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100-435: The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity ( USAISA ), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) , also known at various times as Mission Support Activity (MSA) , Office of Military Support (OMS) , Field Operations Group (FOG) , Studies and Analysis Activity (SAA) , Tactical Concept Activity , Tactical Support Team , and Tactical Coordination Detachment , and also nicknamed "The Activity" and

200-674: A Beechcraft model 100 King Air flown by SEASPRAY (a clandestine military aviation unit) based in Honduras , ISA SIGINT specialists monitored communications from Salvadoran leftist guerrillas and fascist death squads, providing intelligence which helped the Salvadoran Army defend against guerrilla attacks. The success was such that the operation, planned to last a month, ran for more than three years. More aircraft were deployed, and eventually included eavesdropping on Honduran guerrillas too, as well as Nicaraguan Army units fighting against

300-590: A Special Access Program initially named OPTIMIZE TALENT. The ISA was given its classified budget of $ 7 million, a secret headquarters in Arlington, Virginia , and cover name, the Tactical Concept Activity. ISA included three main operations branches (Command, SIGINT and Operations) and an analysis branch, whose name changed over the years (e.g. Directorate of Intelligence, Directorate of Intelligence and Security). Colonel Jerry King became

400-614: A status quo antebellum. Two weeks after a treaty was signed (but not ratified), Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans and siege of Fort St. Philip with an army dominated by militia and volunteers, and became a national hero. U.S. troops and sailors captured HMS Cyane , Levant and Penguin in the final engagements of the war. Per the treaty, both sides (the United States and Great Britain) returned to

500-651: A few months. The war remains the deadliest conflict in U.S. history, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 men on both sides. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6.4% in the North and 18% in the South . Following the Civil War, the U.S. Army had the mission of containing western tribes of Native Americans on the Indian reservations . They set up many forts, and engaged in

600-534: A functional area. However, officers continue to wear the branch insignia of their former branch in most cases, as functional areas do not generally have discrete insignia. Some branches, such as Special Forces , operate similarly to functional areas in that individuals may not join their ranks until having served in another Army branch. Careers in the Army can extend into cross-functional areas for officers, warrant officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel. Before 1933,

700-640: A great believer in the use of unconventional intelligence-gathering methods. An ISA SIGINT team was sent to Italy as part of Operation Winter Harvest and in conjunction with other Army SIGINT and counter-intelligence units, employed aerial and ground-based SIGINT systems to monitor and geo-locate terrorist communications. ISA and the other Army elements provided useful intelligence, helping Italian police to arrest several Red Brigades terrorists in mid-January 1982. The Italian police and intelligence agencies have never officially disclosed how they located General Dozier in late January 1982. However, U.S. Army participants in

800-521: A hyphen, and are listed alphanumerically. Subcompartments are separated by spaces, and are also listed alphanumerically. Markings do not show the hierarchy beyond the sub-compartment level. Sub-sub-compartments are listed in the same manner as sub-compartments. A more complex banner line with multiple SAPs and subcompartments might read TOP SECRET//SAR-MB/SC-RF 1532-RG A691 D722 . Older documents used different standard for marking. The banner line might read SECRET//MEDIAN BELL//SPECIAL ACCESS REQUIRED , and

900-726: A month – known as battle assemblies or unit training assemblies (UTAs) – and conduct two to three weeks of annual training each year. Both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve are organized under Title 10 of the United States Code , while the National Guard is organized under Title 32 . While the Army National Guard is organized, trained, and equipped as a component of the U.S. Army, when it

1000-487: A new Army Command (ACOM) in 2018. The Army Futures Command (AFC), is a peer of FORSCOM, TRADOC, and AMC, the other ACOMs. AFC's mission is modernization reform: to design hardware, as well as to work within the acquisition process which defines materiel for AMC. TRADOC's mission is to define the architecture and organization of the Army, and to train and supply soldiers to FORSCOM. AFC's cross-functional teams (CFTs) are Futures Command's vehicle for sustainable reform of

1100-480: A predominantly combat support role. The army converted to an all-volunteer force with greater emphasis on training to specific performance standards driven by the reforms of General William E. DePuy , the first commander of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command . Following the Camp David Accords that was signed by Egypt, Israel that was brokered by president Jimmy Carter in 1978, as part of

