Special forces
For other uses of the term, see Special forces (disambiguation).Special forces (colloquially, sometimes incorrectly) or
special operations forces (general term) are
military units which are formed and trained to conduct
missions involving
unconventional warfare,
counter-terrorism,
reconnaissance,
direct action and
foreign internal defense. Special Forces typically comprise relatively small groups of highly-trained personnel who are armed and supplied with specialised equipment, and operate on principles of
self-sufficiency, stealth, speed and close
teamwork. The term is somewhat vague and exactly what forces could be considered special forces is often a judgement call. However, a special force is not the same as an elite force. An elite force is a force of soldiers picked for their competence and put in the same unit. Most special forces are elite to some degree, but all elite forces are not the special forces. An elite force unit may be expected to do exactly the same thing as a regular military unit, only better, and thus could hardly be called a special force. An example of this might be Napoleon's
Imperial Guard. Nor should special forces be confused with military specialists, that are simply people with special skills and tasks within an army, such as military doctors, engineers,
forward observers and mechanics. A special force team may certainly include people with military specialist training but apart from that, the terms have nothing to do with one another.
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".
History of special forces
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.
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.
World War I
During 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.
World War II
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 reconaissance 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 Hitlerâ€"inspired by an American subterfuge which had put three captured German tanks flying German colours to devastating use at
Aachenâ€"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.
|
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, the
Iranian Embassy siege (
London),
Moscow theater hostage crisis and
Japanese Embassy hostage crisis (
Lima).
Due to the fact that Special Forces seem "elite" by default, many dictatorships with small, specialised militaries have taken to naming their bodyguard units "Special Forces", although few (if any) of these units have the training or equipment to be considered elite by western military standards. One example would be Iraq's Special Republican Guard under
Saddam Hussein. This unit was a force of volunteer soldiers with a slightly better arsenal than the regular troops. Another example would be the North Korean Special Forces. Considered "special forces" by the North Korean government because of special training used to fight guerilla actions in tunnels, they are actually closer to military specialists.
The line between Special Forces and elite forces today is quite often severely blurred. In the "War on Terrorism", conventional troops also carry out counter-terrorism operations, but the difference between conventional troops and Special Forces troops conducting counter-terrorism operations would be the lengths to which they will go. Special Operation Forces would make a lightning quick raid, or stay in that area for a long time, interacting with the native tribes and such to hunt down terrorists while conventional troops move in and carefully comb the area for terrorists.
In the
U.S. military, the term
special operations forces refers to all components of
United States Special Operations Command , such as US
Army Rangers,
Civil Affairs,
Psychological Operations, and the
160th SOAR;
Navy Seals and
Special Boat Units;
Air Force Special Operations and
USMC Special Operations "Force Recon". These units have unique capabilities and fight by unconventional, usually covert, means, hence the designation of "special". "US 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.
*
Commando*
List of guerrillas*
List of special forces units*
Specwarnet.com*
SpecEncyclopaedia.com*
SpecencycloForum, Specialised Forces Forum*
Special Forces Search Engine*
Specialoperations.com*
isayeret.com - The Israeli Special Forces Database*
Special Operations Warrior Foundation*
STARFLEET Special Operations*
USAF Special Tactics
