BACK TO :
RESCOL


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMERICAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES

Vocabulary - Abbreviations / Acronyms - History - Lists - Facts -

DELTA FORCE - JSOC - MARINE FORCE RECON - NAVY SEALs -

NSWDG - SAD - THE GREEN BERETS - USSOCOM - NAVY DOGSLED TEAM -

Special operations - Osama bin Laden - Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism -

Exercises to print - Lesson plans - Quizzes - Songs -

Videos - Cartoons - TV series - Cinema - Video games

(Page created on 02/05/2011)

 

 

Related pages :

TERRORISM - SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 -

CIA (on the SPY / SURVEILLANCE / SECURITY page) - CIA

Vietnam War - Wars with American Involvement - Torture

 

 

VOCABULARY :

  • GLOSSARY in "SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper" by Howard E. Wasdin, Stephen Templin (amazon.com)
    - You can look inside the book.
  • Special forces, or Special Operations forces "are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform..." (Wikipedia)
  • Counter-terrorism (also spelled counterterrorism) "is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed."
    Counter-terrorism = Measures intended to combat or reduce terrorist activities
    (Wikipedia)
  • Intelligence :
    - "a unit responsible for gathering and interpreting information about an enemy."
    (wordnetweb.princeton.edu)
    - "An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering (known in the context as "intelligence") for purposes of national security and defense."
    (Wikipedia)
  • Special Reconnaissance (SR) "is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from Special Operations Forces (SOF) who avoid combat with, and detection by, the enemy."
  • The Presidential Unit Citation
    "is a senior unit award granted to military units which have performed an extremely meritorious or heroic act, usually in the face of an armed enemy."
    (Wikipedia) 

 

  • Unconventional warfare (abbreviated UW) "is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict.
    On the surface, UW contrasts with conventional warfare in that: forces or objectives are covert or not well-defined, tactics and weapons intensify environments of subversion or intimidation, and the general or long-term goals are coercive or subversive to a political body."
    (Wikipedia)

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS :

BUD/S Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CT counter-terrorism
FID foreign internal defense
JSOC The Joint Special Operations Command
NSWDG The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
OPS Operations
OSS Office of Strategic Services
SAD Special Activities Division
SEAL SEa, Air and Land (SEAL)
SFOD-D Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta
SMU Special Mission Unit
SOC or SOCOM Special Operations Commands
SOG Special Operations Group
SOF Special Operations Forces
SR Special reconnaisance
USMC United States Marine Corps
USSOCOM United States Special Operations Command 
UW Unconventional warfare

 

 

HISTORY :

 

 

LISTS :

 

 

FACTS :

 

 

 

DELTA FORCE :

  • Delta Force - UPDATED
    "1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta, or Delta Force, it ... is officially referred to by the Department of Defense as Combat Applications Group. This unit is an elite Special Operations Force, and an Army Compartmented Element of the  Joint Special Operations Command.
    Delta Force, along with its Navy counterpart DEVGRU, are the United States' primary counter-terrorism units.
    Delta Force's primary tasks are counter-terrorism, direct action, and national intervention operations, although it is an extremely versatile group capable of assuming many covert missions, including, but not limited to, rescuing hostages and raids."
    (Wikipedia)

    Nickname : Delta, D-boys, CAG

    Motto : "Surprise, Speed, Success".

  • American special ops : Delta Force (deltaforce.americanspecialops.com)
    "Delta's main mission is counter-terrorism (CT).

    This includes:

    • hostage rescue
    • the capture / elimination of terrorist forces
    • intelligence gathering on terrorist threats

    Other roles include:

    • close protection (guarding VIPs)
    • unconventional warfare

    MORE information with photos, videos, weapons, vehicles, aircraft, missions...

 

JSOC :

 

MARINE FORCE RECON :

  • Marine Force Recon : "United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, otherwise known as Force Recon, units are a special operations force under the command of the United States Marine Corps. Many Force Recon Marines have now been integrated into MARSOC, however the Corps still retains itsown dedicated Force Recon units."
    (forcerecon.americanspecialops.com)

"Semper Fidelis"

The primary role of Force Recon marine is to gather intelligence in support of USMC operations.

    • amphibious operations
      • scout swimming
      • beach/coastline reconnaissance
      • small boat operations
    • deep reconnaissance
    • unconventional warfare
    • foreign internal defense (FID)
    • special reconnaissance
    • direct action
    • counter-terrorism

 

NAVY SEALs :

 

  • A SEAL's Salary: Typical Navy SEAL Makes About $54,000
    - "with over a dozen years of experience and an E-7 pay grade...
    The average ranking of special operations team members across the military branches is E-7, which entitles them to receive a monthly base pay of $2,637.30 to $4,143, according to the Department of Defense.    ..
    Most military members, not just Special Forces, are eligible to receive incentive pay..."
    (abcnews.go.com)

 

  • “The Only Easy Day was Yesterday” – Navy SEAL Slogan (information.usnavyseals.com)
    + "It Pays to be a Winner"

  • Navy SEALs : America's renowned naval commandos (seals.americanspecialops.com)

 

NSWDG :

 

  • Team Six - article en français (20minutes.fr)




SAD :

