| Naval Special Warfare Development Group | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | November 1980 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Type | Special Operations Forces Special Mission Unit |
| Role | Special operationsCounterterrorism |
| Size | 1,787 personnel authorized (2014):[1]
|
| Part of | .svg) Joint Special Operations Command United States Naval Special Warfare Command |
| Headquarters | Dam Neck Annex NAS Oceana,Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S. |
| Nickname(s) | "SEAL Team Six", "DEVGRU", "Task Force Blue", "NSWDG" |
| Engagements | |
| Unit awards | Presidential Unit Citation[2] |
TheNaval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated asDEVGRU ("Development Group")[3][note 1] and unofficially known asSEAL Team Six,[5][6] is theUnited States Navy component of theJoint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often referred to within JSOC asTask Force Blue.[6] DEVGRU is administratively supported by theNaval Special Warfare Command and operationally commanded by JSOC. Most information concerning DEVGRU is designated asclassified, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either theUnited States Department of Defense or theWhite House.[7] Despite the official name changes and increase in size, "SEAL Team Six" remains the unit's widely recognizedmoniker.
DEVGRU (along with itsArmy andAir Force counterparts,Delta Force,Intelligence Support Activity, the75th Ranger Regiment'sRegimental Reconnaissance Company and24th Special Tactics Squadron), are the U.S. military's primaryTier 1special mission units tasked with performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions directed by thePresident of the United States or theSecretary of Defense.[8] DEVGRU conducts various specialized missions such ascounterterrorism,hostage rescue,special reconnaissance, anddirect action (short-duration strikes or small-scale offensive actions), often againsthigh-value targets.[9]
The origins of DEVGRU are in SEAL Team Six, a unit created in the aftermath ofOperation Eagle Claw.[10][11][12] During theIran hostage crisis in 1979,Richard Marcinko was one of two U.S. Navy representatives for aJoint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the TAT (Terrorist Action Team). The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran. In the wake of the disaster at the Desert One base in Iran, the Navy saw the need for a full-time counter-terrorist unit and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.
Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit. At the time, there were twoSEAL Teams, SEAL Team ONE and SEAL Team TWO. Marcinko named the unit SEAL Team Six in order to confuseSoviet intelligence as to the number of actual SEAL teams in existence.[12][13][14] The unit'splankowners (founding members) were interviewed and hand-picked by Marcinko from throughout theUDT/SEAL community. SEAL Team Six was formally commissioned in November 1980, and an intense, progressive work-up training program made the unit mission-ready six months later.[14] SEAL Team Six became the U.S. Navy's premier hostage rescue and counter-terrorism unit. It has been compared to the U.S. Army's eliteDelta Force.[7][11] Marcinko held the command of SEAL Team Six for three years, from 1980 to July 1983, instead of the typical two-year command in the Navy at the time.[12] SEAL Team Six started with 75 shooters. The unit has virtually unlimited resources at its disposal.[15] In 1984, Marcinko and a dozen members of SEAL Team Six would go on to form "Red Cell" (also known as OP-06D), a special unit designed to test the security of American military installations.
In 1987, SEAL Team Six was dissolved. A new unit named the "Naval Special Warfare Development Group" was formed, essentially as SEAL Team Six's successor.[5][16] Reasons for the disbanding are varied,[12] but the nameSEAL Team Six is often used in reference to DEVGRU.
On September 26, 2010, British aid worker Linda Norgrove was kidnapped by members of theTaliban in theKunar Province of eastern Afghanistan.[17] After intelligence reports indicated that group of local elders were calling for Norgrove to be executed "like the Russian" (a possible reference to theRussian war in Afghanistan), a rescue attempt spearheaded by DEVGRU operators was staged, only for Norgrove to be killed by a SEAL's errant handgrenade.[18][19]
It was initially reported that Norgrove had been killed by one of her captors setting off a suicide vest; however, a joint investigation between the United States and the United Kingdom later confirmed that she had been accidentally killed by her rescuers.[17][20] Several Navy SEALs were disciplined for not immediately notifying officers about throwing the grenade, which was a breach of military law.[20]
In 2017, Army Special Forces Staff SergeantLogan Melgar died from trauma received during an apparent on-basehazing incident inMali that resulted in the criminal prosecutions of two DEVGRU members and twoMarine Raiders.
Following a two-year investigation byThe Intercept, a report was released in 2017, accusing SEAL Team Six and its commanding officers of abuses, crimes and coverups. The investigation included interviews with numerous members and officers of the unit, who recounted the group's involvement in abuses, including what some members described as war crimes. Former unit members and officers said that commanding officers tolerated and covered up abuses.[21][22]
In the early stages of creating SEAL Team Six, Marcinko was given a six-month window to produce the team. Had he failed to do so, the project would have been canceled. Consequentially, Marcinko had little time to create a proper selection course on par withDelta Force's process. To get around this, recruits were selected after assessing their Navy records, followed by individual interviews. According to Marcinko's bookRogue Warrior, SEAL Team Six members were chosen if they had initial struggles qualifying in aspects of training, but subsequently qualified, as the determination of these candidates was seen as more valuable than a candidate that breezed through his training. Applicants came from the east coast and west coast SEAL teams and theUnderwater Demolition Teams.
