Direct action (military)/Related Articles

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Parent topics

• Special operations [r]: Military or paramilitary operations that differ from conventional operations in degree of physical and political risk, operational techniques, mode of employment, independence from friendly support, and dependence on detailed operational intelligence and indigenous assets; they are often controlled at a national or strategic level of command ^[e]
• Raid [r]: A military attack of limited duration, assuming tactical surprise, which does not attempt to hold the land of the target. It destroys capabilities, obtains intelligence, or may be intended for psychological attack. ^[e]
• Strategic strike [r]: Use of kinetic (i.e., physically destructive) and nonkinetic (e.g., information operations deep into enemy territory, affecting military forces in the homeland, or population, industry, and infrastructure. ^[e]

Subtopics

Representative operations

• Bruneval Raid [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Makin Raid [r]: Add brief definition or description
• Operation GOTHIC SERPENT [r]: During United Nations operations in Somalia, a U.S. raid to capture members of Mohammed Aideed's faction; helicopters were shot down leading to the incident described in Black Hawk Down ^[e]
• Operation JUBILEE [r]: Code name for the British and Canadian raid on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on 19 August 1942; heavy Allied casualties, but regarded as providing critical lessons learned that guided the tactics of the Battle of Normandy ^[e]

Specialized units

• Spetsnaz [r]: Add brief definition or description
• U.K. Special Forces [r]: A UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters. ^[e]
  • Special Air Service [r]: Special operations regular and Territorial Army regiments of the British Army, part of U.K. Special Forces ^[e]
• United States Special Operations Command [r]: A U.S. Unified Combatant Command with both functional and operational responsibilities, both to prepare special operations forces for the geographic commands, and to execute strategic special operations, typically under national orders and high security classification ^[e]
  • Army Special Operations Command [r]: A command that trains and prepares U.S. Army special operations personnel, including United States Army Special Forces, and serves as the land forces component of United States Special Operations Command ^[e]
    • 75th Ranger Regiment [r]: Assigned to the Army Special Operations Command of the United States Special Operations Command, a highly skilled, parachute-qualified light infantry unit that conducts raids in uniform (e.g., seizing airfields or destroying strategic targets), and provides perimeter security during direct action by other special operators ^[e]
    • United States Army Special Forces [r]: United States Army organization originally created to train and lead guerrillas, highly qualified to work with other cultures; acquired additional missions including foreign internal defense, direct action (military), special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, etc. ^[e]
    • Delta Force [r]: A generally covert U.S. Army unit in Joint Special Operations Command, specializing in hostage rescue and combat search and rescue, direct action, special reconnaissance, and counterterrorism. ^[e]
  • Naval Special Warfare Command [r]: Add brief definition or description
    • United States Navy SEAL [r]: [under]sea-air-land special operations organization of the United States Navy, specializing in direct action, special reconnaissance, combat search and rescue and counterterrorism ^[e]

Other related topics

• Operational Preparation of the Battlespace [r]: Non-intelligence activities conducted prior to D-Day, H-Hour, in likely or potential areas of employment, to train and prepare for follow-on military operations (United States Special Operations Command) ^[e]
• Clandestine human-source intelligence and covert action [r]: Intelligence and military special operations functions that either should be completely secret (i.e., clandestine: the existence of which is not known outside the relevant government circles), or simply cannot be linked to the sponsor (i.e., covert: it is known that sabotage is taking place, but its sponsor is unknown). ^[e]
• Clandestine human-source intelligence operational techniques [r]: "Tradecraft" of espionage and activities supporting it, such as secret communication, document forgery, etc. ^[e]
• Combat search and rescue [r]: The location and rescue of military and civilian personnel in hostile areas, such that a military operation is necessary to retrieve them ^[e]
• Counterproliferation [r]: The set of activities that detect and monitor the threat of weapons of special concern against one's own nation and one's allies. ^[e]
• Counterterrorism [r]: A range of activities that prevent attempted terrorism well before an actual act is close to being executed, including killing or capturing terrorists; complements and can include anti-terrorism, or measures taken to minimize the impact of an attempted or completed act; counterterrorism proper is "enemy centric" rather than counterinsurgency, which is "people-centric" ^[e]
• Dell Dailey [r]: Currently Counterterrorism Coordinator for the U.S. Department of State, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general whose career was spent in special operations ^[e]
• MH-53 Pave Low [r]: United States Air Force special operations helicopter that can fly at night, at extremely low altiude, and in most weather. Its main missions are delivering and retrieving special operations personnel; replaced by the CV-22 ^[e]
• Marine Special Operations Command [r]: The Marine component of United States Special Operations Command, this unit absorbed the existing Marine special reconnaissance "Force Recon" companies (but not battalions), but also added a support organization, school, and a system of developing training teams for foreign internal defense and other special operations missions ^[e]
• Special reconnaissance [r]: Also known as SR, missions deep in denied areas, conducted by special operations personnel. They may be in or out of uniform. While SR units may direct air, missile, or artillery strikes, they strive to stay undetected. ^[e]
• Terrorism and U.S. Intelligence [r]: Activities of the U.S. government to identify potential sources for the tactical use of terrorism, related to but distinct from intelligence on political insurgencies that may or may not use that tactic ^[e]
• Unconventional warfare (United States doctrine) [r]: The United States' doctrinal term for the way the Department of Defense sees its forces operating in the more global context of insurgency. ^[e]