Category Archives: DET-A-Functions

2017 Detachment”A” Function – After Action Report – In Memory of Jeff Raker

The annual Detachment “A” function was held at Fort Bragg, NC from Thursday, 8 June 2017 through Sunday 11 June 2017 in memory of CSM Jeffrey Raker.

CSM Jeff Raker saluting Detachment “A” members at the conclusion of his speech at our September 2016 Asheville NC function.

This was truly a special function at Fort Bragg in memory of our comrade Jeff Raker. It was special in so many ways. We had a great showing for this function and a great time with our Detachment “A” brothers.

This function was originally to be held in Asheville, but Jeff Raker always wanted to have one at Fort Bragg at Moon Hall, so at our last Asheville function in which Jeff Raker attended, I informed him and all of you that our next function would be in honor of Jeff Raker and we would have it at Fort Bragg in conjunction with the SFA Convention. He was thrilled and told me he would be there. Sadly, Jeff passed away in November so I re-dedicated the function to be in memory of Jeff Raker.

Jeff Raker’s wife Minako and their sons and other family members attended. Jeff’s grandson Jeff was also present and while on the Fort Mackall tour Minako and his mother said “One of these days he will be right here at Camp Mackall for the selection course”.

Minako Raker and grandson Jeff – Future SF Trooper

Jeff Raker’s Chicken Friday Plaque New Home

Jeff Raker’s Chicken Friday plaque which he brought to our September 2016 Asheville NC function all the way from Guam has a new and permanent home. The unique nature of the plaque made it ineligible for the JFK Museum. After I notified you all of this, Glen Craig made a recommendation that we donate it to SFA HQ. I thought this was a great idea, so I coordinated with Roxanne Merritt Director, JFK Special Warfare Museum and Cliff Newman Executive Director of SFA who said he would be honored to have it. Many thanks for Glen’s suggestion and many thanks to Cliff Newman and SFA for giving this special artifact a permanent home.

SFA HQ – New home for Jeff Raker’s Chicken Friday Plaque

Wednesday

A few members showed up early on Wednesday and we enjoyed time together as usual, including my main point man Gil Turcotte. My other main point man Sid Williams had a flight cancellation so he arrived a day late. Others included John Lee, Chris Feudo, Rick Westbrook, Steve Bright, Lee Fondas, and Bob Charest.

Gil Turcotte brought with him a large eagle-cane based plaque which he is donating to the JFK museum on behalf of Detachment “A” members.

Earlier in the year, Gil called Bob Charest and discussed a concept and idea he had for making of a Detachment “A” plaque. Bob said ‘go for it’. Gil came up the concept and design, hired an artist to construct the plaque, and paid for it. Gil put a lot of thought into this plaque.

One of the many features of this plaque is the space for Detachment “A” members to sign their name along with the dates they served in Det “A”.

A full description of the plaque was written up posted separately on our web site.  A copy was sent to Roxanne Merritt JFK Museum Director to accompany the plaque.

Gil honored Bob by requesting that he be the first member to sign the artifact directly under the head of the eagle because “Bob brought Detachment “A” in from the cold and made it prominent”.

All other members present also signed their names and dates served in Detachment ”A”.

Thursday

The meeting on Thursday featured our distinguished guest speaker MG Jim Guest(Ret) former Commanding General, United States Army Special Forces Command.  MG Jim Guest(Ret) has been to all of our functions and gave a pronounced, and notable speech. His speech began with heartfelt remembrances of Jeff Raker with whom he served with for many years and who was his close friend. He said he loved the man as we all did.

After MG Jim Guest’s speech, Gil had CSM Jeff Raker’s son Jeff sign the plaque on his father’s behalf and in his honor.

Gill then caught up with our distinguished guest speaker MG James Guest’s(Ret) and obtained his signature on the plaque.

Gill Turcotte also passed around a get well card for our Special Forces Detachment “A” brother Peter Gould which was signed by fellow Det “A” brothers.  We attempted to call him but could not get through.

The rest of the day was spent socializing and having a good time.

MG James Guest(Ret) Our Distinguished Guest Speaker

Friday

Friday started with the Camp Mackall tour, breakfast and lunch all set up and coordinated by our good friend and comrade Jack Tobin along with members of Chapter 6 including my good friend Joe Beasley. It was nothing short of outstanding. Detachment “A” members got the VIP treatment. The commander of the base LTC Wheeler and his XO along other staff set us up for breakfast at the Camp Mackall dining facility. We ate our chow at the outdoor picnic area where the students do the same.

LTC Wheeler and his staff gave us a VIP tour and a formal comprehensive briefing. They spent quite a bit of time with us and we really appreciated the exceptional treatment and the accommodations made for all of us. They spent half the day with us and gave Detachment “A” the red carpet treatment.