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1200-809: A prerequisite to becoming a member of the ISA, though to be a SIGINT/HUMINT operator in the field with other Special Mission Units, working clandestine operations in non-permissive environments, knowing a minimum of several languages is usually indispensable (e.g. Persian , Arabic , Pashto etc.). Some of the disciplines focused on in the training course are infiltration techniques, advanced air operations, professional driving (offensive and off-road), personal defensive measures, use of state-of-the-art communications equipment, deep surveillance, tradecraft , weapons handling, hand-to-hand combat , signals intelligence, etc. Other Intelligence-based special operations units: United States Army The United States Army ( USA )

1300-618: A role in the invasions of Grenada in 1983 ( Operation Urgent Fury ) and Panama in 1989 ( Operation Just Cause ). By 1989 Germany was nearing reunification and the Cold War was coming to a close. Army leadership reacted by starting to plan for a reduction in strength. By November 1989 Pentagon briefers were laying out plans to reduce army end strength by 23%, from 750,000 to 580,000. A number of incentives such as early retirement were used. In 1990, Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor, Kuwait , and U.S. land forces quickly deployed to assure

1400-507: A separate SCI-SAP category alongside the three listed above. The Intelligence Community, drawing on the DNI's statutory responsibility to protect intelligence sources and methods, finds a legal basis for SCI separate from that of SAPs, and consequently consider SCI and SAPs separate instances of the more general controlled access program. SAP documents require special marking to indicate their status. The words SPECIAL ACCESS REQUIRED , followed by

1500-738: A strategy of seizing the coastline, blockading the ports, and taking control of the river systems. By 1863, the Confederacy was being strangled. Its eastern armies fought well, but the western armies were defeated one after another until the Union forces captured New Orleans in 1862 along with the Tennessee River. In the Vicksburg Campaign of 1862–1863, General Ulysses Grant seized the Mississippi River and cut off

1600-565: A systematic flood of classified documents coming from the Pentagon and other agencies. The Pentagon responds by creating its own "special access" labels to further insulate classified information from outside influence. In Executive Order number 11652 Richard M. Nixon legitimizes the use of special access controls and the "special access program" is finally made official. Two types of SAP exist – acknowledged and unacknowledged. The existence of an acknowledged SAP may be publicly disclosed, but

1700-786: Is "on a need to know basis". A SAP can only be initiated, modified, and terminated within their department or agency; the Secretary of State , Secretary of Defense , Secretary of Energy , Secretary of Homeland Security , the Attorney General , the Director of National Intelligence ; their principal deputies (e.g. the Deputy Secretary of State in DoS and the Deputy Secretary of Defense in DoD ); or others designated in writing by

1800-688: Is a greatsword originating from the Scottish Highlands , and the belt surrounding the badge is seen on Scottish clan badges (the belt signifies that the wearer is a member rather than the chief of the clan - the chief wears the badge without a belt surround). In 1981 the Intelligence Support Activity began to immediately select new operators, growing from the FOG's original 50 members to about 100. The ISA remained extremely secret; all of its records were classified under

1900-671: Is classified but does contain at least three squadrons (Operations, SIGINT and Mission Support/Communications). The ISA conducted various missions, including giving protection to the Lebanese leader Bachir Gemayel and attempting to buy a Soviet T-72 tank from Iraq (a deal that was finally stopped by the Iraqis). On 17 December 1981, the senior U.S. Army officer in NATO Land Forces Southern European Command , Brigadier General James L. Dozier ,

2000-533: Is not in federal service it is under the command of individual state and territorial governors. However, the District of Columbia National Guard reports to the U.S. president, not the district's mayor , even when not federalized. Any or all of the National Guard can be federalized by presidential order and against the governor's wishes. The U.S. Army is led by a civilian secretary of the Army , who has

2100-670: Is that each brigade will be modular, i.e., all brigades of the same type will be exactly the same and thus any brigade can be commanded by any division. As specified before the 2013 end-strength re-definitions, the three major types of brigade combat teams are: In addition, there are combat support and service support modular brigades. Combat support brigades include aviation (CAB) brigades, which will come in heavy and light varieties, fires (artillery) brigades (now transforms to division artillery) and expeditionary military intelligence brigades . Combat service support brigades include sustainment brigades and come in several varieties and serve

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2200-630: Is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces . It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services , and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution . The Army is the oldest branch of the U.S. military and the most senior in order of precedence. It has its roots in the Continental Army , which was formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during

