Who's who of special operation forces: Notable veterans, civilians inducted at Fort Liberty

Twenty-one soldiers, civilians and veterans were named honorary members of the Special Forces, Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs community during induction ceremonies last month.

The inductees were honored during an April 26 ceremony that coincided with Heritage Week at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The induction ceremony included a Congressional Gold Medal presentation from the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops “Ghost Army” and the 3133rd Signal Service Company for their service during World War II.

The Regimental honors recognize those who have contributed to the welfare of their respective regiments while serving in the military, as Department of the Army civilians or in a private capacity, a news release stated.

The program serves as a link between members of the regiments currently serving and those who have separated from service, but continue to advance the interests of their regiments.

Among the inductees are Medal of Honor recipients, a former Delta Force soldier and Army civilian who was recognized by all three regiments for the first time.

Below are the honorees.

Special Forces

• Maj. Charles Q. Williams was a lieutenant who received the Medal of Honor in June 1966 for defending a Special Forces camp against hostile Viet Cong forces June 9-10, 1965 while serving with the 5th Special Forces Group. During the 14-hour battle, Williams was stuck twice by shrapnel in his legs, rushed through gunfire, was wounded by shrapnel in the stomach and then wounded a fourth time in the arm and leg, but continued to fight and to direct his troops in fighting while organizing the evacuation of wounded American soldiers.Williams died Oct. 15, 1982, in Columbia, South Carolina.

• First Lt. George K. Sisler posthumously received the Medal of Honor on June 27, 1968, for actions that ended in his death on Feb. 7, 1967, in Vietnam.

A member of the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Command, Sisler was leading a patrol through enemy-dominated territory when a company-sized enemy force attacked.

In order to carry one injured American soldier to safety, Sisler charged through intense enemy fire, killed three enemy soldiers and stopped an enemy machine gun with a grenade.

When he returned to rescue a second wounded American soldier, the U.S. troop’s flank was being overrun by the enemy, prompting Sisler to charge — firing his weapon and throwing grenades to break up the assault and force the enemy to withdraw — and costing him his life.

• Maj. Gen. Victor J. Hugo Jr. who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1954, served more than 33 years. His first assignment was as a Central Intelligence Agency case officer for unconventional warfare and paramilitary actions in Saigon, where he served as a leader, interpreter and translator for training missions for Vietnamese officers.

After graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1962, he was assigned to 1st Special Forces Group in Okinawa, Japan, with missions in Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan. Hugo also conducted the mission to rescue a Royal Lao military commander from a jail.

Hugo also served at the Pentagon where he helped establish the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy; commander of Special Forces matters at the Special Warfare Center and School with the Department of the Army; commander of the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in the Republic of Korea and commander of the 32nd Army Air Defense Command in Germany.

His awards included Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster and Purple Heart, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and Legion of Merit, along with other honors from Germany, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.

After his retirement, Hugo founded the Special Forces Association Saudi Arabian Chapter and, eventually served on the board of the Special Forces Association’s National Capitol Chapter and was the executive vice president for the Office of Strategic Services Society, which led to the development of the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations.

Hugo died in May 2020 at age 89.

• Brig. Gen. Richard W. Potter Jr. was drafted into the Army in 1961, first serving in Germany and then several deployments to Vietnam where he commanded a Special Forces team and advised Vietnamese rangers.

Potter also served in Iran, Iraq, Zaire, Sierra Leone, and Haiti on operations Eagle Claw, Desert Shield/ Storm, Provide Comfort, Wealthy Ghost, Silver Anvil, and Uphold Democracy.

He was commander of the 10th Special Forces Group, Special Operations Command Europe, during the culmination of the Cold War, fall of the Berlin Wall, and the humanitarian and security operations in Haiti.

Later in his career, Potter was the deputy commander of the United States Army Special Operations Command.

Among Potter’s awards and honors are the: Silver Star with oak leaf cluster; Bronze Star with valor; Bronze Star with three oak leaf clusters; the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster; the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm device; and the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster.

Potter retired after 34 years of service in December 1994, and lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Annie.

• Col. Lee A. Van Arsdale was a rifle platoon leader, antitank platoon leader, and company executive officer with th 101st Airborne Division.

After completing Special Forces Assessment and Selection, he served in various special operations and joint special operations units including leading combat operations in Operation Just Cause in Panama during which he placed dictator Manuel Noriega in restraints.

According to the West Point Association of Graduates, Van Arsdale spent 11 of his 25 years in the Army with the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta and was also part of the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993, known as “Blackhawk Down.” He received the Silver Star with valor for leading troops through enemy fire at the Blackhawk crash site and received a Purple Heart for combat wounds sustained during Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia.

His final active-duty assignment was in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict in the Pentagon, where he was responsible for counterterrorism and special projects.

Van Arsdale retired and now lives with his wife, Marilee, and their three sons in Colorado.

• Lt. Col. Michael A. Sheehan commissioned from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1977 as an infantry officer.

Following graduation from the Special Forces Officer Course in 1979, he served as an operational detachment–Alpha executive officer and detachment commander for the 7th Special Forces Group in Panama.

