United States Special Operations Forces

United States Special Operations Forces are active and reserve Component forces of U.S. Military Services designated by the United States Secretary of Defense and specifically trained to conduct operations in an area under enemy or unfriendly control or politically sensitive environments to achieve military, diplomatic, informational, and economic objectives of the United States.

General information

While in the continental U.S., most SOF units answer to the administration of their assigned branch of the military, but organizationally under U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Operational control of deployed units falls under the respective SOCOM and its Special Operations Command structure. However, the Secretary of Defense can place all Special Operations Forces under the direct control of the SOCOM, usually in time of active hostilities.

U.S. SOF units have the same basic role in warfare as the special forces of most other countries, supplying small, elite units that can operate far behind enemy lines on unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, counter-terrorism, special reconnaissance and direct action missions.

List of United States Special Operations Forces

pecial Missions Units

* 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) "Delta Force" (United States Army)
* United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group "DEVGRU" (United States Navy)
* 24th Special Tactics Squadron - (United States Air Force)
* Intelligence Support Activity "ISA" (United States Army)

=United States Army=

* United States Army Special Forces ("Green Berets")
* 75th Ranger Regiment ("Rangers")
* 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) ("Night Stalkers")
* 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne)
* 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne)

=United States Navy=

* SEALs (Sea, Air, Land)
* Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC)

=United States Air Force=

* 352d Special Operations Group
* 353d Special Operations Group
* 1st Special Operations Wing (Formerly the 16th Special Operations Wing)
* 27th Special Operations Wing
* Combat Control Team
* Air Force Special Operations Weather Technician
* United States Air Force Pararescue

=United States Marine Corps=

* Marine Special Operations Battalions (MSOBs)
* Marine Special Operations Advisor Group (MSOAG)
* Marine Special Operations Support Group (MSOSG)
* Marine Force Reconnaissance (Deep Reconnaissance and Direct Action) - 1st and 2nd Force Recon Companies have been absorbed into the MSOBs.

= Intelligence Community Special Units=

* Strategic Support Branch (SSB)
* Special Activities Division (CIA)
* Special Collections Service (SCS, joint NSA - CIA)

Disbanded or Inactive Units

In the modern U.S. military structure since World War II, dozens of special operations units have been formed and later disbanded. Many were created for a specific, limited objective (such as Task Force 11), or for a specific conflict. In some cases, a special operations unit is reconstituted under a different name, usually for reasons of security, or evolves from a pilot project into a more permanent force. See Former United States special operations units.

U.S. Special Operations Centers, Schools, and Courses

*Joint Special Operations University - Hurlburt Field
*Ranger School - Fort Benning
*John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School - Fort Bragg
*Naval Special Warfare Center - Coronado, California
*USAF Special Operations School - Hurlburt Field
*Marine Special Operations School - Camp Lejeune

Commands

* United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command
* United States Army Special Operations Command
* United States Air Force Special Operations Command
* United States Naval Special Warfare Command
* United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
* Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)

ee also

*List of special forces units

References

*cite web|url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/
author=USDOD
date=June 5, 2003
title=US DOD Dictionary of Military Terms
publisher=United States Department of Defense. United States of America
accessdate=2004-01-11

*cite web|url=http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/
author=USDOD
date=June 5, 2003
title=US DOD Dictionary of Military Terms: Joint Acronyms and Abbreviations
publisher=United States Department of Defense. United States of America
accessdate=2004-01-11

*cite book
title=Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit
author=CSM Eric Haney (retired, former Delta Force operator and founding member
origyear=2002
publisher=Delacorte Press
id=ISBN 0-385-33603-9

*cite book
title=Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces
author=Linda Robinson
date=2004
publisher=PublicAffairs
id=ISBN 1-58648-249-1

*cite book
title=Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern Warfare
author=Mark Bowden
date=1999
id=ISBN 0-87113-738-0
publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press

*cite book
title=Not a Good Day to Die : The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda
author=Sean Naylor
publisher=The Berkeley Publishing Group
date=2005
id=ISBN 0-425-19609-7

*cite web|url=http://www.specwarnet.net/sf.htm
title=Special Forces Units
accessdate=2006-10-08

External links

* [http://www.shadowspear.com/ Special Operations Community Website]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020802559.html Learning to Fight a War]