7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was named the USSOCOM Command Language Program of the Year, recognizing the unit’s excellence in language readiness, operational alignment, and command-level accountability on January 30th, 2026, on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The award highlights the group’s approach to treating language as a decisive operational capability across the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.
Master Sgt. Ryan Cole, 7th SFG(A) Command Language Program Manager, emphasized the long-term leadership investment behind the program’s success. “Over the past year, the command undertook a comprehensive modernization of its language enterprise, revamping processes, tightening accountability, and aligning training directly with operational demands. We had to revamp, restructure, refocus, and modernize the Command Language Program,” Cole said. “We sharpened priorities, tightened processes, built efficient data-driven systems, and modernized how the program communicates, engages, and delivers training directly supporting the operational readiness in the U.S. SOUTHCOM AOR.”
Those efforts produced measurable outcomes. In fiscal year 2025, 7th SFG(A) conducted 13 live environment training events across six countries, providing 57 Soldiers with immersive language experience, in addition to two operational language exchange events totaling more than 9,000 hours of intensive training. In addition, 7th SFG(A) was able to achieve a record high of over 84 percent, while 64 percent surpassed U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s 1+ / 1+ proficiency benchmark. Notably, 7th SFG(A) remains the only unit in USSOCOM to operate an internal sustainment program maintaining 100 percent 2/2 or higher proficiency among its military intelligence linguists.
“Command emphasis was cited as the decisive factor behind 7th SFG(A)’s results. Based on my experience, this is the most important part of the LREC program’s success,” said Sgt. Maj. (Ret.) Wiley MacCormack, a retired Green Beret from 7th SFG (A). “From the group commander down to the ODAs and everyone in between, 7th SFG(A) takes language seriously and applies it to all aspects of the mission.”