US Special Forces Roles? [Classic thread - selected for idiocy]

[Whisky_Indigo_Lima]

EDIT: I APOLOGISE FOR THE DOUBLE POST, HAVING INTERENT TROUBLE

Hello everyone!

1ST QUESTION
I am a British student who has an interest in all things SOF, and i am somewhat confused about why the US has so many special forces regiments and if/or how there roles overlap each other. In Britain (to the best of my knowledge) we have a far simpler SOF structure. You start off at the bottom with the grunts of the infantry, then the more elite infantry the paras, in the paras you have the elite(er) patherfinders recon element, and then the Navy has the marines. All well trained, RM, probably the best trained out of all of them but there are generally conventional warfare. Then the SAS and SBS make up the "actual" special forces muscle for anti terrorism, specialist missions etc etc (please correct me if i am wrong up to this point)

However in the US army ad least you have the Delta boys and Green Berets. When would one be employed over the other, plus you also have the rangers, why employ the rangers over green berets or even the standard infantry for missions. Then you have the Navy's SEAL's. Now i am assuming they operate near the coast and relatively shortly inland, so where would the powers that be decide to use SEAL's over Delta, inland? Basically if you have not understood what on earth i am on about up to this point, what is the structure of the US special forces and when are certain regiments used over others.

I know of at least these ones:

Delta
SEAL's
Rangers
Green Berets
Marines

SECOND QUESTION

So that i dont bombard the forums with new threads i thought i would also include this question in this thread.

The M4! Is it not getting replaced sometimein 2008 as the US's prime assault rifle? I heard somewhere that the contract with Colt runs out soon, and i was wondering with all you ex or present Military folk around this forum is it going to get replaced through out the US military with a new caliber 6.8 or just an improved m4 like the Colt M5 or the HK416 (I know Delta have got the hk416) or will they go for a brand new weapon like the SCAR. Which brings me onto my final question. I know Delta now use the HK416, but i also heard the SCAR has been accepted to fit out all SOCOM soldiers, so who are they? Not Delta?


Thanks for you patience if you have read everything. I am young and am facinated with things SOF and have no military experience

Whisky

[Heazy]

nvm...........

[Dispatcher]

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Thank you.

[Whisky_Indigo_Lima]

I have googled and used the search button. I do realse due to the larger size of the US, the need for more Spec Ops guys, but why not make the Delta and Seals larger, rather then having lots of different forces which will quarel over operations...or is this nort the case?

[MetroN]

I have googled and used the search button. I do realse due to the larger size of the US, the need for more Spec Ops guys, but why not make the Delta and Seals larger, rather then having lots of different forces which will quarel over operations...or is this nort the case?

Not everybody is cut for everything, you know. There is a training process that the recruits have to go trough, and few passes it.

So instead of lowering the standards to get more men, "they" keep the standards up to make sure that the few men they get in are the best. That's why the Elite is Elite.

And for the weapon question, you will find that it's been up for debate several times here. I would recommend that you look for the threads and read them, so you get a picture of the real deal peoples view on this forum, then you will be less likely to step in to the ****.

And for the record, (mostly) all the SF guys use what ever equipment they want to use.

Welcome to the forum.

[lightfire]

I have googled and used the search button. I do realse due to the larger size of the US, the need for more Spec Ops guys, but why not make the Delta and Seals larger, rather then having lots of different forces which will quarel over operations...or is this nort the case?

first-different branches, different operations and sometimes - tasks.
Second - sometimes attached particular SOF units are the only ones,or best suitibale for the task in the area
third - already answered. It goes under SOCOM comand anyway, so why to merge everything into one gigantic, beurocratic, merde, there's no point. The main Idea of SOCOM is to coordinate actions of various specialised units and attach the best at the moment, that are capable to carry out the task.

