A SOT-A (Special Operations Team-Alpha) is a

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

–

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

(SIGINT-EW) element of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. They are low-level SIGINT collection teams that intercept and report operational and technical information derived from tactical threat communications through prescribed communications paths. The mission of a SOT-A is to conduct SIGINT/EW in support of information operations (unilaterally or in conjunction with other Special Operations Forces (SOF) elements) to support existing and emerging SOF missions worldwide. SOT-A's are the direct descendants of the Army Security Agency's Special Operations Detachments (USASASODs).

Capabilities

SOT-As can detect, monitor, and exploit threat communications through communications transmission intercept and direction finding. SOT-As also can deploy with Special Forces Operational Detachments-A (SFODAs or A-teams) to provide SIGINT support for contingency, direct action, force protection, or MTT support. These functions may require SOT-As to: *Deploy with a SFODA. *Deploy independently and then join a deployed SFODA. *Operate independently or with other SOT-As. *Operate and train on advanced collection equipment provided by national intelligence agencies.

Insertion/Extraction Techniques

*Patrolling *Helicopter Touchdown, *

Helocast Helocasting is an airborne technique used by small unit, special operations forces, also practiced extensively by the US Army's light infantry units, to insert into a military area of operations. The small unit is flown, by helicopter, to a mari ...

**Personnel **Small Boat *

Rappel Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

Fast Rope Fast-roping is a technique for descending a thick rope, allowing troops to deploy from a helicopter in places where the aircraft cannot touch down. The person holds onto the rope with gloved hands (with or without using their feet) and slides do ...

Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction The Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) system was developed as a means to rapidly insert and/or extract a reconnaissance patrol from an area that does not permit a helicopter to land. SPIE has application for rough terrain as well as wa ...

(SPIE) *

Parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

**Static-Line SOT-A team members can operate in remote and denied areas. In addition to their linguistic and SIGINT skills, SOT-As are trained in tactical and fieldcraft techniques.

SIGINT (Signals Intelligence)

*Foreign languages **

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

**Chinese **

Farsi Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...

**French **Indonesian **

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

**Russian **Spanish **Thai **Tagalog *

Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

intercept (>20 GPM) *Analysis and reporting

Advanced training

Advanced training may include: * Survival Evasion Resistance Escape *

Ranger School The United States Army Ranger School is a 62-day small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training wa ...

* Mountain Survival Course/ Mountain Leader Course *

Jumpmaster Jumpmasters are the expert paratroopers in an airborne unit who train and teach the military techniques for jumping from airplanes. They are responsible for training soldiers who enter Army Airborne School into paratroopers and managing airborne ju ...

* Army Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course *

Army Combat Diver Qualification Course 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 ...

* Military Free-Fall Parachutist Course

Organization

According to a 2001 field manual, there is one SIGINT section with six SOT-A per each Special Forces Group. A SOT-A team consists of four members.

References

United States Army Special Operations Command {{US-mil-stub