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thedrifter
07-12-05, 03:36 AM
SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Who are the Best Special Forces?
StrategyWorld

July 11, 2005: Who are the best special forces? These are the troops who carry out a large number of missions that rarely, if ever, make headlines. Most of these groups want to keep things quiet. This is a big deal, since they are relatively small forces containing very highly trained soldiers – the training often takes years, and is done at a very high standard. For example, eight out of ten trying to become Air Force pararescuemen wash out at one point or another.

While there are many special forces organizations in the world, the following are those that stand out in terms of quality and quantity.

The United States has a wide variety of special forces (nicknamed “snake eaters”). One of the most famous, due to Hollywood portrayals, are the SEALs. The United States has about 2300 SEALs, divided among six SEAL Teams (with 50 platoons of 16 men between them), plus DEVGRU (the new designation for SEAL Team Six). SEAL Team One (8 platoons) covers Southeast Asia (including hot spots like Indonesia and the Philippines), and , SEAL Team Two (8 platoons) covers Europe (including the Balkans), SEAL Team Three (8 platoons) handles Southwest Asia (think the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq), SEAL Team Four (10 platoons) covers Central and South America (Colombia and Venezuela), SEAL Team Five covers the Northern Pacific (North Korea), and SEAL Team Eight covers the Caribbean, Med, and Africa (Nigeria). The manpower and structure of DEVGRU/SEAL Team Six is classified, but some estimates place the total of personnel in that group at 200. It has been mixed in with an administrative and testing section of 300 personnel.

The U.S. Army also has Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets. These are in seven groups (five active, two reserve), each with 1400 personnel. Each group has a total of fifty-four A teams, organized into three battalions, each with three companies (consisting of six A teams – each with twelve men). These groups also have geographic assignments: The 1st Special Forces Group is assigned to Pacific Command (with a battalion in Okinawa), the 3rd Special Forces Group is assigned to European Command (specializing in Africa), the 5th Special Forces Group is assigned to Central Command, the 7th Special Forces Group is assigned to Southern Command, and the 10th Special Forces Group is assigned to European Command (with a battalion in Germany). The two reserve groups also work with various commands. The 19th Special Forces Group is assigned to Central and Pacific Commands, while the 20th is under Southern Command.

The British Special Air Service is one of the most well-known special operations groups. It got its start in World War II, when it carried out numerous missions in North Africa under David Stirling – making life miserable for the Afrika Korps. The 22nd SAS is the active duty regiment, and has four “Sabre” squadrons (A, B, D, and G Squadrons), each with 6 officers and 78 men. Two reserve SAS regiments also exist, the 21st (with A, C, and E Squadrons) and the 23rd (with A, B, and C squadrons). When support troops like the 264th Squadron (a communications unit) various headquarters units, and the retirees of R Squadron are added, that the SAS consists of about 1,000 men.

Not as well-known as the SAS, but even more selective, is the Special Boat Section (SBS). This unit consists of three squadrons (C, M, and S Squadrons) and is part of the Royal Marines. SBS members first must undergo SAS selection, then receive additional training in diving, photography, canoeing, and other skills. Among its operations include missions to convince Iraqi troops that amphibious landings were imminent in the 1991 liberation of Kuwait (a mission also performed by SEALs), the liberation of South Georgia during the Falklands War, and covert operations in Northern Ireland.

Germany also features superb special forces with a track record of success. The two major units are Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9), and Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK). GSG-9 is part of the German police, and was founded in the wake of the terrorist attack during 1972 Munich Olympics that left 11 Israeli athletes dead. It has about 250 men in its three main sub-groups, and among its successes were the recapture of hijacked airliners in 1977 and 1994. In its 1300 missions (many kept classified), there have been only four occasions where shots have been fired (the two confirmed incidents were the 1977 hostage-rescue of a Lufthansa airliner, and a 1993 shootout with two Red Army Faction terrorists). KSK is part of the Bundeswehr, and has 420 men in four fighting subgroups (out of a total of 1,000). Not much is known about their operations yet, but they have been deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan.

