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Naval Special Warfare Development Group
Active	November 1980 – present
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Special operations force, special mission unit
Role	Counter Terrorism Hostage Rescue Direct Action Special Reconnaissance
Size	1,787 personnel authorized: 1,342 military personnel 445 civilian personnel
Part of	United States Special Operations Command Joint Special Operations Command United States Naval Special Warfare Command
Headquarters	Dam Neck Annex NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Nickname(s)	"SEAL Team Six", "DEVGRU", "Task Force Blue", "NSWDG"
Engagements	Operation Urgent Fury Operation Neptune Spear TWA Flight 847 Hijacking Achille Lauro hijacking Operation Prime Chance Operation Just Cause Operation Desert Storm Somali Civil War Operation Gothic Serpent Operation Uphold Democracy Yugoslav Wars Manhunt for Serbian War Criminals Global War on Terrorism Operation Enduring Freedom Iraq War War in North-West Pakistan Operation Inherent Resolve Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen Operation Freedom's Sentinel
Unit awards	Presidential Unit Citation

The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), commonly known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six, is the U.S. Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command. It is often referred to within JSOC as Task Force Blue. DEVGRU is administratively supported by Naval Special Warfare Command and operationally commanded by the Joint Special Operations Command. Most information concerning DEVGRU is classified, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either the White House or the Department of Defense. Despite the official name changes, "SEAL Team Six" remains the unit's widely recognized moniker. It is sometimes referred to in the U.S. media as a Special Mission Unit.

DEVGRU and its Army counterpart Delta Force, are the United States military's primary counterterrorism units. Although DEVGRU was created as a maritime counterterrorism unit targeting high-value targets, it has become a multifunctional special operations unit with several roles that include hostage rescue, special reconnaissance, personal security, and other specialized missions.

History

Administrative

The origins of DEVGRU are in SEAL Team Six, a unit created in the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw. During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Richard Marcinko was one of two U.S. Navy representatives for a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the TAT (Terrorist Action Team). The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran. In the wake of the disaster at the Desert One base in Iran, the Navy saw the need for a full-time counter-terrorist unit, and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.

Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit. At the time there were two SEAL teams. Marcinko named the unit SEAL Team Six in order to confuse Soviet intelligence as to the number of actual SEAL teams in existence. The unit's plankowners (founding members) were hand-picked by Marcinko from throughout the UDT/SEAL community. SEAL Team Six became the U.S. Navy's premier counter-terrorist unit. It has been compared to the U.S. Army's Delta Force, though Delta Force (SFOD-D) often recruits members from DEVGRU, while no member of SFOD-D has ever stepped down to DEVGRU. Marcinko held the command of SEAL Team Six for three years, from 1980 to 1983, instead of the typical two-year command in the Navy at the time. SEAL Team Six was formally created in October 1980, and an intense, progressive work-up training program made the unit mission-ready just six months later. SEAL Team Six started with 75 shooters. According to Marcinko, the annual ammunition training allowance for the command was larger than that of the entire U.S. Marine Corps. The unit has virtually unlimited resources at its disposal.

In 1987, SEAL Team Six was dissolved. A new unit named the "Naval Special Warfare Development Group" was formed, essentially as SEAL Team Six's successor. Reasons for the disbanding are varied, but the name SEAL Team Six is often used in reference to DEVGRU.

Operational deployments

Recruitment, selection and training

In the early stages of creating SEAL Team Six, Marcinko was given six months to get SEAL Team 6 up and running, or the whole project would come to an end. This meant that there was a timing issue and Marcinko had little time to create a proper selection course, similar to that of Delta Force, and as a result hand-picked the first plankowners of the unit after assessing their Navy records and interviewing each man. It has been said that Marcinko regretted not having enough time to set up a proper selection process and course. Originally applicants only came from the east and west coast SEAL teams and the UDTs. Although much of the ST6/DEVGRU training pipeline is classified there are some requirements and training exercises that are public knowledge. The requirements to apply for DEVGRU states that applicants must be male and come from the SDV teams, the Navy explosive ordnance disposal teams or EODs and East and West Coast SEAL teams, be 21 years old or older, and have at least served two combat tours on their previous assignments. Although, due to the combat experience requirement, it is not uncommon for a candidate to be in his early 30s. Marcinko's criteria for recruiting applicants was combat experience so he would know they could perform under fire; language skills were vital, as the unit would have a worldwide mandate to communicate with the local population if needed; union skills, to be able to blend in as civilians during an operation; and finally SEAL skills. Members of SEAL Team Six were selected in part because of the different specialist skills of each man.

