What’s so Special about Special Operations?
Overview
The US Navy and US Air Force are “capital intensive” organizations. They field several hundred ships and aircrafts in contrast to WWII when relatively inexpensive thousands were in the inventory. The loss of a nuclear submarine (cost: $8 billion each) or a strategic bomber (cost: $2.1 billion each) in combat would be considered a national catastrophe.
The Army and Marine Corps are "people intensive” organizations. Their equipment requirements (e.g. tanks, trucks, artillery) cost a fraction of the Navy and USAF’s expense. These branches are “people” rather than “equipment” focused. A combat loss of a vehicle in the Army or USMC is considered unremarkable.
Takeaway: The culture and behavior of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines springs from and reflects whether they are “capital intensive” or “people intensive.”
US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) – about 57,000 people
Since 9-11, Special Operations Command has grown in prominence and in size .In the early 21st century, warfare is characterized by “terrorists”, revolutionaries, and unconventional forces rather than conventional Army divisions, USAF wings of manned aircraft and Navy fleets with Marines, which dominated past wars.
SOCOM is the favorite of both the President and the Secretary of Defense but regarded with suspicion by conventional generals and admirals oriented toward traditional warfare. SOCOM is now large enough that it could in theory be broken off and made a new “branch” of the Armed Forces. For reasons of institutional self-preservation, the existing branches in the Department of Defense vigorously oppose this idea.
SOCOM consists of:
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US Army: about 29,000 people
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US Air Force: about 16,000 people
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US Navy: about 9,000 people
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US Marine Corps: about 2,600 people
Terminology: Language evolves and word definitions converge in meaning. The civilian media incorrectly uses “soldiers” as a general term to apply to US Marine Corps “Marines,” US Navy “sailors,” US Air Force “airmen,” and US Army “soldiers.” Similarly, the media often calls and elite military group “special forces,” but the term is technically restricted to US Army Green Berets. “Special operations” is the appropriate, generic term for unconventional military groups and applies to all members of SOCOM.
US Army Special Forces A-Team (“Green Berets)
An A-team may be divided into two sub-teams, each possessing operations, weapons, engineer, medical and communications senior sergeant and a team leader. It is the most robust of the special operations organizations in terms of organic technical ability. It is also the most expensive to field because of the number of senior NCOs or sergeants required to staff it. This rich staffing allows it to act as the cadre for a guerilla battalion during a revolution and allows it to train indigenous forces in all basic military competencies. It is also capable of “direct action” missions like raids but the most demanding, and politically sensitive direct action missions, are assigned to the Army Delta Team or Navy SEAL Team 6, which focus on such missions.
US Navy Seal Platoon—16 SEALs
Can be divided into two 8-man squads (optimum size to fit in a small boat).The squads may further divide into two 4-man fire teams. It is dominant in maritime commando operations and land raids requiring seaborne insertions (e.g., by submarine). SEALs are more generalists in their military skills than the specialists in Army A-teams. SEALs possess similar technical competencies as an Army A-team (see chart above).
US Air Force:
USAF special operations primarily involves aircraft and highly trained pilots. Unlike the Army and Navy, it does not field “squads” of ground commandoes. The USAF pararescueman comes closest to being a “commando.” He is trained as a parachutist, scuba diver, and trauma paramedic and is tasked with rescuing downed pilots.
US Marine Corps
For decades, the USMC resisted dedicating personnel to special operations missions believing “special operations” units would distract from the excellence of the overall US Marine Corps. Conventional Marine units were in theory fully capable of performing difficult missions, such as raids to snatch high value targets. SOCOM was eager to add a population of about 200,000 Marines to its pool of “potential” candidates. Somewhat analogous to the quarterback position in football, hundreds of men need to be screened to find one who is qualified. After 9-11, the Marine Corps reluctantly created three small special operations “battalions.” They are highly selective in their evaluation process, especially in physical fitness testing, but their membership is largely junior enlisted men not senior sergeants. This limits its missions to difficult but conventional infantry operations, like reconnaissance. They are outstanding light infantry.
Army Rangers
The 75th Ranger Regiment consists of three battalions. Members are noted for physical fitness and the ability to operate in harsh environments. It is organized like a conventional infantry “battalion” with a high percentage of junior enlisted men. This limits its missions to difficult but conventional infantry operations like raiding and security for SEAls, Delta and Army A-teams. It fields possibly the best light infantry company-size units in the world.
Other
Because of the complexity of their missions, Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs and USAF pararescueman must obtain a high Armed Services Vocational Aptitude score as a prerequisite for selection. Example of a mission prerequisite: the need to learn to read and speak Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, etc. The average member of the Rangers and Marine Corps Special Operations cannot satisfy this intelligence requirement.
What’s the biggest difference between a Green Beret and a Ranger (or a SEAL and a Special Operations Marine)? Answer: --- about 15 IQ points.