This is not an exhaustive list, but these are probably the most famous of the groups out there. The SAS is probably the best of these groups, due to a long track record (since 1941) of making life miserable for bad guys from Nazi Germany to al-Qaeda. Special operations troops will be around for a long time – often succeeding quietly. – Harold C. Hutchison (hchutch@ix.netcom.com)

June 14, 2005: The U.S. Marine Corps has agreed to turn over a force of 2,500 specially trained marines to SOCOM (Special Operations Command.) Bowing to pressure from the Department of Defense, and SOCOM, the marines are the last of the services to make such a contribution. Created in 1987, SOCOM gained control over army Special Forces (including Civil Affairs, Psychological Warfare and special helicopter units), navy SEALs and air force commandoes and special aviation units. But the marines said they had nothing to offer.

The marine SOCOM force will consist of 400 marines trained to provide military instruction for foreign armed forces. This has long been a Special Forces chore, and will still be. But the addition of marine training troops will take some of the pressure off Special Forces to provide this service.

The marines will also provide over a thousand marines trained as "special operations-capable." The marines have been training some of their troops to be "special operations-capable" for over a decade. But SOCOM has different standards, and skill requirements. Once the "special operations-capable" marines are turned over to SOCOM control, SOCOM will provide additional training. As part of this deal, the SOCOM marines will be available for Marine Corps operations when SOCOM doesn’t need them. It’s likely that once SOCOM gets control of these marines, they will keep them busy indefinitely.

Finally, the marines will provide some support units. These will include stuff like dog handlers (and dogs trained for military tasks), some logistical units and an Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company.

SOCOM will also keep control over Special Operations Detachment 1, a force of 86 marines trained as commandoes. SOCOM originally wanted as many as 4,000 marines, and the final deal may result in the marines giving up more than 2,500 troops.

June 5, 2005: The U.S. Marine Corps is playing hard to get during efforts to arrange marine participation in special operations work with SOCOM (Special Operations Command). Under pressure from the Department of Defense, the marines have put together a force of training teams for working with foreign armed forces. This relieves the U.S. Army Special Forces of this task. The marines have put together 24 teams, with 13 marines in each one.

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thedrifter
07-12-05, 03:36 AM
When SOCOM was established in 1987, all the services were asked to subordinate their special operations forces to SOCOM. The marines were the only ones to refuse, partly on the grounds that they believed all their troops were elite, and partly because the only elite force (by marine standards) they had was Force Recon. But the marines could not give up Force Recon, as it was the strategic recon teams the marines used for their own operations. But, under pressure from SOCOM after September 11, 2001, the marines agreed to help out. First, the marines created Detachment One (DET1), an 86 man force of commandoes who worked with the SEALs. DET1 became operational in 2003. The marines already lose a few dozen high quality troops each year to U.S. Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs and air force special operations units. So it was felt that DET1 would reduce this somewhat.

Now SOCOM wants several battalions of marines made available to SOCOM, and the marines are resisting. The marines have noted that once a service lets units go to SOCOM, they never get them back. While SOCOM picks up a lot of the costs of the units they take control of, the service the troops came from still pays lots of the costs. The marines are pretty tenacious in these inter-service battles, and may yet win this one. The marines are willing to provide battalions to SOCOM, “as needed,” but with the understanding that these units go back to marine control once the mission is completed. Meanwhile, DET1 is still technically “being evaluated,” as the Department of Defense and the marines have yet to agree on the exact details of how these marine commandoes would work for SOCOM and the marines. This sort of prolonged negotiations are one reason SOCOM considers the marines “hard to work with.” The marines take that as a compliment.

