Special mission unit

Emblem of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.

The United States military definition in the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms comes from Joint Publication 3-05.1 – Joint Special Operations Task Force Operations (JP 3-05.1).[2] JP 3-05.1 defines a "special mission unit" as "a generic term to represent a group of operations and support personnel from designated organizations that is task-organized to perform highly classified activities."[3]

The U.S. government does not acknowledge which units specifically are designated as special missions units,[4] only that they have special mission units under U.S. Special Operations Command. However, in the early 1990s then–Commander in Chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, General Carl Stiner, identified both Delta Force and SEAL Team Six as permanently assigned special missions units in congressional testimony and public statements.[5] In 1998, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Walter B. Slocombe publicly referred to special mission units during a briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee: "We have designated special-mission units that are specifically manned, equipped and trained to deal with a wide variety of transnational threats" and "These units, assigned to or under the operational control of the U.S. Special Operations Command, are focused primarily on those special operations and supporting functions that combat terrorism and actively counter terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). These units are on alert every day of the year and have worked extensively with their interagency counterparts."[6]

So far, only four SMUs have been publicly disclosed:

• The Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta (1st SFOD-D) commonly known as Delta Force
• The Navy's Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) , also commonly known as SEAL TEAM 6
• The Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron (24 STS)[7][8][6][4][9][10][11]
• The Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) is also under JSOC and has been referred to as a special mission unit.[12][8][4][9] The ISA collects specific target intelligence prior to SMU missions, and provides signals support, etc. during those missions.[8][4][9] The Army once maintained the ISA, but after the September 11 attacks, the Pentagon shifted direct control to Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, NC.[13]

Units from the Regimental Reconnaissance Company of the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, Special Forces, and 160th SOAR are controlled by JSOC when deployed as part of JSOC Task Forces such as Task Force 121 and Task Force 145.[14][15][16][17]

The Australian Army's website describes the elite Special Air Service Regiment as being "a special missions unit with unique capabilities within the Australian Defence Force".[18] The Regiment is a component of Australia's Special Operations Command (SOCOMD), and is tasked with conducting "sensitive strategic operations, special recovery operations, training assistance, special reconnaissance and precision strike and direct action".[18]

The SASR currently has four sabre squadrons, known as 1, 2, 3 and 4 Squadron.[19] 1, 2 and 3 Squadrons rotate through the two roles performed by the Regiment; one squadron conducts the counter terrorism/special recovery (CT/SR) role, and the remaining squadrons conduct the warfighting/reconnaissance role. 4 Squadron is responsible for collecting intelligence and also supports the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.[20]

An Iraqi-American military interpreter pictured with Saddam shortly after his capture.

• On December 13, 2003, Members of Task Force 121 conducted a military operation in Ad-Dawr, Iraq which lead to the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein who was found hiding in a spider hole.[21]

• On May 2, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed in a CIA-led operation where U.S. Navy SEALs from DEVGRU's Red Squadron were flown into Abottabad, Pakistan by elements of 160th SOAR from Jalalabad, Afghanistan.[22]

• On October 22, 2015, 30 U.S. special operations forces consisting of members of Delta Force, aviators from the 106th SOAR, paramilitary officers from the CIA's Special Activities Center and alongside with members of the Kurdish Counter-terrorism unit Peshmerga, conducted a raid on an ISIS prison compound north of the town of Hawija in Iraq's Kirkuk province which resulted in the liberation of approximately 70 hostages, including more than 20 members of the Iraqi Security Forces who were to be executed and buried in freshly dug graves.[23] The operation left 1 Delta operator dead, MSG Joshua Wheeler, the first American to be killed by ISIS insurgents and the first American to be killed in Action in Iraq since November 2011.[24][25] SGM Thomas Payne, then a SFC was awarded the Medal of Honor on September 11, 2020 for his actions that day.[26][27]

• Between October 26–27, 2019 In Barisha, Idlib Governorate, Syria. Members of 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force) along with paramilitary officers from the CIA's Special Activities Center and Army Rangers from the 75th Ranger Regiment conducted a raid that resulted in the Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[28] The raid was named Operation Kayla Mueller after American human rights activist and Humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller who was captured in Syria, tortured, and eventually killed by ISIL on February 6, 2015. Baghdadi killed himself when he detonated a suicide belt while seeking to evade the U.S. forces during the raid after reaching a dead end in a tunnel. 2 Delta operators and 1 military working dog (Conan) were injured from Baghdadi's suicide belt but sustained no life threatening injuries.[29]