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In 2001, as part of efforts to create a framework for consultation and cooperation between NATO and Russia, the NATO-RUSSIA Glossary of Contemporary Political and Military Terms further defined special operations and special operations forces: [3] special operations military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, trained and ...
The last all-black unit was disbanded in 1954. [13] Clarence H. Beavers, the first volunteer for the 555th, went on to a career in computer systems with the Veterans Administration and US Defense Department, and served as a volunteer firefighter in retirement. He was the last surviving member of the unit when he died in 2017, at age 96. [14]
Espionage and counterintelligence went into military units, while paramilitary and other covert action functions went into the Office of Policy Coordination set up in 1948. Between the CIA's original creation by the National Security Act of 1947 and various mergers and reorganizations through 1952, the wartime OSS functions generally ended up ...
United States special operations forces (SOF) are the active and reserve component forces of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force within the US military, as designated by the Secretary of Defense and specifically organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support special operations.
A black operation or "black ops" is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization in which the operation itself is at least partially hidden from the organization or government's own scrutiny. [9]
A special mission unit (SMU), at one time referred to as a "tier 1" unit, [1] is a designation for the United States military's most highly secretive and elite special operations forces. [2] The term special missions unit is also used in Australia to describe the Special Air Service Regiment .
This potential required such units to be organized and commanded by special operations professionals rather than being subsumed into larger military units or operations, and required that "relative superiority" be gained during the special operation in question via characteristics such as simplicity, security, rehearsals, surprise, speed, and ...
Echelon formation: a military formation in which members are arranged diagonally. Encirclement: surrounding enemy forces on all sides, isolating them. Enfilade: a unit (or position) is "enfiladed" when enemy fire can be directed along the long axis of the unit. For instance, a trench is enfiladed if the enemy can fire down the length of the trench.