United States Naval Special Warfare Command
United States Naval Special Warfare Command | |
---|---|
Active | 16 April 1987 – present[1] |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Navy |
Type | Special operations |
Role | Unconventional warfare, direct action, counterterrorism, special reconnaissance |
Size | 10,000+ positions authorized:[2]
|
Part of | Operation Just Cause
Operation Restore Hope
Operation Gothic Serpent Operation Enduring Freedom
Keith B. Davids |
The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM,
Originating in the
WARCOM is organized primarily around eight
Background
Today's U.S. Navy
A detailed history of Naval Special Warfare, including writings by members who have served in the various NSW units, is available at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum website, while the facility itself has an extensive collection of related artifacts on display.[6]
World War II
By the time the United States became involved in
Scouts and Raiders
The Navy Scouts and Raiders were created before the Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs). The Scouts and Raiders were first formed 15 August 1942,
With US Marines limited to the Pacific Theatre of Operations, the Observer Group was disbanded, with the Marine Corps counterpart forming the Amphib Recon Company; the Army/Navy unit formed the Scouts and Raiders with the Army later leaving. The U.S. Navy began the Scouts and Raiders to provide reconnaissance and raiding missions to support amphibious landings. The unit utilized two men to platoon-sized operations to conduct raids and sabotage missions.[11]
The unit continued its deployment to
First group
The first group included
Second group
A combined operations joint US-Australian unit, Special Service Unit No. 1 (SSU 1), was established on 7 July 1943. Its first mission, in September 1943, was at Finschafen on New Guinea. Later operations were at Gasmata, Arawe, Cape Gloucester, and the East and South coast of New Britain, all without any loss of personnel. Conflicts arose over operational matters, and the unit was dissolved.
The US Navy personnel from SSU 1 became the basis of the 7th Amphibious Scouts. They received a new mission, to go ashore with the assault boats, mark channels with buoys, erect markers for the incoming craft, handle casualties, take offshore soundings, blow up beach obstacles, and maintain voice communications linking the troops ashore, incoming boats, and nearby ships. The 7th Amphibious Scouts conducted operations in the Pacific for the duration of the conflict, participating in more than 40 landings.
Scout landings were done at night during the new moon. The men were brought to a lagoon by submarine and came ashore with rubber paddle boats. They would bury the boats in the sand and begin recon. Their mission was to clear the area prior to the main Naval landing which would then take over the island. They stayed from three days to as long as seven days engaging in covert operations and "taking no prisoners". They had learned martial arts (judo) and were armed with Thompson submachine guns, sidearms and knives. The entire Navy Scouts program was strictly volunteer, since it was considered too dangerous to order men to do this job. When the island was secured, they would transmit code to the sub, which would pick them up the next night. A typical loss would be 12 men going in and 3–5 coming back alive. Sometimes only one would come back.[14][full citation needed]
Third group
The third Scout and Raiders organization deployed to fight with the
In September 1942, 17 Navy salvage personnel arrived at
On 10 November 1942, this first combat demolition unit succeeded in cutting a cable and net barrier across the Wadi
Plans for a massive cross-channel invasion of Europe had begun and intelligence indicated that the Germans were placing extensive underwater obstacles on the beaches at
On 6 June 1944, in the face of great adversity, the NCDUs at Omaha Beach managed to blow eight complete gaps and two partial gaps in the German defenses. The NCDUs suffered 31 killed and 60 wounded, a casualty rate of 52%. Meanwhile, the NCDUs at Utah Beach met less intense enemy fire. They cleared 700 yards (640 m) of beach in two hours, another 900 yards (820 m) by the afternoon. Casualties at Utah Beach were significantly lighter with six killed and eleven wounded. During Operation OVERLORD, not a single demolitioneer was lost to improper handling of explosives.
In August 1944, NCDUs from
OSS Operational Swimmers
Some of the earliest World War II predecessors of the SEALs were the Operational Swimmers of the Office of Strategic Services, or OSS.[17] Many present day SEAL missions were first assigned to them. The OSS specialized in special operations, dropping operatives behind enemy lines to engage in organized guerrilla warfare as well as to gather information on such things as enemy resources and troop movements.[18]
British Combined Operations veteran Lt Cdr Wooley, of the Royal Navy, was placed in charge of the OSS Maritime Unit in June 1943. Their training started in November 1943 at
In May 1944,
Beach Jumpers
Beach Jumper Unit One was formed at the Amphibious Training Base at Camp Bradford, Virginia on 16 March 1943 for deception operations to simulate large scale amphibious raids and invasions.
Underwater Demolition Teams
On 23 November 1943, the U.S. Marine
The UDTs saw their first combat on 31 January 1944, during
The rapid demobilization at the conclusion of the war reduced the number of active duty UDTs to two on each coast with a complement of seven officers and 45 enlisted men each.
