Special Operations & Irregular Warfare

11th century BC

Jiang Ziya described recruiting men into specialised elite units in the Six Secret Teachings

The Chinese strategist's Six Secret Teachings set out the recruitment of talented and motivated men into specialised elite formations tasked with seizing commanding heights and making rapid long-distance advances. It represents one of the earliest doctrinal statements of the elite-unit concept underpinning special operations.

c. 500 BC · around 2,500 years ago

Sun Tzu's The Art of War set out espionage and unconventional tactics as a formal discipline

A dedicated chapter on the use of spies argued that foreknowledge gained through covert means was worth more than any other advantage in war, an idea that continues to underpin how states think about reconnaissance and unconventional warfare.

249 BC

Hamilcar Barca fielded specialised troops in Sicily trained for repeated daily offensives

Hamilcar Barca maintained troops trained to launch several offensives per day during his Sicilian campaign. The article cites this as an early example of specialised elite forces in ancient warfare.

1622 · 404 years ago

Capt. John Smith made the first mention of colonial Rangers in America

Specialised Ranger units in Colonial America were first recorded by Captain John Smith. Learning frontier skills from friendly Native Americans, Ranger companies provided reconnaissance, intelligence, light infantry and scouting for offensive frontier strikes.

1676 · 350 years ago

Colonel Benjamin Church captained the first Ranger force in America

Church commanded the first American Ranger force, and his ranging philosophy was copied by many colonial officers who raised their own Ranger units. This established a continuous American tradition of specialised light-infantry reconnaissance formations.

18th century · 326 years ago

Robert Rogers codified the 28 Rules of Ranging for colonial light infantry

Rogers' Rangers, based on Roger's Island at modern Fort Edward, New York, trained under 28 'Rules of Ranging'. These are regarded as the first known manual of modern asymmetric warfare tactics used in special operations, and the site is called the spiritual home of US Special Operations Forces.

1846 · 180 years ago

British Indian Army formed the Corps of Guides for border-war special operations

The Corps of Guides was one of two special forces deployed by the British Indian Army during its border wars. It was later joined by the Gurkha Scouts, formed in the 1890s and first used as a detached unit in the 1897–1898 Tirah Campaign.

1899 · 127 years ago

General Antonio Luna formed the Luna Sharpshooters elite unit

The Tiradores de la Muerte, or 'Marksmen of Death', were an elite unit of the Philippine Revolutionary Army drawn largely from former Filipino members of the Spanish Army. They spearheaded major battles of the Philippine–American War, and in December 1899 at Paye one of their sharpshooters killed US General Henry Ware Lawton.

1900 · 126 years ago

Lord Lovat formed the Lovat Scouts, later the British Army's first sniper unit

During the Second Boer War the British Army needed more specialised units, and the Lovat Scouts were raised from Scottish Highland woodsmen in ghillie suits skilled in marksmanship and field craft. Reporting early on to Major Frederick Russell Burnham, Chief of Scouts, the unit formally became the British Army's first sniper unit after the war.

1901 · 125 years ago

British Army formed the Bushveldt Carbineers as an early unconventional warfare unit

Raised during the Second Boer War, the Bushveldt Carbineers are described as an early unconventional warfare formation. It formed part of the British response to irregular fighting that drove the creation of specialised units.

1914–18 · 112 years ago

German and Italian armies fielded Stormtroopers and Arditi, the first modern shock troops

The German Stormtroopers and Italian Arditi were elite assault units trained far above average infantry standards and tasked with daring raids on enemy defences. Unlike the Stormtroopers, who sat within infantry divisions, the Arditi were treated as a separate combat arm.

1932 · 94 years ago

Paraguayan Army organised the Macheteros de Jara auxiliary cavalry regiment

Formed from August 1932 ahead of the Battle of Boquerón, the regiment was recruited from former outlaws to fight Bolivian forces in the Chaco War. Bolivia fielded a comparable specialised formation, the 50th Infantry Regiment or 'Knives of Death', which relied almost exclusively on blade weapons.

1939 · 87 years ago

German Abwehr founded the Brandenburger Regiment for infiltration and deep reconnaissance

The Brandenburgers were created as a special forces unit for infiltration and long-distance reconnaissance, first used in Fall Weiss in 1939 and then in the Fall Gelb and Barbarossa campaigns of 1940–41. They were the principal German special operations formation of the early war.

