These are the most elite special forces units in the US
Division Marine Recon
Marine Reconnaissance teams provide intelligence for active small unit operations on the battlefield. Those with Marine Sniper quals can also provide accurate and demoralizing small arms fire at a distance.
Marine Recon is arguably in the top five of all special operators. It's capable of harassing an entire enemy battalion for long periods of time, tracking enemy units for larger American forces, or conducting well-orchestrated raids on high-valued targets.
These guys are the gems in the crown of the United States Marine Corps.
USMC Amphibious Recon Platoons
Amphibious Recon Platoons draw their personnel from Battalion Recon Units and typically support direct-action Force Reconnaissance Operations as well as Naval Fleet Operations.
They hold all the same certifications, generally speaking, as Recon Marines. The only difference are their tasks, which include determining the characteristics and defenses of possible amphibious landing zones, and reporting the information back to the commanders at sea.
Air Force Special Operations Weatherman
These special operators can forecast the weather above a fight, kill the enemy, and direct artillery — simultaneously.
The official mission of the US Air Force field weatherman is as a ground-level, small-unit meteorologist who provides accurate forecasts for the purpose of air asset deployment.
USMC Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company — ANGLICO
The Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company is another group that often finds itself in the shadow of sexier special operations units like the SEALs. But a single ANGLICO Marine can still coordinate a hellish rain of artillery and air-strafing fire on the enemy.
Typically they don't deploy as individuals, but in teams of four or five like most special ops units.
A typical ANGLICO team consists of a team leader, a team chief, a radio chief, a junior radio operator, and a scout observer, all with special artillery-related qualifications.
Air Force Combat Controllers
Combat controllers are among the most elite forces in the military. They're independent operators, like Marine Recon, except with more air assets.
They are experts at stealth insertion well behind enemy lines and are often just a disembodied voice for other ground troops, like SEALs, as they provide air support coordination. They're often on the ground picking targets in US bombing campaigns, like the current air operations against ISIS.
They hold a lot of the most high-speed special operations certifications, including:
- Combat Control Orientation Course, Lackland AFB, Texas.
- Combat Control Operator Course, Keesler AFB, Miss.
- US Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Ga.
- US Air Force Basic Survival School, Fairchild AFB, Wash.
- Combat Control School, Pope AFB, N.C.
- Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
- US Army Military Freefall Parachutist School, Fort Bragg, N.C., and Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz.
- US Air Force Combat Divers School, Panama City, Fla.
Army 'Combined Applications Group'
These are the operators of operators, crème de la crème — even the SEALs who killed bin Laden wish they were a part of this crew.
Combined Applications Group is their old name. Some call them Delta, but that was never an official name either.
These guys are the absolute tip of the spear — Matt Bissonnette, one of the SEALs on the bin Laden raid, talks about them in his book "No Easy Day" as if they were gods.
They are also the only group of special operators outside of SEAL Team 6 (ST6) where direct close contact with the enemy is a guarantee upon acceptance, regardless of whether America is officially at war or not.
They recruit from the nation's highest special operations units, only twice a year, and including ST6.
These are just a couple initial tests they have to pass:
- A timed 18-mile 'ruck-march' at night in which the candidate must carry 35 pounds in their rucksack.
- A timed 40 mile route while carrying a 45 pound ruck sack over rough, steep terrain.
Then they have a rigorous battery of psychological tests, and attend a six-month training course only after passing them.
If they pass the course, they cease to exist as individuals for awhile. The Combined Applications Group works hand-in-hand with the nation's highest paramilitary and intelligence agencies.
US Navy SEALs
SEAL stands for SEa Air and Land special operators. There are eight "Teams" of Navy SEALs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10.
Despite having a number, SEAL Team 6 is not counted in the "numbered" teams. They're commonly called "rainbow" because they break personnel down into subsections under four colors — Red, Blue, Gold, and Silver (with a special Gray squadron, the boat squad).
Prospective Navy SEALs attend a course called Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL, or BUD/S.