2300-706: The 24th Special Tactics Squadron , are the U.S. military's premier Tier 1 Special Mission Units , performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions as directed by the National Command Authority . The unit is known by many names. USAISA was the official name of the unit from 1981 to 1989. It has also gone by a number of two-word Special Access Program names, including OPTIMIZE TALENT , ROYAL CAPE , CENTRA SPIKE , CAPACITY GEAR , GRANTOR SHADOW , TORN VICTOR , QUIET ENABLE , OPAQUE LEAF , CEMETERY WIND , GRAY FOX , TITRANT RANGER , and INTREPID SPEAR . The Field Operations Group (FOG)

2400-820: The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be the origin of that armed force in 1775. The U.S. Army is a uniformed service of

2500-949: The Army Strategy 2018 articulated an eight-point addendum to the Army Vision for 2028. While the Army Mission remains constant, the Army Strategy builds upon the Army's Brigade Modernization by adding focus to corps and division -level echelons. The Army Futures Command oversees reforms geared toward conventional warfare . The Army's current reorganization plan is due to be completed by 2028. The Army's five core competencies are prompt and sustained land combat, combined arms operations (to include combined arms maneuver and wide–area security, armored and mechanized operations and airborne and air assault operations ), special operations forces , to set and sustain

2600-772: The Army of Northern Virginia , is a United States Army Special Operations unit which serves as the intelligence gathering component of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Within JSOC, the unit is often referred to as Task Force Orange . Originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), it is one of the least known intelligence components of the United States military, tasked with clandestine HUMINT operations and collecting actionable intelligence during or prior to JSOC missions. The Activity and its counterparts 1st SFOD-D , DEVGRU , and

2700-537: The Battle of 73 Easting were tank battles of historical significance. After Operation Desert Storm, the army did not see major combat operations for the remainder of the 1990s but did participate in a number of peacekeeping activities. In 1990 the Department of Defense issued guidance for "rebalancing" after a review of the Total Force Policy, but in 2004, USAF Air War College scholars concluded

2800-580: The Contras . The ISA has also conducted an operation to search for US MIAs (soldiers reported as Missing In Action) allegedly held in South-East Asia in secret POWs camps in the 1980s. In 1979, U.S. intelligence thought it had located a POW camp in Laos using aerial and satellite photographs. A ground reconnaissance was needed to determine if people seen on photographs were really American POWs. At

2900-707: The Netherlands and the United Kingdom , until the 1990s in anticipation of a possible Soviet attack. During the Cold War, U.S. troops and their allies fought communist forces in Korea and Vietnam . The Korean War began in June 1950, when the Soviets walked out of a UN Security Council meeting, removing their possible veto. Under a United Nations umbrella, hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops fought to prevent

3000-572: The fiscal year 2022, the projected end strength for the Regular Army (USA) was 480,893 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) had 336,129 soldiers and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) had 188,703 soldiers; the combined-component strength of the U.S. Army was 1,005,725 soldiers. As a branch of the armed forces, the mission of the U.S. Army is "to fight and win our Nation's wars, by providing prompt, sustained land dominance, across

3100-562: The guerrilla hit and run tactics of the communist Viet Cong and the People's Army Of Vietnam (NVA) . During the 1960s, the Department of Defense continued to scrutinize the reserve forces and to question the number of divisions and brigades as well as the redundancy of maintaining two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve . In 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided that 15 combat divisions in

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3200-460: The Army (HQDA): See Structure of the United States Army for a detailed treatment of the history , components , administrative and operational structure and the branches and functional areas of the Army. The U.S. Army is made up of three components: the active component, the Regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. Both reserve components are primarily composed of part-time soldiers who train once

3300-472: The Army National Guard members were considered state militia until they were mobilized into the U.S. Army, typically at the onset of war. Since the 1933 amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916 , all Army National Guard soldiers have held dual status. They serve as National Guardsmen under the authority of the governor of their state or territory and as reserve members of the U.S. Army under

3400-411: The Army National Guard were unnecessary and cut the number to eight divisions (one mechanized infantry, two armored, and five infantry), but increased the number of brigades from seven to 18 (one airborne, one armored, two mechanized infantry and 14 infantry). The loss of the divisions did not sit well with the states. Their objections included the inadequate maneuver element mix for those that remained and

3500-601: The Army's Delta Force , and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment . Saddam Hussein was eventually captured during Operation Red Dawn . In 2003, the Intelligence Support Activity was transferred from the Army INSCOM to Joint Special Operations Command , where it was renamed the Mission Support Activity. Since 2005 onward, the ISA has not always operated under a two-worded Special Access Program (SAP) name (GRAY FOX, CENTRA SPIKE, etc.). In 2009,