[haze99]

Based upon National Command request, the mission will decide who is to deploy and what their paramenters will be. Each organization you have listed has a unique mission within its given branch. (you forgot AFSOC STS's!) And they can overlap in some cases, but are trained and tasked for a specific role. Just like in coventional forces, you won't get a supply company to assault a trench-line would you? No, you would use your infantry and prep the area by artillery first.
How would you increase the size? Lower standards? Plus, if you are to increase these units in number, it will cost you a good "coin". Processing, selection, pay and gear. (ah gear, where would one begin on that?)
In the USA, Special Forces refers to the US Army "Green Berets". (which is their garrion head-gear.) If you are refering to all SOCOM assets, Special Operations Forces would be the correct term.

[Whisky_Indigo_Lima]

So is the US Special Forces i.e Green Berets and SOCOM two seperate entities?

When i said make one of the units larger e.g. Delta i didnt mean decrease training standards to make the force larger. Rather do away with Green Berets and any other army special forces regiment and organise any army soldier who wants to become spec ops to get into Delta...if that makes any sense..haha....therefore all army spec ops personel are under one roof. I was just thinking (hypothetically of course) if i was in the US infantry and i wanted to become a Spec Ops operator, how would i decide which to aim for, Delta, Green Berets, The Unit (wink), or if in the navy would i go SEAL's, Marine force recon etc etc

If someone could post up what each US special forces regiment specialises in then that would be most interesting. ie. I assume Delta specialises in couter terrorism and maybe Green Berets work more "in the field" s to speak.

Thanks for the comments so far. Great community!

[deagle]

http://www.specialoperations.com/default2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...l_forces_units

[AZRON]

EDIT: I APOLOGISE FOR THE DOUBLE POST, HAVING INTERENT TROUBLE

Hello everyone!


I know of at least these ones:

Delta A very selective combined mission team for SWAT and Ninja type duty. Originally for airplane type hostage release missions.Most of them comeup from below listed groups

SEAL's : Originally Navy Frogmen/UDT types but added recon and sabotage during Korean War and more specialized combat duties during VN War.

Rangers :Highly trained light infantry originally patterned after Brit. Cammandos and Wingates Chindits .

Green Berets Primary mission to train indigenous allied 3rd world troops. Can do other mission types like recon etc.

Marines Naval infantry originally sharpshooters and gendarmes on U.S. warships. Mission extended to guarding embassys and land warfare as they were a seaborne QRF.

We also have CIA SOF types that are similar to SF but can carry money to bribe , pay the help and play dirty tricks , they also recruit from above groups.

[lt tahoe]

The UK has a total of some 400,000 troops (active and reserve). The US has over 2 million. That is certainly one reason why there are more such units in the US military vs. the UK.

Accordingly, the US tends to have more troops deployed around the world; US forces are deployed to at least 35 countries these days. Many of those missions involve FID and other training, generally a SOF specialty.

[-DarthMaul-]

Marines arent SF or SOF.

I believe the Marines have thier own SOF, called Special Operation Battalions"?? And Force Recon also.

Delta force people are Army Special Forces btw :P. I believe they fall in under thier own Detachment..Delta basically(you know how they have ODA, ODB, etc.) Every one of the four detachments has different duties, and missions. Delta's main mission is probably unknown to most, but alot of peple guess its alot of DA and Counter-Terror missions.

Also. Some consider Rangers more high speed than SF. Rangers are more like the super light infantry, lightning fast, shock-and-awe, and fierce. They do more conventional warfare than SF. SF are high speed too, but thier numbers are small and WAY different mission.

Remember you're forgetting also SWICCs from the US Navy :P They deserve recognition too. But I believe SEALs+SWICC = your SBS.

well thats my two cents. I could be wrong some where.

[SonKev]

We also have CIA SOF types that are similar to SF but can carry money to bribe , pay the help and play dirty tricks , they also recruit from above groups.

We call them Ground Branch, right?

[silveykyle]

I need to start drinking heavily after reading this thread.

[Whisky_Indigo_Lima]

I need to start drinking heavily after reading this thread.

Why is that?

What is SWICCS? Cant say i have heard of them!