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49-719: The Special Forces Support Group ( SFSG ) is a special forces unit of the British Armed Forces . The SFSG was formed officially on 3 April 2006 to provide support to the Special Air Service , the Special Boat Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment on operations. It is a tri-service unit, composed of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment , (1 Para), a company of Royal Marine Commandos (F Coy), and

98-575: A platoon in B company and forward air controllers to direct close air support . The Support company comprises mortar, sniper, and patrol platoons. The Patrol platoon operates vehicles, including the Jackal . There is also a RAF Regiment CBRN unit assigned to the SFSG to provide specialised knowledge and capability to military and civilian agencies in detection and handling of chemical, biological, and radiological/nuclear weapons and materials. Members of

147-592: A 30 September 2011 air attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki , an al-Qaeda cleric and Yemeni-American U.S. citizen. After several days of surveillance of Awlaki by the Central Intelligence Agency, armed drones took off from a new, secret American base in the Arabian Peninsula, crossed into northern Yemen and unleashed a barrage of Hellfire missiles at al-Awlaki's vehicle. Samir Khan , a Pakistani-American al-Qaeda member and editor of

196-579: A December 2013 drone strike that killed numerous civilians at a wedding ceremony. Despite a ban on military drone operations, the Yemen government allowed CIA drone operations to continue. On 25 March 2016, Special Operations Forces in Syria killed ISIL commander Abu Ala al-Afri . On 26 October 2019 U.S. Joint Special Operations Command's (JSOC) Delta Force conducted a raid into the Idlib province of Syria on

245-599: A November 2009 report in The Nation , JSOC, in tandem with Blackwater/Xe , had a drone program, along with snatch/grab/assassination operations, based in Karachi and conducted in and outside of Pakistan. In October 2009, leaked diplomatic cables from the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson , states the Pakistani Army approved the embedding of U.S. Special Operations Forces, including elements from

294-635: A car. Members of the SFSG and the SAS often wore American Army Combat Uniform (ACU) or Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) to blend in when operating alongside American JSOC units. An SFSG company was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 to support the SBS and SRR as part of Operation Kindle, the UKSF deployment to Afghanistan (known as Task Force 42). On 9 September 2009, the Special Boat Service, supported by

343-773: A flight (platoon) from the Royal Air Force Regiment . The SFSG also acts as the hunter force during the SERE phase of the UKSF Selection ; in addition, the SFSG also has a rotating company group trained in Counter Terrorism (CT) to support the on-call SAS or SBS squadrons on CT rotation. The unit's creation stems from the need to provide infantry support to the United Kingdom Special Forces , which became evident after

392-417: A large hole into the side of the compound. After entering, the compound was cleared, with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. The two-hour raid culminated with Baghdadi fleeing from U.S. forces into a dead-end tunnel and detonating a suicide vest, killing himself along with three of his children. The complex operation was conducted during the withdrawal of U.S. forces northeast Syria, adding to

441-631: A major speech to "seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq." Sometime in 2007, JSOC started conducting cross-border operations into Iran from southern Iraq with the CIA. These operations included seizing members of Al-Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard , and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, as well as the pursuit, capture or killing of high-value targets in

490-680: Is logically part of the Operational Preparation of the Battlespace (OPB), which follows the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace , a concept well-known in the U.S. and NATO doctrine, OPB is seldom used outside of SOF channels. OPB is defined by the U.S. Special Operations Command as "Non-intelligence activities conducted prior to D-Day , H-Hour , in likely or potential areas of deployment, to train and prepare for follow-on military operations". In

539-497: Is maintained by the 3rd Operational Support Group (3 OSG), which is based at Ft. Liberty. According to Rolling Stone contributing editor Seth Harp, 3 OSG is the same unit commonly referred to as "Delta Force"; however this is contradicted by a 2016 evaluation of foreign officer involvement at USSOCOM by the DOD Deputy Inspector General for Intelligence and Special Program Assessments which lists 3 OSG and

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588-515: The Battle of Tora Bora during which two Special Boat Service (SBS) squadrons assaulted the al-Qaeda cave complex. During Operation Barras in Sierra Leone , soldiers from 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment were deployed alongside troops from the SBS and D Squadron, Special Air Service (SAS). This was successful, as the SAS soldiers attacked the encampment containing the hostages while

637-744: The Combat Applications Group ("CAG", a known identifier for Delta Force) as two separate entities under JSOC. Advanced Force Operations are defined by JP 3-05 as "Operations conducted to refine the location of specific, identified targets and further develop the operational environment for near-term missions." According to Gen. Michael Repass, who conducted it in the Iraq War and was very familiar with its use in Afghanistan, "AFO consists of U.S. Secretary of Defense -approved military operations such as clandestine operations . It