This event was well received. I am in the process of generating a special letter of thanks and appreciation to LTC Wheeler and his staff for all their efforts on behalf of all our Detachment “A” members.

The pay-as-you-go lunch was prepared by Jack Tobin and Chapter 6 members. It was a superb spread including BBQ, Beef Brisket, Spiral Cut Ham, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Iced Tea, Rolls, Appropriate Sauces and Condiments, and rolls. All proceeds go to the Chapter 6 team house construction fund. Jack said he had a lot of fun cooking up all the food. He is truly a class act.

The main event was the Photo Op Ceremony in Memory of Jeff Raker out at our Detachment “A” memorial stone at the USASOC Memorial Plaza on Friday afternoon. We received the full VIP treatment from USASOC and PAO and a red carpet literally. USACOM recorded the entire event on video, took professional pictures and held video interviews with various Detachment “A” members. They also had Paraglide present to write an article.

The Fayetteville Observer was present to cover the events, and performed many interviews.

When these articles are published, they will be available on the web site.

The two biographer teams Barry Duplantis and Mark Valley along with Keith Jeffreys and his crew were also present to witness this event.

Special thanks to MSG Calvin Castleberry who was my main POC. He worked extremely hard on this event and provided endless professional support. Cal is the epitome of an outstanding SF trooper. I invited him to Moon Hall to socialize with the guys after the Photo Op, and he showed up and spent the entire evening. He enjoyed being with the guys so much that he asked if he could come to our next function, and I said absolutely, he will be on our guest list for next years’ function.

The Photo Op was the highlight of this years’ function. We all gathered at the USASOC Memorial Plaza at our Detachment “A” memorial stone. Notable attendees included: LTG Kenneth E. Tovo, MG Sidney Shachnow(Ret) who was the main guest Speaker, and MG James Guest(Ret) former Commanding General, United States Army Special Forces Command who joined our Detachment  “A” members for this special event.

When MG Shachnow arrived on the scene Bob went to greet him and he gave Bob Charest a bear hug that was long and embracing. Bob escorted him to the seated area where MG Shachnow was greeted by MG Jim Guest and many of his comrades. When he was seated, Paco Fontana came over to speak with MG Shachnow who gave Paco a strong embrace and bear hug. Paco’s wife Lisa captured the moment and it is displayed prominently on our web site.

Bob Charest introduced the event and spoke a few words about how this function was being held in memory of CSM Jeff Raker(Ret). He then introduced MG Sidney Shachnow(Ret) former Detachment “A” commander our honored guest speaker. MG Shachnow’s speech was to his usual standard, excellent. He began his speech by recognizing Bob Charest for all the work he did to bring Detachment “A”   in from the cold and  into history.

MG Shachnow then went on to highly recommend that everyone read Styk’s book. Styk’s book is entitled: Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army’s Elite, 1956–1990.  Buy it and read it.

He reminisced and talked about the Detachment “A” unit and all its members as only he can deliver. We were honored that he came out and grateful he was with us.

Bob then called on Gil Turcotte who presented the plaque he designed and had made to MG Shachnow who then donated to the JFK Museum on behalf of all Detachment ”A” members. Roxanne Merritt from the JFK museum was present to receive the plaque which will have its place in the museum.

We invited LTG Tovo and he was due to come to our function, time permitting as he had a prior commitment to preside over a retirement ceremony. We were very pleased that he was able to join us in this historical event in honor of Jeff Raker.  LTG Tovo met and spoke with many of our Detachment “A” members.

Fayetteville Observer Article – Coverage of 9 June 2017 Photo Op

Saturday
On Saturday we had lots of time to socialize. Interviews were ongoing by the documentary crew. We all gathered at the German Restaurant for some good German food.

At the lunch, Jeff Raker’s son Jeff stood up and thanked all the Detachment “A” members for the special recognition given to CSM Jeff Raker’s historical legacy and his contributions to Detachment “A” and Special Forces.

The rest of the day was spent socializing at the great outdoor area at Moon Hall.

Additional Highlights

The two biographer teams Barry Duplantis and Mark Valley along with Keith Jeffreys and his crew conducted numerous interviews and scheduled more. MG Shachnow was among those interviewed.  They gathered material for their biographical documentary film which is a collaborative project.

At the SFA convention Bob Charest met up with LTG Kenneth Tovo, Commander of the United States Army Special Operations Command, and thanked him and his staff on behalf of Detachment(A) for their support of this function in honor of Jeff Raker.

Minako Raker also attended the SFA convention with family members and before she departed for Guam she tearfully thanked all Detachment “A” members for dedicating this function to CSM Jeff Raker and his legacy.  She once again stated that her grandson Jeff, would one day wear the Green Beret.

