Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations.Richard Bowyer, Dictionary of Military Terms, Bloomsbury Reference (2005–08), / . NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment".
Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during World War II, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare.
In Russian-speaking countries, special forces of any country are typically called , an acronym for "special purpose". In the United States, the term special forces often refers specifically to the U.S. Army Special Forces, while the term special operations forces is used more broadly for these types of units.
Capabilities Special forces capabilities include the following: Special reconnaissance and surveillance in hostile environments Foreign internal defense: Training and development of other states' military and security forces Offensive action Support to counterinsurgency through population engagement and support Counterterrorism operations Sabotage and demolition Hostage rescue
Other capabilities can include close personal protection; waterborne operations involving combat diving/combat swimming, maritime boarding and amphibious missions; as well as support of air force operations.
History
Early period
Special forces have played an important role throughout the history of warfare, whenever the aim was to achieve disruption by "hit and run" and sabotage, rather than more traditional conventional combat. Other significant roles lay in reconnaissance, providing essential intelligence from near or among the enemy and increasingly in combating irregular forces, their infrastructure and activities.
Chinese strategist Jiang Ziya, in his Six Secret Teachings, described recruiting talented and motivated men into specialized elite units with functions such as commanding heights and making rapid long-distance advances. Elite Han troops known as jue chang (蹶張) were composed of strong crossbowmen capable of shooting and drawing powerful crossbows by the hands-and-feet method with a recorded draw-weight in excess of 340 kg/750 lb. These troops were a highly specialized, physically elite corps that operated heavy crossbows that could penetrate armor in the army of the Han dynasty. Hamilcar Barca in Sicily (249 BC) had specialized troops trained to launch several offensives per day. In the late Roman or early Byzantine period, Roman fleets used small, fast, camouflaged ships crewed by selected men for scouting and commando missions. In the Middle Ages, special forces trained to conduct special operations were employed in several occasions. An example of this were the special forces of Gerald the Fearless, a Portuguese warrior and folk hero of the Reconquista.Clemente Ramos, 653 n14: El perro caminaba en noches lluviosas y muy oscuras, de fuerte viento y nieve, hacia las ciudades y había preparado sus instrumentos de escalas de madera muy largas, que sobrepasen el muro de la ciudad, aplicaba aquellas escaleras al costado de la torre y subía por ellas el primero, hasta la torre y cogía al centinela y le decía: "Grita como es tu costumbre," para que no le sintiese la gente. Cuando se había completado la subida de su grupo a lo más alto del muro de la ciudad, gritaban en su lengua con un alarido execrable, y entraban en la ciudad y combatían al que encontraban y le robaban y cogían a todos los que había en ella cautivos y prisioneros a todos los que estaban allí.Porto Editora – Geraldo Geraldes, o Sem Pavor na Infopédia [em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora. [consult. 2022-04-22 22:05:13]. Disponível em https://www.infopedia.pt/$geraldo-geraldes-o-sem-pavor Muslim forces also had naval special operations units, including one that used camouflaged ships to gather intelligence and launch raids and another of soldiers who could pass for Crusaders who would use ruses to board enemy ships and then capture and destroy them. In Japan, ninjas were used for reconnaissance, espionage and as assassins, bodyguards or fortress guards, or otherwise fought alongside conventional soldiers. During the Napoleonic Wars, rifle regiments and sapper units were formed that held specialised roles in reconnaissance and skirmishing and were not committed to the formal battle lines.
First specialized units
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, there were wars between American colonists and Native American tribes. In Colonial America specialized Rangers formed and first mentioned by Capt. John Smith, in 1622. Learning frontier skills from friendly Native Americans the Rangers helped carry out offensive strikes "frontier combat" against hostile Natives. Thus Ranger companies were formed to provide reconnaissance, intelligence, light infantry, and scouting. Colonel Benjamin Church (c. 1639–1718) was the captain of the first Ranger force in America (1676). Many Colonial officers would take the philosophies of Benjamin Church's ranging and form their own Ranger units.
