Operational Group Command

Operational Group Command
Active	23 December 1942 (1942-12-23)
Disbanded	1945 (1945)
Country	United States
Role	Guerrilla warfare Special Operations
Part of	Office of Strategic Services
Nickname(s)	The OGs
Motto(s)	The Glorious Amateurs
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Chief	Alfred T. Cox
Chief	Colonel Russell B. (“Russ”) Livermore

English: General William J. Donovan reviews the Operational Groups (OGs) at Area F, the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, prior to their departure for China.

Operational Group Command (OG), was a branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II that specialized in guerrilla warfare and independent operations against designated Axis targets.^[1] The original A Teams of US Army Special Forces, Operational Detachments Alpha (ODA), are modeled after the successes of Operational Group Command and its groups.^[2]

William Donovan and Millard Preston Goodfellow were concerned with creating guerrilla units within SA/G as early as December 1941.^[3]

Operational Group Command was made up of Operational Groups (OGs), which were originally created on 23 December 1942 as a division within the OSS Special Operations Branch (SO), before achieving Branch status.^[4]

One key distinction between SO units and the OGs might be the fact that OGs were always dressed in military uniform, and were deployed within the military command structure, whereas SO units were civilian units, often assuming cover identities.^[2]

Command structure

The OGs had a dual leadership command structure.^[3] While OGs were deployed in the field, they were under the tactical planning authority of the Theatre Commander, and the strategic planning authority of the Director of the OSS, William Donovan.^[3]

Areas active ^[2]

• Burma
• China
• France
• Greece
• Italy
• Norway
• Yugoslavia

References

1. "HyperWar: Office of Strategic Servcices (OSS) Organization and Functions". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
2. "Operational Groups". www.soc.mil. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
3. History Project, Strategic Services Unit, Office of the Assistant Secretary of War, War Department (1976). "WAR REPORT OF THE OSS (Office of Strategic Services)" (PDF). Washington D.C.: Walker and Company.
4. "Special Operations". www.soc.mil. Retrieved 2024-06-26.