1939–45 · 87 years ago

Polish government in exile formed the Cichociemni paratroopers for deployment into occupied Poland

Trained in Britain along British special forces lines with curricula tailored to each soldier's specialisation, the 'silent and unseen' paratroopers were dropped into Poland to sustain the structures of the Polish state and train the resistance. They took part in the Warsaw Uprising.

1939–45 · 87 years ago

Soviet Union developed and expanded Spetsnaz and Osnaz special forces

The GRU's Spetsnaz and the NKVD's Osnaz were developed and expanded during the Second World War, including naval, army reconnaissance and parachute troops. The Spetsnaz name became the generic Russian-language term for special forces of any country.

1939–45 · 87 years ago

United States formed the Office of Strategic Services for intelligence and special operations

The OSS was created under William J. Donovan and combined intelligence work with special forces missions. It was the predecessor of the CIA, whose elite Special Activities Division is the direct descendant of the OSS.

1939–45 · 87 years ago

United States and Canada formed the joint 1st Special Service Force

Conceived as a sabotage ski brigade for operations in Norway, the 'Devil's Brigade' instead fought in the Aleutians, Italy and Southern France. It placed both US and Canadian special forces in a shared lineage.

1939–45 · 87 years ago

Finnish Army and Border Guard organised sissi long-range reconnaissance patrols

Volunteer kaukopartio teams operated far behind Soviet lines gathering intelligence and raiding supply depots, notably harassing Soviet logistics at the Battle of Ilomantsi. Their operations were kept secret, and one commander, Lauri Törni, later joined the US Army to train American personnel in special operations.

1940 · 86 years ago

The Special Operations Executive was founded to coordinate sabotage in occupied Europe

Churchill's directive to set occupied Europe ablaze created a British organisation dedicated to sabotage, subversion and support for resistance movements, establishing unconventional warfare as a distinct state function separate from conventional military command.

1940 · 86 years ago

British Army formed the British Commandos after Churchill's call for hunter-class troops

Following Churchill's demand for specially trained troops able to raid the enemy coast, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke's proposal was approved by CIGS Sir John Dill and the first Commando raid took place on 23 June 1940. By autumn over 2,000 men had volunteered, and in November 1940 they were organised into a Special Service Brigade that expanded to twelve Commandos.

1940 · 86 years ago

Long Range Desert Group began deep-penetration covert patrols behind enemy lines

The LRDG conducted deep penetration reconnaissance, intelligence missions and attacks behind Axis lines from 1940. It also provided the transport that carried SAS raiding parties to targets such as Bouerat.

1941 · 85 years ago

Australia raised its first independent companies under British instruction

Training began at Wilson's Promontory in Victoria in early 1941 with British instructors, each company establishing 17 officers and 256 men as 'stay-behind' forces. Eight companies were raised before mid-1943, when they were reorganised into 11 commando squadrons under cavalry commando regiments.

July 1941 · 85 years ago

The Special Air Service was founded in the North African desert

Lieutenant David Stirling argued that small teams of parachute-trained soldiers operating behind enemy lines could do more damage than a platoon, and after meeting General Auchinleck his plan was endorsed by Army High Command. L Detachment, SAS Brigade began with five officers and 60 other ranks, trained at Kabrit camp and raided Western Desert targets including Bouerat, Benghazi and the Crete airfields, with 30 aircraft destroyed at Fuka and Mersa Matruh. By attacking Axis airfields and supply lines behind enemy lines, the unit established the small, specially selected raiding force as a distinct and permanent part of modern militaries rather than an improvised wartime expedient.

1942 · 84 years ago

Australia raised the Z Special Unit and M Special Unit for direct action and intelligence

M Special Unit gathered intelligence while Z Special Force undertook direct-action missions in the South West Pacific. Z Special Unit's Operation Jaywick sank several Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour in 1943, though the follow-up Operation Rimau in 1944 failed.

1942 · 84 years ago

U.S. Army established the first Army Ranger Battalion

In mid-1942 Major-General Lucian Truscott submitted a proposal, developed under Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, for selectively trained Ranger soldiers. This revived the colonial Ranger tradition as a modern special operations formation.

