Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Geoff T. Barker

U.S. Special Forces Regiment.

Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment.

LTC (Ret.) Geoff Barker is a Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment. He is a native Englishman, during his early years he grew up during the bombing of England during World War II. He enlisted in 1955 and served with the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment in the Middle East combating the EOKA Terrorist organization, where he was wounded in December 1957, spending that Christmas in the Royal Air Force Hospital at Akrotiri, Cyprus.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1965, his initial assignment was with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, and during Operation POWER PACK in the Dominican Republic. His first assignment in the Republic of Vietnam was in 1966 with the 1st Brigade (Separate), 101st Airborne Division through February 1968. From there, based on his former counterterrorism experience, against EOKA, he was recruited in-country in 1968 as a military assignee, detailed to the Combined Studies Division of the Far East Division, of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He led indigenous Provincial Reconnaissance Units (PRU) – primarily former North Vietnamese Army and former Viet Cong deserters, where his success in capturing key underground Viet Cong Infrastructure resulted in his sequential promotions in 1968 to Staff Sergeant, and then commissioned as a First Lieutenant of Infantry. The following year he was promoted to Captain, and assigned as the Chief of PRU for Military Region IV – the entire Mekong Delta, commanding 16 Americans and 1,200 mercenaries. He returned to the United States in October 1970 to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Devens, Ma. After completing a tour in Germany and various CONUS Special Forces and intelligence assignments, he retired from the U.S. Army in November 1987 as a Lieutenant Colonel, Division Chief, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (G-3), 1st Special Operations Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina – twenty two years after his arrival there as a Private (E-2).

Following retirement from active duty, he served as the Chief of Staff, North Carolina Guard, and was advanced to the grade of Colonel by Governor Jim Martin. During December 1988 he was approached and recruited to relocate to Tampa Bay, Florida to assist in writing the iteration and development of the first Joint Mission Analysis of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). He remained with USSOCOM at MacDill Air Force Base as a defense contractor from February 1989 until his final retirement in August 2007 as a Senior Special Operations Analyst supporting the Joint Operations Center, Center for Special Operations, U.S. Special Operations Command.

He is the President and CEO Emeritus and charter (1995) board member of the Special Operations Memorial Foundation, Inc., MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Recipient:

1992  Special Forces Association National Member of the Year, Fayetteville, NC. (The first year it was awarded.)

1995  President Emeritus, Chapter 60, Special Forces Association, MacDill AFB, Florida.

2000  Defense Security Service James Cogswell National Award for Outstanding Security Management, Washington, DC.

2003  U.S. Special Operations Command Civilian Award for Outstanding Service, MacDill AFB, Florida.

2010  Saint Philip Neri Silver Medal National Award, Special Forces Association, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

2012  Inducted as a Distinguished Member of the U.S. Army 1st Special Forces Regiment, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

2012  U.S. Special Operations Command Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, MacDill AFB, Florida.

2019 Saint Petersburg, Florida Annual Honored Veteran Award from Mayor Rick Kriseman.

Elected Positions held:

Secretary, Vice Chairman, and re-elected President & CEO, Special Ops Memorial Foundation, Inc., MacDill AFB, Fl.

Past President, Chapters 27, 40, and 60, U.S. Army Special Forces Association, Missouri and Florida.

Past President, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum Association, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Past Chairman, Tampa Bay Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division Association, Clearwater, Florida.

Executive Advisory Board, Vietnam Veterans Institute, Timonium, Maryland.

Life Memberships:

75th Ranger Regiment Association.

Disabled American Vets Assn, Chapter 46, Fayetteville, NC.

82nd Airborne Division Historical Society, Inc.,

Military Order of the Purple Heart Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Parachute Regiment Association, Colchester, England.

82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions Associations

Special Operations Association, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Air Commando Association.

State Defense Force Association of the United States.

American Veterans Association, Post 67.

U.S. Army Special Forces Association, Fayetteville, NC

Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 6796, Garland, Texas.

Member:

American Legion, Post 139, Tampa, Florida.

Florida Sheriffs Association, St. Petersburg, Florida.

American Society of Military Insignia Collectors.

Office of Strategic Services Society, MacLean, Virginia.

Chute & Dagger, Internat’l Military Insignia Collectors.

Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 54, Holyrood, NFL, Can

St Thomas Episcopalian Church, St Petersburg, Florida.

Decorations include:

Legion of Merit; Bronze Star w/ ‘V’ device and 2 Oak Leaf Clusters (OLC); Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal w/2 OLC; Air Medal w/numeral 2; Army Commendation Medal w/5 OLC; Army Achievement Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Vietnam Service Medal w/10 campaign stars; Armed Forces Service Medal; Humanitarian Service Medal; Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/hourglass device; NCO Professional  Development Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Army Overseas Service Medal w/numeral 3; Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry w/2 Palms; w/Silver Star; and w/2 Bronze Stars; Vietnam Honor Medal; Vietnam Staff Medal; Vietnam Civic Action Medal; British General Service Medal (Cyprus) and the Vietnam Campaign Medal w/60 device.

Awards include:

U.S. Special Forces Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachute Badge, expert – Rifle and Pistol Badges; German Army Expert Infantryman Badge, Shooting Rope (silver) and Master Parachute Badge; Royal Thai Army Special Forces Aiguillette, Master Parachute and Balloon Parachute Badges; Republic of Vietnam Ranger Badge and Master Parachute Badge; British Parachute Badge, expert Rifle and Light Machine Gun Badges, and Signal Badge; Republic of Korea Master Parachute Badge and parachute badges from Canada and France.