686-530: The Iraq War , Gen. Repass, who first commanded the 10th Special Forces Group , took control of a Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force, which used the 5th and 10th Groups to conduct AFO. AFO units were heavily involved in Operation Anaconda and Operation Viking Hammer . JSOC has provided domestic law enforcement agencies support during high-profile or high-risk events such as the Olympics ,

735-561: The Joint Communications Unit is tasked to ensure compatibility of communications systems and standard operating procedures of the different special operations units. The Joint Special Operations Command also oversees the Special Mission Units of U.S. Special Operations Command . These are ultra-elite special operations forces units that conduct highly classified and complex operations. So far,

784-716: The Navy 's Special Boat Squadron , which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation. The directorate has since been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing , the Special Reconnaissance Regiment , 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment , and the Special Forces Support Group . In 2015, the Royal Marines reported that approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces personnel were recruited from

833-551: The Presidential inauguration . They were allegedly deployed under a secret counter-terrorism program named Power Geyser . The New York Times quoted a senior military official as saying, "They bring unique military and technical capabilities that often are centered around potential WMD events," A civil liberties advocate who was NOT the Constitutionally elected Civil Officer of the U.S. National Organizations but who

882-808: The Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021 within a new brigade , the Army Special Operations Brigade , established on 31 August 2021, that will take on some tasks traditionally done by special forces and work with partner forces. The Ranger Regiment's battalions are to be restructured by April 2023. The Chief of the Defence Staff has said that the Ranger Regiment will be similar to the United States Army Special Forces , known as

931-527: The US Army Rangers ), but typically act as both blocking and quick reaction forces for 'Tier 1' units. In August 2013, The Daily Telegraph reported that the SFSG, worked hand-in-hand with an elite unit of Afghan commandos , known as Task Force 444, throughout Helmand Province. The unit's A Company arrived in Afghanistan in January for a six-month tour and went on to mount relentless raids against

980-708: The "Green Berets". Two of the four Ranger Regiment battalions will be deployed to Africa, the third will focus on Eastern Europe and the fourth will be deployed to the Middle East. The Royal Navy is changing the Royal Marines through the Future Commando Force concept, adapting their role of amphibious infantry held at readiness to a versatile special operations–capable force. The Marines will often be permanently deployed in two new Littoral Response Groups , with one in Northern Europe and

1029-530: The Army's 75th Ranger Regiment and 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Task Force Brown) are controlled by JSOC when deployed as part of JSOC Task Forces such as Task Force 121 and Task Force 145 . JSOC has an operational relationship with the CIA 's Special Activities Center (SAC). SAC's Special Operations Group (SOG) often recruits from JSOC SMU personnel. JSOC's Security Operations Training Facility

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1078-530: The Fiscal Year 2000 Defense Department Authorization Act, Public Law 106-65, permits the secretary of defense to authorize military forces to support civilian agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation , in the event of a national emergency, especially any involving nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. In January 2005, a small group of commandos were deployed to support security at

1127-763: The Joint Special Operations Command, with the Pakistani military to provide support for operations in the country. This goes beyond the original claims of the U.S. that the only role of the Special Forces was in training the Pakistani military. The leak further revealed that JSOC elements involved in intelligence gathering and surveillance and use of drone UAV technology. JSOC is credited with coordinating Operation Neptune Spear that killed Osama bin Laden on 1 May 2011. JSOC directed

1176-508: The Obama administration has decided to escalate operations against Al-Shabaab in the aftermath of the group's Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, that took place from 21–24 September 2013 and which left some 70 people dead. According to The New York Times the Yemen government banned military drone operations after a series of botched drone strikes by JSOC, the last of which was

1225-600: The RAF Regiment Pre-Parachute selection course. Royal Marines and RAF Regiment gunners are sourced from across their respective Corps. During the Iraq War , the SFSG was part of Task Force Black/Knight which was composed of a rotational British SAS sabre squadron and a platoon of paratroopers from the SFSG (also known as Task Force Maroon). During the Basra prison incident , a platoon of SFSG accompanied A Squadron 22 SAS to Basra to assist in recovering

1274-548: The Royal Marines. On 1 September 2014, the two Army Reserve SAS regiments, the 21 (Artists) Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) , were removed from the UKSF and placed in the 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde) under the command of Force Troops Command . Their role as part of 1 ISR Bde was to conduct Human, Environment, Reconnaissance, and Analysis (HERA) patrols. By April 2019,

