Part of being cool is looking cool, and no one looks cooler than a US Special Forces operator. They are tasked with completing the most difficult and dangerous missions. To do this, they also use some amazing gear. This article is going to detail a full loadout for a US Special Forces soldier.
Before we get super into the weeds with the details of the full loadout, let us first discuss the ground rules. This loadout is going to be for an average Special Forces soldier who might be partnering with local forces, in an overseas war zone, or for a direct action mission. We aren’t considering specialized gear like machine guns, or sniper rifles, nor are we considering things like military vehicles and aircraft. If your average Green Beret wouldn’t carry it on a patrol, then we won’t talk about it.
As we go through the list you’ll see several reference pics courtesy of the US Army to help explain exactly which gear they use. Now that that is out of the way, we can consider the first key pieces of equipment that every special operator will carry on a combat mission. The helmet, NVGs, and associated accessories.
Here’s the full spreadsheet with links to every item.
Helmet and Night Vision Systems: Total Cost $16,037
Recent photos of Special Forces operators show that they are wearing some version of the Ops Core high cut helmet. The image below depicts an operator wearing a helmet in a very common setup.
As with many special operations units, there are allowances for individual preferences on equipment. We can see a helmet cover, Peltor Comtac communications headset, and a remote battery pack. In the very front you can also see an NVG mount. Normally you will also see an infrared strobe mounted on the helmet, so aerial platforms can identify friendlies at night.
The other big ticket item that is critical for mission success, especially at night, are the night vision goggles. From the photos I’ve seen, it seems that most Green Berets are wearing PVS 31A’s. These NVG’s are a lighter, better version of the original PVS 15 dual tube goggles.
Image Courtesy of 10th Special Forces Group
These head systems are by far the most expensive pieces of equipment that are issued to a US Green Beret. The NVG’s cost $13,099 alone. I should note that these are prices that are reflective of what a civilian could purchase the equipment for. I have no idea what the military or SOCOM is paying for individual equipment.
The Plate Carrier and Tactical Equipment: $10,345
This, by far, is the easiest equipment for average joes like us to purchase. Most of it can be purchased directly from Amazon, and will show up at your house faster than you can say Q course.
Finding the correct plate carrier took a long time. After examining dozens of images, it seems that there are a variety of factors that affect what plate carrier these operators are wearing. Some are wearing personally procured carriers, some have older carriers, but I have consistently seen SF guys wearing Crye JPC 2.0 plate carriers.
The guy on the machine gun is wearing a Crye JPC. It is a very popular plate carrier across many military and tactical police units, for good reason. Crye Precision has a reputation for building quality gear, even if it is a little pricey.
A standard load out for most operators will be a plate carrier, with 6 magpul PMAGS, 2-3 glock mags, and assorted pouches. Most of the pouches I’ve seen come from the Crye smart pouch suite, but this is one area where there is a ton of variance. You will also see a Crye Back Panel, or assault pack on most operators.
You will also see the ubiquitous Harris PRC 153 radio on every vest. It is the most common type of radio and it is incredibly expensive, costing around $6700 per set. If we discount the radio cost from the plate carrier, then we have a more reasonable $3,618 for plate carrier and all accessories. This figure includes around two thousand dollars for armor plates which are not publicly available. Now it’s time to cover the first line gear, and other equipment that every operator is using.
If you like fitness, shooting, and pretending to be an operator, then click here to join the Tier Three Team. It’s totally free, and over seven thousand members get the latest articles sent directly to their inbox.
Special Forces First Line Gear: $1,362
Special Forces soldiers are issued Crye G3 combat tops and bottoms in multicam. You guys are probably noticing that quite a lot of this loadout is made by Crye Precision. You know what they say, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!
Having worn standard Marine Corps camo utilities and Crye gear, I can 100% recommend the latter. They don’t rip when you bend over, and they are much more comfortable. I also quite like the built in knee pads. Insert promotion joke here.
The next items on our list are the Crye belt system, Safariland ALS holster, and related gear. There is a ton of variability from operator to operator on the belt and under belt, but nearly every soldier is using the Safariland ALS holster for their pistol.
You’ll find that if you download the spreadsheet, most pieces of first line gear can actually be purchased on from Tactical Distributors, which kind of blows my mind to think that you can basically get world class gear to your front door so easily. I can remember waiting months for replacement gear in the Marine Corps!
Rifle, Pistol and Optics: $9,984
This is one area where the times are a changing. For years the vast majority of Green Berets used the issued Beretta M9, and the Daniel Defense Mk18 as their primary weapon. You will occasionally see these two items in circulation, but army Special Forces has awarded new contracts for both the rifle and pistol.
