Special Warfare Support Group

Special Warfare Support Groups or SPECWAR Support Groups, or SWSGs, are a type of unit under United Special Warfare Command. Created in 2191, the goal behind the SWSGs was to establish formations of specialized personnel which may be deployed alongside other special forces and special mission units to augment their composition or provide a certain field of expertise for a given mission.
Special Warfare Support Groups have had an understated yet pivotal role in many operations before, during, and after the Human-Covenant War. Following the significant loss of colonies over the course of the Human-Covenant War, many SWSGs were nearly or totally destroyed and have since undergone an expansive and slow process of retraining and rebuilding themselves in the Post-War years.
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==History==
===Origins and the Special Warfare Specialist Training Battalions===
The establishment of Special Warfare Support Groups (SWSGs) is directly tied to the formation of United Special Warfare Command (UNISPECWARCOM) and its main formations of Special Warfare Groups (SWGs). The establishment of these units in 2170 as the primary multi-branch special forces of the UNSC made them the most common and often most deployed of their kind, even compared to the vaunted but less numerous ODSTs. Part of the reason for having a dedicated multi-branch force was to include a variety of fields of expertise as well as allow for a significant pool of candidates as UNISPECWARCOM recruited from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. This allowed for the relatively rapid formation of several battalion sized units which could be deployed across a relatively wide portion of human space while maintaining a cohesive and connected command structure. 
As the scope of human colonization expanded, the Special Warfare Groups greatly expanded in response, especially as the far more numerous colonial militas and regular military were doubted in their ability to detect and crush possible secessionist or insurrectionist forces. Despite the variety of skills and candidates available to the SWGs, it was relatively common to see requests for additional personnel from the likes of Army Rangers, Marine Force Recon, ODSTs, and Army Pathfinders. This was due to the extreme distances between the deployed forces of an SWG which meant certain units were stretched quite thin and were therefore also limited in the amount of specialist personnel present. 
The solution proposed in 2191 by Colonel Mujeeb Ikhtar, a veteran special warfare operator and of the Interplanetary Wars, was the formation of Special Warfare units specifically catered to training, maintaining, and supplying specialist personnel to other Special Warfare units. These would be designated the Special Warfare Specialist Training Battalions (SWSTBs). 
The start of the Special Warfare Support Groups (SWSGs) as Special Warfare Specialist Training Battalions (SWSTBs) was largely uneventful. Up until the mid-2200s, the SWSTBs were treated largely as niche training schools where operators may earn and refresh their various certifications and specialist training. Operators within the units would infrequently see combat with many special forces units instead trusting to loan specialists to and from one another rather than this new formation. Additionally, the niche nature of many personnel often meant that, while they could be deployed to assist other units, it would end up being a questionable use of their specialized training. 
In 2259 the now Brigadier Mujeeb Ikhtar sought to breathe new life into the SWSTBs by further expanding the scope at which they could provide personnel and training. This was most significantly shown with the addition of two additional company's to each battalion along with the inclusion of specialist training from non-UNSC units, namely law enforcement, intelligence, and, quietly, the CMA. The result was the deployment rate of the SWSTBs sharply increasing as they now had a much larger number of personnel as well as specialists trained in intelligence gathering, linguistics, colonial law, and those experienced in frontier operations at the fringes of human space. This proved to be the major breakthrough required by the SWSTBs as not only were these newly available personnel in high demand, requests for those trained in new specialist roles slowly grew. 
Over time the SWSTBs would grow in demand and see a corresponding rise in number, reaching a peak of well over 30 battalions by the year 2350. However, issues would start to appear with the battalions as the sheer number of them with no overarching command meant there was often overlapping responses to a single request for support. Additionally, many battalions were also limited in facilities available for training and development of strategies and tactics which has been the case for many years. To remedy both these issues and streamline logistics and command, all current SWSTBs would be reorganized into regiment sized units called Special Warfare Support Groups and be organized as regiment sized units with any one Group acting in support of roughly two Special Warfare Groups (SWSGs). 
As part of this reorganization, the proportion of specialists to standard operators was also changed to allow for a greater number of standard operators in the field while specialists may be reserved for deployments where their skills may best be used. Specialist personnel and their training facilities would be focused into two additional company's within each battalion known as Specialist Company's. This both allows the Group to conduct combat operations without concern that some units may be understaffed, and it also ensures that the regular units in the group have a pool of specialists they may call upon to support them. This reorganization also meant that SWSGs could conduct independent operations rather then solely deploying alongside other special forces units. 
