear, which separated them from the rest of the U.S. military.

Although there were only 3,000 Green Berets in Vietnam at any given time, they earned 17 Medals of Honor, 85 Distinguished Service Crosses, 815 Silver Stars, 8,369 Bronze Stars and 2,560 Purple Hearts. More importantly, Rollinson said, the Green Berets in Vietnam conducted 49,902 foreign aide projects, like building hospitals and schools.

Their motto is “De Oppresso Liber,” which means free the oppressed. “That’s what we do,” Rollinson said.

Expanding conference

At the conference in Columbia, organizers are expecting participants from as far away as Europe and Australia, including two or three Medal of Honor recipients and Keith Payne, an Australian who received the Victoria Cross for actions in Vietnam. Members of the Montagnard tribe, who fought beside Americans in Vietnam, and Gordon Sims, a World War II Green Beret from Columbia, also will attend.

The S.C. Green Beret Association made a bid for the conference last year in Orlando. It is usually held in cities larger than Columbia, most recently San Antonio and Las Vegas, Nevada. The S.C. delegation won, in large part, because the Palmetto State chapter has been very active in the organization in recent years and the conference had never been held in South Carolina.

Also, Mika said the delegation promised to expand the conference from its usual three days to seven days, and include day trips to Charleston and Camden, capitalizing on the state’s military history. The conference also will include a golf tournament, which is open to the public, and target shooting at Fort Jackson, training sessions and speakers. “We want it to be educational,” Rollinson said. “This is a way to bring information from the past and share the lessons learned.”

The cost of the conference for attendees is $80, rather than the $130 usually charged. While BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, the S.C. Electric Cooperatives and AT&T and others have chipped in to help pay the conference’s costs, corporate sponsors still are needed, said organizer Tom McLemore of Irmo. “We kept the price down because we want (participants) to have money to spend here,” said McLemore, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, beginning in 1958. “That’s why we need corporate help.”