First Special Service Force
6th CO, 3rd REG
Living History Group Member: HRS

FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE HRS

6TH COMPANY, 3rd REGIMENT

(6-3)

THE BLACK DEVILS

UNIT BY-LAWS

APPROVED 1 January 2007

Amended 23 April 2011

MISSION STATEMENT

“The First Special Service Force, 6th Company, 3rd Regiment, Living History Group, HRS” strives to promote public awareness of and to educate those who have an interest in the traditions and the heritage of the Veterans of World War II by respectfully portraying them at private and public displays, private and public battle re-enactments, parades, class room presentations and any other means to keep alive the traditions and to honor the sacrifices of the Veterans of the “First Special Service Force” and all World War II Veterans. We will strive to achieve the highest standard of authenticity and accuracy in all presentations. We will honor all Veterans of the United States Armed Forces and of all Nations who fought for freedom.

UNIT MOTTO

“Das Dicke Ende Kommt Noch!”, “The Worst is yet to come”,

UNIT NICKNAME

“THE BLACK DEVILS”

Table of Organization and Regulations

Article I

ADMINISTRATIVE RULES

1. The name of this group shall be: “The First Special Service Force, 6th Company, 3rd Regiment, Living History Group, HRS” hereinafter referred to as the “F.S.S.F.” or the “Force”.

2. This is an open group; you can do any impression or be a member of any other re-enacting groups.

3. Membership in the in the Force is by invitation only. Every candidate that is approved for active membership agrees to abide by FSSF administrative rules regarding appearance, FSSF, and HRS regulations. Charter and active members may portray impression of other time periods in other re-enacting groups. However, members of the First Special Service Force, HRS may not join any other First Special Service Force re-enacting units in any other re-enacting society or organization.

4. No dues shall be collected at this time; all current members shall make all decisions on financial matters.

5. Membership in the HRS is mandatory for membership in the Force.

6. You must be at least 21 years of age.

7. Haircut shall be per F.S.S.F. regulations. Hair must be cut, (trimmed) in a 1940’s style, it must be tapered and trimmed to the nape of the neck and around the ears so as not to touch the ears or collar.

8. The Force National Battle shall be Jefferson Barracks held during the month of April each year. You will get oneLiving History credit and one Battle credit if you attend the event.

9. The Unit Commander shall have the final say on all uniforms and equipment; most decisions will be based on information from “The Supercommandos” book by Robert Todd Ross.

ARTICLE II

TABLE OF ORGANIZATION

1. Time period: From inception as the First Special Service Force to deactivation as the 474th, 1942 – 1945.

2. The Force shall never be greater than 12 active members, Service Battalion may be unlimited.

3. The Force shall be governed by the Section Leader/ Commander who shall carry the rank of Staff Sergeant, which will be the highest rank allowed

4. The rank structure will be determined as needed

5. Article II, “Table of Organization” is subject to change by Majority vote if the Membership agrees and the Unit Commander calls for by-law changes.

ARTICLE III

SAFETY AND AUTHENTICITY

1. All F.S.S.F. safety and authenticity rules shall be strictly adhered to. All Force Members attending any other unit-sponsored event shall be governed by that Unit safety and authenticity rules unless they are in violation of State or Federal regulations. Force unit integrity and uniform regulations will be strictly adhered to.

2. The use of any controlled substance shall be as per Local, State or Federal laws.

3. Each F.S.S.F. member must have all required documents for all weapons and pyro technical devices that their home State requires. These documents must be in their possession at all times during an event. This applies to any F.S.S.F. Sanctioned event or any event where you are a representative of the Force.

4. Ammunition: NO weapon shall ever be loaded in any display area unless authorized by the F.S.S.F. Section Leader or his representative or by the sponsoring unit. The. F.S.S.F. shall not ever provide ammunition to its members or others. Each member is responsible for his/her own ammunition supply. NO LIVE AMMUNITION IS EVER ALLOWED AT ANY RE-ENACTMENT OR OTHER EVENT. A FULL DECLATRATION OF ALL AMMUNITION AND PRYO TECHNIC DEVICES WILL BE MADE BEFORE ANY MEMBER IS ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY F.S.S.F. SANCTIONED EVENT.

ARTICLE IV

RANK

1) Private: rank for all new members for first year

1A) Private First Class: after one year as PVT. and attending six events.

