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United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)

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USASOC is the unified command structure in which individual Army Special Operations units such as Rangers, Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviation, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, and various support elements are housed under. The JFK Special Warfare Center and School is also part of USASOC, and contains various Special Forces schools and courses such as the Special Forces Qualification Course.

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United States Army Special Operations Command

USASOC
The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is the unified command structure in which individual Army Special Operations units such as Rangers, Special Forces, 160th Special Operations Aviation, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, and various support elements are housed under.  The JFK Special Warfare Center and School is also part of USASOC, and contains various Special Forces schools and courses such as the Special Forces Qualification Course.

Note that Special Mission Units such as Delta Force are not a part of USASOC but rather falls in under JSOC.

Special Forces

US Army Special Forces are an elite military unit, the only unit specifically organized to counter the insurgencies and unconventional threats that America faces today, and is likely to face well into the future.

Structured for unconventional warfare, Special Forces teams are task organized into 12-man teams or Operational Detachment-A teams, commonly called ODA’s, or simply A-Teams. Capable of working independently in a decentralized manner, these teams consist of:

  • 18A-Team Leader (Captain)
  • 180A-Assistant Team Leader (Warrant Officer)
  • 18Z-Team Sergeant (Master Sergeant)
  • 18F-Intelligence Sergeant (Staff Sergeant or Sergeant First Class)
  • 18D-Senior Medical Sergeant  (Sergeant First Class)
  • 18D-Junior Medical Sergeant (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant)
  • 18B-Senior Weapons Sergeant (Sergeant First Class)
  • 18B-Junior Weapons Sergeant (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant)
  • 18E-Senior Communications Sergeant (Sergeant First Class)
  • 18E-Junior Communication Sergeant (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant)
  • 18C-Senior Engineer Sergeant (Sergeant First Class)
  • 18C-Junior Engineer Sergeant (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant)

Each of these job titles carries with it a unique set of responsibilities, both operationally and administratively.  For instance, a Weapons Sergeant trains his team in weapons and tactics, but also writes the team’s Standard Operating Procedures and builds range packets and lesson plans.  A Medical Sergeant treats the wounded in combat, but also gives his team vaccinations and makes sure their medical records are up to date.  The redundancy of having two soldiers on every ODA in each specialty gives the team the added flexibility of also conducting split team operations.

Additionally, within a Special Forces Company consisting of six ODA’s, there are teams that further specialize in Military Free Fall (HALO), Combat Divers, and Mountain Warfare.

ODAs have seven doctrinal mission profiles:

Foreign Internal Defense: FID is the bread and butter of Special Forces soldiers.  Acting as trainers and instructors, ODAs work with and through indigenous troops to conduct combat operations in war and train allied and friendly nations across the globe in military tactics and techniques during times of peace.

Direct Action: DA missions are strike operations against enemy targets.  This could encompass the destruction of enemy resupply lines, such as blowing up rail lines, destroying enemy missile sites, raiding enemy base camps, or more frequently today, hunting down terrorist leaders in the cities and urban sprawl.  Direct Action missions are of short duration and can be conducted unilaterally by ODAs, but are almost always carried out with the indigenous soldiers that they train and work with.

Special Reconnaissance: SR is conducted to gather strategic intelligence that is reported back to higher headquarters elements.  These types of missions can be carried out deep behind enemy lines, laying up in a hide site for weeks on end studying key infrastructure and gathering information on enemy troop movements.

Unconventional Warfare: Generally, UW missions involve an ODA infiltrating into a hostile nation, linking up with rebel guerrilla fighters and working with them to topple rogue regimes. In this manner, Special Forces soldiers operate in austere, non-permissive environments with a loose command and control structure, using irregular tactics and techniques to counter enemy forces.  This is exactly what Special Forces soldiers did when they linked up with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and crushed the Taliban.

Counter Terrorism: Each Special Forces Group also contains a company of Green Berets that specialize in Direct Action and Counter Terrorism.  These soldiers train specifically for strike operations and have access to a higher level of funding and more training opportunities.  While distinct from Rangers and Delta Force, these soldiers provide some of the same capabilities, but normally work with an indigenous commando unit.

Counter Proliferation: These types of operations involve preventing terrorist and criminal organizations from obtaining Weapons of Mass Destruction or the components needed to create them.  This mission will almost certainly be executed by, with, and through the military of a host-nation government.

Information Operations: Formerly Psychological Operations, most SF missions now have an I/O component which could be as simple as distributing pamphlets and delivering a message to the locals about who you are and why you are in their neighborhood.  In one instance, I was in a very remote part of Iraq visiting villages.  In each village, I helped introduce my Iraqi counterparts to the locals and made sure they were aware that Iraqi soldiers were available to them in case they had trouble with the insurgents.  This is one type of information operation.  IO is about influencing, educating, and altering perceptions.

Special Forces, also known as Green Berets, trace their heritage back to the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS of World War II fame.  The OSS was a para-military intelligence service that operated behind enemy lines in both the European and Pacific theaters, conducting reconnaissance, sabotage, and other clandestine activities directed against the Nazi and Imperial Japanese forces.  Members of the OSS went on to serve in both the CIA and Special Forces.