Total SEAL training consists of:
- Preparation School
4 – 12 weeks at the Naval Special Warfare Preparatory School. - Indoctrination Test
3 weeks of physical tests. - BUD/S
25 weeks. Week 3, "Hell Week," involves 135 hours of continuous physical demand. - Post Grad
28 weeks at SEAL Qualification Course, which includes all specialized training courses to produce combat-ready Navy SEALs.
SEAL Team Six — Rainbow
It's apparently common to hear SEALs ask each other, "Are you a number, or a color?" The colors are (or possibly used to be) Red, Blue, Gold, and Silver.
SEAL Team 6, the "colored" SEALs, are those who do off the grid, or "black," operations, directly under Joint Special Operations Command. Under the designation, Naval Special Operations Development Group, or DEVGRU, these SEALs have three primary missions:
- Counter-Terrorism: From 2001 to 2014 SEAL Team Six was focused on operations in and around Afghanistan. The unit is also able to carry out pre-emptive counter-terror operations.
- Close Protection: DEVGRU sometimes provides security for VIPs. For instance DEVGRU provided former Afghan President Hamid Karzai with close protection in the early days of his Presidency.
- Special Reconnaissance: DEVGRU operators, especially those trained as snipers, are experts at reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence-gathering operation.
Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams — FAST
FAST teams get a bum rap from a lot of other special operations units, in large part because they're comprised of regular straight-leg infantry. But they perform a special set of tasks.
Their most common mission is to deploy and reinforce American diplomatic missions and embassies.
The Marines within Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams are skilled in counter-surveillance, urban combat, close-quarter combat, and martial arts.
Force Reconnaissance Marines
Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, otherwise known as Force Recon, are a company-sized (about 200) recon and direct-action element that falls directly under the Marine Expeditionary Force commander, or the Naval Strike Group commander, depending on whether they're aboard a ship or on land.
Because of their direct line to a commander, Force Recon often finds itself in the position of performing highly sensitive special operations, making "Recon" a bit of a misnomer.
There are a number of courses they attend, including:
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Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course — Navy Diving Salvage and Training Center, Naval Support Activity Panama City, Florida.
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Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School — Navy Remote Training Sites; NAS North Island, CA or NAS Brunswick, ME.
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Army Airborne School — Fort Benning, GA.
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United States Army Static Line Jumpmaster School (Fort Benning, Georgia).
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United States Army Ranger School (Fort Benning, Georgia).
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Special Operations Training Group Schools (i.e. Urban Sniper, HRST, etc.).
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Recon and Surveillance Leaders Course — Ranger School, Fort Benning, GA.
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Pathfinder Course — Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, or Army Air Assault School, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Marine Special Operations Command — MARSOC
Though MARSOC Marines tend to be former Recon or Infantry, any Marine with the guts to give it a shot and the muscle to match can end up as an operator for Special Operations Command (SOCOM), the unit MARSOC falls beneath.
They also remain somewhat of a sore spot among Marines — common among complaints are that anyone can try out, they don't fall under traditional Marine command structures, they think they're special, etc.
But the indoctrination for MARSOC is quite rigorous:
- Assessment and Selection Preparation and Orientation Course — A 21-day course that is basically just practice for the real initial test.
- Assessment and Selection — A 19-day course which weeds out anyone unable to complete the grueling 7-month training evolution to become MARSOC.
Upon graduation, students will attend a course broken down into four phases:
- Phase 1 — Communications and combat medicine — the culmination of this phase is completion of the Survival Evade Resist Escape school.
- Phase 2 — Amphibious operations, tactics, weapons and special reconnaissance.
- Phase 3 — Urban operations: marksmanship, close-quarters battle and urban combat.
- Phase 4 — Eight weeks of irregular warfare training, followed by a culminating exercise.
The Maritime Raid Force — MRF
Piracy is such a problem, the Navy decided to take the best of its personnel, throw them in high-speed boats, and set them on some pirates.