The Korean War began on 25 June 1950, when the North Korean army invaded South Korea. Beginning with a detachment of 11 personnel from UDT 3, UDT participation expanded to three teams with a combined strength of 300 men. As part of the Special Operations Group, or SOG, UDTs successfully conducted demolition raids on railroad tunnels and bridges along the Korean coast. On 15 September 1950, UDTs supported
In October 1950, UDTs supported mine-clearing operations in Wonsan Harbor where frogmen would locate and mark mines for minesweepers. On 12 October 1950, two U.S. minesweepers hit mines and sank. UDTs rescued 25 sailors.
The UDT's entered the
UDT teams carried out hydrographic surveys in South Vietnam's coastal waters and reconnaissance missions of harbors, beaches and rivers often under hazardous conditions and enemy fire.[19]
Later, the UDTs supported the Amphibious Ready Groups operating on South Vietnam's rivers creating a River Patrol Force (Task Force 116) of UDT's that operated
Naval Special Warfare personnel comprise less than one percent of
SEALs
SEALs are
Responding to President John F. Kennedy's desire for the Services to develop an Unconventional Warfare (UW) capability, the U.S. Navy established SEAL Team One and SEAL Team Two in January 1962. Formed entirely with personnel from Underwater Demolition Teams, the SEALs mission was to conduct counter guerrilla warfare and clandestine operations in maritime and riverine environments. [21]
Navy SEALs have distinguished themselves as an individually reliable, collectively disciplined and highly skilled maritime force. Because of the dangers inherent in NSW, prospective SEALs go through what is considered by many military experts[who?] to be the toughest training in the world. The intense physical and mental conditioning it takes to become a SEAL begins at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
SEAL candidates begin BUD/S training at the Naval Special Warfare Center, NAB Coronado, California. This six-month course of instruction focuses on physical conditioning, small boat handling, diving physics, basic diving techniques, land warfare, weapons, demolitions, communications, and reconnaissance.
- First Phase trains, develops, and assesses SEAL candidates in physical conditioning, water competency, teamwork, and mental tenacity.
- Second (Diving) Phase trains, develops, and qualifies SEAL candidates as competent basic combat swimmers. During this period, physical training continues and becomes even more intensive. Emphasis is placed on long distance underwater dives with the goal of training students to become basic combat divers, using swimming and diving techniques as a means of transportation from their launch point to their combat objective. This is a skill that separates SEALs from all other Special Operations forces.
- Third Phase trains, develops, and qualifies SEAL candidates in basic weapons, demolition, and small unit tactics. Third Phase concentrates on teaching land navigation, small-unit tactics, patrolling techniques, rappelling, marksmanship, and military explosives. The final three and a half weeks of Third Phase are spent at NALF San Clemente Island,[22] where students apply all the techniques they have acquired during training.[23]
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams' (SDVT) historical roots began during WWII with the earliest human torpedoes to see use: Maiale, used by Italy's Decima Flottiglia MAS, and Chariots, used by British commando frogmen. Naval Special Warfare entered the wet submersible field in the 1960s when the Coastal Systems Center in Panama City, Florida developed the Mark 7, a free-flooding SDV of the type used today, and the first SDV to be used in the fleet. The Mark 8 and 9 followed in the late 1970s.
Today's Mark 8 Mod 1 provides NSW with an unprecedented capability that combines the attributes of clandestine underwater mobility and the combat swimmer. The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) program that would have provided NSW a new (dry) submersible for long range infiltration missions was abandoned in 2009. However, news reports have stated that USSOCOM have purchased a new dry SEAL Delivery Vehicle called the Dry Combat Submersible and will be become operational around 2018/2019.
Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen
The exclusive mission of Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) operators is to expertly drive and provide large-caliber gunfire support on specialized high-tech, high-speed, and low-profile Surface Combatant Craft to secretly infiltrate and exfiltrate Navy SEALs on Special Operations missions worldwide. These missions include direct action on land, sea, coastline or rivers (such as strikes, captures, and ship take downs by
The SWCC designation is a relatively new Naval Special Warfare career path that is independent of the regular line Navy. Today's Special Boat Teams have their origins in the
Structure
As of 2022, Naval Special Warfare included more than 10,000 people, including about 9,000 SEALs, SWCCs, and other military personnel and about 1,200 civilian support staff.[2]
Naval Special Warfare Command's components include:
- Naval Special Warfare Group 1: SEAL Teams 1, 3, 5, 7
- Naval Special Warfare Group 2: SEAL Teams 2, 4, 8, 10
- Naval Special Warfare Group 4: Special Boat Teams 12, 20, 22
- Naval Special Warfare Group 8:Team 2, Logistics Support 3, Special Reconnaissance 1, Special Reconnaissance 2, Training Detachment 3, Mission Support Center[27][28][29]
- Mission Support Center mission is to "organize, train, educate, equip, deploy and sustain specialized intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and preparation-of-the-environment capabilities")[30]
- Naval Special Warfare Group 11: SEAL Teams 17, 18 (formerly Operational Support Teams 1, 2)[31] (Navy Reserve)
- Naval Special Warfare Center: includes the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School
- JSOC
Inactivated Groups:
- Naval Special Warfare Group 3: SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams 1, 2[32]
- Naval Special Warfare Group 10: NSW Support Activity One, NSW Support Activity Two, Mission Support Center
Global War on Terror
NSW is committed to combating the global terrorist threats. In addition to being experts in special reconnaissance and direct action missions, the skill sets needed to combat terrorism; NSW is postured to fight a dispersed enemy on their territory. NSW forces can operate from forward-deployed Navy ships, submarines and aviation mobility platforms as well as overseas bases and its own overseas units.
