If you find a definition of "SOF Operator," you win a prize 
Most significant Special Operations
- Thread starter Ravage
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Simmerin' SigO
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If you find a definition of "SOF Operator," you win a prize
I knew it wasn't in there...but I had to check (again) anyway...damn you and your temptations...
If you find a definition of "SOF Operator," you win a prize
Here you go.....:doh:
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Maybe in Canada :eek:
No crossthread points for you.
No crossthread points for you.
Son Tay definitely. Most significant and inspired IMO is the raid on the Norsk Hydro operation at Vermok, Norway. The factory produced heavy water, deuterium oxide, for the manufacture of nuclear energy for Nazi Germany.
On Oct. 18th 1942, 4 Norwegian SOE agents parachuted into the Hardanger Plateau to prepare the way for a larger force of 34 commandos. These were to be inserted by gliders. 19th Nov. 1942 The gliders got into difficulties and crashed and the survivors captured and shot by the Germans.
The four SOE agents then waited out the winter in miserable and debilitating conditions and then conducted the raid themselves in Feb 1943, which was successful as it hampered the enemies production of heavy water and thus atomic power. This was arguably the SOE's most daring and successful mission.
On Oct. 18th 1942, 4 Norwegian SOE agents parachuted into the Hardanger Plateau to prepare the way for a larger force of 34 commandos. These were to be inserted by gliders. 19th Nov. 1942 The gliders got into difficulties and crashed and the survivors captured and shot by the Germans.
The four SOE agents then waited out the winter in miserable and debilitating conditions and then conducted the raid themselves in Feb 1943, which was successful as it hampered the enemies production of heavy water and thus atomic power. This was arguably the SOE's most daring and successful mission.
pardus
Verified Military
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We'll I'm pushing the boundries somewhat for the force that conducted it, but the mission falls under the catagory.
The Gallipoli landings in Turkey 1915.
They were designed as a quick knockout blow to kick turkey out of the war thereby opening up the supply lines to russia and relieve the pressure on russia, therefore bringing pressure on germany and hastening the end of the first world war.
The landings failed in that objective but were the defining events for two nations, New Zealand and Australia.
Also the Turkish side was lead by the man who later became the founder of modern Turkey which I belive was inspired in no small part to the actions during this and other campaigns.
A Very significant operation indeed.
Of course I am biased....
The Gallipoli landings in Turkey 1915.
They were designed as a quick knockout blow to kick turkey out of the war thereby opening up the supply lines to russia and relieve the pressure on russia, therefore bringing pressure on germany and hastening the end of the first world war.
The landings failed in that objective but were the defining events for two nations, New Zealand and Australia.
Also the Turkish side was lead by the man who later became the founder of modern Turkey which I belive was inspired in no small part to the actions during this and other campaigns.
A Very significant operation indeed.
Of course I am biased....
I knew it wasn't in there...but I had to check (again) anyway...damn you and your temptations...
Yep, gotta love those non-doctrinal terms... "monkey stomp," "door kicker," "operator"...
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Simmerin' SigO
Guest
Exactly what i was thinking!
We don't know the most successful Operations, for the most part anyway.
H
Scotth
Verified Military
I would agree that this operation was a game changer an impacted greatly how we do business today. I also agree with Car that Urgent Fury taught similar lessons and changed the way our conventional forces operate today.
It will be interesting in 20 years to see what kind of changes will happen because of the lessons we are learning today.
I would also have to go with operation Eagle Claw. It not only pointed out the need for Special Operations to have committed air assets, and the need for a Joint Special Operations Command, but also a the need for SOF to have unrestricted access to the intelligence agencies and the State Department.
It also showed the shortfall of our intelligence agencies, specifically the CIA who at the time had pulled all of their people out of Iran and had not maintained any contacts.
Had these things already been in place the planning and training would have taken a lot less time, and the operation itself probably would have actually gone all the way through. At least farther than Dessert one anyway.
It also showed the shortfall of our intelligence agencies, specifically the CIA who at the time had pulled all of their people out of Iran and had not maintained any contacts.
Had these things already been in place the planning and training would have taken a lot less time, and the operation itself probably would have actually gone all the way through. At least farther than Dessert one anyway.
Eagle Claw was very significant many important lessons were learned. EX.-Don't use pilots from the Marine Corps in a special op like that! I'm completely kidding on that one!!! But seriously Eagle Claw taught many important lessons like the need for a organization of the 160th SOAR, it also provided crucial lessons to Delta and was a sort of baptism by disaster. Eagle Claw was definitely one of the most daring ops in history.
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Sheepdog
Guest
Nyadzonya/Pungwe External Raid
A significant operation that demonstrated all the SOF operational imperatives and just showed big balls (read as audacity) was the Rhodesian Selous Scouts raid into Nyadzonya terrorist training Camp in Mozambique, August 1976. This operation involved a raid on a large ZANLA base 60 miles inside of Mozambique by a Scouts flying column comprising ten trucks and four armored cars, again disguised as FRELIMO vehicles. The Scouts in the first four vehicles were also dressed in FRELIMO uniforms. They cut the telephone lines leading to the town where the terrorist base was located, then drove straight into the terrorist camp. They then opened fire on the unsuspecting insurgent terrorists drilling on the parade ground, killing at least 1,028. Fourteen important ZANLA terrorist were captured and taken back to Rhodesia for interrogation. On their way out of Mozambique, the raiding party blew up the Pungwe Bridge to prevent any pursuit and returned to Rhodesia safely. In a separate action, the covering team deployed to block the column’s escape, ambushed a Land Rover whose six occupants were found to be senior ZANLA officers; all six were killed. Now that is an Op! Check out the VDO of Reid-Daly discussing this mission.