1323-485: The SFSG wear the cap badge and beret of their parent unit, however the unit's DZ Flash —a lightning bolt superimposed on a downwards pointing Excalibur—is worn on the right-hand sleeve. United Kingdom Special Forces The government and Ministry of Defence (MOD) have a policy of not commenting on the UKSF, in contrast to other countries including the United States , Canada , and Australia . In 1996,

1372-467: The SFSG, conducted a mission to rescue Stephen Farrell ; a journalist captured and held at a Taliban safehouse in Char Dara District , Kunduz Province , by Taliban insurgents. The UKSF team was inserted by helicopters from the 160th SOAR , the SBS assaulted the safehouse whilst the SFSG set up a cordon. Farrell was rescued and a number of Taliban were killed, however one member of the SFSG

1421-514: The Taliban. The Ministry of Defence sources confirmed that the SFSG and Afghan strike forces led a series of raids on suspected Taliban bomb-makers in May after three British soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb at the end of April; the raids continued for two or three times a week afterwards. Also the unit targeted insurgent supply lines in the desert near the border with Pakistan, and Taliban bases in

1470-516: The UKSF introduced a requirement that serving members sign a confidentiality contract preventing them from disclosing information for life without the prior approval of the MOD, following the publication of several books written by ex-service members. In 1987, the post of Director SAS became Director Special Forces . Since that time, the director has had control of both the Army 's Special Air Service and

1519-820: The World Cup, political party conventions, and Presidential inaugurations. Although the use of the military for Local law enforcement purposes in the U.S. is generally prohibited by the Posse Comitatus Act , Title 10 of the U.S. Code expressly allows the Secretary of Defense to make military personnel available to train Federal, State, and local civilian public safety officials in the operation and maintenance of equipment; and to provide such officials with expert advice. Additionally, civilian and military lawyers said provisions in several federal statutes, including

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1568-605: The border with Turkey that resulted in the death of brahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai also known as Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi . The raid was launched based on a CIA Special Activities Center intelligence collection and close target reconnaissance effort that located the leader of ISIS. Launched after midnight local time, the eight helicopters carrying the teams along with support aircraft crossed hundreds of miles of airspace controlled by Iraq, Turkey and Russia. Upon arrival, efforts were made for Baghdadi to surrender, with those efforts unsuccessful U.S. forces responded by blowing

1617-486: The centre of the province. In 2014, the SFSG maintained a high operational tempo months after the official end of offensive operations by UK forces. The structure of the SFSG is as follows: Provides direct and in-direct fire support to the SFSG Strike Companies. (HMG, GMG, GPMG, Javelin). A relatively recent (2018) restructuring of the SFSG has resulted in the creation of R Coy, which is configured as

1666-467: The complexity. Death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi On 3 February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that a raid conducted by Joint Special Operations Command in the city of Atme , Syria in Northwest Syria near the border with Turkey, had killed the second leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. After U.S. forces evacuated 10 civilians using an Arabic translator and

1715-963: The following four JSOC units are known, each has an internal task force color code: The Intelligence Support Activity's primary role is to act as a deep reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering special mission unit, in support of other combat oriented units within JSOC. Delta Force and DEVGRU are the military's primary counter-terrorism units, eliminating high-value targets and performing hostage rescues are their main roles, along with special reconnaissance and direct action assignments. The 24th Special Tactics Squadron attaches personnel as enablers to these two units such as Combat Controllers to provide air traffic control and fire support , Pararescuemen to provide combat medicine and combat search and rescue , and Tactical Air Control Party specialists to co-ordinate close air support . The Joint Communications Unit provides communications capabilities. Units from

1764-406: The jihadist Inspire magazine, also reportedly died in the attack. The combined CIA/JSOC drone strike was the first in Yemen since 2002—there have been others by the military's Special Operations forces—and was part of an effort by the spy agency to duplicate in Yemen the covert war which has been running in Afghanistan and Pakistan. On 28 October 2013, a drone strike by JSOC on a vehicle near

1813-504: The men's aid. Then-JSOC commander William McRaven visited the affected family, offered them a sheep in restitution, and apologized. In May 2003, elements of Task Force 20 (TF 20) remained in Iraq following the invasion and shifted to hunting down high-value former Ba'athist insurgents under direct JSOC command. In July 2003, Task Force 5 (formerly Task Force 11) and Task Force 20 were merged to form Task Force 21, later renamed Task Force 121. On 11 January 2007, President Bush pledged in