US Army Special Forces command recently agreed to buy new URGI upper receivers from Geissele Automatics. These receivers are mounted on legacy lowers which technically cost nothing extra. They are also issued Surefire SOCOM RC2 to suppressor. In the spreadsheet I have included a few hundred for a Colt lower. In the image below, you will see some SF dudes with those new uppers.
Interestingly enough I’ve never come across pictures of them with sub machine guns. Moreover I’ve never seen a picture of them using an M203 grenade launcher with the URGI. I’m sure they are but, I’ve yet to see it.
You can purchase almost the exact upper from Geissele, and you can also purchase the newest optic that US SOCOM should be distributing shortly. This optic is the Nightforce ATACR 1-8 low powered variable optic.
Like any quality optic, you’ll find that you end up spending as much on the glass as you do on the rifle it’s mounted on. The ATACR is a great LPVO with an illuminated center reticle, which can be turned down for night vision use.
You will continue to see legacy optics and red dot sights on many rifles for a long time, but low powered variable optics, are the wave of the future. Check out my review for more details on LVPO’s.
Most Special Forces soldiers are still using the PEQ 15 ATPIAL IR aiming laser for night operations. It’s been around for about a decade and continues to work well, even if there are better options coming to the market.
Likewise, Army Special Forces Command has determined that the standard sidearm for Green Berets will be the Glock 19. They have also started to transition to slide ride red dot optics, specifically the Trijicon RMR Gen 2. They also tend to favor the Surefire X300U as a white light for the pistol. You can all of these items up for your personal pistol, which I highly recommend. Mucho cool guy points.
The Final Tally: $37,729
This is quite pricey, especially considering that this is the basic gear that would be issued to everyone. This doesn’t even consider things like man portable drones, sniper rifles, or specialized thermal optics. With that amount of gear, those guys better stay away from rough neighborhoods. They might be robbed.
This price tag is right in line with previous loadouts for Delta Force, Army Rangers 75th Ranger Regiment, Marine Raiders, and Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). However, the Navy SEALs of DEVGRU do get the much more expensive GPNVG 18 quad tube NVG’s, which cost around $40,000 by themselves.
Don’t forget, if you want all the details then download the spreadsheet. If you have any questions or comments put them below. Now try not to spend all your allowance money of the best LARPING gear!
Any links to Amazon, Palmetto State Armory, Tactical Distributors or Brownells are affiliate links. This means that if you purchase from them we receive a small referral fee at no cost to you. It helps keep the lights on here. Thanks.
Other then mags you should include a more detailed list of some the things carried inside of your first line gear besides mags. Like things kept inside the assault pack and pouches. A full detailed list of some inner things carried inside first line gear and then one for what’s in a full Ruck.
Yeah some of those items would be nice, but you’ll find that there isn’t a whole lot of commonality on those items.
Nice article and closer than probably any that I’ve read. A couple of quick comments on a few items, as pretty much everything short of the serial numbered lower on the rifles will vary within members of our ODAs. The M9 has been off of the list for a pretty good while, being replaced by a Glock 17 or 19, normally with an RMR optic. The actual rifle was very seldom a Mk.18, too specialized, the short barrel really does make a difference ballistically speaking and not in a good way. It was really more of a SEAL thing, though I wasn’t around SEALs very much when I was on a Team. Normally we had M4A1s in one of a myriad of configurations. EOTechs were popular as optics, Aimpoints by some of the guys but not that many, a personal choice thing again. The LPVO is a great and fairly recent addition. I really appreciate that you mentioned how much things varied due to individual preferences.
I feel sorry for any person looking to rob one of these operators in the rough neighborhoods the author speaks of.
Things have really changed a lot since I served in Vietnam. We didn’t get very much specialized equipment then.
Also as of the last couple years, Patagonia is the new issuer of combat tops and bottoms, and even field uniforms. Crye hasn’t been the issuer in a couple years. Atleast for USASOC, it’s been patagonia
Very interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
The US Army Special Forces were never issued the Daniel Defense MK18 rifle. That is a civilian product. They were issued Colt M4 CQBR’s. The US Navy designates them as the MK18. These 10.5 inch SBR’s just use the Daniel Defense MK18 rail for the SOPMOD Block 2 CQBR’s.
From a nvg stand point I know for a fact a lot of sf guys use the Steiner AN/PVS-21 Low Profile NVG my dad was a green beret retired now but he was give those he used those same nvgs even when he was with grs
Good info Q thanks for letting us know.