Heidi Fedor’s lovely daughter of Howie and Sybille Fedor came to our function beautiful handmade wooden plaques carved by her boyfriend Jeremy. The plaque contained the Special Forces Berlin carving, the Brigade Patch, active dates of Det”A”, Detachment “A” Germany. She presented as a remembrance gift to Det”A” members. She presented one to Bob as well as a token of appreciation which a welcomed surprise, and he will treasure it always. Heidi has also provided lot of photos from our functions. We thank her so much.

Heidi and Jermey’s gift plaque

Summary

The 2017 Detachment”A” Function in memory of CSM Jeffrey Raker was truly an amazing function. The function allowed Detachment “A” and others to honor our friend Jeff Raker in a way he so richly deserved, socialize and have a great time with each other, the way it should always be.  Jeff Raker told me long ago don’t change the format, and I have not. I will maintain the brotherhood and our sacred social no frill Detachment “A” functions.

2018 Asheville Function

Next year’s reunion will be held in Asheville NC as usual. I will be sending out the information as soon as it is finalized.

Bob Charest
The man who brought Detachment “A” in from the cold

 

Jeff Raker’s Chicken Friday Plaque

One last wish from CSM Jeff Raker, was to donate the Chicken Friday plaque he received upon his departure from Detachment”A” in 1981, to the members of Detachment”A”.

Chicken Friday was created back in the 1971-1972 era with SGM Tony Kriculi, and MAJ Sid Shachnow.  In the 1970s era, Detachment”A” annexed the old HQ & HQ company mess hall kitchen right next door to the Detachment”A” building.  It was renovated by Detachment”A” members into a Day Room complete with a bar, which was annexed from the hospital.  The Day Room also included a pool table, a parachute canopy over the bar, and beer from Czechoslovakia called “Budvar”, not local beer i.e., Schultheiss and Berliner Kindl.  It was improved during the years leading up to the deactivation of the Detachment in 1984.

On Friday afternoons we had a formation and assigned tasks for various cleanup areas, vehicle maintenance, and other such upkeep duties.  These activities lasted about two hours which then turned into “Chicken Friday”, a social gathering and bier fest for the rest of the evening.  Because of our compartmentalization, and not much downtime among us for socializing, it became a highly anticipated event.  Chicken Friday was frequently attended by Navy Seals from Crete, teams from 10th Special Forces attending our classified city training course, and the German Secret Police whom we worked with.  Chicken Friday and the fest after, was a really big morale booster for the men of Detachment”A” and helped keep “What happened in the Detachment, stayed in the Detachment”.

At our  Detachment”A” function in Asheville on Friday 16 September of 2016, Jeff Raker presented the plaque he received in 1981, to our Chicken Friday.  He hand carried this symbolic artifact all the way from Guam, and it came with him first class – 35 years later.  After the meeting Kevin Monahan suggested that the plaque be donated to the JFK museum.  Bob Charest secured the Chicken Friday plaque to ensure the plaque is transported to Roxanne Merritt, the JFK museum director/curator where she will ensure that it will reside and serve as part of Detachment”A” history.

This historic Chicken Friday plaque presented to CMS Jeff Raker back in 1981 is being donated to the JFK Museum on behalf of all the men from Detachment”A” 39TH Special Forces.

However, the nature of the plaque made it ineligible for the JFK Museum.  After I notified you all of this, Glen Craig made a recommendation that we donate it to SFA HQ.

Bob thought this was a great idea, so he coordinated with Roxanne Merritt Director, JFK Special Warfare Museum and Cliff Newman Executive Director of SFA who said he would be honored to have it.  Many thanks for Glen’s suggestion and many thanks to Cliff Newman and SFA for giving this special artifact a permanent home.

Jeff Raker’s Chicken Friday plaque which he brought to our September 2016 Asheville NC function has a new and permanent home at SFA.


Chicken Friday 1977

Left to Right: Billy Krieger, Dennis Hebler, Klemme Lemcke

Chicken Friday, 1977 – Left to Right: Billy Krieger, Dennis Hebler, Klemme Lemcke

2016 Detachment”A” Function – Jeff Raker Honored Guest Speaker

Highlights

Bob Charest hosted another extremely successful Detachment(A)  function.  It was highly attended and everyone thoroughly enjoyed time with our DET-A family.

Gil Turcotte arrived on Tuesday and was the advance party on the scene.  He got all the supplies for our meals.  He got all the signatures for Joel Schenkelberger’ sympathy card.

Gil Turcotte also bought a card and had Detachment-A members sign it to recognize and show appreciation to  Bob Charest for all his efforts and work on behalf of Detachment-A, including the planning, setting up, selecting great guest speakers, hosting, and conducting and our Det-A functions which brings fellow Detachment-A members together and all the other projects Bob led to bring Detachment-A in from the cold.  Gil  had members at this function sign it.  Jeff Raker presented the card to Bob recognizing Bob’s individual efforts for putting Detachment-A on the map and for keeping Detachment-A alive.