3600-570: The British were weakest to wear down their forces. Washington led victories against the British at Trenton and Princeton , but lost a series of battles in the New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the Philadelphia campaign in 1777. With a decisive victory at Yorktown and the help of the French, the Continental Army prevailed against the British. After the war, the Continental Army

3700-461: The Canadian province of Upper Canada, British troops who had dubbed the U.S. Army "Regulars, by God!", were able to capture and burn Washington , which was defended by militia, in 1814. The regular army, however, proved they were professional and capable of defeating the British army during the invasions of Plattsburgh and Baltimore , prompting British agreement on the previously rejected terms of

3800-455: The Director of National Intelligence may create IN-SAPs. Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) control systems may be the most well-known intelligence SAPs. The treatment of SCI is singular among SAPs, and it seems there is some disagreement within the government as to whether or not SCI is a SAP. Defense Department sources usually state that it is, and at least one publication refers to

3900-467: The FOG was successful, however the second attempt (called Operation Credible Sport ) never took place because the air assets needed were not available. After the cancellation of Operation Credible Sport, the FOG was not disbanded but enlarged. The administration saw ground intelligence contingencies as needing improvement if future special operations were to be successful, as the CIA did not always provide all

4000-659: The ISA's first commander. The ISA's mission was to support Special Operations Forces (primarily 1st SFOD-D and DEVGRU ) in counter-terrorist operations and other special operations units. The ISA would provide actionable intelligence collection, pathfinding, and operational support. The ISA performed several operations mainly in Latin America and the Middle East during the 1980s, but also in East Africa, South-East Asia, and Europe. The current organization of ISA

4100-761: The ISA, members of the CIA Special Activities Division , DIA , and the NSA combined to execute a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan , which ultimately killed bin Laden and resulted in the deaths of several family members and associates. According to Sean Naylor in Not a Good Day to Die , most (but certainly not all) Activity operatives come from United States Army Special Forces , due to their self-reliance and specialized skill-set. Candidates also come from

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4200-501: The Latin phrase " Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit " ("Truth Overcomes All Bonds"). In the original crest, the claymore was wrapped in a chain with one of the links broken as a reminder of those killed during the failed Operation Eagle Claw. This symbol of failure was later deemed no longer appropriate. The badge was deliberately designed by Jerry King and other founding members of the unit because of their shared Scottish heritage. The claymore

4300-545: The National Guard, while all states maintain regulations for state militias . State militias are both "organized", meaning that they are armed forces usually part of the state defense forces, or "unorganized" simply meaning that all able-bodied males may be eligible to be called into military service. The U.S. Army is also divided into several branches and functional areas . Branches include officers, warrant officers, and enlisted Soldiers while functional areas consist of officers who are reclassified from their former branch into

4400-585: The ORC and ERC were combined into the United States Army Reserve . The Army of the United States was re-established for the Korean War and Vietnam War and was demobilized upon the suspension of the draft . Currently, the Army is divided into the Regular Army , the Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard . Some states further maintain state defense forces , as a type of reserve to

4500-458: The Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources, and military thinking helped shape the new army. A number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills. The Army fought numerous pitched battles, and sometimes used Fabian strategy and hit-and-run tactics in the South in 1780 and 1781; under Major General Nathanael Greene , it hit where

4600-663: The Southwest. Grant took command of Union forces in 1864 and after a series of battles with very heavy casualties, he had General Robert E. Lee under siege in Richmond as General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta and marched through Georgia and the Carolinas . The Confederate capital was abandoned in April 1865 and Lee subsequently surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House. All other Confederate armies surrendered within

4700-538: The United States and is part of the Department of the Army , which is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The U.S. Army is headed by a civilian senior appointed civil servant, the secretary of the Army (SECARMY), and by a chief military officer , the chief of staff of the Army (CSA) who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . It is the largest military branch, and in

4800-540: The United States (the "Union" or "the North") formed the Union Army , consisting of a small body of regular army units and a large body of volunteer units raised from every state, north and south, except South Carolina . For the first two years, Confederate forces did well in set battles but lost control of the border states. The Confederates had the advantage of defending a large territory in an area where disease caused twice as many deaths as combat. The Union pursued

4900-405: The United States Army was maintained as a small peacetime force to man permanent forts and perform other non-wartime duties such as engineering and construction works. During times of war, the U.S. Army was augmented by the much larger United States Volunteers which were raised independently by various state governments. States also maintained full-time militias which could also be called into