  • CIA Special Activities Division - Central Intelligence Agency Special Operations
    "The Special Activities Division (SAD) is the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) covert paramilitary operations unit.
    They are one of America's most secretive and lowest profile special ops organizations...
    The Special Activities Division, sometimes referred to as the 'Special Operations Group', is made up of Paramilitary Operations Officers.
    CIA Paramilitaries are typically ex-military personnel and veterans of military special operations units such as the Green Berets or Marine Force Recon."
    (cia.americanspecialops.com)

  • The Special Activities Division (SAD) "is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) National Clandestine Service (NCS) responsible for covert and black operations as well as other "special activities" including covert political action and paramilitary special operations.
    Within SAD there are two separate groups, one for paramilitary operations and another for political action...
    Special Operations Group (SOG) is the element within SAD responsible for paramilitary operations.
    These operations include collection of intelligence in hostile countries and regions, and all high threat military or intelligence operations with which the U.S. government does not wish to be overtly associated.
    As such, members of the unit (called Paramilitary Operations Officers) normally do not carry any objects or clothing (e.g., military uniforms) that would associate them with the United States government. If they are compromised during a mission, the government of the United States may deny all knowledge."
    (Wikipedia)

 

 

THE GREEN BERETS :

  • US Army Special Forces, sometimes known as 'the Green Berets', are a versatile army unit made up of 'quiet professionals'.
    + a video
    (specialforces.americanspecialops.com)

    Nickname : Quiet Professionals, Soldier-Diplomats, Snake Eaters

    Motto : De oppresso liber (U.S. Army's translation: "To Liberate the Oppressed")

    Roles :
    • unconventional warfare
    • foreign internal defense (FID)
    • special reconnaissance
    • direct action
    • counter-terrorism
    • counter-proliferation
    • information operations

 

 

USSOCOM :

 

NAVY DOGSLED TEAM :

SPECIAL OPERATIONS :

  • Bin Laden killed: Ten cases of special forces in action
    "The US assault on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan has been hailed as a brilliant example of its kind.
    By taking big risks, special forces operations can achieve goals that few would have believed possible - or they can turn into bloody disasters.
    Here are 10 notable examples from the last four decades :
    Operation Thunderbolt - Uganda, July 1976
    Operation Eagle Claw - Iran, April 1980
    Operation Nimrod - London, May 1980
    Loughgall ambush - Northern Ireland, May 1987
    Assassination of Abu Jihad - Tunis, April 1988
    The Battle of Mogadishu - Somalia, October 1993
    Operation Chavin de Huantar - Peru, April 1997
    Operation Barras - Sierra Leone, September 2000
    Moscow Theatre siege - October, 2002
    Operation Jaque - Colombia, July 2008"
    (BBC)

 

 


Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism :

 


EXERCISES TO PRINT :

LESSON PLANS :

 

 

QUIZZES :

  • Special operations forces - a quiz
    They "are relatively small, often self-sufficient combat units, consisting of highly-trained and well-equipped soldiers, that use teamwork, stealth and speed to achieve the task at hand."
    (123facts.com)
  • What Special Forces Are You?
    "This is for people that are undecided where they want to go. The Special Operations I have picked for this Quiz are: Air Force P.J., Navy E.O.D., Navy Seals, Army Special Forces, Army Rangers..."
    (youthink.com)
  • American Special Forces WW2
    "The elite units of the Airborne, Rangers and 1st Special Service Forces were used to spearhead difficult attacks and stalemates throughout the war. This quiz is a broad history and a look at some major campaigns."
    (funtrivia.com)

 

 

SONGS :

 

 

VIDEOS :

 

 

CARTOONS :

 

30 HEROES
(cagle.com)

 

  

 

HIDING IN PAKISTAN... - Cartoons
(cagle.com)

 

 

NAVY SEALS - Cartoons
(cagle.com)

 

 

Watching the raid :

Superheroes!

- Flash
- Capitain America
- Superman
- Spiderman
- Batman
- Spawn
- Lobo?
- Wonder Woman
- j’onn j’onzz
- Green Lantern
- Catwoman
- Captain Marv-Ell
- Plastic-man?

 

 

This sucks!
(news.icanhascheezburger.com)

 

 

Cartoon: Gaddafi's New Hideout
"Excellent cartoon by Adams from 
The Daily Telegraph which shows  Colonel Gaddafi
arriving at Osama bin Laden's Pakistani hideout,
which he has just bought for $1m.
The wreckage of the US military helicopter 
which crashed during the raid on bin Laden's
compound is visible over the roof."
+ COMMENT + GRAMMAR
(jeffreyhill.typepad.com)

 

 

 

TV SERIES :

  • The Unit "is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
    The program features both the domestic lives of the team members and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends...
    "The Unit" is the U.S. Army colloquial term for Delta Force." 
    (Wikipedia)

 

 

CINEMA :

  • Forces spéciales
     "is a 2011 French war adventure film by Stéphane Rybojad which was shot in France, Djibouti and Tajikistan.
    The film shows a little group of elite soldiers on a hopeless mission...
    While filming the action scenes, the actors were overseen and advised by French naval special forces according to the press folder available on the official site. Moreover one of their former chief instructors (Alain Alivon) played his own role."
    (Wikipedia)

  • Act of Valor - Official Trailer [HD]
    "An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent."
    - American war film directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIDEO GAMES :

  • Medal of Honor game goes on sale amid controversy - with a VIDEO
    "The game follows the exploits of Special Forces troops battling insurgents in Afghanistan in 2002.
    In August, Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox called for the game to be banned after it emerged that users could fight as The Taliban."
    (BBC)