Good question. Team numbering is actually pretty simple once you understand what the components are. Let's use your 574 (If I remember right, I know the Team Sgt for this team).
5...this indicates that the team is from 5th Special Forces Group. I bet you could already figure this one out. All of the groups will begin with their first letter. 1st group is a 1, 7th is a 7, 20th with a 2 etc.. So what about 10th Group or 19th Group you say? 10th GRP teams start with a 0, and 19th's start with a 9.

7...this number designates what company and battalion the team belongs to. Since it's a 7, I know it's Company A, 3d Battalion, 5th SFG. It goes like this.....1, 2, 3, = A, B, C, 1st Battalion...4, 5, 6, = A, B, C, 2nd Battalion...7, 8, 9, = A, B, C, 3d Battalion. What about 10? Doesn't exist. An SF Group is 3 Battalions, 3 Companies per.

4...Indicates the operational specialty of the team. There's a little variance here. Some groups or companies may number them differently or have different specialties related to the number, but for the most part it goes like this... 1 = generally a direct action team (door kickers)...2 could be a mountain/ vehicle team, 3 could be a boat team, 4 is generally always a HALO team (military freefall), 5 is generally a SCUBA team, 6 could be something else...etc, etc.

One of the old reliable truths in the Army (even Special Forces) is that you don't get to "choose" anything on your own. You're generally told and that's just the way it goes. Some guys can get the inside line and get to a team that they want but usually they're just assigned as a position needs to be filled. A HALO qualified guy has a better chance of getting to a HALO team but that's not a guarantee. I know a captain that commanded a HALO team, wasn't HALO qual'd, finally got to the school and did 1 jump with his team before he got reassigned to a battalion position.

As for 666 (you really think that's cool?), there used to be one when there was a 6th SFG. They were deactivated in 1971.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can answer anything else for you!

 

Ah! Thank you VERY VERY much!
This has been a major headache for us.

Regarding the "ODA 666", I guess its cool if you're a cynical generation-X guy living in Sweden, collecting action figures.
I guess listening to Iron Maiden in my early years has something to do with it as well

If there's any question I can answer for you, you're more than welcome. (My expertise is the swedish bikini team. )

 

There would never be an ODA 666, because there isn't any SF group, that starts with 6. All the groups,will start 1st,3rd,5th,7th,10th which will start with 0. Then in the Army reserve, 19th,would start with a 9,and 20th would start with a 2,because 10th already uses 0.

 

So what does 1134 mean? I know its 1st group but what about the other numbers?

 

1st Bn, C Company, Freefall Team

 

I’ve been recently told that the new system for numbering has changed ODA 1026 for example is B co 1st battalion 10th sfg and a mountain team correct me if I’m wrong

 

They still use 3 number ODAs,but your right about the 4th number, I don't remember exactly if there was 5 or 6 in each company. Because ive been outta the military for a long time, but the 4th number in a ODA, can be Halo,Mountain,Expert Driving, Scuba,I can't remember if there was 1 or 2 more. But how you put down ODA 1026, and said that would be B co,1st batt 10th group. That ODA you put would actually be 1st group, all 7 groups, start off with the number the group is in, like any group that starts with a 1 is frist group,same as 3rd,5th, 7th,10th ODA starts off at 032,which is 3rd batt, Bravo Co, would be the 2,because B is the 2nd number, plus 10th SF group. Then 19th,starts with 9, and 20th group,starts off,as 2.