![]() Rocky Bleier provided an inspirational and humorous presentation recounting his life experiences. The vineyard is New Mexico’s oldest winery. ********** Thursday, June 14thĪ tour of the La Vina Winery in New Mexico provided some entertainment for the attendees. Bill Olds was present for the convention as well – he played the role of the North Vietnamese general who was taken captive and exfiltrated via Fulton Extraction. Balderrama had played the role of ‘SGT Baldo’ and he posed with many of the attendees for photos. The actress that played the part of the mistress of the North Vietnamese general – Irene Tsu – was in attendance and signed numerous autographs. Autographing photographs prior to the showing during a pre-show cocktail hour were some of the actors in the film. This is the 50th anniversary of the release of the movie that starred John Wayne, David Janssen, and Jim Hutton. Wednesday evening a showing of The Green Berets took place at the Historic Plaza Theater located in downtown El Paso. OH-6A Light Observation Helicopter on display at the War Eagles Museum in New Mexico. SFA picnic held at the War Eagles Museum (photo by Brian Kanof, Chapter 9). The picnic was attended by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez. The location featured numerous vintage airplanes spanning the military and civilian aviation sectors. Las Cruces Chapter 80 hosted an afternoon trip across the border to Santa Theresa, New Mexico where convention attendees were treated to a southwest style picnic – named “Whole Enchilada Picnic” – at the War Eagles Museum. One of the events held on Wednesday morning was a Golf Outing at the Butterfield Trail Golf Course. The outgoing and incoming commander for the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion (SORB) updated the audience on recruitment efforts for Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF). A representative of USASOC’s Black Daggers gave an update on his parachute team’s activities supporting recruitment for USASOC. Other speakers provided briefings on Special Forces related topics. Bob Delaney speaking at the 2018 Special Forces Association convention held in June 2018 in El Paso, Texas. Delany is a PTS / Operational Stress authority and advocate and shared his thoughts about Post Traumatic Stress with the SF veterans in the audience. Delaney would, after his career with the New Jersey State Police, become a book author and referee for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The first was by Bob Delaney – providing an inspiring presentation about his life experiences to include his time as an undercover law enforcement officer who infiltrated the mafia gangs of New Jersey. Many informative presentations were provided during the convention. LTC (Ret) Luna provided a display of his ‘traveling’ museum on Mexican-American military history throughout the week. The hospitality room (open every day and evening) provided coffee in the morning, soft drinks, beer, and other beverages after noon time. ![]() The first day of the Special Forces Association 2018 Convention consisted of reception, registration, and welcome by the Special Forces Association National President Gary Koenitzer and Chapter IX Vice President Steve Franzoni. A description of the Special Forces Association 2018 Convention is provided below. In addition, a total of 9 well-attended briefings and presentations took place in the hotel’s in-house theater. A number of legendary Mexican-American Green Berets were in attendance at the convention and a few of them shared their war stories and experiences in formal and informal settings.Ĭhapter IX provided an excellent opportunity to the convention attendees to learn more about and enjoy the wonderful city of El Paso, Texas. The theme of the Special Forces Association 2018 Convention was a celebration of the Mexican-American Special Forces veteran. The convention featured many events and presentations that both entertained and informed the convention participants. Most of the events of the Special Forces Association 2018 convention took place at the Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel. The event was planned, coordinated, and hosted by the SFA Chapter IX – also known as the Isaac Camacho Chapter located in El Paso, Texas. Every year Special Forces veterans belonging to the Special Forces Association gather in a different part of the country to reunite with old SF friends and to make new acquaintances. The Special Forces Association 2018 Convention was held in El Paso, Texas from June 12-16, 2018.
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