Special Operations Glossary

Acronym	One Line Definition	Details
ARRF	Allied Rapid Reaction Force	-
CJSOTF	Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force	Typically a multi-national force which combines elements which are normally in theatre with those out of theatre brought in to serve the mission. An example was the CJSOTF in Bosnia, which was subordinate to SOC-IFO commanded by the then current SOCEUR commander BG Canavan, forming the CJSOTF to be subordinate to the General's to the relevant Allied Rapid Reaction Force (ARRF). The CJSOTF in this case, being multinational, was commanded by British BG Cedric Delves.
covert action	deniable activities	"...activity or activities of the United States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly...". Typically deniable covert activities in modern times have been tasked with oversight from the National Security Agency and may include: Subsidizing foreign journals or political parties to participation in what are essentially military operations. Paramilitary operations Arming of resistance forces in nations struggling to free themselves from tyranny, repression or other harsh environments which may include those that remove their human rights. Interdict or eliminate support from outside a nation where the U.S. is engaged in war or high intensity conflict. Counter-terrorism activititites outside the United States where U.S. SOF or CIA personnel's skills and capabilities are needed but whose participation should or cannot be divulged. This could include hostage rescue, pre-emptive close-quarters combat against terrorist training facilities, elements or individuals Counter WMD proliferation activities
CT	Counter Terrorism	"The primary mission for SOF in the Global War on Terrorism - involves offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, preempt and respond to terrorism." ¹
DA	Direct Action	"The conduct of short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as special opeations in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments to sieze, destroy, capture, exploit, recover, or damage targets of strategic or operational significance, employing special military capabilities." ¹
DAA 87	Defense Authorization Act of 1987	Directs and authorizes the combination of all special forces operations into the United States Special Operations Command (SEE USSOCOM below).
FID	Foreign Internal Defense	"Participation by civilian or military agencies of a government in any of the action programs taken by another governement or other designated organizations to free their society from subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency." ¹
GWOT	Global War on Terrorism	-
IFOR	Implementation Force	Typically a major mulitnational armed force and observers under treaty and/or U.N. resolution placed in country to provide military action, aid and eventually transition to a stablization force when warring factions have been pacified to a minimum level.
JCO	Joint Commission Observer	Assigned personnel that operate under the auspices of of an observer force such as the United Nations monitoring force in Bosnia (i.e. Operation Joint Guard 1994-1995). A key factor to consider with JCOs is that (if implemented in the Bosnia Joint Guard model) live amongst civilian population in rented, unfortified quarters, don't carry a rifle, and wear a cap and standard BDUs without helmet or body armor. Their BDUs also only have name and U.S. flags, no other miltary encoutrements. Another JCO Joint Forge JCO (under Captain Jonathan Cash in the city of Bejilijna) was divided into teams: Political Team - Maintaining Communications with the Mayor, members of Parliment, political party leaders and international or regional organiztions such as the Organization for Security and Operation in Europe Military Team - Building rapport getting to know the military leaders within the sectors, the location of all units and checkpoints and their strengths, weaknesses, and concerns. Judical and Police Team - Working with the local and national police, members of the judicial system and courts within the sector. Floating Team - Available to reinforce any other team requiring assistance or to deal with particular areas of concern.
JSOTF	Joint Special Operations Task Force	Typically a spec-ops group assigned to a theatre commander for the purpose of typical spec ops activities or to a tactical operational task force commander.
LCE	Special Forces Liaison Control Elements	Typically deployed to support other non-NATO nations who are contributing their spec ops troops in a joint operation (See TCN). For instance in Operation Joint Endeavor (Bosnia), planners realized they needed to have control elements to interface between the previously deployed and in place as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and who would be soon joining the new combat IFOR. This LCE: Provided communications connectivity Provide liaison with the command anc control architecture Provide liaison with the Intell architecture Provide Close-Air Support and Terminal Guidance support (CAS/TG) capability Provide Tactical Air Control Capability In addition LCE's might provide other necessary capabilities required such as native language translation for multinational forces, fire control procedures and communications, or MEDEVAC procedures to just name a few.
MND	Multinational Division	A joint nation troop element of division size whose HQ has command and control over troops from multiple nations. For example in Bosnia the CJSOTF controlled British JCO teams as well as LCEs which were supporting non-NATO TCNs. (See TCNs and LCEs).
SA	Special Activities	Legally defined by President Ronald Reagan in Executive Order 12333, 12/4/1981 as "activities conducted in support of national foreign policy objectives conducted abroad which are planned and executed so that the role of the United States is not apparent or acknowledged publicly." ⁸
SFOR	Stabilization Force	Typically a major mulitnational armed force and observers under treaty and/or U.N. resolution placed in country to continue intervention by providing strength to a stabilization phase of efforts to end actions between warring factions.
SOCCE	Special Operations Command and Control Element	A company level command and control element which is controlled by a battallion level special ops headquarters. The FM3-5.20 manual defines the SOCCE as "A C2 element based on a Special Operations company headquarters element augmented with a communications package, and equipment and selected personnel as required by the mission." ²Typically a 12 man special ops HQ unit deployed into the supported. ¹
SR	Special Reconnaissance	"Reconnaissance and surveillance missions conducted as special operations in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments to collect or verify information of strategic or operational significance, employing military capabilities not normally found in conventional forces." ¹ For instance Captain Jonathan Cash's JCO in the city of Bejilijna was retasked in a joint op with four Navy Seals to perform a special recon to look at the possibility of Russian forces leaving their bivoauc positions and possibly staging for a strike into Kosovo -- producing a politcally sensitive recon on a major world nation's forces, who incidentally were a member of the implementatin force IFOR (Russians were videotaped repainting their equipment, changing IFOR to KFOR just before crossing into KOSOVO). Another LCE moved to support the Russians, and then became a SOF DA (Direct Action) team who then passed on communications from the commanding BG Sanchez and the Russian element commander, a young full colonel. Following this rapport, several firsts occured, when U.S. artillery barraged in support of Russain troops and then later combined forces raided a town to find mine layers (both 1sts since WWII). ¹
TACON	Tactical Control	The element which has tactical control of field elements
TCN	Troop Contributing Nations	A nation who has deployed their own spec ops troops to support or participate in a joint special ops operation.
USSOCOM	U.S. Special Operations Command	Established by the U.S. Congress in the 1987 Defense Authorization Act, combines all the elements of U.S. military branches engaged or required regularly to support special operations. The mission "...is to plan, direct, and execute special operations in the conduct of the war on Terrorism in order to disrupt, defeat, and destroy terrorist networks that threaten the United States." ⁶ The forces combined into USSOCOM are the U.S. Army Special Forces ("Green Berets"), U.S. Army Rangers (Including Force Recon), U.S. Navy Seals (Sea, Air, Land Teams), U.S. Air Force Special Operations Aviation Regiments (SOAR) and their special tactics units.
UW	Unconventional Warfare	"A broad spectrum of military and paramilitary operations, normally of long duration. Predominantly conducted by, with or through with indigenous or surrogate forces who are organized, trained, or equipped, supported and directed in varying degree by an external source. Includes guerilla warfare and other direct offensive low visibility, covert or clandestine operations, as well as the indirect activities of subversion, sabotage, intelligence activities, and unconventional assisted recovery." ¹
Note: The qouted/referenced definitions are direct from the referenced sources, while not quoted are derived from various sources, however, the major source is the Thesis paper cited ¹ below and the recent CRS study on Special Forces and CIA paramilitary operations cited in ⁶ below.

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