The Indian Scouts that forged the legacy of American Special Forces

If you are interested in reading about the origin story of America’s irregular warfare ethos, then take a look at “The Indian Scouts that forged the legacy of American Special Forces” by Daniel Tobias Flint, a We Are The Mighty history essay.

Long before “special operations” was a formal label, the U.S. Army was already relying on Native American scouts as the decisive edge in small, mobile warfare. Starting in the 1860s, scouts from many tribal nations brought terrain knowledge and fieldcraft that conventional units simply couldn’t replicate. They could read hours-old tracks. They moved without leaving a trace. And they served as far more than trackers—they were interpreters, cultural guides, informants, and shock troops across frontier campaigns.

The article’s most striking connection is both symbolic and operational. In 1890, the Army authorized the crossed-arrows insignia for Indian Scouts. It remained until the Scouts were disbanded in 1947. Soon after, in 1952, the newly established Special Forces branch adopted those same crossed arrows as their insignia. The choice was deliberate, explicitly linking the Green Beret mission—deep reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, working with local populations—to this earlier lineage.