Minuteman Minute | Special Forces in the National Guard

The Army National Guard has two Special Forces Groups, which deployed to Afghanistan soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. The uniform of Sgt. Maj. Brian La Morte of the 20th Special Forces Group is on display in our museum.

Hi, I’m Will Roulett, director of the National Guard Memorial Museum here in D.C., and this is your Minuteman Minute! On Sept. 11, 2001, the United States was attacked, and the National Guard stood ready to respond. By the spring of 2002, Sgt. Maj. Brian Scott La Morte was in Afghanistan wearing this uniform. He was part of the 20th Special Forces Group’s 3rd Battalion, which deployed in support of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan. The 20th is one of only two National Guard Special Forces Groups, with units in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi and North Carolina. The Guard’s other Special Forces Group is the 19th. On Sept. 11, 2002, La Morte and his colleagues were on patrol when they discovered a cache of 1,000-pound Soviet-era bombs. The Taliban was attempting to hide the bombs, but La Morte’s team denied them from the enemy. Come see this – and a whole lot more – at the National Guard Memorial Museum. I’m Will Roulett, and that’s been your Minuteman Minute, brought to you by the National Guard Educational Foundation.