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United States Special Operations Command
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or USSOC) is the Unified Combatant Command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations Commands (SOC or SOCOM) of each branch of the U.S. military. The command is part of the U.S. Department of Defense. When Special Operations Forces (SOF) of different branches are used for the same operation, USSOCOM acts as the Joint Command Center (JCC) of all the forces used in the operation. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. SOCOM is a separate brand of the armed forces, with 44,000 special operations commandos from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps.
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The idea of a unified special operations command had its origins in the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw, the disastrous attempted rescue of hostages at the American embassy in Iran. The ensuing investigation, chaired by Adm. James L. Holloway III, the retired Chief of Naval Operations, cited command and control and inter-service coordination as significant factors in the failure of the mission.
Further problems in Grenada in Operation Urgent Fury involving communications problems, training coordination, and equipment commonalities increased the visibility of the problems of inter-service standardization.
A significant part of the problem was identified as related to attempts to use standard-force-issue equipment (radios, helicopters, aircraft, surface craft) for the more demanding special operations, and the lack of support from the various services for developing and equipping their special operations forces with equipment suitable to the missions.
The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 would eventually lead to the establishment of USSOCOM on April 16, 1987.
| Name and Affiliation | Start of Term | End of Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEN James J. Lindsay, USA | April 1987 | June 1990 |
| 2 | GEN Carl W. Stiner, USA | June 1990 | May 1993 |
| 3 | GEN Wayne A. Downing, USA | May 1993 | February 1996 |
| 4 | GEN Henry H. Shelton, USA | February 1996 | September 1997 |
| RADM Raymond C. Smith, Jr., USN (acting) | September 1997 | November 1997 | |
| 5 | GEN Peter J. Schoomaker, USA | November 1997 | October 2000 |
| 6 | Gen Charles R. Holland, USAF | October 2000 | September 2003 |
| 7 | GEN Bryan D. Brown, USA | September 2003 | July 2007 |
| 8 | ADM Eric T. Olson[1], USN | July 2007 | Present |
Each Special Operations Command is unique and capable of running their own operations, but when the different Special Operations Forces need to work together for an operation, USSOCOM becomes the joint component command of the operation, instead of a SOC of a specific branch. Joint Special Operations Command is under the command of USSOCOM.
The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida is in charge of the Special Operations Forces of the U.S. Air Force. The command currently oversees:
Active-duty
- 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Florida
- 27th Special Operations Wing, Cannon AFB, New Mexico
- 352d Special Operations Group, RAF Mildenhall, England
- 353d Special Operations Group, Kadena Air Base, Japan
- 720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Florida
- US Air Force Special Operations School, Hurlburt Field, Florida
- 18th Flight Test Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida
Reserves & National Guard
- 919th Special Operations Wing, Duke Field, Florida
- 193d Special Operations Wing, Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania
- 123d Special Tactics Squadron, Louisville International Airport, Kentucky
- 125th Special Tactics Squadon, Portland International Airport, Oregon
- 209th Civil Engineer Squadron, Gulfport, Mississippi
- 280th Combat Communication Squadron, Dothan Regional Airport, Alabama
- 107th Weather Flight, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan
- 146th Weather Flight, Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania
- 181st Weather Flight, Dallas, Texas
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is in charge of the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the U.S. Army. The command currently oversees:
- 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D, Delta Force) - Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
- 75th Ranger Regiment (Rangers, Light Infantry) - Headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgia.
- United States Army Special Forces Command (USASFC)
- 1st Special Forces Group - 1st Battalion stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are headquartered at Fort Lewis, Washington. 1st SFG has responsibility for the Pacific.
- 3rd Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 3rd SFG has responsibility for all of Africa except for the eastern Horn of Africa.
- 5th Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 5th SFG has responsibility for the Middle East, Persian Gulf, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa (HOA).
- 7th Special Forces Group - Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 7th SFG has responsibility for Latin and Central America as well as the Caribbean (along with 20th SFG).
- 10th Special Forces Group - 1st Battalion stationed near Stuttgart, Germany, and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions are headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado. 10th SFG has responsibility for Europe, mainly Central and Eastern, the Balkans, Turkey, Israel and Lebanon.
- 19th Special Forces Group - National Guard unit for the Special Forces. 19th SFG has responsibility over Southwest Asia (shared with 5th SFG), as well as the Pacific (shared with 1st SFG).
- 20th Special Forces Group - National Guard unit for the Special Forces. 20th SFG has an area of responsibility covering 32 countries, including Latin America south of Mexico, the waters, territories, and nations in the Caribbean sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. These areas of responsibility are shared with 7th SFG.
- 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers, Helicopters) - Headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
- 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) Psychological Operations
- 95th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) Civil Affairs (CA)
- U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (USACAPOC) was recently moved under the control of U.S. Army Reserve Command and is responsible to overseeing all Reserve Civil Affairs and PSYOP units. The 96th Civil Affairs Bn (A) and the 4th PSYOP Group (A) represent active duty Civil Affairs and PSYOP and fall directly under USASOC. USASOC retrains proponency for all Civil Affairs and PSYOP doctrine and training.
- Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) (Provisional) SB(SO)(A)
- 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion (Airborne)
- 528th Special Operations Support Battalion (Airborne)
- Material Management Center (Airborne)
- five Special Operations Theater Support Elements
- John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (USAJFKSWCS) and its schools:
- Military Free Fall School – HALO/HAHO
The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM or NAVSOC) is in charge of the Special Operations Forces of the U.S. Navy, particularly the different SEAL Teams. The command currently oversees:
- Naval Special Warfare Group ONE (SEAL Teams, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California)
- Naval Special Warfare Group TWO (SEAL Teams, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia)
- Naval Special Warfare Group THREE (SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California)
- Naval Special Warfare Group FOUR (Special Boat Teams, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia)
- Naval Special Warfare Development Group (Counter-terrorist DEVGRU, fmr. SEAL Team 6, Fleet Training Center Dam Neck, Virginia)
- Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), as the US Marine Corps component of USSOCOM, trains, organizes, equips and, when directed by the Commander, USSOCOM, deploys task organized, scalable, and responsive U.S. Marine Corps special operations forces worldwide in support of combatant commanders and other agencies.
- Marine Special Operations Battalions (MSOB)
- 1st MSOB (Camp Pendleton, CA)
- 2nd MSOB (Camp Lejeune, NC)
- Marine Special Operations Advisor Group (MSOAG), formerly the Foreign Military Training Unit
- Marine Special Operations Support Group (MSOSG)
- Marine Special Operations School (MSOS)
- Special Mission Training Branch - East (Camp Lejeune, NC)
- Special Mission Training Branch - West (Camp Pendleton, CA)
- Marine Force Recon, who perform more or less the same role as US Navy SEALs.
- Marine Recon Battalions, who can perform to some extent the role of the Marine Force Recon, but specialize in deep reconnaissance. Analogous to Army Rangers.
- Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, part of the security branch of the United States Marine Corps, they can be deployed on ships or in embassies where needed.
- Anti-Terrorism Battalion, a battalion who specializes in tracking, capturing and destroying terrorism and terrorists. The active battalion is attached to the 2nd Marine Division.
- Scout Sniper (considered to some extent as Special Ops due to extensive training), who deal with sniping activities, a bit of reconnaissance.
The MSOAG, formerly the FMTU, has been operating since 2005, before MARSOC formally existed. MARSOC was formally activated during a February 24th ceremony at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where MARSOC is now headquartered. Fox Company, 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, was the first of the Marine Special Operations Battalions' companies to activate in the Spring of 2006. Drawing its manpower from the core of 2nd Force Reconnaissance Co., Fox Company's creation came at the expense of 2nd Force Reconnaissance Co., which stood down upon the transfer of its platoons to both MARSOC's 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, and a new company (Delta) of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion.
The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is the USSOCOM branch working on counter terrorism. It controls the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D, Delta Force), which is administratively under U.S Army command; the DEVGRU (Navy Special Warfare Development Group, formerly SEAL Team 6); parts of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), notably the 1st Battalion, which flies several versions of the AH/MH-6 "Little Bird" helicopter; the USAF's 24th Special Tactics Squadron and several squadrons of the 16th Special Operations Wing; the unit previously known as Intelligence Support Activity, a covert unit that often changes its name and carries out special missions in support of other JSOC units, and several other Special Missions Units.
Portions of JSOC units have made up the constantly changing special operations specialist strike force, operating in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, variously known as Task Force 11, Task Force 121, Task Force 6-26, and Task Force 145 since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Like operations in Somalia in 1993 and as adopted by U.S. allies since, the force appears to be made up of Delta/DevGru or their equivalents - elite 'black role' special operations forces - at its core, supported by Army Rangers - high quality light infantry. This grouping has now been adopted by the United Kingdom, with the formation of the Joint SF Support Group, the former 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment, and Australia, with 4 RAR (Commando) supporting the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) on operations.
- Sua Sponte.com
- ShadowSpear Special Operations Community Website
- SpecialOperations.com: U.S. Special Operations
- USDOD. U.S. DOD Dictionary of Military Terms. United States of America: U.S. Department of Defense. June 5, 2003.
- USDOD. U.S. DOD Dictionary of Military Terms: Joint Acronyms and Abbreviations. United States of America: U.S. Department of Defense. June 5, 2003.
 Unified Combatant Commands of the United States armed forces |
|
|---|---|
| Regional responsibilities | Africa Command - Central Command - European Command - Northern Command - Pacific Command - Southern Command |
| Functional responsibilities | Joint Forces Command - Special Operations Command - Strategic Command - Transportation Command |
| Inactivated | United States Strike Command - United States Atlantic Command - United States Space Command - United States Readiness Command |