what is the difference between special forces and special operation forces
ask anyone in either the special forces or special operations forces what the most annoying thing is
and they'd most likely tell you it's how people get the two of them confused with one another
possibly one of the most pervasive yet irritating
missteps that the media and public in general makes about the military
is the use of the terms special operations forces and special forces interchangeably
in a day and age where special operations units have a growing presence in the media
due to the increase of their importance in the asymmetric
non-conventional combat environment that our country has found ourselves in the mistake
has become all too common in headlines on news channels as well as newspapers and magazines
consider this article a primer for anyone in the media that even
remotely cares about their journalistic accuracy as well as the curious citizen
special operations or sometimes referred more accurately to as special operations
forces include any unit that falls under the united states special operations command
naval special warfare air force special operations command army special operations command and marine
special operations command are all included under this umbrella i won't go further down
the ladder and list every unit under those commands but they cover everything from the
528 sustainment brigade and civil affairs to the sealed teams and ranger regiment
the shadowy joint special operations command also falls under sock on as a subunified command
but often reports directly to higher authorities due to their unique and often sensitive missions
who is not covered by the term special operations
anyone who does not fall under the soccer umbrella for example although force recon companies in the
marine corps are highly trained and undergo a selection process similar to many sof units
they are not considered special operations as they belong to the marine corps not stockholm
it's popular to say that spec-op training is 10 physical and 90 mental a strong statement
considering the level of fitness that precludes spec op boot camp
what you have to realize is that the 90 mental is in a great deal physical as well what we mean by
that is that the training is so excruciating and intense it tests your psyche as well as your body
bodybuilders pro athletes and fitness gurus had tried the spec op training and failed
now what about the term special forces
special forces is not a generic term in the u.s military and refers to a very specific unit
the first special forces regiment falls under the command of the army special operations command
and includes the 1st 3rd 5th 7th 10th 19th and 28th special forces groups
they are most often referred to by their distinctive headgear the green beret
or simply as sf the army special forces are capable of a wide variety of missions
but were designed to be the premier experts on unconventional warfare and foreign internal
defense a special forces soldier duty is to take on any unusual or intensely difficult task
the regular army couldn't tackle a lot of what they do involves going behind enemy lines in
secret covert missions most of what they do is top secret info and is never disclosed to the public
as an example of a classic unconventional warfare mission that happened in history
after the terror attacks of 9 11 small elements of the fifth special forces
group embedded with indigenous fighters from afghanistan's northern alliance and lead them
into bow within a matter of weeks they had effectively neutralized the taliban threat
accomplished not with brigades and divisions of soldiers but with only a couple dozen special
forces soldiers this is the capability that the first special forces regiment
brings to the table and makes them very unique in the larger socom picture
soldiers joining up with the special forces have to endure nine weeks of ultra-intense
physical and mental conditioning this is just the initial training though afterwards
soldiers will attend the advanced individual training for four weeks
after their advanced individual training soldiers are required
to take basic airborne school for three weeks
and from then on special operations prep assessment and qualification courses are required
the whole process takes over a year if you can handle it
to summarize special operations forces is a generic term that you can use to refer to
any and all special operations units
special forces is the title of a very specific unit and is not a generic term for other units
if you don't know what unit did something refer to them as sof or special operations
if you know for a fact that it was a unit from one of the seven special forces groups
then referred to them as special forces simple enough right
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