The single largest human conflict the SWSGs would participate in would be the Insurrection in the late-2400s. The complex landscape military personnel were operating in both in terms of military and civilian interactions meant the SWSGs not only loaned out significant numbers of standard operators, but also a remarkable number of specialists. This would, however, expose some weaknesses in the SWSGs as they had never been deployed at such a scale in the past, let alone at the same time as conducting independent operations. As such, the logistics to support and maintain these operations were rudimentary at best and largely incompatible with existing doctrines given the high rate of unit relocations, especially specialist personnel. 
The result of this was the establishment of an additional wing to the headquarters company of each group which would handle the deployment of specialists to other units alongside their necessary training facilities. Additionally, a strategic development wing was added which would focus on the gathering of intel from operators and using that to draft new strategies, tactics, and doctrines which the SWSGs could use and also share with other forces. The end goal of this was to simplify and streamline the command structure and battlefield responsiveness of the SWSGs to prevent such issues from crippling deployments in the future.
The result of these endeavors, which persisted until 2522, was allowing SWSGs to distribute manpower and conduct deployments with much more regularity and fewer deployment mishaps. In the long-term, this would lay the foundation for SWSGs acting as impromptu logistics pathways for the SWGs they were supporting both in terms of personnel and to an extent in material resources.
===The Human-Covenant War===
The outbreak of the Human-Covenant War and the early razing of colonies by the Covenant saw many Special Warfare Groups (SWGs), Naval Special Warfare Groups (NSWGs) and Special Warfare Support Groups (SWSG) nearly annihilated. Traditional covert action and acting as forward observers and scouts meant nothing as planets were glassed without remorse or care. This onslaught would continue with both SWGs and SWSGs taking significant losses until 2531 where many had been withdrawn from previous deployments during the Insurrection. Senior command elements of UNISPECWARCOM significantly reorganized deployments and analyzed what little useful combat footage could be obtained to prevent such losses in the future. 
For the time being, Special Warfare Groups would be deployed to new areas of responsibility and carry out denial of strategic assets as per the Cole Protocol. Additionally, many would undergo periods of emergency training as new intel about the Covenant and its species would be revealed and understood. Special Warfare Support Groups would become invaluable for being able to facilitate such training as well as deploying forces to assist other units, including the ODSTs and Spartans for the first time. While SWSGs deploying units in support of Marine Special Forces was normal, their deployments alongside the ODSTs and newly deployed Spartans was unknown territory. 
The culture of superiority held by many ODSTs led to frequent altercations between operators and their host units but these were short lived in the high-stress environments of the frontlines. The same could not be said for the Spartans. The Spartans posed a bizarre new challenge for many SWSG operators deployed to support them, this being the absolute lack of any significant communication. In combat, many Spartans seemed to act totally off instinct and unspoken understanding alone, speaking rarely yet maintaining absolute unit cohesion. 
This pattern would break as the war progressed, but initially led to those assigned to Spartan Teams being dubbed as 'Towel Boys' since they seemingly had no use to the Spartans until and unless they were told otherwise. However, this would change slowly over time with many SWSG operators coming to respect the super-soldiers and vice versa with some SWSG units allegedly undertaking covert deployments alongside spartan teams. 
The Human-Covenant War would also see the development of numerous new tactics and strategies to combat the Covenant, many of these were unsuccessful but some would prove to be quite valuable. This would lead to some SWSGs developing distinct preferences for different forms of combat based on strategies they had developed and tested, especially in light of losses early in the war which had driven some to abandon certain tactics and rely on others. An example of this is SPECWAR Support Group ELEVEN which regularly leveraged VTOL aircraft to conduct rapid strikes and air deployments against Covenant forces attacking cities. 
===Attrition and the End of the War===
Towards the end of the Human-Covenant War, many Special Warfare Groups (SWGs), Naval Special Warfare Groups (NSWGs), and Special Warfare Support Groups (SWSGs) had suffered immense casualties and lost many training centers with the fall of the Inner Colonies. Attempted rebuilding efforts often led to rushed training and subpar field performance for many units, leading to several groups being cobbled together from nearly destroyed ones or many being outright eliminated. Additionally, many SWSG operators were trapped on isolated worlds or in isolated systems with little to no means of communication or support from command elements. The result of this was many of them hunkering down colonies believing themselves some of the last of humanity. 