5000-423: The acquisition process for the future. In order to support the Army's modernization priorities, its FY2020 budget allocated $ 30 billion for the top six modernization priorities over the next five years. The $ 30 billion came from $ 8 billion in cost avoidance and $ 22 billion in terminations. The task of organizing the U.S. Army commenced in 1775. In the first one hundred years of its existence,

5100-491: The agreement, both the United States and Egypt agreed that there would be a joint military training led by both countries that would usually take place every 2 years, that exercise is known as Exercise Bright Star . The 1980s was mostly a decade of reorganization. The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 created unified combatant commands bringing the army together with the other four military services under unified, geographically organized command structures. The army also played

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5200-474: The army began acquiring fixed-wing aircraft . In 1910, during the Mexican Revolution , the army was deployed to U.S. towns near the border to ensure the safety of lives and property. In 1916, Pancho Villa , a major rebel leader, attacked Columbus, New Mexico , prompting a U.S. intervention in Mexico until 7 February 1917. They fought the rebels and the Mexican federal troops until 1918. The United States joined World War I as an "Associated Power" in 1917 on

5300-452: The authority of the president, in the Army National Guard of the United States. Since the adoption of the total force policy, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, reserve component soldiers have taken a more active role in U.S. military operations. For example, Reserve and Guard units took part in the Gulf War , peacekeeping in Kosovo , Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq . [REDACTED] Headquarters, United States Department of

5400-439: The building, as part of the September 11 attacks . In response to the 11 September attacks and as part of the Global War on Terror , U.S. and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, displacing the Taliban government. The U.S. Army also led the combined U.S. and allied invasion of Iraq in 2003; it served as the primary source for ground forces with its ability to sustain short and long-term deployment operations. In

5500-466: The combatant commanders for use as directed by the secretary of defense. By 2013, the army shifted to six geographical commands that align with the six geographical unified combatant commands (CCMD): The army also transformed its base unit from divisions to brigades . Division lineage will be retained, but the divisional headquarters will be able to command any brigade, not just brigades that carry their divisional lineage. The central part of this plan

5600-432: The conclusion of World War II, President Harry S. Truman issues Executive order 10104, and creates the "Top Secret classification" designation. Dwight D. Eisenhower issues Executive order 10501. It drops the "restricted" classification level. It removes classification authority from 28 government entities and limits its use in 17 more. There are now explicit guidelines for the remaining three classification levels to prevent

5700-438: The conventional forces of the 10th Mountain Division and 101st Airborne Division in fighting near Takur Ghar in Afghanistan's Shahikot Valley during Operation Anaconda . The unit helped spearhead the search for Saddam Hussein and his family after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Gray Fox operatives sometimes work under the broader umbrella of "Joint Special Operations Task Force 20", which also included DEVGRU ,

5800-400: The details of the program remain classified. An unacknowledged SAP (or USAP ) is made known only to authorized persons, including members of the appropriate committees of the United States Congress . Waived SAPs are a subset of unacknowledged SAPs in the Department of Defense . These SAPs are exempt by statutory authority of the Secretary of Defense from most reporting requirements and, within

5900-559: The end of FY2017. From 2016 to 2017, the Army retired hundreds of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior observation helicopters, while retaining its Apache gunships. The 2015 expenditure for Army research, development and acquisition changed from $ 32 billion projected in 2012 for FY15 to $ 21 billion for FY15 expected in 2014. By 2017, a task force was formed to address Army modernization, which triggered shifts of units: CCDC , and ARCIC , from within Army Materiel Command (AMC), and Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), respectively, to

6000-439: The end to the practice of rotating divisional commands among the states that supported them. Under the proposal, the remaining division commanders were to reside in the state of the division base. However, no reduction in total Army National Guard strength was to take place, which convinced the governors to accept the plan. The states reorganized their forces accordingly between 1 December 1967 and 1 May 1968. The Total Force Policy

6100-457: The following years, the mission changed from conflict between regular militaries to counterinsurgency , resulting in the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. service members (as of March 2008) and injuries to thousands more. 23,813 insurgents were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Until 2009, the army's chief modernization plan, its most ambitious since World War II, was the Future Combat Systems program. In 2009, many systems were canceled, and

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6200-409: The forces that landed in French North Africa and took Tunisia and then moved on to Sicily and later fought in Italy . In the June 1944 landings in northern France and in the subsequent liberation of Europe and defeat of Nazi Germany , millions of U.S. Army troops played a central role. In 1947, the number of soldiers in the US Army had decreased from eight million in 1945 to 684,000 soldiers and

