According to Business Insider
CRF companies are an elite cadre of Green Berets who specialize in Direct Action, Counterterrorism, and Hostage Rescue (HR) missions. Each Special Forces Group (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 10th) has a CRF company, and they are considered to be the strategic reserves of each combatant command in case of an emergency around the world. CRF used to be called Commander’s-in-extremis (CIF) companies.
SOFREP has learned that the United States Army Special Operations Command in conjunction with the 1st Special Forces Command (1st SFC) have decided to disband the CRFs because they are said to be underutilized and because of a lack of operators.
The decision, however, aligns with the ongoing pivot from Counterterrorism and Direct Action operations to Unconventional Warfare and Foreign Internal Defense as the Department of Defense is edging away from counterinsurgencies and gearing toward a near-peer conflict with adversaries such as Russia and China.
A move that foreshadowed the decision to disband the CRFs took place earlier this year. In January, the American embassy in Baghdad came under siege by Iraqi protesters and Iranian-back militias before and after the targeted killing of the Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
However, Central Command, the combatant command that is responsible for that Area of Operations, and Special Operations Command Central, a sub-unified command responsible for Special Operations in the same AOR, decided to deploy a Marine element instead of A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group , the CRF unit responsible for the Middle East. The message was clear — we don’t need you.