The Fall of Reach and Battle of Earth would be some of the largest single deployments of special warfare operators in their history, not necessarily due to the demand, but due to the real threat of the extinction of humanity. Countless special forces teams were dispatched to carry out asset denial, covert strikes, anti-mobility, and extermination operations against Covenant forces by any means. SWSG operators on Reach were noted as participating in many deployments, some even alongside Spartan teams, from which they would not return. Others were tasked with supporting evacuation centers and providing ground intel for orbital support while it was still available. Several more Groups would suffer total destruction on Reach while those who remained reassembled in the Sol System with some being requisitioned by ONI for covert operations. 
The Battle of Earth saw numerous SWSG deployments to protect strategic sites and secure archaic missile systems unused for over a century. Other operations included deployments alongside ONI personnel to conduct recon on Covenant landings in Africa and the Middle East. Specifically preemptive strikes in the case of the latter against Covenant forward recon and defense installations alongside units from all other branches. Further deployments included defending orbital tethers and trench clearing during the closing stages of the Gulf Offensive, urban warfare and demolitions as part of Operation MARSH FLASH, and directing orbital fire during attacks on civilian population centers such as Cairo and New Mombasa. 
While no operators would deploy alongside the Master Chief and the Swords of Sanghelios to the Ark, many would continue to fight the Covenant across Earth even after the end of the war, particularly Covenant remnants in the Americas which had gone into hiding.
===Post-War & Rebuilding===
The end of the war saw much of SPECWARCOM and NAVSPECWARCOM decimated with at most a handful of formations at something close to fighting strength. This combined with the burgeoning Spartan-IV Program and the end of the Human-Covenant War meant that the Special Warfare Support Groups along with their sister units would take several years to reconstitute. Something complicated further by the need for a whole new array of tactics, doctrines, and strategies to blunt or even preemptively take out any form of alien aggression. These were major reasons driving the consolidation of remaining forces into what Groups they could rather than trying to rebuild them all from scratch.
This would see the SWSGs return to something similar to the Special Warfare Specialist Training Battalions (SWSTBs) of the past as they focused on developing strategies, training, and participating in support roles in efforts to reconnect colonies, and navigate the tense environments of human-alien relations. One of the major outputs of this was a number of xenos related specialist fields whose training would actually expand to other units like the UNSC Army Engineering Corps and those forces operating in the Joint Occupation Zone, many of whom would later become SWSG operators. 
The SWSGs, like many other special forces units, would become prime recruiting beds for the Spartan-IVs but this would eventually lead to some tensions. Command elements within SPECWARCOM and NAVSPECWARCOM were already struggling with rebuilding their forces without their most experienced operators being recruited for Spartan Operations. While this wasn't a major issue it was enough to warrant an agreement for further inter-unit cooperation between Spartan Branch and other Special Forces units. SWSGs would see some of their first combat deployments in the Post-War alongside Spartan-IVs, ODSTs, and Army Rangers, all of whom were involved in the many colonial reclamation efforts. Additionally, many were returning counter-terrorism operations to quash rising and established insurrectionist factions seeking independence though these were not always successful. 
More difficult were the operations alongside the Swords of Sanghelios due to the tense relations between Humans and Sangheili. SWSG operators in the field would often struggle communicating with Sangheili counterparts or would, allegedly, intentionally withhold intelligence relevant to the deployment until ordered to share by a superior. While relations would thaw with time and further deployments against the likes of Merg Vol's Covenant Jul' Mdama's Covenant, and other factions, the shadow of the Human-Covenant War was constant.
The last significant deployment by any SWSG before the scattering caused by the Created Crisis was deployments to Requiem as part of the UNSC Infinity's battlegroup. While they were active participants in the fighting, the more valuable part of their deployment was gathering intelligence on the new Promethean hostiles encountered on Requiem and in select other locations. The short length of the deployment limited what could be gathered and what conclusions could be reached were of limited value. 