The Maritime Raid Force is basically a bunch of really good, really aggressive trigger-pullers who fearlessly hit pirates hard, right in the mouth. It's essentially the Navy's All Star team for countering pirates — a hodgepodge of Navy and Marine personnel, SEALs, Marine Snipers, and Recon, who often draw off knowledge from the Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon to conduct counter-piracy and interdiction operations.
The different occupational specialties in the MRF are:
- Assault Element: Navy SEALs or Recon Marines.
- Security Element: Infantry Marines, Snipers.
- Support Element: Radio, intel, forward air controllers, etc.
- Aviation, Close Air Support: Marine personnel typically supersede Naval pilots in this task.
Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Teams — MSST
Yes, the Coast Guard has special operations.
These operators fall under the Deployable Operations Group, and attend training in Advanced Tactical Boat Operations and Anti-terrorism Force protection at the Joint Maritime Training Center at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. (Camp Lejeune is also home to most east coast Marines.)
They're elite status means they have to be first-responders to counter narcotics shipments, weapons shipments, and even acts of terrorism.
Coasties who complete MSST training are prepared for and will execute the following missions:
- Maritime interdiction and law enforcement
- Anti-terrorism/Force Protection
- CBRN-E Detection
- Vertical Insertion (commonly referred to as fast-roping)
- Search and Rescue (limited)
- Port Protection/Anti-sabotage
- Underwater Port Security
- Canine Handling Teams (Explosive detection)
- Tactical Boat Operations
- Hook and Climb
- Non-compliant boarding operations
Air Force Pararescue Jumpers — PJ
Pararescue jumpers insert well behind enemy lines in order to rescue lost personnel, typically pilots.
Their main mission is to rescue, not to attack. They have to be ready to fight off hundreds of enemy fighters using clever guerrilla warfare, traps and specialized small-unit tactics. They're well-trained and super-aggressive.
Pararescuemen training covers:
- Parachute training (both basic and HALO, High Altitude Low Opening)
- Combat diving
- Underwater egress training
- Basic survival
- Paramedic training
- Pararescue recovery specialist course
US Army Rangers
Rangers are the Army's elite light infantry shock-troops — airborne qualified and tough as nails, they can either support higher units like Army Delta or conduct raids on the enemy themselves. Assuming a recruit enters the Army with a contract to be a Ranger, it'll take about a year of training to go from civilian to basically trained Army Ranger.
As the Army's "shock troops," they do conduct special operations, but oftentimes those ops fall in line with what regular Marine infantry does.
Courses and qualifications include:
- Military freefall
- Combat diving
- Survival Evasion Resistance Escape
- Jump master (parachuting)
- Combatives instructor
- Combat lifesaver (medical first response)
- Pathfinder (survival)
- Language
- Mountain Warfare
Recapture Tactics Team — Marine Security Forces
The Recapture Tactics Team is a sub-unit of Marine Security Forces. The SWAT-like unit is responsible for guarding Naval bases, particularly those that host nuclear technology.
Aside from attending Marine Designated Marksman and Close-Quarters Battle training, these Marines also attend Naval demolition breaching courses (not unlike Navy SEALs). All put together, their main job is to assault a well-fortified room and take back US property — not a wide range of special operations, but still specialized.
There are 3 elements to a Recapture Tactics Team squad:
- Breachers: skilled in various methods of entry, including using explosives
- Shooters: trained in close quarters battle (CQB)
- Designated Marksmen: Sharpshooters, typically armed with M14 Designated Marksmen Rifles, with high-powered scopes and silencers.
Special Activities Division — Central Intelligence Agency
The Special Activities Division in the CIA is comprised of only a few hundred people. For good reason: their main mission is complete "deniable" operations. If Rainbow Six is Black Operations, then SAD is the shadow cast by those operations.
The Agency can and does recruit from within for these positions, sending Agents through the actual military pipeline to get organically trained agents. They also hire former SEALs, Green Berets, and Marine Recon.