Candidates must pass three days of physical and psychological testing that includes a Physical Screening Test (PST) where candidates must exceed the minimum requirements and perform at their highest level possible. Candidates are then interviewed by an oral review board to deem whether the candidate is suitable to undertake the selection phase. Those who pass the stringent recruitment and selection process will be selected to attend a six- to eight-month Operators Training Course. Candidates will screen with the unit's training wing known as "Green Team". The training course attrition rate is high, usually around 50 percent; during one selection course, out of the original 20 candidates, 12 completed the course. All candidates are watched closely by DEVGRU instructors and evaluated on whether they are suitable to join the individual squadrons. Howard E. Wasdin, a former member of SEAL Team Six said in a recent interview that 16 applied for SEAL Team Six selection course and two were accepted. Those who do not pass the selection phase are returned to their previous assignments and are able to try again in the future.

Like all special operations forces units that have an extremely intensive and high-risk training schedule, there can be serious injuries and deaths. SEAL Team Six/DEVGRU has lost several operators during training, including parachute accidents and close-quarters battle training accidents. It is presumed that the unit's assessment process for potential new recruits is different from what a SEAL operator experienced in his previous career, and much of the training tests the candidate's mental capacity rather than his physical condition, as he will have already completed Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL or the Navy EOD training pipeline.

Candidates are put through a variety of advanced training courses led by civilian or military instructors. These can include free-climbing, land warfare, communications, advanced unarmed combat techniques, defensive and offensive advanced driving, advanced diving, and Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training. Candidates are also taught how to pick locks on cars, doors, and safes. All candidates must perform at the top level during selection, and the unit instructors evaluate the candidate during the training process. Selected candidates are assigned to one of the Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadrons; the others are returned to their previous units. Unlike the other regular SEAL Teams, SEAL Team Six operators are able to go on to attend almost any other military course to receive further training depending on the unit's requirements.

Like Delta Force live fire marksmanship drills with live ammunition in both long range and close quarter battle drills is also done with hostage roles being played by other students to help build the candidates trust between each other.

Structure

DEVGRU is divided into color-coded line squadrons:

• Red Squadron (Assault)
• Gold Squadron (Assault)
• Blue Squadron (Assault)
• Silver Squadron (Assault)
• Black Squadron (Intelligence, Reconnaissance, & Surveillance)
• Gray Squadron (Mobility Teams, Transportation/Divers)
• Green Team (Selection/Training)

Each assault squadron is divided into three troops of enlisted SEALs, often called assaulters, usually led by a Commander (O-5). Each of these troops is commanded by a senior commissioned officer, which is usually a Lieutenant Commander (O-4). A troop chief also serves as an advisor to the troop commander and is the highest enlisted SEAL in the troop; usually a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9). A DEVGRU troop is further divided into smaller teams of SEALs. These individual teams of assaulters are led by senior enlisted SEALs; usually a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E-8), sometimes a Chief Petty Officer (E-7). The rest of these teams are filled out with more Chief Petty Officers and Petty Officers First Class; each member with a respective role.

Each assault squadron also has a specific nickname. Examples include Gold Squadron's Knights, Red Squadron's Indians, Blue Squadron's Pirates, Gray Squadron's Vikings, etc. The assault squadrons are supported by a variety of support personnel, including cryptologists, EOD technicians, dog handlers, and sometimes airmen from the United States Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron; the Air Force's JSOC element.

According to the GAO report on special operations forces, in the fiscal year of 2014, DEVGRU had a total of 1,787 authorized positions, of which 1,342 are military and 445 are civilian.

Uniform

The Department of Defense tightly controls information about DEVGRU, and refuses to comment publicly on the highly secretive unit and its activities. DEVGRU operators are granted an enormous amount of flexibility and autonomy. To conceal their identities, members only wear uniforms on combat deployments & extended training, preferring civilian clothing both on and off duty. When military uniforms are worn, they lack markings, surnames, or branch names. Civilian hair styles and facial hair are allowed to enable the members to blend in with different populations, and avoid recognition as military personnel.

Commanding officers

Command of DEVGRU is a Captain's billet. Ranks listed are the most recent if the officer is still on active duty.

