" The Army's Special Forces, referred to as the legendary Green Berets, consist of a unique, unconventional combat arms organization, that are considered the most versatile Special Operations soldiers in the world. Their lineage dates back more than two hundred years of unconventional warfare, including predecessors such as Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War, the World War II OSS Jedbourg Teams and Detachment 101 in Burma, and the Alamo Scouts.

According to Robert Andrews, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, it takes two years to train some of the enlisted personnel, and longer for officers. In fact, Special Forces units "continually train to conduct unconventional warfare in any of its forms - guerrilla tactics, evasion and escape subversion." In order to learn to fight in cold weather and mountainous environments, special operators attend a two-week course at the Army's Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vermont, where they learn to protect their weapons in cold temperatures, and that bursting munitions, such as hand grenades, mortar rounds and artillery shells, are less effective in deep snow. Special operators are trained to fire, disassemble, clean and reassemble a wide range of small arms, ranging from the.45 caliber automatic pistol to the M2HB.50 caliber machine gun and the AK-47 rifles. According to retired Special Forces Colonel John 'Scot' Crerar, one of the most popular rifle among special operators is the M-4 carbine, made by Colt's Manufacturing Company, which is a version of the standard M-16 rifle issued to all the services. The M-4 fires the same high-velocity, 5.56 mm round, however it is shorter, lighter and more compact, making it easier to use in tight quarters. Says Crerar, "It's the Swiss Army pocketknife of small arms."

Months before the war officially started on March 19, special ops troops sowed the seeds of victory in northern Iraq. In fact, "two Special Forces A-teams (Operational Detachment Alpha 391 and ODA 392), comprising 26 Green Berets, three Air Force combat controllers and two other soldiers, took on a reinforced Iraqi motorized rifle company numbering in the hundreds." A major objective for special ops troops in southern Iraq was to prevent Saddam loyalists from destroying some 1,000 oil wells, which could have...

During the early part of the war, some of the heaviest fighting occurred in the west, where for nearly a month, "Green Berets and British Special Air Service (SAS) troops fought Iraqi Special Republican Guard and Special Security Service soldiers near Qaim on the Syrian border, some 200 miles northwest of Baghdad."
Today, Special Forces units, referred to as the "Quiet Professionals," are deployed throughout the world where they display their dominance through their unconventional warfare expertise, and provide humanitarian assistance and training to indigenous forces. The Special Forces motto is "De Oppresso Liber," to Free the Oppressed.

Works Cited

Dyhouse, Tim. (2004 February 01). 'Black ops' shine in Iraq War: the scope of U.S. special operations in the Iraq War was the largest in American military history. VFW Magazine. Retrieved July 02, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Kennedy, Harold. (2002 February 01). Special ops equipment: Newest -- and Oldest.

National Defense. Retrieved July 02, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Special Forces: History. Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Retrieved July 02, 2006 at http://www.bragg.army.mil/specialforces/History.htm

Sutherland, Ian. (2002 June 01). The OSS Operational Groups: Origin of Army Special Forces.

Special Warfare. Retrieved July 02, 2006 from HighBeam Research Library.

Sutherland, Ian. (2002 June 01). The OSS Operational Groups: Origin of Army Special Forces. Special Warfare.

Special Forces: History. Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Retrieved July 02, 2006 at http://www.bragg.army.mil/specialforces/History.htm

Special Forces: History. Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Retrieved July 02, 2006 at http://www.bragg.army.mil/specialforces

Kennedy, Harold. (2002 February 01). Special ops equipment: Newest -- and Oldest. National Defense.

Dyhouse, Tim. (2004 February 01). 'Black ops' shine in Iraq War: the scope of U.S. special operations in the Iraq War was the largest in American military history. VFW Magazine.

Special Forces: History. Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Retrieved July 02, 2006 at http://www.bragg.army.mil/specialforces