1862-678: The other in the Indian Ocean. Joint Special Operations Command The Joint Special Operations Command ( JSOC ) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, to plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, to develop joint special operations tactics, and to execute special operations missions worldwide. It

1911-579: The soldiers from The Parachute Regiment attacked a second encampment. In December 2004, it was announced that a unit would be formalised for this role as part of the wider future army structure . It was initially conceived as a battalion of "Rangers", similar to the United States Army Rangers . The SFSG's formation was announced officially by the then Secretary of State for Defence John Reid in Parliament on 20 April 2006. It

1960-620: The target of lethal operations by the military or the CIA. In May 2013, the White House announced that it would carry out targeted killing operations only against those who posed a "continuing and imminent threat to the American people." The strike on 28 Oct was the first known American operation resulting in death since that policy was announced and is considered evidence by some observers that views have changed in Washington and that

2009-613: The town of Jilib in Lower Shabelle killed two senior Somali members of Al-Shabaab . Preliminary evidence suggested that one of them was Ibrahim Ali (also known as Anta), an explosives specialist known for his skill in building and using homemade bombs and suicide vests. The US administration has been reluctant to use drone strikes in Somalia. The reluctance partly centered on questions of whether Al-Shabaab—which has not tried to carry out an attack on American soil—could legally be

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2058-490: The two detained SAS operatives. Paratroopers from the SFSG supported SAS operations around Baghdad usually cordoning off areas where the SAS were carrying out their missions. In late 2005/early 2006, the SFSG took part in Operation Lightwater The SFSG platoon in Iraq supported B Squadron 22 SAS during Operation Larchwood 4 , killing one terrorist when he ran out of the target building and hid under

2107-883: The two reserve regiments had returned to the UKSF. Special Forces Flight, No. 47 Squadron RAF which operated the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft was formerly part of the UKSF. No. 47 Squadron RAF was disbanded in September 2023 after the Hercules was retired from service in June 2023. The following units are part of UK Special Forces and UK Special Forces (Reserve). The Armed Forces have raised special operations-capable forces that will conduct special operations to train, advise and accompany UK partner countries' forces in high threat environments. These forces do not form part of UKSF. The Army formed

2156-496: The unit's ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance) and communications specialists. Sniper Platoon Provides sniper teams to support other SFSG elements. Carries out reconnaissance. Provides signals detachments to other SFSG elements. Intelligence Corps personnel attached to the SFSG provide operational intelligence. The Royal Marines elements form approximately one platoon strength within each of A, B, and C Companies. The RAF Regiment also provide

2205-528: The war on terror. The Bush administration allegedly combined the CIA's intelligence operations and covert action with JSOC clandestine military operations so that Congress would only partially see how the money was spent. According to The Washington Post , JSOC's commander Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal operated in 2006 on the understanding with Pakistan that US units will not enter Pakistan except under extreme circumstances, and that Pakistan would deny giving them permission if exposed. According to

2254-486: Was established in 1980 on recommendation of Colonel Charlie Beckwith , in the aftermath of the failure of Operation Eagle Claw . It is headquartered at Pope Field ( Fort Liberty, North Carolina ). The JSOC is the "joint headquarters designed to study special operations requirements and techniques; ensure interoperability and equipment standardization; plan and conduct joint special operations exercises and training; develop joint special operations tactics." For this task,

2303-577: Was established to support British special forces units in battle overseas and on domestic " counter-terrorist " operations. The unit comprises a battalion of Parachute Regiment soldiers, a company of Royal Marine commandos, and a small platoon of RAF Regiment gunners. All soldiers selected for the SFSG have passed either the P Company selection course run by the Parachute Regiment, the All Arms Commando Course or

2352-625: Was killed as well as Farrell's Afghan interpreter and two civilians. Between 18–29 December 2009, a company from the SFSG mentored two patrols from Afghan Task Force (ATF) 444-the Afghan special operations group for Helmand Province-during Operation Tor Shpa'h. The SFSG have been known to carry out operations in Helmand Province with the United States Marine Corps ; they also often conduct unilateral raids (similar to

2401-603: Was told about the program by a reporter said that he had no objections to the program as described to him because its scope appeared to be limited to supporting the counterterrorism efforts of civilian authorities. JSOC carried out raids in Afghanistan. The number is not publicly known, but is estimated to be in the hundreds. Several have been documented in the 2013 documentary Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill and by other reporting. In one 2010 raid in Gardez , JSOC troops killed one U.S.-trained Police commander and another man, and three women, two of whom were pregnant, who went to

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