In our recent video on some of the special forces of the Second World War,
we covered only two US special forces -- the Marine Raiders and the Devil's Brigade.
Of course, there were others, and US special forces obviously go beyond World War II,
so in this video, we're going to outline the history and current state of them.
As we said in our previous video on special forces, they have existed, on some level, for as
long as warfare has, but the term "special forces" was first coined during the Second World War.
With that said, US special forces can follow some of their roots to the colonial period.
The United States Army Rangers, a special operations unit still running to this day,
for instance, has some roots in the 17th century. Basically, the British colonists
were at war with tribes of Native Americans, and some of their full-time soldiers threw
around the terms "range" and "ranging" while out on patrol and reconnaissance missions.
The term "Ranger" was coined soon after, though the first commissioned Ranger force in America
wasn't assembled until 1676, under Colonel Benjamin Church. With the aid of friendly
Native Americans, Church tailored the Rangers to fight like Europeans and Native Americans both,
and the unit was employed in conflicts such King Philip's War, against other Native Americans;
King William's War; and Queen Anne's War. In 1751, nine Ranger companies were mustered for the French
and Indian War under colonial frontiersmen Major Robert Rogers, and these men were issued standard
rules -- deemed "Robert Rogers' 28 'Rules of Ranging'" -- which are still provided to modern
Army Rangers today. Lastly, during the American Revolution War, a unit known as Knowlton's
Rangers carried out non-combat operations, inspiring modern intelligence organisations.
It could also be argued that the US Marine Corps or USMC employed unconventional tactics in the
1800s and early 1900s too. The USMC has roots in the American Revolutionary War, in which
the Continental Marines undertook amphibious landings and excelled in ship-to-ship warfare,
making use of their exceptional marksmanship. And during World War I, the USMC served in the
American Expeditionary Force, earning a reputation as a daring shock trooper force, comparable with
the German Stormtroopers, the Italian Arditi, the Austrian Jagdkommandos, and other units
in kind -- hence why the USMC might be considered a special force up to this point in history.
Special forces took it up a notch for World War II, laying the groundwork for
special forces as we know them today; i.e. modern special forces. Again, we covered the
Marine Raiders (which were born out of the USMC) and the First Special Service Force or
"Devil's Brigade" (which was an American-Canadian commando unit) in our previous video,
so we're not going to expand too much on them now. But don't worry;
the US military employed many other special forces throughout this terrible conflict.
As we discussed, the concept of the US Rangers has some roots in the 17th century, though it
was basically reimagined in 1942 and in no small part inspired by the British Commandos. Some fifty
US Rangers fought alongside the Commandos in the Dieppe Raid, becoming the first American soldiers
to fight on the ground in Europe, and they also fought elsewhere in France, in Italy, in North
Africa, and in the Pacific Theatre. Of note, the 5th Ranger Battalion landed on Ohama Beach
during the Normandy Invasions and scaled a 90-foot or 27-meter cliff under heavy fire to destroy an
artillery position, making life a little easier for subsequent landing forces. In the Pacific,
the 6th Ranger Battalion spearheaded the invasion of the Philippines and raided the Japanese POW
camp known as Cabanatuan -- an operation which was supported by the Alamo Scouts, a 6th Army
special operations unit raised in November 1943 that conducted intelligence and guerilla
operations in not only the Philippines but also New Guinea, all without losing a single man.
Out of the Rangers in the Pacific Theatre, the 5307th Composite Unit or "Merrill's Marauders"
were formed. Led by Frank Merrill, the Marauders were a unit which specialised in long-range
penetration operations and jungle warfare, and they fought all through the China-Burma-India
Theatre against the Japanese, often with inferior numbers, making good use light weaponry and,
far better than a gun, Japanese-American translators. While greatly successful,
the jungle eventually chewed them down, and the unit was disbanded on the 10th of August 1944.
While not solely a combat-oriented spec ops unit, the Office of Strategic Services or OSS was formed
on the 13th of June 1942 and had more typical spec ops units, called Operational Groups, within it.
Members of Operational Groups, as opposed to other OSS operatives, often wore military attire
and undertook sabotage and guerrilla operations behind enemy lines throughout Europe and the
China-Burma-India Theatre. Some of these Operational Groups took part in Operation
Jedburgh in what were called "Jedburgh teams," and some even trained and supplied
non-US Allied forces, such as Chinese forces fighting the Japanese in Burma.