===Post-Created Crisis===
As of 2560, less than 10 Special Warfare Support Groups remain at near full strength. It is unknown how many casualties were suffered during the Guardian attacks or subsequent attacks by Prometheans, Covenant Remnants, and the Banished. What few units are known to remain have adopted a posture of setting up local battlenets to enhance their defensive abilities and attempt sub-FTL communications to avoid detection by Guardians.
==Organization==
===Special Warfare Support Group Composition===
Special Warfare Support Groups (SWSGs) are regiment-sized units which are somewhat smaller than standard UNSC regiments but larger than most Special Warfare Groups (SWGs) coming in at around 2500-2900 personnel. Each group is composed of 4 Battalions, 3 of these are Special Warfare Battalions and 1 is a Logistics Battalion. Each of the three Special Warfare Battalions compose the main fighting force of the SWSG but are never deployed entirely. The largest formation any SWSG may deploy is a company sized force with requisite logistics personnel from the Logistics Battalion which similarly never deploys as a whole force. 
The Headquarters Company of the SWSG is largely the same those found in SWGs but is somewhat larger along with three key changes. The first is the addition of a Deployment Wing which handles the organization and deployment of personnel from the Specialist Company's and work directly with the company command elements which allows the main headquarters company to focus on the operations of the SWSG. The second change is the expanded Training Wing which is simply an enlarged training wing to both better facilitate training for operators but also provide grounds for testing new strategies and tactics. The final and newest change is the Strategic Development Wing which collects information from all parts of the SWSG to draft new strategies, tactics, and doctrines in response to rapidly changing situations. This was originally a temporary wing established early in the Insurrection but the chaotic nature of the Human-Covenant War saw them become permanent and useful additions. 
The only significant change to the organization of the SWSGs since the start of the Human-Covenant War has been their reduction. The extreme losses suffered by SWSGs and SWGs towards the end of the Human-Covenant War meant many Groups were nearly or totally destroyed. SWSGs in particular reorganized their remnants top reveal only 10 Groups each at only 60% effectiveness. Rather than consolidate their forces further or try to reconstitute the other ten groups, it was decided to focus on rebuilding the ten which remained. This was largely driven by shortages of personnel and training facilities which had been lost in large numbers with the fall of the Inner Colonies. 
===Special Warfare Battalion Composition===
Each Special Warfare Battalion is identical in composition to those found in Special Warfare Groups (SWGs) with the main difference being the presence of two additional companies per battalion known as Specialist Company's. These company's differ significantly from standard company's as their primary goal is the training, maintenance, and deployment of specialist personnel to support the rest of the battalion or other forces requesting their aid. The composition of these company's can vary according to the SWSGs area of responsibility (AOR) but generally cover similar specializations as one another. 
Due to issues handling the deployments of these specialists during the Insurrection, the command personnel of each Specialist Company directly co-operate with the Deployment Wing of the Headquarters Company of the SWSG. Additionally, Specialist Company's include a greater than normal training facilities for its personnel, the main purpose of which is to allow the variety of specialists to maintain their capabilities without issue. These facilities work in addition to the Training and Strategic Development Wings of the SWSG to allow both regular operators and specialists in the Group to maintain their skills. 
===List of Special Warfare Support Groups (Human-Covenant War)===
SPECWAR Support Group ONE 
SPECWAR Support Group TWO
SPECWAR Support Group THREE
SPECWAR Support Group FOUR
SPECWAR Support Group FIVE
SPECWAR Support Group SIX 
SPECWAR Support Group SEVEN
SPECWAR Support Group EIGHT
SPECWAR Support Group NINE
SPECWAR Support Group TEN
SPECWAR Support Group ELEVEN 
SPECWAR Support Group TWELVE
SPECWAR Support Group THIRTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group FOURTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group FIFTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group SIXTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group SEVENTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group EIGHTEEN
SPECWAR Support Group NINETEEN
SPECWAR Support Group TWENTY
===List of Special Warfare Support Groups (Post-War)===
SPECWAR Support Group ONE 
SPECWAR Support Group TWO
SPECWAR Support Group THREE
SPECWAR Support Group FOUR
SPECWAR Support Group FIVE
SPECWAR Support Group SIX 
SPECWAR Support Group SEVEN
SPECWAR Support Group EIGHT
SPECWAR Support Group NINE
SPECWAR Support Group TEN
==Notable Deployments==