Several Ranger companies were established in the American colonies, including Knowlton's Rangers, an elite corps of Rangers who supplied reconnaissance and espionage for George Washington's Continental Army.p.90 Karcher, Phillip Encyclopaedia of British, Provincial, and German Army Units 1775-1783 , 1973, Daniel Morgan, was known as leader of The Corps of Rangers for the Continental Army. Rogers' Rangers on Roger's Island, in modern-day Fort Edward, New York, is regarded as the "spiritual home" of the United States Special Operations Forces, specifically the United States Army Rangers. These early American light infantry battalions were trained under Robert Rogers' 28 "Rules of Ranging", which is considered the first known manual of modern asymmetric warfare tactics used in modern special operations.
Various military Ranger units such as the United States Mounted Rangers, United States Rangers, Loudoun Rangers, 43rd Virginia Rangers, and Texas Military Rangers continued throughout the 19th-20th century until the modern formation of the Army Ranger Battalions in WWII.
The British Indian Army deployed two special forces during their border wars: the Corps of Guides formed in 1846 and the Gurkha Scouts (a force that was formed in the 1890s and was first used as a detached unit during the 1897–1898 Tirah Campaign)."The Corps of Guides – the original Indian Army special forces." ..."The Scouts were not subordinate to any brigade or division but were army troops – deployed at the discretion of the field force commander."
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902) the British Army felt the need for more specialised units. Scouting units such as the Lovat Scouts, a Scottish Highland regiment made up of exceptional woodsmen outfitted in ghillie suits and well practised in the arts of marksmanship, field craft, and military tactics filled this role. This unit was formed in 1900 by Lord Lovat and early on reported to an American, Major Frederick Russell Burnham, the Chief of Scouts under Lord Roberts. After the war, Lovat's Scouts went on to formally become the British Army's first sniper unit. Additionally, the Bushveldt Carbineers, formed in 1901, can be seen as an early unconventional warfare unit.
The Luna Sharpshooters, also known as the "Marksmen of Death" (Spanish: Tiradores de la Muerte), was an elite unit formed on 1899 by General Antonio Luna to serve under the Philippine Revolutionary Army. They became famous for fighting fiercer than the regular Filipino army soldiers. Most of the members of this unit came from the old Spanish Army Filipino members which fought during the Philippine Revolution.
The sharpshooters became famous for their fierce fighting and proved their worth by being the usual spearheading unit in every major battle in the Philippine–American War. In the Battle of Paye on December 19, 1899, Bonifacio Mariano, a sharpshooter under the command of General Licerio Gerónimo, killed General Henry Ware Lawton of the United States Army, making the latter the highest ranking casualty during the course of the war.
World War I
The German Stormtroopers and the Italian Arditi were the first modern shock troops. They were both elite assault units trained to a much higher level than that of average troops and tasked to carry out daring attacks and bold raids against enemy defenses. Unlike Stormtroopers, Arditi were not units within infantry divisions, but were considered a separate combat arm.
Interwar period Chaco war The Macheteros de Jara was an auxiliary cavalry regiment that was organized since August 15, 1932, before the Battle of Boquerón began. The regiment was recruited from former outlaws from Paraguay who fought against Bolivian officers and soldiers.
The 50th Infantry Regiment (Cuchilleros de la Muerte) was a Bolivian infantry regiment that fought in the Chaco War. Nicknamed the Knives of Death (Spanish: Cuchillos de la Muerte), the regiment relied almost exclusively on the use of blade weapons, particularly bayonets.
World War II British
Modern special forces emerged during the Second World War. In 1940, the British Commandos were formed following Winston Churchill's call for "specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast."Haskew, p. 47 A staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke, had already submitted such a proposal to General Sir John Dill, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Dill, aware of Churchill's intentions, approved Clarke's proposal and on 23 June 1940, the first Commando raid took place.
By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered and in November 1940 these new units were organised into a Special Service Brigade consisting of four battalions under the command of Brigadier J. C. Haydon. The Special Service Brigade was quickly expanded to 12 units which became known as Commandos. Each Commando had a lieutenant colonel as the commanding officer and numbered around 450 men (divided into 75-man troops that were further divided into 15-man sections).
In December 1940 a Middle East Commando depot was formed with the responsibility of training and supplying reinforcements for the Commando units in that theatre. In February 1942 the Commando training depot at Achnacarry in the Scottish Highlands was established by Brigadier Charles Haydon. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Vaughan, the Commando depot was responsible for training complete units and individual replacements. The training regime was for the time innovative and physically demanding, and far in advance of normal British Army training. The depot staff were all hand picked, with the ability to outperform any of the volunteers.