• Commander Richard Marcinko – Nov 1980 to July 1983
• Captain Robert A. Gormly – July 1983 to 1986
• Captain Thomas E. Murphy – 1986 to 1987
• Captain Richard T.P. Woolard – 1987 to 1990
• Captain Ronald E. Yeaw – 1990 to 1992
• Captain Thomas G. Moser – 1992 to 1994
• Admiral Eric T. Olson – 1994 to 1997
• Vice Admiral Albert M. Calland III – June 1997 to June 1999
• Vice Admiral Joseph D. Kernan – June 1999 to Aug 2003
• Rear Admiral Edward G. Winters, III – Aug 2003 to 2005
• Rear Admiral Brian L. Losey – 2005 to 2007
• Rear Admiral Scott P. Moore – 2007 to 2009
• Captain Perry F. Van Hooser 
• Captain Hugh W. Howard

Roles and responsibilities

DEVGRU's full mission is classified but is thought to include pre-emptive, pro-active counter-terrorist operations, counter-proliferation (efforts to prevent the spread of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction), as well as the elimination or recovery of high-value targets (HVTs) from unfriendly nations. DEVGRU is one of a handful of U.S. Special Mission Units authorized to use pre-emptive actions against terrorists and their facilities.

When SEAL Team Six was first created it in 1980 it was devoted exclusively to counter-terrorism with a worldwide maritime responsibility; its objectives typically included targets such as ships, oil rigs, naval bases, coastal embassies, and other civilian or military bases that were accessible from the sea or inland waterways.

On certain operations small teams from SEAL Team Six were tasked with covertly infiltrating international high risk areas in order to carry out reconnaissance or security assessments of U.S. military facilities and embassies; and to give advice on improvements in order to prevent casualties in an event of a terrorist attack.

Since the start of War on Terrorism, DEVGRU has evolved into a multi-functional special operations unit with a worldwide operational mandate. Such operations include the successful rescue of Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, the attempted rescue of Linda Norgrove, the successful rescue of American doctor Dilip Joseph and in 1991, the successful recovery of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family during a coup that deposed him.

After SEAL Team Six was disbanded and renamed in 1987, the official mission of the currently operating Naval Special Warfare Development Group mission is "to provide centralized management for the test, evaluation, and development of equipment technology and Techniques, Tactics and Procedures for Naval Special Warfare".

DEVGRU and the Army's Delta Force train and deploy together on counter-terrorist missions usually as part of a joint special operations task force (JSOTF).

The Central Intelligence Agency's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) often works with—and recruits—operators from DEVGRU. The combination of these units led ultimately to the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Operation Neptune Spear.

Controversy

During the Maersk Alabama hijacking, $30,000 that the Somali pirates hid in a lifeboat went missing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation against the SEALs, who they suspected of stealing the money. The two operators who were investigated were not charged and the money was never recovered.

During the rescue attempt of Linda Norgrove a Silver Squadron operator threw a grenade at a captor, subsequently killing Norgrove. The team leader believed that the captor had detonated a suicide vest, but two assaulters allegedly knew that a frag grenade was thrown, and they withheld that information from JSOC. One of the SEALs told the team leader about the grenade, and the team leader failed to inform his superiors. The Commander of DEVGRU stated that the Intercepts claims of crimes were "determined to be not substantiated" after NCIS and FBI investigations. General Scotty Miller, the commanding officer of JSOC, included a brief message in the DEVGRU memo and stated "...unfortunately I note that our PA machine is not geared to respond and attack back except in rare cases".

On June 4, 2017 a US Green Beret Staff Sergeant was found murdered by strangulation in Mali, in the US embassy's housing he shared with a few other Special Forces members on duty in Mali. While no one as of November 2017 is charged with the homicide, two unnamed members of SEAL Team Six who shortly after the murder were flown out of Mali and placed on administrative leave are persons of interest to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

See also

• Joint Special Operations Command
• Delta Force
• 24th Special Tactics Squadron
• Spetsnaz
• Special Boat Service
• Navy SEALs in popular culture
• List of Navy SEALs
• List of special forces units

