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US Special Forces:
It was the late and much lamented Earl Louis Mountbatten who, during a meeting with General George C. Marshall, then the U.S. Army's General Chief of Staff, towards the end of World War Two, suggested the foundation of the unique Special Forces.
In South Vietnam the Special Forces were closely engaged in many covert operations and since then, whem 'military advisers' have been requested in various parts of the world the experts of the Special Forces have comprised a high propotion of the numbers.
This section, then, presents an idea of the kinds of activity the Special Forces engage upon and where possible a few details of how they operate, but of cause much of the modus operandi must remain secret and in the manners of the British Army's S.A.S. and S.B.S. it is far better kept that way. There are times in war when there is useful intelligence to be gained from well-trained units into the enemy's own backyard, and the first of the aricles in this section outlines the way that this is accomplished.
During World War Two the actions of the various resistance bodies on the Continent and the successes they achieved in blowing up bridges and military installations and troop trains and assassinating brutal individuals shows how effective such groups can be when having the backing and being supplied with weapons and explosives. The Special Forces units act in the same way but on a highly organised basis, and by setting ambushes they can create confusion among the enemy who felt their ground was secure and under control. The use of friendly locals, often needed where the target is uncertain, can be encouraged but reprisals when the Special Forces pull out must be considered.
When dropping from the air, Special Forces members have to be prepared to go into free-fall for up to three minutes before pulling the rip-cord of their parachutes. The method is fast, accurate and silent if all goes well. A part in this section describes how the six-men HALO teams go into action this way and the signals they need from the groundso that the night jump will bring them in a close-knit group right to the DZ. These drop-zones are where such an operation can succeed or fail, for if the wind speed or direction changes during the flight out the team can end up well away from the target area.
The use of the skyhook is a spectacular way of getting into an aircraft without the machine touching the ground. It is dramatic and a test of skill and nerve for the pilot and crew and demands courage and confidence in the system for the soldier about to be whisked off the ground in a harness and hauled up into the aircraft as it climbs away.
Not all Special Forces operations are carried out on land or from the air. When the enemy territory has a coastline there are other means of gaining entry for specialist forcesengaged on sabotage or surveillance work. In the manner of Britain's S.B.S. the U.S. Special Forces have groups which concentrate on striking from the sea. This can be accomplished by the use of surface vessels, submarines, sumersible dinghies or min subs, the latter evading radar searches by keeping below the surface and running silently on electric batteries and carrying the passengers to shore.
US Special Forces: Inserting troops:
Special forces teams take the battle to the
enemy on his own ground. Working behind the lines, their mission can vary from
intelligence gethering to sabotage and organising guerilla resistance movements against
the enemy.
It is a war without rules. The Special Forces soldier can expect no mercy from
the enemy if he is caught: it is kill or be killed.
Many of the operational techniques are made up on the spur of the moment, to take advantage of a special piece of intelligence or some unexpected opportunity, but that doesn't mean there's no formal training. The military forces of the United States of America all have their special detachments, and they all take as their guide FM 31-20, the US Special Forces Operational Techniques Field Manual, on which this article is based.
Because they are 'Special Forces', their job is impossible to describe without listing all the possibilities. It is safer to say that the member of a Special Forces team, you have to be prepared to tackle just about anything that comes up. You may be able to get back-up from technical specialists, but perhaps only in the form of a hurried, whispered radio conversation with a faceless person back at the operational base.
Most of the time, it will be impossible to say whether you're in attack or defence. You'll be conducting a guerilla war. No front lines, no organised advance from one place to another, no start and finish lines.
Much of the special forces' job is taken up with intelligence gathering and instruction, providing a 'cadre' of experienced leaders who pass on their knowledge to people recruited locally. Not all of that knowledge is military. It can just as well be about personal hygiene or farming methods - anything, in fact, that proves to the local population that you and your country have their best interests in heart.
Winning the battle for the hearts and minds of
the people is really much more important than taking an objective by armed force, but you
can't win either of them until you get to the battlefield itself. Inserting agents into
hostile territory has been a front-line intelligence task for hundreds of years, and there
are two main methods:
1. False identities and disguise.
2. Covert operations.
Even in time of war, it is usually possible to gain access to the enemy's territory from a neighbouring country. The success of this method depends on the quality of your cover and documentation.
The biggest advantage of this approach is that once you have got through the identity checks, searches and interrogation, you will be able to live quite openly in enemy territory, not having to run and hide every time there's an unexpected knock on the door. Of course, you'll be living a double life and this will be stressful in itself, but then no-one ever said that Special Forces work would be easy, and certainly not safe!
Clandestine insertion means entering entering the enemy's territory without his knowledge. It could mean trekking across a border in a remote and difficult part of the country, or para jumping from an aircraft from almost seven miles up, and waiting until you're just a hundred or so metres above the ground before opening your parachute.
Or it may be struggling with all of your equipment through the 64-cm diameter access hatch of a fleet submarine and swimming five miles through the dark to land on a deserted beach.
