Relentless Strike : The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command (9781466876224) (87 page)

Silver Bullet
– See
Bullet Package
.

SMU
– Special mission unit: a specially designated unit in the U.S. military. Special mission units in
JSOC
include Delta, SEAL Team 6, the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and
Task Force Orange
. Pronounced “smoo.”

SOCOM
– An abbreviation of U.S. Special Operations Command.

SOF
– Special operations forces. Pronounced “soff.”

Special Forces
– In the U.S. military, the phrase “Special Forces” refers specifically to the five active-duty and two reserve Special Forces groups under U.S. Army Special Forces Command. Often referred to by others as “Green Berets,” on account of the color of their headgear, Special Forces soldiers specialize in working “by, with, and through” local forces to either foment rebellion against an enemy of the United States, or to put down an insurgency against an American ally. In other English-speaking countries, the phrase “special forces” is used as a generic term, similar to the use in the United States of the phrase “special operations forces.”

SSE
– Sensitive site exploitation: the process of collecting all the material of intelligence value from a location (often, but not always, where a direct action mission has taken place).

Stryker
– A wheeled armored vehicle used by the Rangers and by conventional Army units.

Task Force
– A phrase often used as a generic pseudonym for
JSOC
, as in “those were Task Force aircraft,” or “it was a Task Force operation.”

Task Force 11
– The name
JSOC
gave its Afghanistan task force from the end of 2001.

Task Force 16
– The name for
JSOC
's task force in Iraq that focused on fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Task Force 17
– The name
JSOC
gave its task force that focused on countering Iran's
Quds Force
and the Shi'ite militant groups that functioned as its proxies in Iraq.

Task Force Blue
– The color code name for SEAL Team 6.

Task Force Gold
– The color code name for the Joint Communications Unit.

Task Force Gray
– The color code name for 1st Special Operations Wing.

Task Force Green
– The color code name for Delta.

Task Force Orange
– The color code name for
the Army of Northern Virginia
.

Task Force Purple
– The color code name for
JSOC
headquarters.

Task Force Red
– The color code name for the Rangers.

Task Force Silver
– The color code name for the Air Force
covered air
unit.

Task Force Sword
– The name for
JSOC
's Afghanistan task force, headquartered on Masirah Island, Oman, from September 2001 until the end of that year, when it became
Task Force 11
.

Task Force White
– The color code name for the 24th Special Tactics Squadron.

TF
– Task Force.

Theater special operations forces
– A phrase used by U.S. Special Operations Command and others to refer to U.S. special operations forces that were not part of and had no habitual relationship with
JSOC
. Also known as “
white SOF
.”

Trident
– The Trident was the SEAL Team 6 equivalent of Delta's
Aztec squadron
. It was so named because of the Naval Special Warfare insignia of an eagle clutching a trident.

UBL
– Usama bin Laden. Although the vast majority of English language sources spelled the Al Qaeda leader's first name Osama, within the U.S. counterterrorism community he was often referred to as “UBL.”

Unconventional warfare
– The use of proxy forces to foment rebellion against an enemy state. In the U.S. military, this is a primary mission of
Special Forces
.

Wescam ball
– A gyro-stabilized camera in a spherical mounting fixed to the underside of an aircraft, the Wescam ball tracked targets and sent live video back to the
JOC
. Used primarily by Delta's
Echo Squadron
.

White SOF
– See
Theater special operations forces
.

Winchester
– The phrase aviators use when they have run out of ammunition.

WMD
– Weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons.

Workup
– The phrase SEALs use for a training cycle, especially one that precedes a deployment.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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