Sheehan held several overseas assignments, including as a mechanized company commander in Korea and a counterinsurgency advisor in El Salvador.

He also served on the National Security Council; as director for International Programs under former President George W. Bush; as director for Political Affairs and Special Counselor to Ambassador Madeline Albright while also serving as special advisor to the Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General; and as director of Global Issues under former President Bill Clinton.

Upon military retirement, Sheehan served in the Bureau of International Organizations and was appointed by Clinton as ambassador-at-large for Counter Terrorism; as the assistant secretary general of Mission Support in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations; and as deputy commissioner of counterterrorism for the New York Police Department.

In 2011. he was appointed as the assistant secretary of defense of Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict where he established the Irregular Warfare Group and was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award.

He died July 30, 2018, and is survived by his widow, Sita Graham Vasan, who lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and a son and daughter.

• Retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 James J. Korenoski, the first command chief warrant officer of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1987 as an infantryman and completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1994. With the 5th Special Forces Group he served as weapons sergeant; intelligence sergeant; detachment commander; company, battalion, and group operations warrant; and as an instructor at the Warrant Officer Institute.

He had numerous combat deployments to Somalia, Operations Desert Shield/Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve.

After more than 31 years of service, Korenoski concluded his military career as command chief warrant officer for the 5th Special Forces Group.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with five oak leaf clusters and Legion of Merit.

Korenoski is a life member of the Special Forces Association and is currently vice president of Chapter 38 in Kentucky, where he lives with his wife of more than 30 years, Angie. The couple has two sons who also serve in the military.

• Retired Sgt. Maj. Vladimir “Jake” Jakovenko immigrated to the United States in November 1950 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1958.

In 1959, he left active duty and entered the Army Reserve but returned to active duty in 1962, a year after he became an American citizen.

Jakovenko served with the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to the Dominican Republic after completing Ranger School.

In December 1965, he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam as member of a long-range reconnaissance patrol and returned to the 82nd Airborne Division in December 1966.

Jakovenko was assigned to the 6th Special Forces Group after completing the Special Forces Qualification Course in June 1968.

Later that year, Jakovenko was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group in the II Corps area of operation in South Vietnam, before returning to the 6th Special Forces Group between 1969 and 1971.

From 1969 to 1971, Jakovenko served with the 6th Special Forces Group, participating in the Son Tay Raid mission to free American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam.

After his service in Vietnam, Jakovenko returned to 5th Special Forces Group at then-Fort Bragg, until 1980 when he served two years with the Army Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program at the University of Guam.

After his time in ROTC, Jakovenko served as sergeant major for 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group.

In 1985, Jakovenko was assigned to the special projects support activity at Fort Bragg.

Jakovenko retired from the Army in 19990 as sergeant major for the U.S. Army Western Command Special Operations Detachment at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

His awards include a Silver Star for his actions at Son Tay in Vietnam, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with valor and two oak leaf clusters and the Purple Heart.

Jakovenko lives in Stanton, Kentucky, with his wife, Sandy.

• Master Sgt. Harvey Gordon Brande, who was held as a prisoner of war in Southeast Asia for five years, served in the Army three times beginning with his first enlistment in August 1954 during which he served as a tank crewman at Fort Lewis, Washington; as a tank driver, tank loader and tank gunner at then-Fort Bragg; and then with the 370th Armored Infantry Battalion in West Germany until July 1958.

Brande rejoined the Army as a military police officer in December 1958 and was assigned to the 515th Ordnance Company at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico until March 1962.

A month later, he rejoined the Army for the third time as a tank driver with the 10th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Ord, California, until he attended Medical Corpsman and Special Forces Aidman Training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg. He then served with the 1st Special Forces Group, in Okinawa, Japan, and with the 3rd Special Forces Group at then-Fort Bragg.

While deployed to South Vietnam as a Special Forces medic he was captured at Lang Vei on Feb. 7, 1968. Brande and another soldier escaped 11 days later, but was recaptured Feb. 25, 1968. He spent 1,865 as a prisoner of war before being released on March 16, 1973. He received two Silver Stars and retired at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Feb. 27, 1975.

Brande died Aug. 7, 2021.

Other inductees

Other veterans civilians and soldiers inducted into the civil affairs regiment included: Col. Frank E. Toscani; Staff Sgt. Kashif M. Memon, who was killed in action Oct. 25, 2012, while serving with the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion in Afghanistan, and civilians Jeanne J. Goldmann and Dr. Troy Sacquety.

Civilian William “Bill” Woon was inducted as an honorary member of the Special Forces regiment.

Spec. 5 Richard Hosier, Alexis Ureyvitch Sommaripa and Clarence "Chad" Spawr were inducted as members into the psychological operations regiment along with honorary members retired Col. David C. Grohoski, Marine Corps Col. Todd M. Manyx and Air Force Lt. Col. Robert C. Teasdale.

Roxanne Merritt, the Special Warfare Museum director who has served in the special warfare community, is the first person to be inducted into all three regiments as an honorary member.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

More: Special operation forces induct members into regiments at Fort Bragg. Here's who they are.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: The latest veterans, civilians inducted into Special Forces regiment