Other US spec ops units which served in World War II included Navy Scouts and Raiders,
Navy Combat Demolition Units, Underwater Demolitions Teams,
the 1st Air Commando Group, the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon or "Castner's Cutthroats,"
the Alaskan Scouts or the "Eskimo Scouts," Marine Parachute Battalions or "Paramarines,"
the USMC Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion, the USMC Scout (Tank) and Sniper Company,
Navy Beach Jumpers, and likely a whole lot more we've "missed."
Now, as we've alluded to, some World War II spec ops units still exist, some exist
under different names, and some, despite dissolution, inspired modern spec ops units.
Exactly how all of this went down is beyond the scope of the video,
but we can look at a few examples, drawing from spec ops units we've mentioned so far.
We said we wouldn't expand so much on the Marine Raiders in this video,
but it's worth mentioning that, after they were deactivated in 1944, the Raiders were revived
as the "Marine Special Operations Regiment" in 2006 and renamed the "Marine Raiders" in 2014,
serving under the USMC Special Operations Command,
to which they remain the principal combat component. The Raiders engage in a variety
of operations, including but not limited to special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism,
counter-insurgency, maritime interdiction operations, and clandestine operations.
The modern US Army Rangers have operated since 1942 without dissolving, taking part
in the Korean War and Vietnam War after the Second World War, and Operation Eagle Claw,
the Persian Gulf War, and other conflicts, such as the still-raging Iraq War, after that.
To become a Ranger and wear the Ranger Tab, one must graduate from Ranger School,
which is administered by the Ranger Training Brigade. At Ranger School,
students are taught to endure physical and mental stresses and fatigue in mountain, swamp,
and desert terrains and learn how to perform recon, set ambushes, conduct raids, and much more.
As the 5307th Composite Unit or "Merril's Marauders" came out of the Rangers, so too was it
assimilated back into the Rangers in August 1944, as part of the 475th Infantry. After the war,
in June 1954, the 457th was redesignated the 75th, from which the 75th Ranger Regiment descended.
Following its dissolution in September 1945, the OSS was superseded by the
Central Intelligence Agency or CIA, and the CIA sustains similar operational units,
administered by the Special Activities Center or SAC, to this day. It's also important to note that
OSS Operational Swimmers paved the way for the Navy SEALS of the US Naval Special Warfare Command
or NSWC. Navy Scouts and Raiders, Navy Combat Demolition Units, and the subsequent Underwater
Demolitions Teams or UDTs, however, were the direct ancestor of the Navy SEALS,
persisting as UDTs until 1983, after which they were redesignated SEALS and
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams. The SEALS are the principal spec ops force of the US NSWC;
they conduct special operations in all manner of environments, not just maritime.
So that's Marine, Army, and Navy covered, but what about the Air Force?
Well, the 1st Special Operations Wing of the US Air Force Special Operations Command
traces its lineage to the US Army Air Force 1st Air Commando Group, which supported long-ranged
penetration operations in Burma and can trace its own lineage back to before World War II,
to the Army Air Service's 16th Pursuit Group specifically. The 1st Spec Ops Wing or 1 SOW's
core missions include but are not limited to combat aviation advisory operations,
personnel recovery and other recovery operations, and specialized aerial refuelling.
Now, perhaps the best example of World War II units paving the way for modern spec ops units are
the US Army Special Forces, with "Special Forces" being the actual name of this spec ops force,
capitalised and all. The Army Special Forces are more commonly known as the "Green Berets," and,
activated in 1952, they claim lineage from the Devil's Brigade; the Alamo Scouts; OSS Operation
Groups, such as the Jedburghs and OSS Detachment 101; and other World War II spec ops units. The
Green Berets served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, other conflicts under the Cold War umbrella,
the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, and many other conflicts, and the force was established as
a basic branch of the US Army in 1987, at around the same time as the US military united its Army,
Marine, Naval, and Air Force spec op forces under the US Special Operations Command or SOCOM.
Indeed, all operational US spec ops forces fall under SOCOM's umbrella of command,
and the mere fact that such a command exists is testament to the effectiveness of modern spec
ops units. There are literally hundreds of units which fall under Joint Spec Op Command
or JSOC, such as Delta Force; Army Spec Op Command or USASOC; Marine Corps Forces Spec
Op Command or MARSOC; Naval Special Warfare Command or NSWC; and Air Force Spec Ops
Command or AFSOC -- not to mention all those which fall under theatre-specific commands.
But what do you think? Did this give you a better understanding of the history of US special forces?
Were there any special forces we didn't cover that you think we should have? Were there any we
did cover that you think weren't "true" special forces? Do you disagree that US special forces
have at least some 17th-century roots? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.