Special Warfare Operator (SO)

United States Navy SEALs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia United States Navy SEALs The U.S. Navy's Special Warfare insignia , also known as a "SEAL Trident". Active January 1, 1962 – present Country United States of America Branch United States Navy Type Special operations force SE a, A ir, L and Role Primary tasks: Direct action Special reconnaissance Counter-terrorism Foreign internal defense Unconventional warfare Other roles: Counter-drug operations Hostage rescue Personnel recovery Hydrographic reconnaissance Size ~2,700 operators [ 1 ] Part of U.S. Special Operations Command U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command Garrison/HQ Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek Nickname Frogmen, The Teams, The Green Faces [ 2 ] Motto "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday" "It Pays to be a Winner" Engagements Vietnam War War in North-West Pakistan Multinational Force in Lebanon Operation Urgent Fury Achille Lauro hijacking Operation Earnest Will Operation Prime Chance Operation Just Cause Operation Nifty Package Operation Desert Storm Operation Restore Hope Operation Gothic Serpent Battle of Mogadishu Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Red Wings Operation Iraqi Freedom Maersk Alabama hijacking Operation Neptune Spear The United States Navy 's Se a, A ir, L and Teams, commonly known as the Navy SEALs , are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command and United States Special Operations Command . [ 3 ] The SEALs duty is to conduct small-unit maritime military operations which originate from, and return to a river, ocean, swamp, delta or coastline. SEALs can negotiate shallow water areas such as the Persian Gulf coastline, where large ships and submarines are limited due to depth. [ 4 ] "SEAL" is always capitalized in reference to members of the Naval Special Warfare community. The Navy SEALs are trained to operate in all environments (Sea, Air, and Land) for which they are named. SEALs are also prepared to operate in climate extremes of scorching desert, freezing Arctic, and humid jungle. The SEALs current pursuit of elusive, dangerous and high-priority terrorist targets has them operating in remote, mountainous regions of Afghanistan, and in cities torn by factional violence. Historically the SEALs have always had "one foot in the water." The reality, however, today is that they initiate lethal Direct Action strikes equally well from air and land. [ 4 ] All SEALs are male members of the United States Navy. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 4 ] The CIA 's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits operators from the SEAL Teams. [ 8 ] Joint Navy SEALs and CIA operations go back to the famed MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War . [ 9 ] This cooperation still exists today and is seen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Due to their reputation as one of the world's premier special operations forces, SEAL operators routinely serve in allied SOF's including the British Special Air Service , Special Boat Service and Polish GROM . [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins 1.2 Scouts & Raiders 1.3 Naval Combat Demolition Units 1.4 OSS Operational Swimmers 1.5 Underwater Demolition Teams 1.6 Korean War 1.7 Birth of Navy SEALs & Vietnam 1.8 Grenada 1.9 Iran-Iraq War 1.10 Panama 1.11 Somali Intervention 1.12 Afghanistan 1.12.1 Invasion 1.13 Iraq War 1.13.1 Al Faw and Iraqi oil infrastructure 1.13.2 Mukarayin Dam 1.14 Maersk Alabama hijacking 1.15 Death of Osama bin Laden 1.16 Wardak Province helicopter crash 1.17 Morning Glory oil tanker 2 Selection and training 3 Navy SEAL teams and structures 3.1 Naval Special Warfare Groups 3.2 SEAL Teams 3.3 Special Warfare Ratings 4 United States Navy Parachute Team "Leap Frogs" 5 Influence on foreign units 6 National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum and memorial 7 In popular culture 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External links History This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2013) Origins The modern day U.S. Navy SEALs can trace their roots to World War II . [ 4 ] The United States Navy recognized the need for the covert reconnaissance of landing beaches and coastal defenses . As a result, the Amphibious Scout and Raider School was established in 1942 at Fort Pierce, Florida . [ 7 ] The Scouts and Raiders were formed in September of that year, just nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor , from the Observer Group , a joint U.S. Army-Marine-Navy unit. Scouts & Raiders Recognizing the need for a beach reconnaissance force, a select group of Army and Navy personnel assembled at Amphibious Training Base , Little Creek, on August 15 1942 to begin Amphibious Scouts and Raiders (joint) training. The Scouts and Raiders mission was to identify and reconno