Special Forces Night Fire

3rd Special Forces Group with .50 Calibre Machine Gun

U.S. Army Green Berets assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) fire the M2 .50 calibre machine gun, April 2, 2019 at Fort Bragg, NC. The Green Berets fired multiple weapon systems during the live fire range to include the M240B machine gun, M320 grenade launcher and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.

Military Units Featured

Green Berets

The United States Army Special Forces, colloquially known as the Green Berets due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army tasked with five primary missions: unconventional warfare (the original and most important mission of Special Forces), foreign internal defence, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism.

3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne)

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) – abbreviated 3rd SFG(A) and often simply called 3rd Group – is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) group which was active in the Vietnam Era (1963–69), inactivated, and then reactivated in 1990. The 3rd SFG(A) was primarily responsible for operations within the AFRICOM area of responsibility, as part of the Special Operations Command, Africa (SOCAFRICA). Its primary area of operations (AO) is now Africa as part of a 2015 SOCOM directive[2] but 3rd Group has also been involved in the Caribbean and the Greater Middle East. The 3rd SFG(A) has seen extensive action in the War on Terror and its members have distinguished themselves on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

Military Equipment Featured

M2 .50 Calibre Machine Gun

The M2 Machine Gun or Browning .50 Calibre Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed toward the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning’s earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge, but uses the much larger and much more powerful .50 BMG cartridge, which was developed alongside and takes its name from the gun itself (BMG standing for Browning Machine Gun). Tthe official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is effective against infantry, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles and boats, light fortifications and low-flying aircraft.

Photographer

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Steven Lewis.