U.S. Special Operations Forces

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).

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. Special Operations Command consults with the theater commander about the best mix of SOF units and how best to use them. All Army SOF forces are supported by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR, Night Stalkers).

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.

75th Ranger Regiment (Rangers)

Rangers were formerly identified by black berets, but now wear a khaki beret as their distinctive headgear. The Rangers are primarily used in reconnaissance, the gathering of intelligence data (including the capture of individual people), long-range patrolling, and security for operations by Delta Force. To become Ranger-qualified, soldiers must pass the nine-week Ranger School, which is one of the most demanding and intensive in the United States Armed Forces.

Special Forces (Green Berets)

Special Forces soldiers (who wear the distinctive green beret by which they are commonly known) are primarily used in liaison and training roles to friendly governments involved in counterinsurgency operations (as in Vietnam), or as liaison and training advisors to members of insurgency forces (commonly referred to as guerrillas) which the United States government wishes to support (as in Afghanistan). At the operational level, Special Forces are usually comprised of twelve-man "A Teams" (though the term A-Team has fallen into disfavor due to the television show of the same name. The preferred term is "Alpha Team.")
with two officers and 10 enlisted members. Each member is expert in at least one Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) -- small arms, demolitions, medical, communication, etc. -- and cross-trained in at least one other specialty so that he may fill in for other members who are wounded or killed. Each member is usually proficient in the language of the host nation or insurgent group. All U.S. Army Special Forces members are double volunteers, having volunteered first for airborne training and then for Special Forces training.
Special Forces training is mostly undertaken at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and is referred to as the "Q" Course (Qualification). The course has three phases: advanced military skills; advanced MOS training; and small unit operations, where teams undertake a simulated mission to train and organize indigenous forces.

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force)

Not much is known of "Delta Force," the U.S. government being unwilling to publicize much information. The little facts there are come from various public sources and not from the U.S. government itself. Delta Force members (who have no distinctive uniforms) are used to rescue hostages and perform other special counter-terrorism actions, most of which are classified. Delta Force operators go through an intensive 3-week course (much like the Green beret Q Course) designed to test the endurance level of a would be operator. A series of marches (from 10 to the final 40 miles) test the Delta Operator's navigational skills, devotion to the unit, endurance, strength, and will power. That phase is called Stress phase. After Stress phase the operator is sent to the unit psychologist who asks the operator a series of question such as, "If you found out that a family member was a terrorist..." and "You have been assigned to assassinate someone within the United States...." This tests the operator's will to resist. The psychiatrist, however, may shout or bellow at the operator (like an interogation), and previously withheld information may be shed. After that painstaking meeting the operator will find himself in front of the directors' board, made up of the senior officers of the unit. Any member of this board can attack the operator, and the operator has a chance to attack back. If the commanding officer sees that the operator can stand his ground, the operator will be accepted. After those two phases the operator will undergo OTC (Operators Training Course). This course teaches general commando skills like close quarters battle and the tricks and secrets of the spy world. A Delta Force operator is not considered a veteran until he is with the unit for more than five years.

Delta Force is organized into several Squadrons: A, B, C, H&H, and a "Funny platoon" (Delta's own intelligence group and the only group to allow women). Each squadron has its own aviation platoon (unmarked MH6 and UH1 helicopters). The Core of Delta Force revolves around teams of 4. They are known to be among the best marksmen in the world. Delta snipers are reportedly required to have 100 percent accuracy at 600 yards and 90 percent accuracy at 1,000 yards. Delta Force members are drawn or can volunteer from any branch of the U.S. Army, but recruits are typically drawn from U.S. Army Rangers and U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets). Delta Force is usually referred to (when it is referred to at all) by the U.S. government as either "the 1st Special Operations Detachment," or "the 1st Combat Applications Group." The group is said to have 2,500 members, and operates in small teams deep inside hostile territory, often with orders to terminate with stealth and impunity. The namesake of Delta Force is believed to have been "Project Delta," a special operations unit commanded in Vietnam by the late U.S. Army Col Charles Beckwith. Two Delta Force members (Sergeant First Class Randall Shugart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon) were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in Somalia while protecting the crew of a downed helicopter, and they are the only soldiers to have been so honored while serving as snipers and the only two who have been posthumously awarded since Vietnam. It is said that Delta Force is based outside of Camp Mackall, North Carolina (Also home of the Green Beret's SFAS and Q Course).

List of U.S. Special Operations Forces (incomplete)

Active

Army

1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force)

75th Ranger Regiment (U.S. Army Rangers)

Special Forces (Green Berets)

Night Stalkers

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.