The war had virtually ground to a stop, and the guerillas were not really active. “By 1988, the Salvadoran Army had obtained superiority over the rebels, who still controlled nearly one third of the country. “Then I would come back to Ilopango where they had something else for me to do, whether it was setting up pistol training courses for pilots, training programs or training with night vision scopes. I worked on establishing security at Comolapa Air Base where the fixed wing assets were shifted. So, I fell into the routine of running classes on night vision goggles, lasers, night vision scopes, and training sergeants. I was retraining with the recon platoon and the different companies through ‘88 and setting up different Forward Air Control programs. “Once SOCOM saw this was the way to go, I changed the way the war was fought down there.” Each of the four action teams consisted of a team leader, assistant team leader, radio operator, machine gunner, grenadier, and one sniper. The command group would consist of one lieutenant, one sergeant, one radio operator, and one medic. “I showed them that they could take a bunch of guys, organize them into a 28-man team of five sections–a command group, and four action teams. Only in the 4th Brigade with Mike Sheehan, who set up the first unit, did it work like it was supposed. The El Salvador Commanders thought they were GOE and tried to use them as such. “The SF decided to train company sized units that were to be the strike force for each Brigade. They knew they could not come down to the company, platoon, or squad level of training, but with the resources and manpower, they could train small teams and give battalion commanders a great tool. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was building the Provisional Reconnaissance Team. They could pull the brightest and most experienced out of the brigade, equip them and send them out. “So focused on it gave them significant capability within the 55-man limit imposed by Congress. A similar program in Santa Anna was very successful. “The American Brigade Operational Planning and Assistance Training Team (OPATT) were starting their own Groupos Operationes Especiales (GOE) projects. “Sure, why not.” I packed my gear and went back to Ilopango. “In 1987, I got a call from the MilGroup. “It was Christmas, 1986, the first year I had spent the New Year at home in six years. As if that would make the whole scandal or the war disappear. Harry was quickly ordered out of the country. The infamous Iran Contra affair grew legs. Operatives of the CIA and other agencies were carrying on clandestine activities in El Salvador, in an effort to help the government fight off the Communist insurgents–the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). In the last part, Harry’s picture appeared on the cover of Newsweek Magazine in November, 1986, blowing the lid off the covert operations the Americans were in the thick of with the El Salvadoran government. SOF launched Harry’s wild career in the jungles of the small South American country rocked by riots, coups, wars, and earthquakes. In the last four of a five part series on the American merc who had the most impact of any American in the decade-long El Salvador war, SOF chronicled the adventures of Harry Claflin. Martin Brass From the January 2008 issue of SOF
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