Notes

1. "SEAL Team 6 by the Numbers - Foreign Policy". 28 July 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
2. Brook, Tom Vanden (16 May 2016). "Navy SEALs' secret medals reveal heroism over last 15 years". Navy Times. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
3. ^ von Rosenbach, Alexander (4 May 2011). "Devgru: Bin Laden's ultimate nemesis". IHS Jane's Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013. Devgru was established in 1987 as the successor to SEAL Team 6 (although it is still colloquially known by this name). The unit serves as the US Navy's dedicated counter-terrorism unit and is believed to consist of about 200 personnel.
4. ^ Naylor, Sean. Relentless Strike. Chapter 4. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
5. ^ Emerson, Steven (13 November 1988). "Stymied Warriors". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
6. "In high demand, Air Force commandos must find new ways to cope with stress of duty". The Gaffney Ledger. Gaffney, South Carolina. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
7. Fallows, James (13 December 1981). "Iran from five American viewpoints". The New York Times.
8. ^ Halloran, Richard (26 November 1986). "U.S. moving to expand unconventional forces". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
9. ^ Marcinko, Richard (1992). Rogue Warrior. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-79593-7.
10. Pfarrer, Chuck (2011). SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden. Macmillan. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-4299-6025-0.
11. ^ Gerth, Jeff; Philip Taubman (8 June 1984). "U.S. military creates secret units for use in sensitive tasks abroad". The New York Times.
12. Wasdin, Howard (9 May 2011). "'SEAL Team Six' And Other Elite Squads Expanding". NPR. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
13. "Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU)". Global Security. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
14. Ambiner, Marc (10 October 2012). "Delta Force Gets a Name Change". The Atlantic. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
15. Abhan, Courtney Messman (30 July 2010). "Special Warfare Development Group seeks Sailors" (PDF). Naval Station Everett Public Affairs. Northwest Navigator. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2012. NSWDG is located in Virginia Beach, and is a type two sea duty cno priority one major command. The command is an elite counter terrorism unit that conducts research, and develops, tests, and evaluates current and emerging technology. This technology is related to special operations tactics and joint warfare to improve Special Forces war fighting capabilities. ... While at NSWDG, support personnel could have opportunities to earn many special qualifications, their expeditionary warfare specialist (EXW) pin, and Combat Service Support and Combat Support Naval Education Codes (NEC). Special qualifications include parachuting and fast roping, among many others. NSWDG support personnel receive special duty pay, and have some of the highest promotion rates in the Navy.
16. Anderson Cooper (3 May 2011). "'This is their type of op,' ex-SEAL says". CNN.
17. Pfarrer, Chuck. Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal. New York: Random House. pp. 325–326. ISBN 0-89141-863-6. In one year, the operators of SEAL Six fire more bullets than entire USMC.
18. "The iron will of Seal Team 6". CBS News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
19. "LCV Cities Tour: Interview with Howard Wasdin 'SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper'". Global-report.org. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
20. ^ Pfarrer, Chuck. Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal. New York: Random House. pp. 325–326. ISBN 0-89141-863-6.
21. Owen, Mark (2012). No Easy Day. Dutton Adult. p. 11. ISBN 9780525953722.
22. Owen, Mark (2012). No Easy Day. Dutton Adult. p. 37. ISBN 9780525953722.
23. Combs, Cindy C; Slann, Martin W. Encyclopedia of Terrorism. Infobase Publishing. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-8160-6277-5.
24. Blehm, Eric (2013). Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown. WaterBrook Press. ISBN 9780307730701.
25. "SEAL Team 6 by the Numbers". Retrieved 10 June 2017.
26. ^ Mann, Don (2011). Inside SEAL Team Six: My Life and Missions with America's Elite Warriors. Little, Brown and Company. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-316-20431-6.
27. Arostegui, Martin C. (1997). "Get Noriega". Twilight Warriors: Inside the World's Special Forces. Macmillan. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-312-30471-3.
28. Marquis, Susan Lynn (1997). Unconventional warfare: rebuilding U.S. special operations forces. Brookings Institution Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-8157-5476-3.
29. Committee on Risk-Based Approaches for Securing the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex, National Research Council (2011). Understanding and Managing Risk in Security Systems for the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex. National Academies Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-309-20884-0.
30. Butler, Frank K.; John H. Hagmann; David T. Richards (2009). Tactical Management of Urban Warfare Casualties in Special Operations. Parabellum Concepts. p. 6.
31. ^ Naylor, Sean (2006). Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. Penguin. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-425-20787-1.
32. "Rear Admiral Edward G. Winters, III". United States Navy. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
33. "Rear Admiral Brian L. Losey". navy.mil. United States Navy. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
34. Associated Press (15 September 2008). "2 SEALs killed in Afghanistan fighting". navytimes.com. Navy Times. Retrieved 11 October 2015. "The deaths of SOCS Marcum and SOC Freiwald are tremendous losses for Naval Special Warfare and the United States," Capt. DeAaron Vankeuren, commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, said in a statement. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
35. "Leader in Residence Program". vmi.edu. Virginia Military Institute. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
36. Shanker, Thom; Risen, James (12 August 2002). "Rumsfeld weighs new covert acts by military units". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
37. "Frequently Asked Questions". LT Michael P. Murphy USN. United States Navy. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
38. U.S. Special Ops: America's Elite Forces in the 21st Century, Fred J. Pushies, MBI Publishing Company, 2003.
39. Qadir Sediqi,"U.S. Navy SEAL killed in operation to rescue American doctor in Afghanistan". CNN. 10 December 2012
40. http://jsou.socom.mil/JSOU%20Publications/2015SOFRefManual_final_cc.pdf
41. Couch, Dick (2005). The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-81046-4.
42. Bowden, Mark (2001). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Signet. ISBN 0-451-20393-3.
43. Waller, Douglas (3 February 2003). "The CIA's Secret Army". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004145-1,00.html
44. "Osama bin Laden killed in CIA operation". The Washington Post. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
45. Naylor, Mark Mazzetti, Nichols Kulish, Christopher Drew, Serge F. Kovaleski, Sean D.; Ismay, John (6 June 2015). "The Secret History of SEAL Team 6: Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 June 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
46. ^ Cole, Matthew. "The Crimes of SEAL Team 6". The Intercept. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
47. Cole2017-01-18T15:28:42+00:00, Matthew ColeMatthew. "SEAL Team 6 Responds to The Intercept's Investigation of Its War Crimes". The Intercept. Retrieved 10 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
48. Schmitt, Eric (29 October 2017). "2 Navy SEALs Under Suspicion in Strangling of Green Beret in Mali". nytimes.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