February 1942 · 84 years ago

British Army established the Achnacarry Commando training depot

Brigadier Charles Haydon set up the depot in the Scottish Highlands, with Lieutenant Colonel Charles Vaughan commanding the training of whole units and individual replacements. Its regime of live-ammunition exercises, speed marches, mountain work and unarmed combat was far in advance of normal British Army training and set the template for later special forces selection.

February 1942 · 84 years ago

U.S. Marine Corps activated the Marine Raiders, America's first modern special operations force

On 16 February 1942 the Marine Corps activated a battalion tasked with securing beachheads and other special operations, becoming the first modern US special operations unit. It took the Raider name from Admiral Chester Nimitz's request for 'raiders' in the Pacific.

Early 2026 · this year

South Korea pushed its special warfare units toward small drone reconnaissance

Special Warfare Command units incorporated small commercial-derived reconnaissance and strike drones into direct action and reconnaissance training, following lessons drawn closely from Ukrainian special operations practice.

Early 2026 · this year

Nigeria and regional partners kept up pressure on Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province remnants

Special forces from Nigeria and neighbouring Lake Chad basin countries continued raids and clearance operations against fragmented jihadist factions, even as the wider counter-insurgency campaign struggled to hold and govern recovered territory.

Early 2026 · this year

China widened joint counterterrorism exercises with regional partners

Special operations units trained alongside partner forces from Central Asian and other Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members, part of a broader effort to build interoperability and influence among states along China's western periphery.

June 2025 · last year

Israel used pre-positioned covert teams inside Iran at the start of a direct conflict

Intelligence and special operations elements reportedly struck air defences and missile launchers from within Iran in the opening hours of a direct conflict between the two countries, working ahead of and alongside the wider air campaign that followed.

June 2025 · last year

Ukraine's security services struck Russian strategic bomber bases with drones smuggled deep inside the country

A long-prepared operation launched first-person-view drones from concealed positions near several air bases deep inside Russia, damaging a number of strategic bomber aircraft in one of the most elaborate unconventional operations of the war.

• Russia acknowledged only limited damage at the time

2025 · last year

Turkish defence firms expanded exports of equipment built for special operations units

Drones, sniper rifles and night vision equipment from Turkish manufacturers found a growing export market among special operations and paramilitary units abroad, part of the country's broader rise as a mid-tier defence exporter.

2025 · last year

The Philippines expanded joint special operations training with the United States

Annual Balikatan exercises grew in scale and included more island and littoral warfare training, reflecting growing attention to how special operations forces would support a wider force in a contingency involving the South China Sea.

• Chinese vessels shadowed portions of the exercises at sea

2025 · last year

India sent counterterrorism forces into Jammu and Kashmir after a deadly attack on civilians

Elite army and paramilitary units conducted an extended search and clearance operation in the aftermath of an attack that killed a number of tourists, part of a response that also included cross-border strikes and a brief conflict with Pakistan.

• Pakistan disputed India's account of the cross-border strikes

2025 · last year

US Special Operations Command kept reorienting away from counterterrorism-heavy deployments

Investment and training shifted further toward tasks relevant to potential conflict with a major power, including reconnaissance in contested areas, resilient communications and training partner special operations forces across the Indo-Pacific.

Late 2024 · 2 years ago

France shifted special operations support toward coastal West Africa

With forces largely expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, French special operations training and support increasingly focused on coastal states such as Cote d'Ivoire and Benin as jihadist violence spread south from the Sahel interior.

2014 · 12 years ago

Norwegian Special Operation Forces established Jegertroppen, an all-female special forces unit

As gender restrictions were removed in parts of the world, women began applying for special forces selection. Norway's Hunter Troop was the first all-female special operations unit of its kind.

2012 · 14 years ago

Admiral William H. McRaven defined the direct and indirect approaches to special operations

In his posture statement to the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, the USSOCOM commander described the direct approach as technologically enabled small-unit precision lethality with focused intelligence on a digitally networked battlefield. The indirect approach he defined as empowering host nation forces, assisting humanitarian agencies and engaging key populations.

2011 · 15 years ago

US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his compound

A helicopter assault on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, ended a decade-long manhunt for the al-Qaeda leader, and stands as the most publicly prominent special operations raid of the post-9/11 era.

2001 · 25 years ago

The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan showed small special operations teams could topple a government

Special forces and intelligence officers working alongside Afghan opposition fighters, calling in air strikes rather than fighting as a conventional army, helped remove the Taliban government within weeks, a template later cited for unconventional warfare with local partners.