May 3, 2005: Despite problems with recruiting, and retention (hanging on to the people they’ve

got), SOCOM plans to expand the force by 2,300 troops over the next four years. This will include bringing in about a hundred additional SEALs, 500 more Special Forces, with the remainder being Civil Affairs, Psychological Warfare, and support (air and naval) troops. Higher bonuses and more fringe benefits are being offered to keep people in SOCOM. Recruiting has become more aggressive, and has benefited from the large number of army and marine infantry who now have combat experience, and feel more confident about trying out for SOCOM jobs. Such men are also easier to train. Combat experience is an enormous asset for SOCOM operators, as it gives candidates for those jobs a realistic sense of what they are getting into, and how well they will probably do.

March 23, 2005: Some interesting commando developments in the Balkans, where Special Operations was always a popular branch of the military. Most Balkan nations are cutting back on traditional (armor heavy) military forces and reorganizing many of their troops for peacekeeping and special operations. The UN pays well for peacekeepers, and the demand just keeps growing. But there is also strong interest in building larger, and more capable, Special Operations Forces (SOF). Serbia, for example, has a force of 60,000 SOF personnel, on paper at least. Some 55 percent of these are officers, or career NCOs, the balance being 9-month conscripts, backed up by some 190,000 reservists and 16,000 civilian paramilitary troops. All are officially rated as SOF, but there isn’t enough money to train all of them, especially the conscripts and reservists, to SOF standards. Actual world class "operators" amounts to a Commando "brigade" of about 500 troops, plus a Ranger-type brigade of some 1,500, plus eight SOF battalions, composed of the conscripts plus regular cadres. There are also about two battalions of Interior Ministry SOF forces. What the Serbs have going for them is an SOF attitude, which enables them to get the conscripts and reservists trained to a pretty high level, given the time and money constraints.

Romania is taking a different approach. They're planning to raise one battalion (about 500 troops) of SOF, possibly specialized for mountain operations, with small supporting naval and air SOF detachments. They've decided to adopt the US SOF model, rather than a French or Russian model, which implies a decision by the Romanians to grow closer to Uncle Sam than their more traditional major power friends, Russia or France. This also means American trainers and methods, making it easier for Romanian SOF to work their American counterparts.

March 4, 2005: Without much, if any, publicity, several Gulf States (Oman, Emirates, Bahrain, etc.) have sent some of their SOF (Special Operations Forces; commandoes) to Afghanistan to work with coalition forces. For several years, between 100-200 of these troops have been on duty there, quietly rotating contingents in and out. Al Qaeda and the Taliban know about it, as does the Afghan government. The Islamic radicals have not publicized this involvement, perhaps feeling that it would hurt them more, to publicize that Arab soldiers are fighting them, than to make a fuss about Arab soldiers fighting alongside infidels (non-Moslems.) Many of these Arab operators were trained by American and British commandoes and are considered very good. In their home countries, they are used to hunt down local terrorists, which is one reason you don’t find many Islamic terrorists in the Gulf States. The Arab commandoes know how to work the tribal and family angles to get information without violence. American Special Forces specialize in teaching this approach, which is considered a traditional method of dealing with violent radicals in Arab countries. The Arab commandoes are probably also used to interrogate Arab Islamic radicals captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Every month, a few more of these guys are picked up, and someone from their home country could get something out of them more quickly.

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thedrifter
07-12-05, 03:36 AM
March 2, 2005: The Mexican media is reporting that a group of former anti-narcotics commandos have gone over to the dark side, and are working as hit men for drug cartels along the American border. The U.S. and Mexican governments both say that the story is mostly hype, but it does raise the question of how often do commando trained troops go bad, and apply their specialized military skills to criminal activities. Reports of this happening are nothing new. It’s alleged that the guy who worked out the techniques for successful bank robbery (careful reconnaissance, planning and precise execution) was a German officer who had served in World War I, and was familiar with the work of the first large scale commando operations; the German Stosstruppen. After World War II, a few veterans of British and German commando units were reported using their skills in criminal activities. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, veterans of Russian Spetsnaz commando units were in big demand for work with criminal gangs. The pay was high, and the threat from the police low. Gang bosses openly boasted of how many of how many former Spetsnaz they had in their employ. Unlike the Spetsnaz, which uses many conscripts (who can volunteer for Spetsnaz duty once they are in uniform), most modern commandoes get into these elite units only after extensive screening and extensive training. The high failure rate in training is meant to weed out any trainees who might lack the highest physical, mental and moral qualities. If any of these guys have gone seriously rogue, it’s a well kept secret. The Mexican anti-narcotics commandos were more like a glorified SWAT team. And corruption in the Mexican military is a major problem. There are rogue commandoes out there, but most of them exist only in video games.