Air infiltration:
Insertion from an airborne operation is popular because no area is inaccessible
by air; it's quick: and, when organised properly, minimises the risk both to the carrier
and to the passenger and his reseption commitee. There are four normal variants:
1. Low and normal altitude parachute.
2. High Altitude Low Opening (HALO).
3. High Altitude High Opening (HAHO).
4. Air landing operations.
The object of the exercise is to insert agents without the enemy's knowledge, so his capabilities as well as your own have to be taken into consideration. How good are his radar and air traffic control systems? Do adequate drop and landing zones exist? Are there personnel on the ground who can act as a reception commitee, and help to transport people and supplies to safe locations and 'sterilize' the DZ after use? Are suitable aircraft available? Helicopter or fixed wing?
Landing from the sea:
You must consider many of the factors that affect airborne insertions when planning an
infiltration operation from the sea. First of all, what sort of costal areas are available
and what is the depth and efficiency of costal defences? Do you have the right sort of
marine craft to hand? Do you have the facilities to make sure sea water can't effect vital
pieces of equipment?
Submarines. Because they are very difficult to detect when used properly, are very attractive as delivery vehicles, especially when the agents to be delivered can exit underwater and stay that way right up to the beach.
Land operations:
Infiltration overland is very similar to a long-range patrol in enemy-held territory, and
can be the most secure way of all of getting the Specia Forces team into place, especially
if time is not all-important. Distance is not necessarily a problem to fit, well-equipped
Special Forces personnel, trained to use all their skills, wits and resources.
Where you can get help and assistance from 'friendlies' already in place, to provide food, shelter and intelligence, overland infiltration is often the most effective of all. Because drop zones and landing zones are unlikely to be right next door to the area of operations, both air- and seaborne insertions will probably end up as overland journeys anyway. So there's a lot to be said for relying on your own two feet rather than on technology: man can escape detection a lot more easily than a machine.
One factor is common to all three methods of insertion that we've looked at so far - the availability of people on the ground to act as porters and guides and to provide security for the infiltrators. But it may not always be that way. In some cases the members of your team will have to go in blind, relying exclusively on your own skills and resourses - not to mention a degree of luck!
Blind drops:
These 'Blind drops' are obviously very risky affairs, through probably not
through exposure to enemy intelligence. After all, no-one will know you're coming, so
there won't be a hostile reception commitee at the DZ, either.
Blind drops are usually only made into areas that are known to contain a fair number of possible recruits - unaremed and untrained, probably, but providing the raw material for a strong indigenous operation. It may also be necessary to drop blind into areas where enemy security is tight and locals find it difficult to move around at will.
Staying behind:
There is a fourth way of getting members of a Special Forces team into enemy-held
territory - install them before the enemy moves in and takes over. Long-range planning and
intelligence will dictate whether this is a real possibility.
Keeping security will be the most difficult part of the whole operation. Safe houses and refuges will need to be set up, communications established, caches of rations, arms and equipment made, and all without anyone outside the organisation having the faintest idea of what is going on. Memebers of Special Forces are trained to camouflage and conceal themselves superbly; to move silently; to live in the countryside without giving themselves away. In towns and cities this is impossible, and so you must rely on the local people to provide security and communications, and probably rations and other supplies too - and that's all before you attempt any sort of operation!
Infiltrating special forces teams:
When preparing a team for infiltration by parachute, remember the following:
Clandestine penetration:
HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) is a parachute technique used by Special Forces to arrive behind enemy lines without being detected. The aircraft flies at up to 8,000 metres; so high that it cannot be seen of heard from the ground. The troops free-fall most of the way down, linking up mid-air so they land in a tight group and only deploying their chutes when they are within 300 metres of the ground.
Fast exit:
All jumpers must exit the aircraft quickly and together so they can manoeuvre and
free-fall in a tight group and land without undue dispertion.
Reduce vulnerability:
The idea behind HALO is to minimise the time that you spend floating slowly down
on your parachute, which is your period of maximum danger from enemy fire and observation.
Tree jumping:
As a technique for insertion into a jungle environment, this has been abandoned
due to excessive casualties in Borneo and Malaya. You cannot expect to be able to jump
directly into a tropical jungle without a lot of injuries.
Altimeter:
Positioned on top of the reseve chute, this indicates your height above ground.
At all costs check that this is in working order before you jump: at night it is your only
means of knowing when to pull your chute.
Reseve chute:
Guard your reserve parachute very carefully while you are on board the aircraft:
if it deploys accidentally before you jump it could stall the aircraft or try to pull you
out through the side of the plane. A mistake here could spell body bags all round.
Rifle protection:
Tape over the muzzle to prevent dirt getting into the barrel when you land, and
tape the handguards together to make sure they stay up. Cover all sharp edges to prevent
personal injury in case of a bad landing.
Rucksack:
The rucksack is rigged bellow your main parachute and is released on a lowering
line when you are on your final approach to the drop zone.
Area drop zone:
An area Drop Zone is used by long range patrols who cannot guarantee their exact location when a pre-planned supply drop is due. The aircraft arrives at point A and procedes to point B, looking for DZ markings on the way. The distance between the two points should not exceed 25 km and sites should be within 1 km of the line of flight.
