page_title: SEAL Team Six
section_title: Roles and responsibilities
hierarchical_section_title: SEAL Team Six / Roles and responsibilities
caption_attribution_description: English: Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) The Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter (white shirt on the right) listens to a brief on the “Sentry HP” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) while touring Naval Special Warfare Development Group. U.S. Navy
context_page_description: The Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six, is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command. The unit 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 designated as classified information, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either the United States Department of Defense or the White House. Despite the official name changes, "SEAL Team Six" remains the unit's widely recognized moniker.
  DEVGRU and its Army and Air Force counterparts, 1st SFOD-D and 24th Special Tactics Squadron, are the U.S. military's primary Tier 1 Special Mission Units tasked with performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions directed by the National Command Authority. DEVGRU conducts various specialized missions such as counter terrorism, hostage rescue, special reconnaissance, and direct action, often against high-value targets.
context_section_description: DEVGRU's full mission is classified but is thought to include preemptive, 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 the use of preemptive actions against terrorists and their facilities.
  When SEAL Team Six was first created 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. SEAL Team Six was disbanded in 1987, and its role, minus non-CT ship-boarding which was given to the newly formed SEAL Team 8, given to the newly formed DEVGRU.
  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.
  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 from, DEVGRU. The combination of these units led ultimately to the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Operation Neptune Spear.
caption: Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter is briefed on the Sentry HP UAV at Dam Neck, 2007
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "070605-N-3642E-032 DAM NECK, Va. (June 5, 2007) - Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) The Honorable Dr. Donald C. Winter (white shirt on the right) listens to a brief on the \u201cSentry HP\u201d Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) while touring Naval Special Warfare Development Group.  U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shawn P. Eklund", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2007:06:07 08:43:14", "Image Artist": "Shawn P. Eklund", "Image ExifOffset": "548", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "686", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6010", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3216", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2136"}