They break down into three branches:
- Ground Branch: SAD Ground Branch operatives are experts in fieldcraft, surveillance, small arms, hostage rescue, CQB and advanced driving. Many former Army Special Forces soldiers and Delta Force operators find their way into Ground Branch.
- Maritime Branch: As the name suggests, SAD Maritime Branch's focus is on amphibious operations and as such tends to recruit ex SEALs and Force Recon Marines as its operators.
- Air Branch: SAD's aviation wing.
Marine Scout Snipers
Scout Snipers are subject-matter experts on identification of high-valued targets, and visual reconnaissance, along with ingress and egress without detection from enemy-occupied territory.
Oh yeah, and they can shoot hair off a tick's behind from a kilometer away.
The military will use them for raids, but their expertise at recon and shooting high-valued targets puts them squarely into the realm of special operations.
Their 8.5 week initial training consists of:
- Marksmanship and field craft: Running. Running. More running. Students also learn how to sketch terrain, read targets through a spotter scope, and hit targets at "known" distances.
- Stalking: Students learn how to enter a contested area unnoticed, scout that area, and exit unnoticed — meanwhile, trained, hardened sniper instructors scan the area with high-powered binoculars, looking for the students.
- Unknown Distance Range: Students fire at targets upward of a kilometer away, without being told exactly what the distance or elevation is. The Marines must accurately range and hit their own targets.
Navy Special Warfare Combat-craft Crewmen — SWCC
When the SEALs are in a bind, they call SWCC.
Combat Crewman provide highly aggressive, tactical "exfiltration" of SEAL units. They can be loud and destructive, or quite quiet, as they aid and reinforce SEALs who may or may not be in a particularly nasty situation.
To become a basically trained crewman, a sailor must complete:
- 3 weeks Indoctrination Course at NAB Coronado, California
- 8 weeks Basic Crewman Training (BCT) training at the Naval Special Warfare Center, NAB Coronado
- 21-week SWCC Crewman Qualification Training (CQT) at NAB Coronado
Army Green Berets — "Special Forces"
Army Green Berets are among the most elite groups in the world, and provide a pipeline to higher units, like the Army's "Delta" CAG, and the CIA SAD.
They have about as much street-cred as numbered SEALs and Force Recon, depending on who's doing the talking.
Notably, Green Berets have some of the toughest initial training in the entire military. Their initial test lasts an incredible 24 days, and that's just to see if you can attend the Green Beret qualification course.
The initial test:
- Days 1-3: Physical fitness tests, language training, rucksack marches, basic first aid.
- Days 4-19: Map reading, and land navigation over various terrain. weeks Basic
- Days 20-22: Long-distance trek, long distance land navigation.
- Days 23-24: Outprocessing and official selection boards.
And don't forget ...
Air Force:
— Tactical Response Force: Kind of like police SWAT teams, except with nuclear bombs. Air Force TRFs protect nuclear missile silos.
— Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP): "Tacs" guide close-air support and artillery by radio or other communication, often from behind enemy lines.
Army:
— Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR): These are the guys in those infamous black helicopters. Dubbed "The Nightstalkers," they're a group of upper-echelon tactical aviators who support operators on the ground.
— Intelligence Support Activity (ISA): Referred to as "The Activity," this Top Secret unit performs Human Intelligence (HUMINT, spies and assets) operations and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT, "listeners").
— Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG): A group comprised of only about 400 people who specialize in developing methods to counter asymmetric threats. They advise the officers who implement policy in the field.
— Special Reaction Teams: Army version of civilian SWAT teams.
Navy:
— Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 84: The "Red Wolves" are the Navy's version Army SOAR. They provide heliborne support to Navy SEALs and SWCC operators on the ground.
Marine Corps:
— Radio Recon Platoon: Radio reconnaissance members are specialized warfighters who also provide communications to Marine Corps Recon operators.
— Special Reaction Teams: A Marine Corps version of civilian SWAT teams.
Now that you know why there's a "special" in American Special Operations ...
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