Although much of the training and recruitment isclassified, there are some requirements and training exercises that are now public knowledge. The requirements to apply for DEVGRU states that applicants must be male, be 21 years old or older, have served at least 2 deployments on their previous assignments, and be eligible for Secret clearance. Candidates come from the East/West Coast SEAL teams, SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) teams, theSpecial Boat teams (for Gray Squadron), the Navyexplosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, and NavySARCs. Enlisted candidates must be in the pay grades of E-4 through E-8 and Officer candidates need to be O-3 through O-4 to apply. Candidates must undergo physical screening, psychological testing and are then interviewed to deem whether they are suitable for assignment to NSWDG.[24] Those who pass the stringent recruitment process will attend an eight-month selection and training course with the unit's training department known as "Green Team". The training course attrition rate is high, usually around 50%; during one selection course, out of the original 20 candidates, 12 completed the course.[25] All candidates are watched closely by DEVGRU instructors and evaluated on whether they are suitable to join the individual squadrons.Howard E. Wasdin, a former member of SEAL Team Six said in a 2011 interview that 16 applied for SEAL Team Six selection course and two were accepted.[26] Those who do not pass the selection phase are returned to their previous assignments and are able to try again in the future.[27]
Like all special operations forces units that have an extremely intensive and high-risk training schedule, there can be serious injuries and deaths. SEAL Team Six/DEVGRU has lost several operators during training, including parachute accidents andclose-quarters battle training accidents. It is presumed that the unit's assessment process for potential new recruits is different from what a SEAL operator experienced in his previous career, and much of the training tests the candidate's mental capacity rather than his physical condition. Every candidate chosen will have already completed their respective advanced training pipelines;Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training, theSpecial Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman training,Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman training, theNavy EOD training orNavy Dive School.
Candidates are put through a variety of advanced training courses led by civilian or military instructors. These can includefree climbing, land warfare, advancedunarmed combat techniques, defensive and offensive advanced driving, advanced diving, communications andSurvival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training. Candidates are also taught how to pick locks on cars, doors, and safes. All candidates must perform at the top level during selection, and the unit instructors evaluate the candidate during the training process. Selected candidates are assigned to one of the Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadrons. Unlike regular SEAL Teams, SEAL Team Six operators can attend almost any other military course to receive further training depending on the unit's requirements.
Like Delta Force, live-fire marksmanship drills in both long-range and close-quarter battle drills are done with hostage roles being played by other students to help build the candidates' trust between each other.
DEVGRU regularly trains and operates with special forces units from other countries including the Australian2nd Commando Regiment, the BritishSpecial Boat Service and Canada'sJoint Task Force 2.[28][29][30]
DEVGRU is divided into color-coded line squadrons:[31]
Each assault squadron, usually led by acommander (O-5), is divided into three troops. Each of these troops is commanded by a seniorcommissioned officer, which is usually alieutenant commander (O-4) or sometimes alieutenant (O-3). A troop chief also serves as an adviser to the troop commander and is the highest enlisted SEAL in the troop, usually amaster chief petty officer (E-9).[33] Each troop has around 16 members which are further divided into smaller teams of enlisted SEALs, called assaulters. These individual teams of assaulters are led by senior enlisted SEALs; usually asenior chief petty officer (E-8), sometimes achief petty officer (E-7). The rest of these teams are filled out with more chief petty officers (E-7), petty officers first class (E-6), and petty officers second class (E-5); each member with a respective role.
Each assault squadron also has a specific nickname. Examples include Gold Squadron's Crusaders, Red Squadron's Indians, Blue Squadron's Pirates, Silver Squadron's Headhunters, and Gray Squadron's Vikings.[31][34][35] The assault squadrons are supported by a variety of support personnel, includingcryptologists, communicators,EOD technicians, dog handlers, and sometimes airmen from theUnited States Air Force24th Special Tactics Squadron, the Air Force's JSOC element.
According to theGovernment Accountability Office report on special operations forces, in thefiscal year of 2014, DEVGRU had a total of 1,787 authorized positions, of which 1,342 are military and 445 are civilian.[36][37]
The following is a list of firearms known to be used by DEVGRU, but because of the unit's secretive nature, this list is not exhaustive.
