AFO â Advance force operations, the name given to low-visibility missions conducted by JSOC operators to prepare for possible future combat operations. The concept was pioneered by Delta's Operational Support Troop, before becoming the name of a cell on the JSOC staff. AFO missions are sometimes described as “operational preparation of the battlefield” or “operational preparation of the environment.”
AH-6 â The attack, or gunship, version of the two-pilot Little Bird helicopter used exclusively by 1st Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Air assault â A combat mission in which infantry or special operations forces are delivered to the target by helicopter.
Airborne â In the military, this word is normally used to describe parachute troops and missions.
Air strike â An attack that involves munitionsâbombs or missilesâdelivered from an aerial platform (a plane or helicopter).
Al-Shabaab â A militant group whose name means “the youth,” al-Shabaab was part of the Islamic Courts Union, but split off and became the dominant Islamist group in the Horn of Africa after Ethiopia's JSOC -assisted 2006 invasion of Somalia. In 2012 al-Shabaab formally allied itself with Al Qaeda.
AQAP â Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the name of the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen, which by the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century U.S. officials had come to view as the terrorist organization that posed the greatest threat to the U.S. homeland.
AQI â Al Qaeda in Iraq, also known as Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers. Led at its height by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, AQI was JSOC 's primary enemy during the Iraq War.
The Army of Northern Virginia â One of many nicknames for the Army intelligence unit that began its life in 1980 as the Field Operations Group, and was known for much of the 1980s as the Intelligence Support Activity. Other cover names and nicknames down through the years have included the Tactical Coordination Detachment, the U.S. Army Office of Military Support, Torn Victor, Centra Spike, Gray Fox , and Task Force Orange .
Asayish â The Kurdish intelligence organization with which JSOC worked closely.
Aztec squadron â The Delta Force squadron on call for no-notice deployments. Responsibility to be the Aztec squadron rotated between Delta's assault squadrons.
Black Hawk â The Army's name for its UH-60 utility helicopter (also called an assault or lift helicopter). The MH-60 was the special operations version used exclusively by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Black SOF â The phrase “black SOF [special operations forces]” is military shorthand for JSOC forces in general, and special mission units in particular. (See also White SOF .)
Black Squadron â A SEAL Team 6 unit tasked with advance force operations and other undercover missions.