U.S. Special Operations Forces
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The United States Special Operations Forces is the official category where the U.S. Department of Defense lists the U.S. military units that have a training specialization in unconventional warfare and special operations. Special Operations Forces are often referred to incorrectly as U.S. Special Forces, which, in actuality, is the official name for the Green Berets.
The Department refers to such units (and similar foreign organizations) as Special Operations Forces (SOF).
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General Information
During peacetime, SOF units are usually under the operational command of their assigned branch of the military. But the Secretary of Defense can place Special Operations Forces (including all of the below, as well as U.S. Navy SEAL units, selected units of the U.S. Air Force, and other units) under the direct control of the United States Special Operations Command (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 sabotage, reconnaissance, counter-insurgency and other missions. Most have extensive airborne training.
US_Army_Rangers_on_patrol.jpg
List of U.S. Special Operations Forces (incomplete)
Active
Army
- Special Forces "Green Berets"
- 75th Ranger Regiment "Rangers"
- 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) (160th SOAR(A)) "Night Stalkers"
- 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D) "Delta Force"
Air Force
Navy
Marine Corps
- Marine Corps Force Recon (FORECON)
- Marine Corps Detachment One, U.S. Special Operations Command MCSOCOM Detachment One
Other
- CIA - Special Activities Division (SAD)
Former
- Blue Light - Part of the 5th Special Forces Group that existed into the early 1980s. According to Col. Charles Beckwith's memoirs, this Counter-Terrorist group was formed by U.S. Army Special Forces leadership who disagreed with or felt politically threatened by Beckwith's Delta Force. The unit was supposedly disbanded when Delta went operational.
- Devil's Brigade (WW II)
- Gray Fox
- Marine Raiders (WW II)
- Task Force 20
- Force 21
- Tiger Force
- Merrill's Marauders aka. 5307th Composite Unit (provisional) (WW II)
- Omega Group, Sigma Group - Vietnam War era special forces units, of which much is speculated, rumored to still exist in some form.
See also
- U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
- SWAT
External link
- SpecialOperations.com: U.S. Special Operations (http://www.specialoperations.com/usspecops.html)
References
- USDOD (June 5, 2003). US DOD Dictionary of Military Terms (http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/). United States Department of Defense. United States of America.
- USDOD (June 5, 2003). US DOD Dictionary of Military Terms: Joint Acronyms and Abbreviations (http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/). United States Department of Defense. United States of America.
- Inside Delta Force by CSM. Eric Haney (ret.) former Delta Force operator and founding member
- Masters of Chaos by Linda Robinson
- Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern Warfare by Mark Bowden