6300-420: The full range of military operations and the spectrum of conflict, in support of combatant commanders ". The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States of America.‌ The United States Army serves as the land-based branch of the U.S. Armed Forces . Section 7062 of Title 10, U.S. Code defines the purpose of the army as: In 2018,

6400-411: The geographical status quo. Both navies kept the warships they had seized during the conflict. The army's major campaign against the Indians was fought in Florida against Seminoles . It took long wars (1818–1858) to finally defeat the Seminoles and move them to Oklahoma. The usual strategy in Indian wars was to seize control of the Indians' winter food supply, but that was no use in Florida where there

6500-415: The guidance would reverse the Total Force Policy which is an "essential ingredient to the successful application of military force". On 11 September 2001, 53 Army civilians (47 employees and six contractors) and 22 soldiers were among the 125 victims killed in the Pentagon in a terrorist attack when American Airlines Flight 77 commandeered by five Al-Qaeda hijackers slammed into the western side of

6600-417: The information needed. So, on 3 March 1981, the FOG was established as a permanent unit and renamed US Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA). This ISA should not be confused with a later unit known as the Ground Intelligence Support Activity (GISA), which was subordinated to the Army G2 . The current badge depicts an American bald eagle grasping a claymore , surrounded by a kilt belt , inscribed with

6700-404: The last of the American Indian Wars . U.S. Army troops also occupied several Southern states during the Reconstruction Era to protect freedmen . The key battles of the Spanish–American War of 1898 were fought by the Navy. Using mostly new volunteers , the U.S. forces defeated Spain in land campaigns in Cuba and played the central role in the Philippine–American War . Starting in 1910,

6800-415: The legislative branch, the only persons who are required to be informed of said SAPs are the chairpersons and ranking committee members of the Senate Appropriations Committee , Senate Armed Services Committee , House Appropriations Committee , and the House Armed Services Committee . Oftentimes, this notification is only oral. There are three categories of SAPs within the Department of Defense: Only

6900-437: The operation have hinted that the mid-January arrests, the interrogation of those arrested, and follow-on investigations led to the eventual location of the Red Brigades hideout where Dozier was being held, in an apartment over a store in Padova . There is little doubt that the successful outcome resulted in part from the contributions of ISA's SIGINT specialists and the other supporting Army intelligence elements. General Dozier

7000-537: The other military branches. Most candidates assigned to the Operations, Communications, and/or SIGINT squadrons go through an assessment and selection course, as well as a lengthy background investigation and psychological testing. Once admitted, they receive further training in a specialized Training Course. Like all units, the Intelligence Support Activity contains operational detachments as well as support detachments such as intelligence analysis, medical, logistics. Foreign language skills, although highly desired, are not

7100-419: The portion marking would read (S//MB) . Other variations move the special access warning to a second line, which would read MEDIAN BELL Special Control and Access Required (SCAR) Use Only or some other phrase directed by the program security instructions. SAP access ergo policy on classified security categories de facto is understood informally as described as those who need to know have access, access

7200-480: The program nickname or codeword , are placed in the document's banner line. Abbreviations may be used for either element. Portion markings use SAR and the program's abbreviation. For example, a secret SAP with the nickname MEDIAN BELL would be marked SECRET//SPECIAL ACCESS REQUIRED-MEDIAN BELL . Portions would be marked (S//SAR-MB) . Multiple SAPs are separated by slashes. Compartments within SAPs may be denoted by

7300-545: The protection of Saudi Arabia . In January 1991 Operation Desert Storm commenced, a U.S.-led coalition which deployed over 500,000 troops, the bulk of them from U.S. Army formations, to drive out Iraqi forces . The campaign ended in total victory, as Western coalition forces routed the Iraqi Army . Some of the largest tank battles in history were fought during the Gulf war. The Battle of Medina Ridge , Battle of Norfolk and

7400-698: The remaining were swept into the BCT modernization program . By 2017, the Brigade Modernization project was completed and its headquarters, the Brigade Modernization Command, was renamed the Joint Modernization Command, or JMC. In response to Budget sequestration in 2013 , Army plans were to shrink to 1940 levels, although actual Active-Army end-strengths were projected to fall to some 450,000 troops by

7500-516: The same time, former Special Forces Lieutenant-Colonel James G. "Bo" Gritz planned a private rescue mission with other S.F. veterans. Having informed the U.S. government officials about the mission, Gritz was first told to abort his "mission," but was eventually approached by the ISA. Nonetheless, Gritz was not believed to be doing serious work, and Pentagon officials ordered the ISA to terminate their relationship with him when they discovered that ISA had provided him with money and equipment. In 1989,