References

• Gormly, Robert A. (1999). Combat Swimmer: Memoirs of a Navy SEAL. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-451-19302-4.
• MacPherson, Malcolm (2006). Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan. New York: Bantam Dell. ISBN 0-553-58680-7.
• Shipler, David K.; Halloran, Richard (26 November 1985). "Terror: Americans as targets". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2011.

External links

• "Special Operations" at ShadowSpear.com
• Naval Special Warfare Development Group at GlobalSecurity.org
• Mark Mazetti, Nicholas Kulish, Christopher Drew, Serge F. Kowalski, Seasn D. Naylor and John Ismay (6 June 2015). "SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines". The New York Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) According to The New York Times the article probes "the culture of a secretive Special Operations unit, which often acts with limited oversight, and situated it in the context of how today’s wars are fought. It implicated the team in troubling failures, like the killing of a British aid worker it was trying to rescue from the Taliban or the deaths of innocent civilians, one a young, unarmed Afghan girl. The article also spotlighted the unit’s triumphs apart from the Osama bin Laden raid, such as rescuing PFC. Jessica Lynch in Iraq, or saving Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates".
• "Inside SEAL Team 6". The New York Times. 27 May 2015. Describes the identity, missions, training and dangers of SEAL Team Six.

v t e United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
United States Army USASOC	Units 1st Special Forces Command 75th Ranger Regiment Army Special Operations Aviation Command John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Types Special Forces Rangers Civil Affairs Psychological Operations
United States Marine Corps MARSOC	Units Marine Raider Regiment Marine Raider Support Group Marine Raider Training Center Types Critical skills operator
United States Navy NAVSPECWARCOM	Units Naval Special Warfare Group 1 Naval Special Warfare Group 2 Naval Special Warfare Group 4 Naval Special Warfare Group 8 Naval Special Warfare Group 11 Naval Special Warfare Center Types Navy SEALs Special warfare combatant-craft crewmen
United States Air Force AFSOC	Units 1st Special Operations Wing 24th Special Operations Wing 27th Special Operations Wing 137th Special Operations Wing 193rd Special Operations Wing 352nd Special Operations Wing 353rd Special Operations Wing 492nd Special Operations Wing 919th Special Operations Wing Types Pararescue Combat Control Team Special Reconnaissance Combat Rescue Officer Special Tactics Officer Combat Aviation Advisors Psychological Operations
Special mission units JSOC	Army 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force) Intelligence Support Activity (ISA / The Activity) Navy Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU / SEAL Team Six) Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron (24 STS) Joint Communications Unit
Theater Special Operations Commands	SOCAFRICA SOCCENT SOCEUR SOCKOR SOCPAC SOCNORTH SOCSOUTH
Source: SOCOM 2013 Fact Book

• Use dmy dates from May 2012
• Special operations units and formations of the United States Navy
• United States Joint Special Operations Command
• Counter-terrorist organizations
• Military units and formations established in 1980
• Death of Osama bin Laden