Green Berets in Taiwan - T-shirts/Mugs
Fighting Soldiers from Taiwan's Skies
With the return of the U.S. Green Berets to Taiwan—after their departure in 1972—China In Arms is commemorating the occasion with a special salute, along with mugs and t-shirts featuring the original fan patch from that era.
According to a statement made on 20 March 2024, by Admiral John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee:
“Let me say… [there] are no permanent stationing of U.S. forces there [Taiwan]. We can talk in a classified setting for further evaluation [sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF)].”
Aquilino’s claim came after a statement from Taiwan’s Minister of Defense, Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), who, on 14 March, confirmed the presence of U.S. Army Special Forces on Taiwan’s outlying islands of Penghu and Kinmen.
In 2023, the U.S. Special Operations Forces Liaison Element (SOFLE) began deploying members of the 1st Special Forces Group’s Alpha Company to Taiwan. These personnel served as “observers” alongside Taiwan’s Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion 101 (also known as the Army Frogmen) on Kinmen Island, located near the Chinese coast, and at the battalion’s headquarters on Penghu Island, off Taiwan’s southwest coast.
The 1st Special Forces Group (1st SFG) comprises four battalions—one stationed at Torii Station, Yomitan, Okinawa, and three at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. The group operates under the authority of Special Operations Command – Pacific (SOCPAC), based in Hawaii.