7600-605: The service chiefs from each of the four military services belonging to the Department of Defense who advise the president of the United States , the secretary of defense and the National Security Council on operational military matters, under the guidance of the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In 1986, the Goldwater–Nichols Act mandated that operational control of

7700-489: The service of the army. By the twentieth century, the U.S. Army had mobilized the U.S. Volunteers on four occasions during each of the major wars of the nineteenth century. During World War I, the " National Army " was organized to fight the conflict, replacing the concept of U.S. Volunteers. It was demobilized at the end of World War I and was replaced by the Regular Army, the Organized Reserve Corps, and

7800-456: The services follows a chain of command from the president to the secretary of defense directly to the unified combatant commanders , who have control of all armed forces units in their geographic or function area of responsibility, thus the secretaries of the military departments (and their respective service chiefs underneath them) only have the responsibility to organize, train and equip their service components. The army provides trained forces to

7900-533: The side of Britain , France , Russia , Italy and the other Allies . U.S. troops were sent to the Western Front and were involved in the last offensives that ended the war. With the armistice in November 1918, the army once again decreased its forces. In 1939, estimates of the Army's strength ranged between 174,000 and 200,000 soldiers, smaller than that of Portugal 's, which ranked it 17th or 19th in

8000-574: The standard support role in an army. The U.S. Army's conventional combat capability currently consists of 11 active divisions and 1 deployable division headquarters (7th Infantry Division) as well as several independent maneuver units. Special access program Shortly before America's involvement in World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8381, creating the three security levels for his country's most important documents- Restricted, Confidential, and Secret. After

8100-443: The state militias. In the 1920s and 1930s, the "career" soldiers were known as the " Regular Army " with the "Enlisted Reserve Corps" and "Officer Reserve Corps" augmented to fill vacancies when needed. In 1941, the " Army of the United States " was founded to fight World War II. The Regular Army, Army of the United States, the National Guard, and Officer/Enlisted Reserve Corps (ORC and ERC) existed simultaneously. After World War II,

8200-545: The states of California , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , Arizona , Wyoming and New Mexico . The American Civil War was the costliest war for the U.S. in terms of casualties. After most slave states , located in the southern U.S., formed the Confederate States , the Confederate States Army , led by former U.S. Army officers, mobilized a large fraction of Southern white manpower. Forces of

8300-412: The statutory authority to conduct all the affairs of the army under the authority, direction, and control of the secretary of defense . The chief of staff of the Army , who is the highest-ranked military officer in the army, serves as the principal military adviser and executive agent for the secretary of the Army, i.e., its service chief; and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , a body composed of

8400-594: The takeover of South Korea by North Korea and later to invade the northern nation. After repeated advances and retreats by both sides and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army 's entry into the war, the Korean Armistice Agreement returned the peninsula to the status quo in July 1953. The Vietnam War is often regarded as a low point for the U.S. Army due to the use of drafted personnel ,

8500-603: The theater for the joint force, and to integrate national, multinational, and joint power on land. The Continental Army was created on 14 June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress as a unified army for the colonies to fight Great Britain , with George Washington appointed as its commander. The army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As

8600-484: The then USAISA commander John G. Lackey sent a telex "terminating" the USAISA term and his special access program GRANTOR SHADOW. Colonel John Lackey served as unit commander from 1986 to 1989. However, the unit continued under a series of different Top Secret codenames which are changed every two years. Known codenames included CAPACITY GEAR, CENTRA SPIKE, TORN VICTOR, QUIET ENABLE, CEMETERY WIND, and GRAY FOX. Gray Fox

8700-718: The total number of active divisions had dropped from 89 to 12. The leaders of the Army saw this demobilization as a success. In the Pacific War , U.S. Army soldiers participated alongside the United States Marine Corps in capturing the Pacific Islands from Japanese control. Following the Axis surrenders in May (Germany) and August (Japan) of 1945, army troops were deployed to Japan and Germany to occupy

8800-1147: The two defeated nations. Two years after World War II, the Army Air Forces separated from the army to become the United States Air Force in September 1947. In 1948, the army was desegregated by order 9981 of President Harry S. Truman . The end of World War II set the stage for the East–West confrontation known as the Cold War . With the outbreak of the Korean War , concerns over the defense of Western Europe rose. Two corps, V and VII , were reactivated under Seventh United States Army in 1950 and U.S. strength in Europe rose from one division to four. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops remained stationed in West Germany, with others in Belgium ,