2) Corporal: after three active years, (1-PV+ 2-PFC) and with 18 events

2A) T-Corporal: Impression must be that of a Medic, MP or Service Battalion.

3) Sergeant: after five active years, (1-PV + 2 PFC+ 2 Corporal) and with 30 events.

3A) T-Sergeant: Technical position, crew served weapon or Vehicle owner

4) Staff Sergeant:, F.S.S.F. Section Leader/ Commander

5) Rank is subject to change at Unit Commanders discretion or by majority vote, per Unit

commanders consent.

6) If a member transfers from another Force Group, they shall retain there rank so long as it is not greater than S/SGT. There may be more than one S/SGT.

ARTICLE V

Awards

1. SERVICE AWARDS: Service, Good Conduct, etc. awards may only be worn by those members who actually earned them in the service of the United States Armed Forces and they must have a WWII equivalent except as cited in Section II. NO VALOR AWARDS WILL BE ALLOWED UNLESS EARNED WHILE IN THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY.

2. AWARDS: The F.S.S.F. will award ribbons in actual use during W.W.II only, The ribbons will be awarded in the following manner.

1) GOOD CONDUCT RIBBON: Attended five (5) displays or activities where a battle was not performed. Activities include but are not limited to, parades, recruiting, school talks, community service, or other events that contribute to unit moral. The first award is the ribbon, then for every five (5) events thereafter a knot will be awarded up to a maximum of five knots. This will be the only award which rolls over from year to year.

2) Qualification Badges: You must live fire qualify on your World War II weapon in order to wear any of the marksmanship awards. In order to wear the bayonet bar, (1 award), you must have a knife kill at a tactical battle. In order to wear the hand grenade bar (1 award), you must have a wheeled or tracked vehicle kill at a tactical battle. To wear any of the heavy weapons bars, you must own and bring to Force events the weapon and use it. You must own a World War II vehicle in order to earn any of the driver or mechanic badges.

3) LONGEVITY: For every two (2) years of continuous membership in the F.S.S.F., that member will be awarded one (1) overseas bar to be worn on the lower sleeve of the Class A uniform, not to exceed 4 bars.

4) JUMP WINGS: Jump wings and ovals may be worn by any F.S.S.F. member who has been awarded the Rank of Private First Class and has attended 6 sanctioned events No stars will be worn on the jump wings. .

5) ARM CORDS: Arm cords will be awarded to any F.S.S.F. member who has been awarded the Rank of Private First Class and attended six sanctioned events

6) OTHER AWARDS: Any award given to a member of the F.S.S.F. by a Foreign Government or earned by prior service in the Armed Forces of a Foreign Government. Example, Canadian Jump Wings.

7) ACTIVE SERVICE: After five years Active Service you may wear the Kiska patch on your Class A Uniform only.

8)TACTICAL BATTLE AWARD: After 25 Tactical Battle, you may wear the EIB, Expert Infantry Badge on the class A Uniform only.

9) ACCREDITATION: Credit for battles or displays will be given one per event and you may earn two credits if you attend two events in the same weekend, the National will award one Living History credit and one Battle credit.

3. CAMPAIGN RIBBONS

1) AMERICAN DEFENSE: Awarded to all members upon promotion to Private First Class

2) PACIFIC CAMPAIGN: Awarded to any member who participates in a Pacific battle. One battle star will be permitted. One Invasion spearhead only if a landing was performed at a PTO. Any PTO impression.

3) AMERICAN CAMPAIGN: Awarded to any member who attends two (2) ETO battles, (public or tactical), and two Living History events in one (1) year. No battle stars will be permitted and only one award may be earned. American Defense must be earned first.

4) EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN: Awarded to any F.S.S.F. member who attends three (3) ETO battles, (public or tactical), and three Living History events in the same year, (you must earn the American Campaign ribbon first). The first award will be the ribbon and subsequent awards will be in the form of battle stars. Only one award will be made per year, with a maximum of six overall. Arrowhead device will be earned by any F.S.S.F. member who participates in an actual beach landing; only one (1) award will be earned.

All awards are at the members own expense, none are provided by the force.

Disclaimer. Any section of these by-laws that are in discordance with Federal or State laws shall immediately become null and void at the time of discovery