Green Beret James Stejskal holds the distinction of serving in one of the Army's most unique and at one time, highly classified Special Forces Detachments operating in East Germany during the Cold War. Known simply as Detachment "A", the unit operated behind the Iron Curtain within the Soviet-controlled German Democratic Republic. The unit's primary mission was to wreak havoc behind the enemy's lines, and buy outnumbered NATO forces time to breakout from Berlin if hostilities commenced between the West and the Warsaw Pact Armies. It was a daunting mission - it's even been described as "suicidal." But the men of Detachment "A"/Special Forces Berlin carried out this mission for over thirty years, remaining in the shadows until the unit was officially recognized in 2014. In this episode, Stejskal details what it was like to serve in a unit that defined Unconventional Warfare and the backbone of Special Forces, and what it was like to tell the unit's story decades later in his book, "Special Forces Berlin." Check it out in this latest edition of HAZARD GROUND!

"Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956-1990" | "Masters of Mayhem: Lawrence of Arabia and the British Military Mission to the Hejaz"

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