1st Special Forces Regiment: An Evolving Tapestry - the Book

Written by JP Hastings, who describes himself as not much of a writer but more of a a scribe is a medically retired E7, 18C Special Forces Engineer sergeant who served with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) (1986-1994) before a parachute accident ended his career.

The 1st Special Forces Regiment: An Evolving Tapestry is about the Heritage, Lineage and History of the men of the United States Army Special Forces Regiment. It is their journey beginning with the formation of the Rangers in the 1600’s that forged a nation out of the wilderness. Through the centuries of overcoming events and driven by necessities that would mature their missions and skills, in to the Army’s Special Forces (Green Beret). It reveals who and what they experienced throughout history and what it takes to earn the coveted “Green Beret”. It also highlights historical snippets that caused some paradigm operational changes.

The goal and intent in the publishing of this book is two fold: 1) As accurately as possible, tell of the Regiment’s life starting at the roots, through threads leading to its maturing, development and expansion that set forever in time the Heritage, Lineage, and History with Honor and integrity. 2) 100% of the royalties from the sale of the book will be for the Special Forces Association (SFA) for use with charities, and other just causes and events as the SFA sees fit to support our Special Forces Brothers and their families.

Here is Col (ret) Jack Tobin's review of the book:

Mr. Hastings has done an excellent job compiling the history of The 1st Special Forces Regiment and provides a great reference asset for those interested in SF history, and to settle arguments about who did, what, and when. However, to flesh out the unconventional warfare history of the US, he has included other units that are more the lineage of the Ranger Regiment, while the Ranger operations of colonial America were at times nearly unbelievable, they are not primarily aligned with the traditional Special Forces (SF) Mission, training the indigenous personnel to fight for their freedom. MG (R) Funston's operations in Cuba and GEN (R) Pershing's and MG (R) Funston's operations in the Philippines were really the beginning of US SF operations, a tradition continued and covered in this anthology by the OSS in Europe, and OSS Det 101 in the CBI, and then again in Korea, Vietnam, and many other countries. The coverage of Special Forces training is a thorough presentation and should be read by any soldier thinking of attempting to become a "Green Beret". The Appendices are an invaluable asset to any researcher, they provide not only books, periodicals, and videos that cover all facets of SF and its missions. There is also a list of web sites that will answer nearly any question regarding SF, its history, its activities and its operations. The Appendices and References make this work a truly invaluable tool to anyone interested in Special Forces. ~ Jack Tobin COL (R), SF

This book is available through Amazon at this link. Again 100% of the royalties from the sale of the book goes to the Special Forces Association (SFA).