1987 · 39 years ago

United States created U.S. Special Operations Command and deployed it in Operation Prime Chance

USSOCOM was a product of the Reagan administration under Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and Operation Prime Chance, stemming from Resolution 598, was its first deployment. The unified command consolidated American special operations forces under a single headquarters.

1983 · 43 years ago

U.S. Army created the Special Forces Tab and awarded it retrospectively

Nearly forty years after the Second World War the Army instituted the Special Forces Tab, later extending it to personnel with at least 120 days' wartime service before 1955 in units including the Devil's Brigade, the Alamo Scouts and the OSS Operational Groups. This formally placed those wartime formations in the lineage of modern US and Canadian special forces.

1980 · 46 years ago

The Iranian Embassy Siege gave the SAS a televised template for hostage rescue

British special forces stormed a besieged embassy in London in a raid broadcast live on television, ending a six-day siege and establishing a global template for how a national counterterrorism unit could resolve a hostage crisis by force.

1980 · 46 years ago

Operation Eagle Claw failed in the Iranian desert

A US attempt to rescue hostages held in Tehran collapsed after aircraft losses and a fatal collision at a remote staging site, a failure that drove a sweeping overhaul of how American special operations forces trained, equipped and were commanded.

• US Special Operations Command was created seven years later as a direct result

1976 · 50 years ago

The Entebbe raid rescued hijacked hostages a thousand miles from home

Israeli commandos flew to Uganda and freed hostages held by hijackers at Entebbe airport in a night raid, demonstrating that a small, well-prepared force could conduct a rescue operation deep inside hostile territory with little warning.

1972 · 54 years ago

The Munich Olympics hostage crisis exposed the lack of dedicated counterterrorism units

The failed rescue of Israeli athletes taken hostage by Palestinian militants, handled by police without specialist training, led West Germany to found GSG 9 and prompted other states to establish their own dedicated counterterrorism units in the following years.

• Other European states founded comparable units within the decade

1971 · 55 years ago

Mukti Bahini commanders formed the Crack Platoon for urban guerrilla operations in Dhaka

Khaled Mosharraf and A. T. M. Haider raised a 17-man commando platoon trained at Melaghar Camp, which reached Dhaka on 4 June 1971 and launched operations from 5 June. Its aim of proving that East Pakistan was not normal succeeded: the World Bank mission reported a hazardous situation and urged an end to the military regime.

1943 · 83 years ago

Italian Regia Aeronautica used A.D.R.A. Arditi raiders against Allied airbases in North Africa

The Arditi Distruttori Regia Aeronautica regiment raided Allied airbases and railways in North Africa, destroying 25 B-17 bombers in one mission. Italy's Decima Flottiglia MAS separately sank or damaged considerable British tonnage in the Mediterranean.

1943 · 83 years ago

U.S. Sixth Army formed the Alamo Scouts for deep reconnaissance in the Pacific

In late November 1943 Lt General Walter Krueger created the Sixth Army Special Reconnaissance Unit from small teams of highly trained volunteers. They operated behind enemy lines gathering intelligence and conducting tactical reconnaissance ahead of Sixth Army landings.

1943 · 83 years ago

The Chindits proved deep-penetration units could be sustained entirely by air

British and Indian long-range columns operated for months behind Japanese lines in Burma, resupplied by air drop alone, showing that ground forces could sustain unconventional operations far beyond normal supply lines given enough air support.

August 1942 · 84 years ago

Greek government in exile formed the Company of Chosen Immortals on the SAS model

After Germany occupied Greece, Air Force Lt Colonel G. Alexandris proposed an SAS-style unit, and 200 men were assembled in Palestine under Major Antonios Stefanakis. Renamed the Sacred Band, the unit trained at the SAS base at Qabrit in cooperation with David Stirling and fought alongside the SAS in the Western Desert and the Aegean.

February 1942 · 84 years ago

Imperial Japanese Army made its first combat paratroop deployment at Palembang

On 14 February 1942, 425 men of the 1st Parachute Raiding Regiment seized Palembang airfield on Sumatra while the 2nd Parachute Raiding Regiment took the town and its oil refinery. Paratroops were later used in Burma, and the brigades were organised into the Teishin Shudan, the first division-level raiding unit, based at Karasehara Airfield.