March 1, 2005: Without much publicity, France has moved the replenishment ship Var to the eastern Mediterranean. The Var contains facilities for running commando operations, as well as facilities for about 200 commandoes and their equipment. France apparently believes that the situation in Lebanon is going to get out of control. Since World War II, France has been something of a big brother for Lebanon, especially the Lebanese Christians. This particular relationship goes back some 800 years, to the time of the Crusades. Currently, the Lebanese are out in the streets protesting the continued presence of Syrian troops in the country. If France is going to get involved, it won’t be with a lot of troops. But you can do a lot with a hundred or so commandoes. The Var has previously supported French commandoes operating in Afghanistan.

January 27, 2005: It was recently revealed that SOCOM (Special Operations Command) had established yet another commando unit. This one, under the code word Power Geyser, is for protecting the U.S. president and government in the facet of a terrorist attack. Why another commando outfit? We already have Delta Force, the SEALs, Special Forces and a few other super SWAT type organizations. Well, since the war on terror began, the work available for Delta Force, and other SOCOM units, has greatly expanded. Not only does this create a higher work load, but also demands that Delta Force be ready to take on more different types of jobs. Commandoes are effective because they are highly trained, but they cannot know everything, and be ready for anything. Traditionally, commandoes would use their excellent basic military skills, and ability to quickly plan for an operation, to prepare for different types of missions. Someone in SOCOM, or the government, concluded that a terrorist attack on the White House, or other parts of the federal government, would not leave a lot of time for planning. In a case like this, it is common for a specialized commando force to be organized. Power Geyser is probably only a few hundred troops, at most. In addition to their basic commando skills, they would learn much about how the president, and key federal sites, are protected. They would then develop contingency plans to deal with different types of attacks. Speed would be essential in such conditions. Commandoes train to do things fast. But the more information, and preparation, they have, the faster they can move.

While SOCOM is always ready to do anything that needs be done (preferably legal), the types of jobs they can be called on to do is large. Below is a list of the Special Operations Principal Missions (the two letter codes are a shorthand for that type of mission)

Direct Action (DA) operations are small scale, and usually short duration, offensive operations. This covers a lot of situations that involve seizing or destroying personnel or material. Tactical techniques used to carry out these missions include raids (a quick attack, followed by a retreat), ambush or a direct assault (a slower and more involved attack.) Commandos may also use mines or other explosive devices or call in fire from bombers or artillery. Also available for use are portable rocket or missile launchers. Sabotage is also a possibility. SEALs, for example, are trained to attach explosives to ships.

Combating Terrorism (CBT) is a highly specialized, resource-intensive mission. Some SOF (Special Operations Force) units maintain a high state of readiness to conduct CBT operations. This is what Delta Force was originally formed for (and it costs over a $100 million a year just to keep Delta in business, Power Geyser probably costs a bit less). CBT activities include: anti-terrorism (AT, defending against terrorist attacks), counterterrorism (CT, going after known terrorists after they have attacked). Terrorism missions include things like recovering hostages or sensitive material from terrorist organizations, attacking of terrorist bases and infrastructure, and coming up with ways to reduce vulnerability to terrorism.