Special Forces were formally established in 1952 by the indomitable Colonel Aaron Bank, himself an OSS legend, who had parachuted into Nazi occupied France, eventually formulating a plan to capture Hitler if he had tried to flea from Berlin.  Located on Smoke Bomb Hill in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, the Special Forces began recruiting.  They had their pick of the best America had to offer: battle hardened paratroopers, former OSS men, and other veterans of World War II and the Korean War.  The wearing of the distinctive green beret by Special Forces soldiers was controversial amongst Army leadership until General Yarborough cleared it up for us in 1961.

US Special Forces came into their own, proving themselves in the jungles, villages, and cities of South East Asia, especially in Vietnam.  As the Vietnam War escalated, Special Forces soldiers carried out their primary duty as military instructors, coaching and mentoring South Vietnamese forces as they fought against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.  Special Forces worked with South Vietnamese, Chinese Nung mercenaries, and the Montagnards, some of whom were fresh out of their jungle villages.  These tribal peoples turned in their loin cloths for military boots and uniforms, their Green Beret mentors molding them into an effective fighting force.

The heroic actions of Special Forces soldiers in Vietnam are simply too numerous to mention here.  Special Forces soldiers also participated in the Phoenix Program, Studies and Observations Group, and Project Delta, all of which are worthy of individual study.

Today’s Special Forces are broken down into five Groups consisting of three or four battalions of Green Berets, plus support elements. In addition, there are also two National Guard Special Forces Groups, 19th and 20th Groups, which are also deployed on a regular basis.

Army Rangers

The 75th Ranger Regiment is the US Army’s premier airborne light infantry unit.  Specializing in raids and airfield seizures, the Regiment is one of very few units that has been constantly deployed since 9/11, with each Ranger battalion having rotated into a combat zone in the neighborhood of fifteen times each.

After completing Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training, and Airborne School, potential Rangers are carefully evaluated in the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program, or RASP.  RASP identifies which soldiers have the mental fortitude and physical toughness required to serve as a member of this elite unit.  Additionally, RASP provides training to these new recruits in critical Ranger tasks.  Upon graduation of RASP, new Rangers will most likely be assigned to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Ranger Battalion.  Regimental Headquarters and the Regimental Support Battalion are also co-located at Ft. Benning with 3rd Battalion.

Today’s Ranger Battalions were stood up on the orders of General Creighton Abrams in 1974.  As many of you may know, our Army had suffered a great deal and wasn’t looking so great in the Post-Vietnam War years.  1st and 2nd Ranger Battalions were created to be a role model for the rest of the Army, a unit where soldiers would be held to extremely high standards, their commanding guidance derived from the Ranger Creed, penned by Command Sergeant Major Neil Gentry.

While the Ranger Creed is a way of life in the Regiment, it also provides important guidance to a Ranger whenever there is a question or doubt about what the correct course of action may be.  In these difficult times, Rangers will default to the Ranger Creed.

The Ranger Creed

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier, who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger, my country expects me to move further, faster, and fight harder than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight, and I will shoulder more than my share of the task, whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle, for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor.

The Rangers are arguably (I’ve debated this with soldiers who served in the Honor Guard in Washington DC) the oldest existing unit in our military.  Rangers fought in a number of American conflicts before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, such as the French and Indian War and King Philip’s War.  In the Revolutionary War, Francis Marion organized and fought in a Ranger unit against the British.  Marion was known as the swamp fox because his men would attack and quickly disappear into the swamps to evade the British military.

Six Ranger Battalions fought in the Second World War.  It was during D-Day at Omaha beach that the Rangers came upon their unit motto.  During the assault, Colonel Norman Cota asked Major Max Schneider which unit he belonged to.  When someone replied that they were 5th Ranger Battalion, Cota replied, “Well, then goddammit, Rangers, lead the way!”  Today all Rangers sound off with the unit motto, “Rangers Lead The Way” when saluting an Officer, to which, any Officer worth his salt responds with, “All The Way!”

Rangers also served in the Korean War with distinction, including 2nd Ranger Company, an all African-American company of Rangers.  For the first time, Rangers were now Airborne qualified.

In the Vietnam War, there were Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) teams that executed some of the hairiest missions of the war.  Penetrating deep into the jungle in their distinctive tiger strip uniforms to conduct reconnaissance, ambushes, and more, these men were later reorganized into Ranger Companies.  Despite what the press might have said, our Vietnam era Rangers served with distinction and have plenty to be proud of.

With Rangers reformed after Vietnam in 1974, their next deployment was the failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980, known as Desert One.  1st and 2nd Battalion conducted a combat jump into the island nation of Grenada in 1983, where they successfully captured the Point Salines airfield and rescued the American medical students being held on the True Blue facility.  3rd Ranger Battalion was formed shortly after in 1984.  In 1989, the entire Regiment jumped into Panama as a part of Operation Just Cause.

Alpha and Bravo Company of 1/75 played a role in Operation Desert Storm while Bravo Company of 3/75 participated in Operation Gothic Serpent, the infamous Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia in 1993.

Following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, 3/75 jumped into Objective Rhino in Afghanistan on October 19th.

3/75 Rangers also jumped into Iraq during the opening salvo of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, participating in the battle of Haditha dam.  Today, Rangers deploy regularly in support of Operation Enduring Freedom while Operation Iraqi Freedom has only recently been scaled back, with Rangers having conducted untold thousands of combat operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  Meanwhile, one Ranger Battalion always remains on standby while home in the United States, prepared to be recalled for rapid deployment at a moments notice.