War in Afghanistan
In response to the attacks on America 11 September 2001, Naval Special Warfare forces put operators on the ground in Afghanistan in October. The first military flag officer to set foot in Afghanistan was a
SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Dan Healy was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for Valor, Purple Heart, and Afghanistan Campaign Medal, posthumously.
On the night of 1–2 May 2011, operators from Red Squadron of
Iraq War
Naval Special Warfare has played a significant role in
SEAL Petty Officer Second Class
See also
- List of Navy SEALs
- Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS)
- Special Missions Training Center (SMTC)
- Underwater Construction Teams (UCT)
- ROKN UDT/SEAL – Korean equivalent
- Naval Special Operations Command (SEAL/Special Boat/EOD teams) – Philippines equivalent
References
Much of this text in this article was taken from Official U.S. Navy SWCC web site which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a
- ^ SOCOM Public Affairs (2014). SOCOM Fact Book 2014 (PDF). SOCOM Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Naval Special Warfare Command Holds Change of Command Ceremony". dvidshub.net. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "What's Wrong with the Rest of SOCOM?: WARCOM, AFSOC, and MARSOC | Small Wars Journal". smallwarsjournal.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "Naval Special Warfare". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ "SEAL History: The Story of Naval Special Warfare". National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^ "SEAL History: Origins of Naval Special Warfare-WWII".
- ^ Shinn, lstLt Leo B. (April 1945). "Amphibious Reconnaissance". Marine Corps Gazette 29 (4).
- ^ a b Bruce F. Meyers, Swift, Silent, and Deadly: Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance in the Pacific, 1942–1945, (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2004).
- ^ pp.168–177 Brutsman, Bud, & Dockery, Kevin. "Scouts and Raiders" in Navy SEALs: The Early Years Berkley Publishing 2007
- ^ Kenan Heise (9 May 1985). "Robert Halperin, 77, War Hero, Executive". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ^ "Scouts & Raiders history". Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
- ^ Lawrence Taylor, USN Scout
- ^ "NSW – Naval Special Warfare Command: History". Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ p.34 Brutsman, Bud & Dockery, Kevin Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years Berkley Publishing 2001
- ^ PMID 15233156. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2009.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ "OSS History". Retrieved 2 January 2008.
- ^ "SEAL History: Vietnam-The Men With Green Faces | National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum". Navysealmuseum.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
- ^ "NAVSOC mission". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
- ^ "Official U.S. Navy SEAL Information Website, Into". Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
- ^ "Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, San Clemente Island". Naval Base Coronado. United States Navy. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL) – Naval Special Warfare Center". Official U.S. Navy SEAL Information Website. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
- ^ "Navy SWCC – The Navy's Elite Boat Warriors". NavySEALs.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
- ^ "Introduction to SWCC and Naval Special Warfare". Official U.S. Navy SWCC Information. United States Navy. Retrieved 2 January 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Join Special Reconnaissance Team".
- ^ a b c "U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command Establishes Group Eight, Disestablishes Groups Three and Ten". DVIDSHUB. 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Atlamazoglou, Stavros (15 September 2021). "To take on Russia and China, the US Navy is standing up a new unit to do the missions that only SEALs can do". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Fact Book 2022" (PDF). SOCOM. 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "Naval Special Warfare Welcomes Group 10 to Force". navy.mil. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ Menzie, Christopher (8 August 2008). "Naval Special Warfare Reserve Command Renamed". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Faram, Mark D. (25 February 2019). "SEALs revive stealthy submarine delivery team in Virginia". Navy Times. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ Communication, Mass. "Naval Special Warfare Welcomes Group 10 to Force". Navy.mil. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ "NSWarrior – Military Forum". MilitaryLTD.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- ^ "NAVSOC History". Archived from the original on 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
- Bibliography
- Naval Special Warfare website
- Naval Special Warfare, History page
- Official U.S. Navy Seal Information Website
- Official U.S. Navy SWCC Information Website
- ISBN 0-316-06759-8)
- Cunningham, Chet. (2005). The Frogmen of World War II: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams, New York: Pocket Books. (ISBN 0-7434-8216-6)
External links
- Official website
- Naval Special Warfare Command – official recruiting site.
- NavySeals.com
- ShadowSpear.com Special Operations