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|
| Commander | Class | Time as CO | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
(SEAL Team Six) | |||
| Richard Marcinko | UDT/R class 26 | 1980 to 1983 | [40] |
| Robert A. Gormly | UDT/R class 31 | 1983 to 1986 | [41] |
| Thomas E. Murphy | UDT/R class 35 | 1986to 1987[failed verification] | [42][additional citation(s) needed] |
(DEVGRU) | |||
| Richard Woolard | UDT/R class 38 | 1987 to 1990[failed verification] | [43][additional citation(s) needed] |
| Ronald E. Yeaw | UDT/R class 37 | 1990 to 1992 | [44] |
| Thomas G. Moser | BUD/S class 55 | 1992 to 1994[failed verification] | [45] |
| Eric T. Olson | BUD/S class 76 | 1994 to 1997[failed verification] | [46][additional citation(s) needed] |
| Albert M. Calland III | BUD/S class 82 | 1997 to 1999 | [47] |
| Joseph D. Kernan | BUD/S class 117 | 1999 to 2003 | [47] |
| Edward G. Winters, III | BUD/S class 112 | 2003 to 2005 | [48] |
| Brian L. Losey | BUD/S class 126 | 2005 to 2007 | [49] |
| Scott P. Moore | BUD/S class 126 | 2007 to 2009 | [50][51][52] |
| Perry F. Van Hooser | BUD/S class 137 | 2009 to 2011 | [53][54] |
| Hugh W. Howard III | BUD/S class 172 | 2011 to 2013 | [55] |
| Frank M. Bradley | BUD/S class 179 | 2013[failed verification] to 2015 | [56][57][58][additional citation(s) needed] |
| Jeromy B. Williams | BUD/S class 191 | 2015 to 2017 | [59][60] |
| Matthew J. Burns | BUD/S class 158 | 2018 to 2020 | [61] |
The unit's first commanding officer was aCommander (O-5). Following his departure, the billet was changed to that of aCaptain (O-6), and remains so currently.
DEVGRU's full mission isclassified but is thought to include pre-emptive, pro-active counter-terrorist operations,counter-proliferation (efforts to prevent the spread of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction), as well as the elimination or recovery of high-value targets from unfriendly nations.[62][63] DEVGRU is one of a handful of U.S. Special Mission Units authorized in the use of pre-emptive actions against terrorists and their facilities.[64]
When SEAL Team Six was first created in 1980, it was devoted exclusively to counter-terrorism with a worldwide maritime responsibility; its objectives typically included targets such as ships, oil rigs, naval bases, coastal embassies, and other civilian or military bases that were accessible from the sea or inland waterways. On certain operations, small teams from SEAL Team Six were tasked with covertly infiltrating international high-risk areas to carry out reconnaissance or security assessments of U.S. military facilities and embassies to give advice on improvements in order to prevent casualties in an event of a terrorist attack. SEAL Team Six was disbanded in 1987, and its role, minus non-counter-terrorism ship-boarding, which was given to the newly formed SEAL Team 8, given to the newly formed DEVGRU.[65]
Since the start ofwar on terror, DEVGRU has evolved into a multi-functional special operations unit with a worldwide operational mandate. Such operations include the successfulrescue of Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, the attempted rescue ofLinda Norgrove, the successful rescue of American doctor Dilip Joseph[66] and in 1991, the successful recovery of Haitian PresidentJean-Bertrand Aristide and his family during a coup that deposed him.[citation needed]
The official mission of the currently operating Naval Special Warfare Development Group mission is "to provide centralized management for the test, evaluation, and development of equipment technology and Techniques, Tactics and Procedures for Naval Special Warfare".[67] DEVGRU and the Army's Delta Force train and deploy together on counter-terrorist missions usually as part of a joint special operations task force (JSOTF).[7][14][68][69] TheCentral Intelligence Agency's highly secretiveSpecial Activities Center and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group often works with, and recruits from, DEVGRU.[70] The combination of these units led ultimately to the killing ofAl-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden inOperation Neptune Spear.[71][72][73]
Devgru was established in 1987 as the successor to SEAL Team 6 (although it is still colloquially known by this name). The unit serves as theUS Navy's dedicated counter-terrorism unit and is believed to consist of about 200 personnel.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)NSWDG is located in Virginia Beach and is a type two sea duty cno priority one major command. The command is an elite counter-terrorism unit that conducts research, and develops, tests, and evaluates current and emerging technology. This technology is related to special operations tactics and joint warfare to improve Special Forces warfighting capabilities. ... While at NSWDG, support personnel could have opportunities to earn many special qualifications, their expeditionary warfare specialist (EXW) pin, and Combat Service Support and Combat Support Naval Education Codes (NEC). Special qualifications include parachuting and fast roping, among many others. NSWDG support personnel receive special duty pay and have some of the highest promotion rates in the Navy.
In one year, the operators of SEAL Six fire more bullets than entire USMC.
editions:PanKDPddlTQC.
"The deaths of SOCS Marcum and SOC Freiwald are tremendous losses for Naval Special Warfare and the United States," Capt. Scott Moore, commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, said in a statement. ("2 SEALs killed in Afghanistan fighting". – Associated Press, 15 September 2008)
"The deaths of SOCS Marcum and SOC Freiwald are tremendous losses for Naval Special Warfare and the United States," Capt. Scott Moore, commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, said in a statement.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) | ||
|---|---|---|
| United States Army USASOC |  | |
| United States Marine Corps MARSOC | ||
| United States Navy NAVSPECWARCOM | ||
| United States Air Force AFSOC |
| |
| Special mission units JSOC |
| |
| Theater Special Operations Commands | ||
Source:SOCOM 2013 Fact Book | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
