Military's special forces' missions

By Jim Vines

Special forces, or special operations forces, are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk missions that conventional units cannot perform.

Special Forces soldiers need to be physically and mentally robust and have the confidence, courage and skills to operate individually or in small teams, often in isolation and hostile environments.

Some of these elite teams are the Army Green Berets, Rangers and Delta Force, Marine Force Recon and Division Recon, Air Force Special Ops, and the Navy SEALS and Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman, as well as the CIA Special Activities Division.

Special forces have played an important role throughout the history of warfare whenever the aim has been to achieve disruption by “hit and run” and sabotage, rather than more traditional conventional combat using large formations of troops and motorized armor groups. Significant roles lay in reconnaissance, providing intelligence, disruption of logistic routes, training and development of other states’ military personnel — and combating terrorists, their infrastructure and activities.

The United States formed the Office of Strategic Services during World War II under Medal of Honor recipient William J. Donovan. This organization was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency and was responsible for both intelligence and special forces missions. The CIA’s elite Special Activities Division is the direct decedent of the OSS. In mid 1942, the United States formed the Army Rangers. The first special service force was known as Merrill’s Marauders, serving in Italy. In late 1943, the Alamo Scouts were formed to conduct reconnaissance and raider work in the South Pacific Theater, commanded by Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, commanding general of the Sixth Army. In 1988, the Alamo Scouts were individually awarded the Special Forces Tab and included in the lineage of today’s U.S. Army Special Forces.

The Navy SEALS also originated during the World War II. The amphibious scout and raider school was established in 1942 jointly by the Army and Navy at Fort Pierce, Fla. The Navy needed to determine its role within the special operations arena, and, in March 1961, Arleigh Burke, chief of naval operations, recommended the establishment of guerrilla and counter-guerrilla units. These units would operate from sea, air or land, thus the beginning of the Navy SEALS. Each SEAL team is commanded by a Navy commander and has a staff headquarters element, with three 40-man troops.

In the early morning of May 2, 2011, a team of 40 CIA-led Navy SEALS, 24 on the ground, successfully completed an operation to kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan — mission accomplished.

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