Special forces

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For other uses of the term, see Special forces (disambiguation).

Special forces or (sometimes colloquially) special operations forces (general term) are military units formed and trained to conduct missions of unconventional warfare, counter-terrorism, reconnaissance, direct action, and foreign internal defense. Special Forces typically comprise relatively small groups of highly-trained soldiers who are armed and supplied with specialized equipment, and operate upon the principles of self-sufficiency, stealth, speed and close teamwork.

The term is vague, exactly what forces could be considered special forces often is a judgement call, however, a special force is not the same as an élite force. An élite force is a force of soldiers chosen for their competence and assigned to the same unit. Most special forces are élite to some degree, but all élite forces are not special forces. An élite force unit may be expected to execute the same action as a regular military unit, only better, and thus could hardly be called a special force; an example is Napoleon's Imperial Guard. Nor should special forces be confused with military specialists, who simply are people with special skills and tasks within an army, such as military doctors, engineers, forward observers, and mechanics. A special forces team certainly may include people with military specialist training, but, apart from that, the terms have nothing to do with one another.

Norwegian Special forces

The selection process for a special operations force is typically extremely rigorous, with recruit training often exceeding two years. Certain missions may require additional training. As the work of special operations forces is often performed covertly and involves classified information, candidates are put through extensive trials prior to acceptance, which have extremely high attrition ("washout") rates. Candidates must also have security clearance. Special operations forces may work with intelligence agencies on a regular basis, facilitating rapid action in response to current intelligence.

Special forces operators may also be used to train foreign local forces when military aid is given to other countries, so that much of their specialised training includes language and cultural skills. Due to the secrecy surrounding much of their training and work, special operations forces have a mystique and aura of mystery about them, and have frequently been the topic of military fiction and action movies. Contrary to their high profile in popular culture and the media, those in special operations units have often referred to themselves as "The Quiet Professionals".

1 History of special forces
2 World War I
3 World War II
4 Late 20th and early 21st century
5 Special operations forces
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History of special forces

French naval commandos on exercise in Djibouti

Special operations forces have played an important role throughout the history of warfare when the aim has been to achieve disruption by "hit and run" and sabotage, rather than more traditional face to face combat. Other significant roles lay in reconnaissance, providing essential intelligence from close to or among the enemy, and increasingly in combating terrorists, their infrastructure and activities.

Early special forces units include the Companions, Alexander the Great's guard and veritable hammer. During the Napoleonic wars, rifle and sapper units existed who were not committed to the formal lines that made up most battles of the day. They instead held more specialised roles in reconnaissance and skirmishing. The formation of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Second Boer War may also be seen as an early manifestation of a unit for unconventional warfare.

[edit] World War I

During World War I Colonel Bassi of the Italian Army formed 27 battalion sized "Reparti d'assalto" (Assault Units) called Arditi. They were assigned the tactical role of shock troops, breaching enemy defences in order to prepare the way for a broad infantry advance. The Reparti d'assalto were successful in bringing a degree of movement to what had previously been a war of entrenched positions. The Arditi were not considered infantry troops, but were seen and organised as a separate combat arm and therefore received extended tactical training, the best and newest weapons and a distinct new uniform. Thus they are some of the modern world's first true special forces. On the German side, the success of the Spring Offensive reflected on their successful employment of specially trained stormtrooper or Sturmtruppen units, whose unconventional infiltration tactics made them de facto special forces.

[edit] World War II

After Operation Greif, Otto Skorzeny was labelled "the most dangerous man in Europe".

During World War II in 1940 the British Commandos were formed following Winston Churchill's call for "specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast." The Commandos were selected from volunteers among existing servicemen and went on to spawn a number of other specialist units including the Long Range Desert Group, the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service and the Small Scale Raiding Force of the Special Operations Executive. In the Burma Campaign, the Chindits, whose long range penetration groups were trained to operate from bases deep behind Japanese lines, contained commandos (King's Regiment (Liverpool), 142 Commando Company) and Gurkhas. Their jungle expertise, which would play an important part in many British special forces operations post war, was learnt, at a great cost in lives, in the jungles of Burma fighting the Japanese.

In mid-1942, the United States formed the Rangers who were based on and trained by the Commandos. The United States and Canada also formed a sabotage ski brigade for operations in Norway who became known as the Devil's Brigade during their eventual service in Italy. Merrill's Marauders were modelled on the Chindits and took part in similar operations in Burma.

The German army had the Brandenburger Regiment who became a special forces unit used by the Abwehr for infiltration and long distance reconnaissance in Fall Weiss of 1939 and the Fall Gelb and Barbarossa campaigns of 1940. Later during the war the SS- Jagdverbände, a unit within the Waffen SS commanded by Otto Skorzeny, also conducted many special operations.

On October 21, 1944 Hitler—inspired by an American subterfuge which had put three captured German tanks flying German colours to devastating use at Aachen—summoned Skorzeny to Berlin and assigned him to lead a panzer brigade. As planned by Skorzeny in Operation Greif, about two dozen German soldiers, most of them in captured American army Jeeps and disguised as American Military Police officers, penetrated American lines in the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge and sowed disorder and confusion behind the Allied lines by mis-directing convoys away from the front lines. A handful of his men were captured by the Americans and spread a rumour that Skorzeny was leading a raid on Paris to kill or capture General Eisenhower. Although this was untrue, Eisenhower was confined to his headquarters for weeks and Skorzeny was labelled "the most dangerous man in Europe".

In Italy, the Decima Flottiglia MAS were responsible for the sinking and damage of considerable Allied tonnage in the Mediterranean. After the division of Italy in 1943, those fighting with Germany retained the original name and those fighting with the Allies retitled as the Mariassalto.

The Z Special Unit was an Australian Navy commando unit which bombed Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour.

[edit] Late 20th and early 21st century

Australian special forces and Afghan soldiers prepare to depart on a joint patrol in September 2005.

Throughout the later half of the 20th century and into the 21st century, Special Forces have come to higher prominence, as governments have found objectives can sometimes be better achieved by a small team of anonymous specialists than a larger and much more politically controversial conventional deployment. In both Kosovo and Afghanistan, Special Forces were used to co-ordinate activities between local guerrilla fighters and air power. Typically, guerrilla fighters would engage enemy soldiers and tanks causing them to move, where they could be seen and attacked from the air.

Invariably, special forces were used in key military operations such as the Falklands War, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the first and second Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, first Chechen War and second Chechen War, the Iranian Embassy siege (London), Moscow theater hostage crisis and Japanese Embassy hostage crisis (Lima).

[edit] Special operations forces

British Special Forces include the Special Air Service, Special Boat Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, they are supported within the Directorate of Special Forces by the Special Forces Support Group, 18(UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Air Wing.

In the U.S. military, the term special operations forces refers to all components of United States Special Operations Command, such as U.S. Army Rangers, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (known more commonly as "Delta Force"), Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, and the 160th SOAR; Navy SEALs and Special Boat Units; Air Force Special Operations and Marine Forces Special Operations. These units have unique capabilities and fight by unconventional, usually covert, means, hence the designation of "special". "U.S. Special Forces" refers exclusively to the United States Army Special Forces, informally known as "Green Berets" for their traditional headgear. While the phrases "special forces" and "special operations forces" are often confused or regarded as synonymous, in the US military, they are not equivalent.