Special operations orspecial ops are military activities conducted, according toNATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment."[1] Special operations may includereconnaissance,unconventional warfare, andcounterterrorism, and are typically conducted by small groups of highly trained personnel, emphasizing sufficiency, stealth, speed, and tactical coordination, commonly known asspecial forces.
InWorld War II, following advice from the British, Australia began raising special forces.[2] The first units to be formed wereindependent companies, which began training atWilson's Promontory in Victoria in early 1941 under the tutelage of British instructors. With an establishment of 17 officers and 256 men, the independent companies were trained as "stay behind" forces, a role that they were later employed in against the Japanese in theSouth West Pacific Area during 1942–43, most notably fighting a guerrilla campaign inTimor, as well as actions inNew Guinea.[3] In all, a total of eight independent companies were raised before they were reorganized in mid-1943 intocommando squadrons and placed under the command of the divisional cavalry regiments that were re-designated as cavalry commando regiments. As a part of this structure, a total of 11 commando squadrons were raised.
They continued to act independently and were often assigned at the brigade level during the later stages of the war, taking part in the fighting in New Guinea,Bougainville andBorneo, where they were employed largely in long-range reconnaissance and flank protection roles.[4] In addition to these units, the Australians also raised theZ Special Unit andM Special Unit. M Special Unit was largely employed in an intelligence-gathering role, while Z Special Force undertook direct action missions. One of its most notable actions came as part ofOperation Jaywick, in which several Japanese ships were sunk inSingapore Harbour in 1943. A second raid on Singapore in 1944, known asOperation Rimau, was unsuccessful.[5]
TheImperial Japanese Army first deployed army paratroops in combat during theBattle of Palembang, onSumatra in theNetherlands East Indies, on 14 February 1942. The 425 men of the 1st Parachute Raiding Regiment seizedPalembang airfield, while the paratroopers of the 2nd Parachute Raiding Regiment seized the town and its important oil refinery. Paratroops were subsequently deployed in theBurma campaign.[citation needed]
However, as with similar airborne units created by theAllies and otherAxis powers, the Japanese paratroops suffered from a disproportionately high casualty rate, and the loss of men who required such extensive and expensive training limited their operations to only the most critical ones. Two regiments ofTeishin Shudan were formed into the 1st Raiding Group, commanded by Major GeneralRikichi Tsukada under the control of theSouthern Expeditionary Army Group, during thePhilippines campaign. Although structured as a division, its capabilities were much lower, as its sixregiments had manpower equivalent to a standard infantrybattalion, and it lacked any form ofartillery, and had to rely on other units for logistical support. Its men were no longer parachute-trained, but relied on aircraft for transport.[citation needed]
Some 750 men from the2nd Raiding Brigade, of this group were assigned to attack American air bases onLuzon andLeyte on the night of 6 December 1944. They were flown inKi-57 transports, but most of the aircraft were shot down. Some 300commandos managed to land in theBurauen area on Leyte. The force destroyed some planes and inflicted casualties before they were destroyed.[citation needed]
On 20 September 1940 the Polish government in exile in London formed a special military unit in Britain with the soldiers calledCichociemni (silent and unseen) paratroopers to be deployed into Poland to help the resistance.[6][7] The Cichociemni were trained similar to the early British Special Forces with each soldier receiving specialization training for their specific task of deployment to Poland through a paradrop as a special operation to sustain a Polish state through training the members of theresistance in fighting the German occupants.[7] This includedOperation Tempest and uprisings inWilno,Lwów and 91 operators taking part in theWarsaw Uprising.[8]
Previous to the formation of theGROM unit Polish special operationsrescued six CIA, DIA and NSA officers from Iraq on 25 October 1990.[9]
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, there were wars between American colonists and Native American tribes. The United States established specializedRangers. Learning frontier skills from friendly Native Americans the Rangers helped carry out offensive strikes "frontier combat" against hostile Natives. Thus Ranger companies were formed to provide reconnaissance, intelligence, light infantry, and scouting.Colonel Benjamin Church (c. 1639–1718) was the captain of the first Ranger force in America (1676). Several Ranger companies were established in the American colonies, includingKnowlton's Rangers, an elite corps of Rangers who supplied reconnaissance and espionage forGeorge Washington's Continental Army.Rogers' Rangers on Roger's Island, in modern-day Fort Edward, New York, is regarded as the "spiritual home" of theUnited States Special Operations Forces, specifically the United States Army Rangers. These early American light infantry battalions were trained underRobert Rogers' 28 "Rules of Ranging", which is considered the first known manual of modernasymmetric warfare tactics used in modern special operations.[10]
Army Rangers were essential to severalWorld War II campaigns such asNorth Africa campaign "Operation Torch",Tunisian campaign,Sicily campaign "Operation Husky", andNormandy landings during D-day, Ranger companies landed atPointe du Hoc.
In WWII, more elite units were needed to carry out special operations, raids, and reconnaissance, especially behind enemy lines.President Franklin D. Roosevelt established theMarine Raiders in February 1942 after Admiral Chester Nimitz requested commando units to raid Japanese-held islands. Major General Thomas Holcomb, the Marine Commandant, chose the name "Raiders" and created two battalions. Other specialized units such asNaval Combat Demolition Units andUnderwater Demolition Teams (UDTs), the predecessors of the Navy's currentSEALs, were formed in 1943.
