{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2020 Former United States special operations units are disbanded or otherwise dormant

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces, subversion, or guerrilla warfare. This is typically done to avoid escalation into conventional ...

units of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. Most units were created to fulfil categorical obligations within a particular conflict, and were disbanded once that conflict ended. All branches of the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

– the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

have fielded special operations units. For subsisting special operations units, see United States Special Operations Forces.

The Civil War

Jessie Scouts The Jessie Scouts were irregular soldiers during the American Civil War on the side of the Union (American Civil War), Union who frequently operated in the territory of the Confederate States of America. The unit was created by John C. Frémont and ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

scout unit that operated disguised as

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

soldiers

World War I

* American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)

World War II

* 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional) - ''"

Castner's Cutthroats Castner's Cutthroats was the unofficial name for the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), also known as Alaskan Scouts. Castner's Cutthroats fought during World War II and were instrumental in defeating the Japanese during the ...

"'' * 1st Special Service Force – ''"

Devil's Brigade The 1st Special Service Force was an elite American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, under the command of the United States Fifth Army. The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana ...

"'', a joint U.S.-Canadian unit * 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) – ''"

Merrill's Marauders Merrill’s Marauders (named after Frank Merrill) or Unit ''Galahad'', officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South ...

"'' – ''"

Charles N. Hunter ''For the educator, please see Charles Norfleet Hunter'' Charles Newton Hunter (January 11, 1906, Oneida, New York - June 14, 1978, Cheyenne, Wyoming) was the author of the book ''Galahad'' (1963) a first person account of the Burma Campaign i ...

"'' * Ranger Battalions *

Alamo Scouts The Alamo Scouts (U.S. 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit) was a reconnaissance unit of the Sixth United States Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. The unit is best known for its role in liberating American prisone ...

Alaskan Scouts The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG), more commonly known as the Eskimo Scouts, was a military reserve force component of the US Army, organized in 1942 in response to attacks on United States soil in Hawaii and occupation of parts of Alaska by Emp ...

* Marine Parachute Battalions – the "

Paramarines The Paramarines (also known as Marine paratroopers) was a short-lived specialized combat unit of the United States Marine Corps, trained to be dropped from planes by parachute. Marine parachute training which began in New Jersey in October 19 ...

" * Marine Raider Battalions - the " Marine Raiders" *

United States Marine Corps Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion The United States Marine Corps's Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, formerly ''Company'', was a specialized team of Marines and Navy Corpsmen that performed clandestine preliminary pre– D-Day amphibious reconnaissance of planned beachhead ...

, ''"VAC Amphib Recon Company"'' or ''"FMFPAC Amphib Recon Battalion"'' *

United States Marine Corps Scout (Tank) and Sniper Company The United States Marine Corps Scout and Sniper companies and the Scouts (Tank) companies of the tank battalions were the first among the division's reconnaissance assets.Bruce F. Meyers, ''Swift, Silent, and Deadly: Marine Amphibious Reconnaissanc ...

– originated ''

Scout Sniper United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper (MOS 0317, formerly 8541) is a secondary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have graduated from a U.S. Marine Corps Scout Snipe ...

s'' and '' Division Recon'' * Naval Scouts and Raiders * Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDU) * US Navy

Beach Jumpers Beach Jumpers were U.S. Navy special warfare units organized during World War II by Lieutenant Douglas Fairbanks Jr. They specialized in deception and psychological warfare. The units were active from 1943 to 1946 and 1951 to 1972. Inspired by ...

Underwater Demolitions Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII fun ...

s (UDT) Precursor to the

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...

* 1st Air Commando Group * Office of Strategic Services, whose functions included the arming, training and supplying of

resistance movements A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

; the use of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, espionage, and subversion; and conducting post-war planning. Precursor to the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

Korean War

* Airborne Ranger Companies (

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

) * Air Resupply And Communications Service (ARCS) * Combined Command Reconnaissance Activities, Korea (CCRAK) * Joint Advisory Commission, Korea (JACK) (Korean War), CIA-affiliated covert special operations unit *

United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea The United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK), also known as the White Tigers, was a unit during the Korean War that was consolidated under the control of Eighth United States Army, Korea's 8th Army G-3 Miscellaneous Group, 8086th and 8240th A ...

(UNPIK)

Vietnam War

Fast Patrol Craft Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), also known as Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the United States Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the brown-wate ...

Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), also known as Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, 50-foot (15 m) long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for

counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionari ...

(COIN) operations during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. *

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP (pronounced "lurp"), is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ...

s (LRRPs or "Lurps");

-era deep reconnaissance and raider units *

MIKE Force The Mobile Strike Force Command, or MIKE Force, was a key component of United States Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War. They served with indigenous soldiers selected and trained through the largely minority Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CI ...

Mobile Strike Force Command; Corps I, II, III, IV *

Tiger Force Tiger Force was the name of a long-range reconnaissance patrol unit of the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade (Separate), 101st Airborne Division, which fought in the Vietnam War from November 1965 to November 1967. The unit ...

