Internet sources have reported about the imminent dissolution of elite units of the American Green Berets - the Crisis Response Force (CRF) also called CIF (Commander’s-in-extremis Force).

CRF branches are elite Green Beret units that specialize in Direct Action (DA), Counterterrorism (CT) and Hostage Rescue (HR) missions. Each group of special forces (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th) has a CRF company, which are considered strategic emergency reserves worldwide.

As reported by SOFREP, the US Special Operations Command (USASOC) in conjunction with the 1st Special Forces Command (1. SFC) decided to disband the CRF considering it being underused and due to the lack of operators.

One of the first signs announcing the above mentioned decisions was the operation earlier this year, when in January the American embassy in Baghdad was briefly besieged by Iraqi protesters and Iranian militia after the elimination of the Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.

Then the Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Central Command of Special Operations (SOCCENT) decided to send the USMC units to rescue the embassy instead of the CRF units from the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (A/1/5) responsible for this region (Middle East) and similar tasks.

An additional element of the puzzle may be the fact that the commanders decided, having at their disposal units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, whose primary role is to respond to CT and HR scenarios around the world, that maintaining the CRF is an unnecessary and expensive luxury.

In addition to standard training for special operations, all CRF operators must undergo an advanced reconnaissance, target analysis and special force exploration (SFARTAETC) course, and some operators also need a special forces sniper course (SFSC) lasting 9 weeks each. The calculation seems to be simple - too much time and money involved, too few benefits.

The USASOC has not yet issued an official statement on this matter.

Sources: sofrep.com, americanspecialops.com