United States Army Special Forces

United States Army Special Forces are both units and a military specialty designation in the United States Army. For many countries, "special forces" is a generic term. For the United States, it refers to specific units, and thus the more general term is special operations forces. In the U.S., Special Forces are trained and have their "home" in the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). In some cases, USSOCOM has operational control, but Special Forces (and other special operations forces) are usually attached to geographically Unified Combatant Commands.

Special Forces have a core set of seven missions, and may carry out other related duties.

Primary mission	Secondary mission
unconventional warfare (United States doctrine)	Combat search and rescue (CSAR)
Foreign internal defense(FID)	security assistance
Special reconnaissance (SR)	Peacekeeping
direct action (DA)	humanitarian assistance
counter-terrorism (CT)	humanitarian demining
Counterproliferation (CP)	Counter-drug operations
psychological operations (United States) (PsyOps)	--
information operations (IO)	--

USSOCOM units or other U.S. government activities may be the specialists in these secondary areas

Unit organization

In Fort Bragg, NC, the Special Warfare Center operates the Special Forces school, doctrinal development, and overall support.

Special Forces Group (Airborne)

A Group is the usual Special Operations Element to a Unified Combatant Command. Some elements, especially when other United States Special Operations Command units are attached (e.g., Army aviation, Navy SEALs and other specialists, Air Force Combat Control teams and other special operators), may be led by a brigadier general.

Groups control three Special Forces battalions, a headquarters company, and a support company. The headquarters company that provides routine administrative and logistical support to the group headquarters. It depends on the group support company for unit-level maintenance of its organic wheeled vehicles, power generation equipment, and signal equipment. If located outside the UCC headquarters, they create a Special Forces Operating Base (SFOB).

Group Support Company

Within the Support Company are several specialized sections:

• Military intelligence (MI)
• Services
• Medical
• Signals
• Aviation

Military Intelligence

The MI detachment provides all-source intelligence collection management, analysis, production, and dissemination in support of group-level situation and target development, much as a regular MI unit runs a tactical operations center (TOC). It runs a tactical Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) in the SFOB OPCEN and provides compartmented control system communications. It provides human-source intelligence and counterintelligence support.

Service detachment

The service detachment performs unit-level supply, services, and maintenance functions for the group and its attached elements. It has riggers and other functions required to support deployed teams.

Signal detachment

The signal detachment has two primary functions. It installs, operates, and maintains secure SFOB radio communications with the FOBs and deployed SF teams; this may mean that it provides technical support, but not message handling, for the SCIF. Within the group/SFOB, it provides communications center services, telephone communications, electronic maintenance, and photographic support.

Chemical detachment

When available and required, a Special Forces qualified element for nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological warfare (NCBR) is attached to the group. It has capabilities for CBR reconnaissance, decontamination and training.

Special Forces Detachment "C"

Below the Group level are Special Forces battalions, or C teams, commanded by a lieutenant colonel, command three B teams and provide regimental/brigade support. The Battalion Support Company provides intelligence, signals, and combat service support. The battalion has three SOT-A signals intelligence and secure communications detachments.

Special Forces Detachment "B"

Organized as a Special Forces Company, the B detachment, led by a major commands three A teams, and provides support for a battalion-sized guerilla force. At least one of the A teams will be qualified as combat divers, and another qualified in free-fall parachuting.

Special Forces Detachment "A"

The basic building block of Army Special Forces is the twelve-man A detachment (A-team). Composed of a commanding officer (captain), executive officer (chief warrant officer), operations and intelligence sergeants, and pairs of weapons, engineer/demolition, communications, and medical specialists, it is a nucleus to train and lead a company-sized unconventional warfare or foreign internal defense unit. It also can form two six-man split A detachments, which are a good working size for a special reconnaissance or diect action force if all 12 men are not needed.

Augmentation

At any level, there may be augmentation with four-man SOT-A SIGINT and secure communications teams, or two-main counterintelligence & human source intelligence teams.

Specialists from Air Force Special Operations Command may be attached, such as Combat Control teams and special operations weather.

Missions

In some theaters, the Special Forces group and other elements are the overt "white" representatives of USSOCOM. There may be other, covert elements. For example, during the Gulf War, COL Jesse Johnson headed the overt SOCCENT, while a larger force from the Joint Special Operations Command, the "black" part of USSOCOM, was under MG Wayne Downing. The overt Special Forces used their cross-cultural, language, and training skills to train and coordinate allied forces, and also carried out special reconnaissance missions, typically as split A detachments. JSOC's role is still largely classified, but they were probably deep in Iraq, hunting SS-1 SCUD launchers, guiding air strikes, and attacking command & control.

While very little is known about JSOC operations, a larger JSOC formation will often have a company-sized U.S. Army Ranger company for backing up the special operators from "Delta Force" (nominally 1st Special Forces Detachment D), U.S. Navy SEALs, and other units. In the Gulf War, the Ranger force carried out a mission of its own, RANGER RUN I, probably after the combat backup role was not seen as still needed.

Unconventional warfare

The United States defines UW as guerilla warfare conducted or supported by United States Army Special Forces (SF) and other units in the United States Special Operations Command. Guerilla warfare is one aspect of the broader term insurgency. The United States definition of UW is:

"Military and paramilitary operations, normally of long duration, predominantly conducted by indigenous or surrogate forces who are organized, trained, equipped, supported, and directed in varying degrees by an external source. It includes guerrilla warfare and other direct offensive, low visibility, covert, or clandestine operations, as well as the indirect activities of subversion, sabotage, intelligence gathering, and escape and evasion"