What is the Most Elite Special Forces Unit? - Page 20

On November 29 2011 14:36 travis wrote:


If anything it could be argued the PJs are more elite than seals

On November 29 2011 15:04 Timurid wrote:


Im confused about that statement too.

On November 29 2011 06:51 adun12345 wrote:


Special operations forces (SOF) perform a variety of missions, many of which don't actually involve killing people or blowing stuff up. Different types of SOF are organized and trained to carry out different types of missions. Because of this specialization, the question of "most elite" is somewhat of a misnomer - although some rough hierarchies exist in terms of "elite-ness," different SOF are really organized to accomplish different missions. I hope the OP was serious about learning a bit more about the various roles played by various special forces, because this has ended up being a pretty long post.

I am most familiar with the SOF of the United States, so I will draw on them primarily for examples, but many different countries' SOF have similar specialties. To start, there is the broadest-possible organization - the group responsible for all SOF training and activities. In the United States military, this organization is known as the Special Operations COMmand, or SOCOM. Broadly-speaking, SOCOM is responsible for the training, equipping, and deploying American SOF from all branches of the military (excluding the Coast Guard, which has its own special operations organization but collaborates with SOCOM for training purposes). SOCOM is the equivalent of the Russian "Spetznaz" or the British "United Kingdom Special Forces" (UKSF) - a broad organization containing many different operational elements capable of carrying out a wide variety of tasks. In terms of the variety and depth of its operational capabilities, SOCOM is probably the most powerful and effective special operations force in the world. You can read all about SOCOM and its various components and capabilities here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Special_Operations_Command

Within SOCOM, a variety of different units are maintained to carry out different missions. Although the specialized units tend to be smaller and more selective, they aren't so much "better" as "more specialized." The largest and most general of these units (and the basis for most of the US military's SOF) is the 75th Ranger Regiment. The 75th is organized into three battalions, each with approximately 1,000 soldiers. Rangers serve as a sort of premier light infantry force organized primarily for rapid-response and deployment via air. They are usually deployed in situations that require a larger number of elite soldiers - thus, Rangers are often the "tip of the spear" in a major US military operation, seizing forward airfields and operating locations to disrupt enemy operations and allow follow-on forces access. Their mobility and lethality has also found them roles in a wide variety of unconventional conflicts, from hunting Mohammed Aideed in Mogadishu to fighting "al Qaeda in Mesopotamia." Ranger skills (physical excellence, small arms, small-unit tactics, airborne training) serve as the basis for most of the US military's more specialized SOF (in fact, most US special operators will have attended Ranger School in some form at some point during their careers). The Marine Corps has an equivalent unit - the Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR) - that is similar in scale and mission profile to the Rangers.

Beyond the Rangers and the MSOR, the US military also maintains a wide variety of much more specialized SOF, each with their own focus. Although these units are still able to kick ass with the best of them, their specialties often tend towards non-kinetic missions. For example, the Marine Corps "Force Recon" units train primarily for unconventional warfare and intelligence gathering, especially in support of amphibious operations. The US Navy's Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) teams focus on special operations in the littoral environment, including underwater demolitions, intelligence gathering, unconventional warfare, security maritime targets (ships, oil rigs, port facilities) and small boats operations, though also with a healthy focus on direct-action missions (i.e., killing people and blowing shit up). The US Army's 160th Special Operations regiment operates SOCOM's helicopters, while the Air Force maintains a variety of Special Operations Wings to operate SOCOM's various aircraft, including the MC-130 infiltration aircraft and AC-130 gunship. The US Army also maintains psyops, civil affairs, and sustainment units to help shape opinions and provide support to civilians caught in the combat zone.

Perhaps the most diverse SOF in their skills are the United States Army Special Forces, or "Green Berets." Green Berets are selected not only for their physical, technical, and tactical excellence, but also for their reasoning ability and language skills. Green Berets are trained in direct action, unconventional warfare, and intelligence gathering operations like other SOF, but also have a focus on collaboration with local allies to enhance US security. Green Berets are assigned a regional specialty and focus on learning the languages, cultures, and customs of their regional specialty. Thus, Green Berets are often utilized in training foreign militaries (whenever you read about the US sending military trainers to another country, it's probably the Green Berets), partnering with foreign security agencies to hunt criminals and terrorists, engaging in counter-insurgency missions to weed out insurgents from the local population, supporting pro-US sub-state groups against hostile regimes, and generally trying to improve cooperation between the US military and other parties (generally referred to as "white" special missions, to distinguish them from "black" ops like unconventional warfare and direct action). The wide skillset of the Green Berets provides the US military with an unparalleled tool for collaboration and subversion, as necessary. In this regard, they are the US military's premier "white" operations SOF.

SOCOM's various specialized units provide any number of services, from collaboration with allies to littoral warfare to airborne covert infiltration and extraction to providing aid to refugees in wartime. For its most challenging "black" operations, however, SOCOM also has the "Joint Special Operations Command," or JSOC. JSOC is composed of a small cadre of SOF deemed "Tier 1" by the US military, responsible for the most sensitive and secretive covert operations, including direct action, intelligence gathering, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism. All of these units recruit from the best of the best of the various other SOF forces; they also have (imo) the coolest names. The publicly-known components of JSOC are Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (aka, "Delta Force"), the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (aka, "DEVGRU" or, more anachronistically, "Seal Team 6"), the Intelligence Support Activity (aka, "The Activity"), and the 24th Special Tactics Squadron (aka, "the WhiteRa;" all right, I made that one up). In terms of "elite-ness," these would probably be the premier units; however, their specialties tend to be in small, secretive "black" operations.

For various legal reasons, the US government also maintains a series of units outside of SOCOM that might in other countries be considered to be SOF. The CIA's Special Activities Division engages in various SOF missions, including intelligence gathering, partnering with foreign agencies, and unconventional warfare, but is not officially part of the military (providing greater flexibility and deniability in sensitive situations). The FBI's Critical Incident Response Group includes Hostage Rescue Teams (HRTs) and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, which emulate many special forces capabilities and practices but are employed primarily in domestic law-enforcement issues. Any number of similar organizations exist to provide specialized security needs for various US government functions.

Thus, in terms of "elite-ness," I'd say that the US SOCOM's "Tier 1" JSOC units are probably the world's premier elite SOF - the elite of the elite. However, it's important to remember that various SOF provide various functions. In terms of the variety of capabilities, I think it's pretty clear that US SOCOM is by far the world's most "elite" special operations agency.

On November 29 2011 10:05 RabidSeagull wrote:

Sigh. Stop. Everyone needs to start at least using google before posting misinformation. Firstly, the marines and the navy are SEPARATE entities

On November 29 2011 12:50 BluePanther wrote:


Um..... no, they are not. The Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy. While they behave separately and are considered different branches, they are still under the same banner.... this is why USMC officers are trained at the Naval Academy (or for example, why a naval officer tries a marine in A Few Good Men). Functionally, they are separate for the most part, but organizationally they are more associated with each other than for example the Air Force and the Army (which once upon a time had a similar symbiotic relationship).

Here is a wikipedia graphic that might assist the comprehension of how it works:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/DON-org-sec.png\


That said, Navy SEALs are the best the US has. Green Beret's, while special forces, are very politically minded. Combat Controllers are the general elite unit of the Air Force, they are used to secure remote areas to establish forward operating airfields.