Cheers!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs7V_IBQcDg"]YouTube - Rhodesia - The Nyadzonya Raid[/ame]
A significant operation that demonstrated all the SOF operational imperatives and just showed big balls (read as audacity) was the Rhodesian Selous Scouts raid into Nyadzonya terrorist training Camp in Mozambique, August 1976. This operation involved a raid on a large ZANLA base 60 miles inside of Mozambique by a Scouts flying column comprising ten trucks and four armored cars, again disguised as FRELIMO vehicles. The Scouts in the first four vehicles were also dressed in FRELIMO uniforms. They cut the telephone lines leading to the town where the terrorist base was located, then drove straight into the terrorist camp. They then opened fire on the unsuspecting insurgent terrorists drilling on the parade ground, killing at least 1,028. Fourteen important ZANLA terrorist were captured and taken back to Rhodesia for interrogation. On their way out of Mozambique, the raiding party blew up the Pungwe Bridge to prevent any pursuit and returned to Rhodesia safely. In a separate action, the covering team deployed to block the column’s escape, ambushed a Land Rover whose six occupants were found to be senior ZANLA officers; all six were killed. Now that is an Op! Check out the VDO of Reid-Daly discussing this mission.
Cheers!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs7V_IBQcDg"]YouTube - Rhodesia - The Nyadzonya Raid[/ame]
I think the Colombian rescue will go down as one of the ballsiest modern raids.
Landing unmarked choppers in a FARC camp, getting the camp leaders to bring the hostages to you, and get on the birds to be exfilled, err, arrested took a lot of guts and imagination.
FARC Leaders are probably wondering how smart middle management actually is, or how many moles are actually in their midst.
Landing unmarked choppers in a FARC camp, getting the camp leaders to bring the hostages to you, and get on the birds to be exfilled, err, arrested took a lot of guts and imagination.
FARC Leaders are probably wondering how smart middle management actually is, or how many moles are actually in their midst.
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smd51000
Guest
I was one of 2 TF-160 2shop guys who debriefed the pilots who flew the Acid Gambit part of Just Cause, I video taped the roof of modello prison a month earlier. The mission was a success and the pilots had trained for it repeatedly and flew over the prison itself many times prior to the actual mission day. The problem was that no one saw the wires. I did not see them. During the debriefing, the pilot told us he specifically asked if there were wires and was told no. But there were wires. I have thought about this a lot over the past 20 years. I even thought about proposing the creation of technology that would divulge the presence of dead wires. I am sure something like that has been propose by many others. It is needed in civilian aviation as well. I think the theory to be explored would be to radiate an electrical field and then receive a reading on the resulting magnetic field or to do the revers. In the panama case, a better telescopic lens and today's desktop software would have been enough to see the wire. Many pilots flew over that prison roof 2 times a day for a month leading up to the rescue. No one saw the wire. It may have been visible by just going down town, walking down the street and looking up but that would have risked 2 hostages instead of one. The solution to identifying the presence of dead wires lies in the exploitation of the relationship between the electrical and magnetic fields that are created when electricity runs through the wire. Seeing dead wires is not a problem that needs a human solution. It needs a technology solution. I would be willing to get together with all of the 160 guys who were on Acid Gambit and the other s2 guy who was in hanger 3 that night doing debriefings (it was actually my first debriefing (ever)) to go through the old spot reports and records and then suggest a proposed solution and get funding for a large grant that would be given to MIT/ Stanford and Caltech to solve this problem. It is not a SOF problem. Its an aviation problem. There are crashes every year from this problem.
Significant in a good way - despite a bad outcome - Eagle Claw for the reasons already given.
Significant in a bad way - despite a good outcome - Nimrod - becuase it forever pulled UKSF from the shadows where they belong.
Significant in a great way - with a great outcome, but horrendous casualties - Charriot (the Great Raid/St Nazaire).
Significant in a bad way - despite a good outcome - Nimrod - becuase it forever pulled UKSF from the shadows where they belong.
Significant in a great way - with a great outcome, but horrendous casualties - Charriot (the Great Raid/St Nazaire).
Agreed. Changed a nation's perception over night.
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7point62
Guest
Skorzeny and Operation Oak deserves mention.
And I'm glad somebody brought up the Selous Scouts...pioneers of many spec ops tactics...including some we should be doing more of today, like using their method for "turning" prisoners and "pseudo ops".
I also think the counterinsurgency warfare developed by Army Special Forces and Marine Combined Action Groups during Vietnam should be singled out as a significant long-term special operation (or campaign) that fleshed out some of the most important principles of COIN warfare...principles that are being resurrected now in OEF and OIF and, waddaya know, :doh: getting results in real time intel that are leading to more dead bad guys.
And I'm glad somebody brought up the Selous Scouts...pioneers of many spec ops tactics...including some we should be doing more of today, like using their method for "turning" prisoners and "pseudo ops".
I also think the counterinsurgency warfare developed by Army Special Forces and Marine Combined Action Groups during Vietnam should be singled out as a significant long-term special operation (or campaign) that fleshed out some of the most important principles of COIN warfare...principles that are being resurrected now in OEF and OIF and, waddaya know, :doh: getting results in real time intel that are leading to more dead bad guys.
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