Foreign Internal Defence (FID) is a basic Special Forces job and involves organizing, training, advising, and assisting military and paramilitary forces in a foreign nation. This is why Special Forces tend to specialize in a specific part of the world. To do this kind of work well, you should speak the local language and understand the local customs.

Unconventional Warfare (UW) includes guerrilla warfare, subversion of hostile governments, sabotage, intelligence activities, evasion and escape (rescuing friendly pilots, or agents, from enemy territory), and other "war in the shadows" activities. During peacetime, these operations tend to be more political, while in wartime, the emphasis is on supporting military operations. For example, in peacetime, evasion and escape might involve getting friendly agents out of a place like Iraq. In war time, the same type of mission might involve going into Iraq to retrieve a downed pilot.

Special Reconnaissance (SR) is information gathering in far off, and usually dangerous, places. You send commandos to look around when satellites, recon aircraft or spies are unable to get the job done. There are several different types of SR missions, including; Environmental Reconnaissance (checking on terrain and climate in an area where larger military operations are planned), Armed Reconnaissance (locating and attacking targets of opportunity), Coastal Patrol and Interdiction (in an area you suspect hostile forces, or drug smugglers, are operating), Target and Threat Assessment (confirming where targets are in enemy territory), and Post-strike Reconnaissance (confirming targets in enemy territory were destroyed).

Psychological Operations (PSYOP) uses whatever works to make foreign populations more pro-American. Basically propaganda and spin control against foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. It's not all dropping leaflets and radio broadcasts. Often it's dealing directly with foreign journalists and planting stories.

Civil Affairs (CA) assists military operations establishing, maintaining, influencing, or exploiting relations between military forces and civil authorities, both governmental and non-governmental, and the civilian population in a friendly, neutral, or hostile area of operation.

Information Operations (IO) are really a spin off from PsyOps. Information War became all the rage in the Department of Defense during the 1990s. The only new wrinkle with Information War is that it pays closer attention to the Internet and information systems (something that sharp PsyOps operators would not have missed.) Recognizing this, IO stuff basically becomes something involving DA, SR, PSYOP and CA missions. All this is laid out in DODD S-3600.1 and JP 3-13 Draft. Now you know.

Counterproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CP) is doing whatever it takes to seize, destroy, render safe, capture, or recover weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Commandos are ideal for monitoring and enforcing compliance with arms control treaties. Commandos can also under take SR and DA missions to locate and interdict sea, land, and air shipments of dangerous materials or weapons. SOCOM has the main responsibility for organizing, training, equipping, and otherwise preparing to conduct operations in support of American counterproliferation objectives.

January 25, 2005: The U.S. Army Special Forces has been meeting its recruiting goals, bringing in 1,628 new men last year. The Special Forces recruits from troops already in the army, and has found that the growing number of combat experienced soldiers has made recruiting easier. Since the 1980s, most potential recruits did not have any combat experience. While many troops were exposed to combat during the 1991 Gulf War, that one lasted only four days. Iraq and Afghanistan are giving many more troops a lot more time under fire, and convinced a lot of them that they really do want to take it up a notch, and join the Special Forces. This provides better prepared, both in terms of skills and expectations, recruits for the 2-3 years of intense training required to become a Special Forces operator. The Special Forces are highly selective, and members are highly trained. Having seen this in action themselves, many combat soldiers are inspired to see if they can reach that level of professionalism. The troops also realize that the Special Forces have a lower casualty rate than regular combat units. This has been a hallmark of elite combat units for centuries. Serving in the Special Forces also means faster promotions, and more money.

Special Forces recruiters have taken advantage of this trend by visiting units that have just returned from duty in a combat zone. With the experience of combat fresh in their minds, the troops can more realistically consider the Special Forces recruiters pitch. Many troops have encountered, or even worked with Special Forces in combat zones, and that has proved to be a major help for the recruiters. For the Special Forces, getting combat veterans is a big plus. These recruits are more easily trained, and get up to speed, with veteran Special Forces operators, more quickly.

Ellie