8900-526: The unit was referred to as INTREPID SPEAR, until this was revealed to have been leaked in an email to the Pentagon. In 2010 it was referred to as the United States Army Studies and Analysis Activity. Elements of the former ISA assisted in intelligence collection and analysis operations prior to and during the 2 May 2011 U.S. Special Operations Forces mission which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden . Elements of DEVGRU, along with

9000-620: The unpopularity of the war with the U.S. public and frustrating restrictions placed on the military by U.S. political leaders. While U.S. forces had been stationed in South Vietnam since 1959, in intelligence and advising/training roles, they were not deployed in large numbers until 1965, after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident . U.S. forces effectively established and maintained control of the "traditional" battlefield, but they struggled to counter

9100-583: The world in size. General George C. Marshall became Army chief of staff in September 1939 and set about expanding and modernizing the Army in preparation for war. The United States joined World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Some 11 million Americans were to serve in various Army operations. On the European front , U.S. Army troops formed a significant portion of

9200-583: Was adopted by Chief of Staff of the Army General Creighton Abrams in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and involved treating the three components of the army – the Regular Army , the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve as a single force. General Abrams' intertwining of the three components of the army effectively made extended operations impossible without the involvement of both the Army National Guard and Army Reserve in

9300-876: Was at first very small and after General St. Clair's defeat at the Battle of the Wabash, where more than 800 soldiers were killed, the Regular Army was reorganized as the Legion of the United States , established in 1791 and renamed the United States Army in 1796. In 1798, during the Quasi-War with France, the U.S. Congress established a three-year " Provisional Army " of 10,000 men, consisting of twelve regiments of infantry and six troops of light dragoons . In March 1799, Congress created an "Eventual Army" of 30,000 men, including three regiments of cavalry . Both "armies" existed only on paper, but equipment for 3,000 men and horses

9400-612: Was created in the summer of 1980 in order to take part in a second attempt to rescue the U.S. hostages held in the Tehran embassy after the failure of the Operation Eagle Claw . That operation had highlighted the U.S. shortfall in intelligence gathering. The Field Operations Group was under command of Colonel Jerry King and operated in Iran , accomplishing various covert intelligence-gathering missions. The work accomplished by

9500-470: Was freed unharmed by NOCS operators, also known as "The Leatherheads" for their unique headgear, on 28 January 1982. In early 1982, the ISA was needed to support a SIGINT mission in El Salvador , a mission that the CIA , the NSA , and INSCOM were not able to accomplish. The task was submitted to the U.S. Army Special Operations Division (SOD), which started Operation Queens Hunter. Operating from

9600-633: Was kidnapped from his apartment in Verona , Italy , by Italian Red Brigades terrorists. The search for General Dozier saw a massive deployment of Italian and U.S. forces, including thousands of Italian national police, the Carabinieri . The search also featured some unconventional participants, including "remote viewers" from Project Stargate and an international cast of psychics, largely orchestrated by General Albert Stubblebine , then-Commander of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command INSCOM , and

9700-555: Was no winter. The second strategy was to form alliances with other Indian tribes, but that too was useless because the Seminoles had destroyed all the other Indians when they entered Florida in the late eighteenth century. The U.S. Army fought and won the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), which was a defining event for both countries. The U.S. victory resulted in acquisition of territory that eventually became all or parts of

9800-590: Was procured and stored. The War of 1812 , the second and last war between the United States and Great Britain, had mixed results. The U.S. Army did not conquer Canada but it did destroy Native American resistance to expansion in the Old Northwest and stopped two major British invasions in 1814 and 1815. After taking control of Lake Erie in 1813, the U.S. Army seized parts of western Upper Canada, burned York and defeated Tecumseh , which caused his Western Confederacy to collapse. Following U.S. victories in

9900-505: Was quickly given land certificates and disbanded in a reflection of the republican distrust of standing armies. State militias became the new nation's sole ground army, except a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Point 's arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans , it was soon considered necessary to field a trained standing army. The Regular Army

10000-615: Was the codename used by the ISA at the beginning of the War in Afghanistan . Its members often worked closely with Joint Special Operations Command and the Central Intelligence Agency . In 2002, Gray Fox operators served alongside Delta Force and DEVGRU in the mountains of Afghanistan . Gray Fox intercepted enemy communications and trekked to observation posts with special operations units. They also supported

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