Gil purchased a sign in book and got the signatures of all members who attended our function.

We had quite a few folks show up on Wednesday including the  point man, Sid Williams.

The two decals that were passed out to you all were each created and donated by Henry Bertrand  and Jon Lee.

Thursday’s highlight was Jack Tobin’s SFA CH-6 ham, briskets, and barbecue.  He cooked and served a great meal. He also had lots of sauces.  Bob Charest brought German potato salad, rolls, mustard, and some deserts.


Friday’s session began when Jeff Raker showed up ready for Chicken Friday.   He presented the original Chicken Friday symbolic plaque he received in 1980.

Bob Charest then got Friday’s session agenda going by introducing our  two highly accomplished guest speakers, Warner “Rocky” Farr and Larry Niedringhaus.  He also talked about 2017’s DET-A Function.

Warner “Rocky” Farr spoke about his long and distinguished career spanning 46 years, very impressive and accomplished.

Larry Niedringhaus spoke about his days as an enlisted member of Special Forces before he became an officer rising to the rank of full colonel.

Mike Mulieri brought the keg of German  beer this year for all to enjoy.

The brats meal by John Phipps and Brad Cooper was outstanding.

There were many other contributions, Ron Braughton with his beer contribution, Dennis Hobbie’s wife made 4 huge gourmet cakes, and Lin Niedringhaus brought her homemade cookies.  I can go on and on.  It was great team work.

Jeff Raker showed up on the scene and spent quite a bit of time with fellow Det-A members.   His son Jeff made a surprise appearance on Friday and stayed  the rest of the weekend.  He came equipped to make Chicken Friday, Chicken Friday by bringing the original Det-A chicken.


Saturday’s session started off with Bob Charest introducing   two  great guest speakers:  MG Jim Guest and Jeff Raker.   He also introduced Vinnie Feudo who provided an inspirational speech to start the meeting.  Jim spoke about Special Forces historically and future.

Our honored guest speaker, Jeff Raker was the main man.   He looked frail, but folks not in his mind nor stature.  He stood and spoke for over 45 minutes with no notes and was incredibly focused.  He is an amazing man.  His lovely wife Minako walked up to him as he was finishing up his speech and spoke to the members about Jeff, like only a devoted and loving wife is able.

Next year’s event will be in honor of him.


Jack Murphy interviewed quite a lot of folks for our 10,000 word Detachment(A) exclusive article.

2015 Detachment”A” Asheville Function

Detachment(A) September 2015 Function After Action Report

Our September 2015 function held in Asheville, NC was a huge success.

It began with an advance recon party arriving on Tuesday, 8 September consisting of Gil Turcotte, Rick Westbrook and Kim Kendle. Folks continued to filter in throughout the function.

The head count on Saturday, our main meeting, according to Mike Linnane stood at 90 folks.

On Friday SFA President Jack Tobin gave us an in depth update on SFA today and a glimpse of SFA tomorrow. His informative and wide-ranging lecture was greatly appreciated by all.

On Saturday Darrell Katz gave a captivating speech about the days he was Commander of Detachment(A). He revealed previously unknown and very interesting information that occurred during his tenure as Commander of Detachment(A).

Then Roxanne Merritt updated us on the JFK Museum.

LTC Larry Niedringhaus II who is attending the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA gave a comprehensive and informative speech on SF Operations today which was very well received. He will be receiving credit for the speech for his graduation.

MG(Ret) Jim Guest and Jack Tobin were made honorary members of Detachment(A) and presented with Detachment(A) Lapel pins.

Many thanks to Betty Amaker who set up the JFK Museum gift shop with a wide array of SF merchandise.

The absence of Jeff Raker due to his illness was deeply felt and he was sorely missed by all.

Mike Mulieri came through with his keg of beer.

Many thanks to you all for making this function successful.

Bob Charest Host/POC

Click on Gallery Picture to enlarge, view all

Group Photos

Event Photos

2014 Detachment”A” Function Columbia Function

The 2014 Detachment(A) function was held on Thursday, 12 June 2014 at the Knights of Columbus in Columbia, SC. It was held in conjunction with the SFA Conference in Columbia, SC, from 9-15 June 2014. Well over 120 folks attended our DET-A function, including MG Jim Guest(Ret) – our guest of honor, MG Sidney Shachnow(Ret) – guest speaker and CSM Jeffrey Raker(Ret) – guest speaker.

John Blevins put together a DET-A People and Places CD with over 200 pictures he collected from DET-A members. He packaged them and gave them out at our function. He plans on adding more pictures for our next function in 2015 with improvements.