(Vietnam War); reconnaissance commando (recondo) platoon in the 1/327th Infantry * Project "Leaping Lena" (Vietnam War);

Recondo Recondo is an American military acronym (from RECONnaissance commanDO, or RECONnaissance DOughboy) for a highly specialized infantry training or a graduate of a Recondo School who leads a small, heavily armed long-range reconnaissance team that patr ...

course for South Vietnamese teams, trained by U.S. Special Forces, became Project DELTA. *

Project DELTA Project DELTA was the first of the Reconnaissance Projects, which were special reconnaissance (SR) units named with a Greek letter. The Reconnaissance Projects were formed by the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) during the Vietnam Wa ...

(Vietnam War); 5th Special Forces group long-range reconnaissance unit; precursor to MACV-SOG *

Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

(MACV-SOG), a joint covert Vietnam War-era task force composed of 2,000 American soldiers and over 8,000 indigenous mercenaries * Project GAMMA/Project SIGMA MACV-SOG recon units that operated in Cambodia *

Project OMEGA A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

Special Forces unit tasked to provide I Field Force Vietnam an SR capability in remote areas *

Phoenix Program The Phoenix Program ( vi, Chiến dịch Phụng Hoàng) was designed and initially coordinated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Vietnam War, involving the American, Australian, and South Vietnamese militaries ...

; joint CIA and US military project based around the identification and elimination of the civilian supporters of the Viet Cong. * Project 404/Palace dog was a USAF program that supplied support personnel in civilian clothing to the Royal Laotian Air Force. Long range goal was production of a self-sufficient RLAF. * Raven FACs were USAF pilots in civilian clothing assigned to support the Royal Laotian Air Force by directing air strikes from small aircraft.

Other

* 39th Special Forces Detachment (1952–1984), in Berlin, Germany, a classified unit that conducted unconventional warfare during the cold war * 69th Special Forces Group (1963–1971), 8th Special Forces Group (1963–1972), 11th Special Forces Group (1961–1994) and 12th Special Forces Group (1961–1994) (disbanded Army Special Forces Groups) * "Blue light", a counter-terrorist unit created among the 5th Special Forces Group in the late 1970s * Special Operation - Reconnaissance, joint Marine-Navy reconnaissance units in the late 70s * Task Force Bayonet, a Joint Task Force specialised in Foreign Internal Defense (FID) duties for Latin American countries; mainly composed of Special Forces, but also included

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

and

Intelligence Support Activity The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), also known at various times as Joint Reconnaissance Evaluation Group (JREG), Mission Support Activity (MSA), Office of Mi ...

operators * US Army Special Operations Division * SEASPRAY, an aviation unit for military covert operations during the 1980s *

Red Cell Red Teams or Red Cells are United States government terms for the National Security Co-ordination Team (NSCT). These teams or units are designed to test the effectiveness of American tactics or personnel. In 1984, Red Cell was formed after Rich ...

, U.S. " Tiger team" active in the 1980s *

Task Force Ranger Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named ''Task Force Ranger'' during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farra ...

(

Operation Gothic Serpent Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named ''Task Force Ranger'' during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farrah ...

), U.S Army Special Ops(75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Ranger Battalion/ 160th SOAR/ Special Ops Detachment DELTA or Delta Force, now known as CAG)task force deployed to

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

between August and October 1993 *

Task Force 11 Task Force 11 (TF 11 or alternately Commander Task Force 11, CTF 11) is a designation that has been used by the United States armed forces for two separate units. World War II During World War II, Task Force 11 was a United States Navy aircraft ...

(

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

), joint Army/Navy task force created to capture or kill senior

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

and

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

leaders in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Task Force 20 Task Force 20 is a temporary combat force designation that has been used several times and may still used by separate parts of the United States armed forces. The longer-established iteration was a part of the United States Second Fleet in the A ...

Task Force 121 Task Force 121 was a United States Department of Defense special operations task force. TF121 was a multi-service force from Joint Special Operations Command, made up of operators from the U.S. Army's Delta Force, 75th Ranger Regiment, and ...

(

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

), multinational joint task forces created to capture or kill senior leadership of the former

Baathist Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...

regime in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, including

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

; also tasked with capturing or killing the leadership of the

Iraqi insurgency Iraqi insurgency may refer to: * Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), part of the Iraq War ** Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006), 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency ** Iraqi civil war (2006–2008), multi-sided civil war in Iraq * Iraqi insurgency (20 ...

as well as senior al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq; Task Force 20 later merged with Task Force 121, and is now believed to be active under the designation Task Force 77. * Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One (MCSOCOM-Det 1) (Operation Iraqi Freedom), pilot project active from 19 June 2003 to 10 March 2006 to assess the establishment of a permanent U.S. Marine Corps unit under Special Operations Command (SOCOM); replaced by the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) * Observer Group * Marine Corps Test Unit#1

References

* http://www.specialoperations.net/Web%20Docs/Project404History.doc Accessed 11 October 2008. * ''The Ravens: The Men Who Flew in America's Secret War in Laos''. Christopher Robbins. Crown Publishers/Pocket Books, 1987. * www.ravens.org Accessed 11 October 2008. Special Operations Forces of the United States Lists of defunct organizations