Joint Special Operations Command
Joint Special Operations Command | |
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War on Terror
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Website | https://www.socom.mil/Pages/jsoc.aspx |
Commanders | |
CSM Andrew J. Krogman, USA |
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 was established in 1980 on recommendation of Colonel Charlie Beckwith, in the aftermath of the failure of Operation Eagle Claw.[1] It is headquartered at Pope Field (Fort Liberty, North Carolina).
Overview
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."[2] For this task, the Joint Communications Unit is tasked to ensure compatibility of communications systems and standard operating procedures of the different special operations units.
Special Mission Units
The Joint Special Operations Command also
So far, the following four JSOC units are known, each has an internal task force color code:- The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), commonly known as Delta Force. (Task Force Green)[6]
- The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), commonly known as SEAL Team Six. (Task Force Blue)[7]
- The Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron (24 STS)[8](Task Force White)
- The Army's Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), also known as The Activity and a number of other nicknames and special access program codenames. (Task Force Orange)[9][10]
- Additionally, a USASOC unit, the Army Rangers' Regimental Reconnaissance Company (RRC), had been referred to as an SMU in a 2011 career posting.[11](Task Force Red)
The Intelligence Support Activity's primary role is as a deep reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering special mission unit, in support of other combat oriented units within JSOC.
JSOC has an operational relationship with the CIA's Special Activities Center (SAC).[17] SAC's Special Operations Group (SOG) often recruits from JSOC SMU personnel.[18]
Advanced Force Operations
Advanced Force Operations (AFO) is a term used by the
In the
JSO Package / Rotational Group
The Joint Special Operations Package / Rotational Group of the United States Special Operations Command consists of Tier 1 and Tier 2 U.S. Joint Special Operations Command units that train and deploy together.[citation needed] All Tier 1 and Tier 2 units maintain three separate operational groups within their respective units (The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment as an example).[20] These groups are essentially identical and deploy within their respective JSOC package. The rotational cycle is generally for three months. This allows one group to be deployed overseas, another to be on an 18-hour worldwide emergency deployment notice, and the last group to be training, attending military schools, or on "block leave." Tier 1 and Tier 2 units take leave together within their respective JSOC package. This term is called block leave. Given the wartime tasking of JSOC, an additional deployment package is currently being created.[citation needed] This will allow less operational strain on these units.
Security support
JSOC has provided domestic law enforcement agencies support during high-profile or high-risk events such as the
In January 2005, a small group of commandos were deployed to support security at the
Operational history
Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan
JSOC carried out raids in Afghanistan. The number is not publicly known, but is estimated to be in the hundreds.[23][24] 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 the men's aid.[25] Then-JSOC commander William McRaven visited the affected family, offered them a sheep in restitution, and apologized.[26]
Operation Iraqi Freedom
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.[27][28]
On 11 January 2007, President Bush pledged in a major speech to "seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."
Operations in Pakistan
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.[31]
That scenario happened according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), in January 2006, JSOC troops clandestinely entered the village of Saidgai, Pakistan, to hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Pakistan refused entry.[citation needed]
According to a November 2009 report in
In October 2009,
JSOC is credited with coordinating Operation Neptune Spear that
Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa and Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
JSOC directed a 30 September 2011 air attack that killed
On 28 October 2013, a
Operation Inherent Resolve
On 25 March 2016, Special Operations Forces in
Operation Kayla Mueller
On 26 October 2019 U.S. Joint Special Operations Command's (JSOC) Delta Force conducted a raid into the Idlib province of Syria on the border with Turkey that resulted in the death of brahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai also known as
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.[48] After U.S. forces evacuated 10 civilians using an Arabic translator and a bullhorn, al-Qurashi proceeded to detonate a bomb that killed himself and 12 others, many of which were members of his family.[49][50] After the explosion, the U.S. soldiers entered the compound and had a shootout with the survivors, including a deputy of al-Qurashi, who was then shot and killed by the U.S. forces.[51] The raid lasted nearly two hours and no U.S. forces were killed.
List of JSOC commanders
No. | Portrait | Rank and Name | Start of Term | End of Term | Defense Branch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | December 1980 | August 1984 | United States Army | ||
2 | MG Carl Stiner | August 1984 | January 1987 | United States Army | |
3 | MG Gary E. Luck | January 1987 | December 1989 | United States Army | |
4 | MG Wayne A. Downing | December 1989 | August 1991 | United States Army | |
5 | MG William F. Garrison | 1992 | July 1994 | United States Army | |
6 | MG Peter J. Schoomaker
|
July 1994 | August 1996 | United States Army | |
7 | MG Michael A. Canavan | 1 August 1996 | 1 August 1998 | United States Army | |
8 | 1998 | 2000[52] | United States Army | ||
9 | MG Dell L. Dailey | 2001 | March 2003 | United States Army | |
10 | LTG Stanley McChrystal
|
September 2003[31] | June 2008 | United States Army | |
11 | VADM William H. McRaven
|
June 2008[53][54] | June 2011 | United States Navy | |
12 | LTG Joseph Votel | June 2011[55] | 29 July 2014 | United States Army | |
13 | LTG Raymond A. Thomas III
|
29 July 2014[56] | 30 March 2016 | United States Army | |
14 | LTG Austin S. Miller | 30 March 2016 | 2 September 2018 | United States Army | |
15 | Lt Gen Scott A. Howell | 2 September 2018 | July 2021 | United States Air Force | |
16 | LTG Bryan P. Fenton | July 2021 | 10 August 2022 | United States Army | |
17 | VADM Frank M. Bradley | 10 August 2022[57] | Incumbent | United States Navy |
See also
- Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Center
- Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Clandestine Service
- Special Operations Forces Command (KSSO) – Russian equivalent command
- Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) - HRT performs a number of tactical law enforcement and national security functions in high-risk environments and conditions and has deployed overseas, including with JSOC units.[58][59]
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