U.S. Army Special Forces – Missions and Mandates

What do Green Berets do When Called Upon?

Sep 5, 2009

The candidates have been selected, the training is complete, and the celebrations have concluded. It is now time for the Special Forces to earn their keep.

The organization of the Special Forces, including their spheres of influence, and the various specializations like weapons, medical, communications, etc were discussed in the previous article. But what are all these skills used for? What is it that Special Forces soldiers do that requires such rigorous training?

Downrange

The term “downrange” refers to field operations. Experience is always the best teacher, and that maxim most certainly applies when it comes to Special Forces soldiers, as they perform a variety tasks when they go downrange, all of which push their skills to the limit. As mentioned in this article, the official motto of the Special Forces is “De Oppresso Liber,” Latin for “to liberate the oppressed.” It is important to keep that phrase in mind before reading on.

The mission types can be divided into regular and collateral activities. Regular activities include:

· Foreign Internal Defense (FID) -this involves training military and police forces of another nation to defend themselves against insurgents, terrorism, and other threats to peace. Currently, Special Forces are hard at work in Afghanistan training soldiers to stand up to the Taliban.

· Special Reconnaissance (SR) -Special Forces soldiers collect information regarding an enemy forces numbers, equipment, and activities, usually prior to a major invasion.

· Unconventional Warfare (UW) -also known as counterinsurgency, this was the original goal of the Special Forces, as this involves training and organizing local militia to stand up to an oppressive government. Where as FID involves helping the recognized government of a nation fight insurgents, this is the exact opposite since it involves potentially overthrowing a particular government.

· Direct Action (DA) – involves small military operations that destroy or damage certain targets of choice. It can involve destroying a major bridge to taking out a small enemy outpost. These are probably the most dangerous missions Special Forces soldiers will have to undergo as the chances of being killed, or worse, captured by the enemy, are very high.

There are also a number of collateral actions that Special Forces teams perform:

· Humanitarian Aid – medical sergeants are often asked to provide assistance to poor villagers by administering medicine and other aid.

· Countermining – after a major conflict, there are often areas near villages that are heavily mined that must be cleared away. Special Forces soldiers train local soldiers to find and clear the area, including providing the necessary equipment.

· Counterdrug Activities – Special Forces soldiers are often called into assist law enforcement in counter-drug operations like intelligence gathering and raiding storehouses. In many countries, drug dealers are supported by heavily armed soldiers that local law enforcement is not equipped to deal with.

· Peacekeeping – following a successful military operation, Special Forces soldiers are involved in peacekeeping missions. Currently, many units are stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo for this task.

· Combat Search and Rescue – rescuing an aircrew that is downed in enemy territory can be crucial to morale, and Special Forces soldiers are often called upon to provide ground security while the rescue teams do their job.

· Coalition Support – sometimes, due to their extensive language and cultural knowledge, Special Forces soldiers can serve as liaisons between U.S. and allied coalition forces.

Unlike the conventional forces, Special Forces often do not receive much credit for their actions because much of what they do is highly classified. However, this has not stopped the U.S Army Special Forces, aka Green Berets, from living up to their famous motto.

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