20231220_Vocabulaire militaire français-anglais.pdf — page 84

Page 84 
• They rely on surprise, security, and audacity and frequently employ deception to achieve success.  
• They are often conducted at great distances from established support bases, requiring sophisticated 
communications and means of infiltration, exfiltration, and support to penetrate and recover from hostile, 
denied, or politically sensitive areas.  
• They may require patient, long-term commitment in a given operational area to achieve national goals 
through security assistance and/or nation assistance activities or extended unconventional warfare 
operations. Often, the training and organization of indigenous forces are required to attain these objectives.  
• They frequently require discriminate and precise use of force; a mix of high and low technology weapons 
and equipment; and often rapid development, acquisition, and employment of weapons and equipment 
not standard for other Department of Defense forces.  
• They are primarily conducted by specially recruited, selected, and trained personnel, organized into 
small units tailored for specific missions or environments. Missions often require detailed knowledge of 
the culture(s) and language(s) of the country where employed.  
• They require detailed intelligence, thorough planning, decentralized execution, and rigorous detailed 
rehearsal.  
 
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES possess unique capabilities designed to address those missions, 
regardless of where they are conducted in the operational continuum : 
US Army. Active and Reserve component forces include Special Forces, Ranger, Special Operations 
Aviation, psychological operations and civil affairs units.  
US Navy. Active and Reserve component forces include sea-air-land team, sea-air-land team delivery 
vehicles and special boat units.  
US Air Force. Active and Reserve component forces include:  
• fixed-wing and vertical-lift aircraft and aircrews to conduct infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply; aerial fire 
support; and aerial refueling;  
• composite special tactics teams composed of combat control and pararescue forces, weather, 
communications, and other combat support units.  
Personnel may undergo lengthy selection processes or extensive mission-specific training programs 
above basic military skill training to achieve entry-level SO skills. Units are small and necessarily 
maintain high personal and professional levels of maturity and experience, usually in more than one 
principal field. The complex SO selection and long leadtime objective and subjective maturation process 
make any rapid replacement of personnel or capabilities very difficult. SOF are often organized jointly and 
routinely plan, execute, command, and control operations from a joint perspective. Area orientation is often 
required and includes the capability to execute all foreseeable operations in the full range of the area’s 
environmental conditions. Detailed area orientation, including mastery of language and culture, requires long-
term, dedicated training and may be applicable to air, ground, and maritime SOF units, depending upon 
mission assignment. To develop and maintain skills, SOF should train and exercise under conditions 
resembling the operational environment in which they intend to operate. 
 
 
Source : Joint Publications JP 3-05 Doctrine for Joint Special Operations.