Many more US special operation units had developed after and had fought in every major 20th-century conflict. In the 21st century, 2003–2012 saw U.S. national security strategy rely on special operations to an unprecedented degree. Identifying, hunting, and killing terrorists became a central task in theGlobal War on Terrorism (GWOT). Linda Robinson, Adjunct Senior Fellow for U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy at theCouncil on Foreign Relations, argued that the organizational structure became flatter and cooperation with the intelligence community was stronger, allowing special operations to move at the "speed of war".[11] Special operations appropriations are costly: Its budget went from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $10.5 billion in 2012.[11] Some experts argued the investment was worthwhile, pointing tothe raid in May 2011 that killedOsama bin Laden inAbbottabad, Pakistan.
That raid was organized and overseen by AdmiralWilliam H. McRaven, who was both a student and practitioner of special operations, having published a thesis on them in the 1990s. McRaven's theory of special operations was that they had the potential to achieve significant operational, political, or strategic effects. This potential required such units to be organized and commanded by special operations professionals rather than being subsumed into larger military units or operations, and required that "relative superiority" be gained during the special operation in question via characteristics such as simplicity, security, rehearsals, surprise, speed, and clearly but narrowly defined purpose.[12]
Others claimed that special operations' emphasis precipitated a misconception that it was a substitute for prolonged conflict. "Raids and drone strikes are rarely decisive tactics and often incur significant political and diplomatic costs for the United States. Although raids and drone strikes are necessary to disrupt dire and imminent threats... special operations leaders readily admit that they should not be the central pillar of U.S. military strategy."[11] Instead, special operations advocates stated that grand strategy should include their "indirect approach", suggesting that "the ability to operate with a small footprint and low-visibility, invest time and resources to foster interagency and foreign partnerships, develop deep cultural expertise, and rapidly adapt emerging technologies" was vital for maintaining deterrence and countering aggression.[13] "Special operations forces forge relationships that can last for decades with a diverse collection of groups: training, advising, and operating alongside other countries' militaries, police forces, tribes, militias or other information groups."[11]
TheSpecial Air Service Regiment,1st Commando Regiment, and2nd Commando Regiment are among the Army's special forces under the command ofSpecial Operations Command.
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) is a command of theCanadian Armed Forces. It is responsible for all special forces operations responding to terrorism and threats to Canadians and Canadian interests around the world.[14]
Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) is aspecial operations force, serving under the CANSOFCOM. JTF 2 works alongside many other special operations forces, such asDelta Force,SEAL Team Six, and theBritish SAS.[15][16]
There are numerous special operation units in India, each branch of theIndian Armed Forces having its own unique SOF unit. The Indian Air Force has theGarud Commando Force, the Indian Navy has theMARCOS, and the Indian Army has thePara SF. Other special forces, like theNational Security Guard under the Home Ministry, are not under military command but rather function as paramilitary organisations.
TheArmy Ranger Wing is the special operations unit of theDefence Forces (Ireland).
Like theBritish Special Air Service and theUS Army's Delta Force,General Staff Reconnaissance Unit 269 - Sayeret Matkal is the main Sayeret unit in theIDF. Its primary missions include obtaining strategic intelligence behind enemy lines and conducting hostage-rescue missions on foreign soil. Thenaval commando unit known as13th Flotilla, or Shayetet 13, is comparable to theBritish Special Boat Service and theUnited States SEALs. It is assigned to maritime hostage-rescue missions and is a component of theIsraeli Navy.
King Abdullah II Special Forces Group (Arabic:العمليات الخاصة ورد الفعل السريع), commonly known as theJORSOF are strategic-levelspecial forces of theRoyal Jordanian Army under theJordanian Armed Forces. Founded on April 15, 1963 on the orders ofKing Hussein, its primary roles include reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, search and evacuation, intelligence gathering combat, and the protection of key sites. The special forces group is also charged with carrying out precision strikes against critical enemy targets.
Special Troops Command (Pol.:Wojska Specjalne) is the fourthmilitary branch of theArmed Forces of the Republic of Poland which includes the unit Grom and was officially formed in early 1990 after the fall of communism in 1989, in which the Polish Special Forces were first deployed into the conflict in Lebanon.[17] The conflict in Lebanon was the first official battlefield experience in post-communist times.
TheSpecial Forces Command (Tur.: Özel Kuvvetler Komutanlığı – ÖKK) is the main special forces unit of theTurkish Armed Forces, under the direct command ofTurkish General Staff. Unit is particularly active in battle against PKK.Turkish Navy also have a special operations unit,Underwater Offence (Tur.:Sualtı Taaruz – SAT). They have participated in theTurkish invasion of Cyprus.[citation needed]
TheUnited Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising theSpecial Air Service, theSpecial Boat Service, theSpecial Reconnaissance Regiment, theSpecial Forces Support Group,18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and theJoint Special Forces Aviation Wing.[18][19][20][21][22]
In UK law, "special forces" means those units of the armed forces of the Crown and the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of theDirector Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that director.[23]
TheBritish Army and theRoyal Marines also havespecial operations-capable forces that do not form part of the UKSF, such as thePathfinder Platoon,[24]148 Meiktila Battery,[25]4/73 Sphinx Battery,[26] andMountain Leaders of theBrigade Patrol Troop and commando unit recce troops.[27]
TheArmy Special Operations Brigade was formed in 2021 and consists of four battalions of theRanger Regiment. The formation is described as being "akin to that of the Special Forces Groups of the US Army Special Forces." The intention is that the brigade will be widely and actively deployable, including with the ability to train, advise and accompany the forces of partner countries, potentially in high-threat environments.[28]
TheUnited States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM orSOCOM) is theunified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of theArmy,Marine Corps,Navy, andAir Force of theUnited States Armed Forces. The command is part of theDepartment of Defense and is the only unified combatant command created by anAct of Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered atMacDill Air Force Base inTampa, Florida. Outside of the US military, theCIASAC's Special Operations Group also conducts special operations missions ascovert action represents an additional option within the realm of national security when diplomacy and military action are not feasible.
