Special Forces - who's the best?

Originally posted by zatara

Would it not be nice to have an international contest show each 2 or 5 years.....wow that will have a lot of viewers i think.

As cool as that would be, it's a terrible idea! Having elite SF groups all in the same place, broadcasted on TV...

That's asking for trouble.

Originally posted by ProUSA
I'd have to say The US Army's 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force) would be my top choice for special forces. I have read a few books on them and they are truly amazing warriors.

However, Delta wouldn't be my first choice to deploy in a sort of tropical environment. They are the best (in my opinion) when it comes to urban environments and out there in middle east. But for environments like the tropics I would choose the SAS.

According to General Dave Petraeus, he would proberly side with the men from Hereford. The SAS had to deploy a second squandron into Iraq due to the large number of Delta casualties that went unreported in the media mainly due to an over-zealous actions when it came to carrying out 'hard arrests' leading them to adopt a tactic of bringing in air assets to 'take out' homes whilst destroying much needed intel.

Please dont put too much faith into literary accounts of 'daring do' as many are biased filled comics of the truth.

The Times

Originally posted by Occy Anonymous
The British SAS are Officially the best SF in the world.

However the Spetsnaz have without a doubt the most grueling training regime and are truly the toughest ones individually, they are taught to love pain.

Spetsnaz is a generic term a covers more than one unit, each carrying out their own training.

Originally posted by zatara
What about the Israeli special forces..? Is there anything known about these guys? I understand that this country excels in many militairy and inteligence services because they need to outsmart their arab neighbours on all levels.

And what about the japanese or chinese guys with their marshal arts tradition and history?

Can it be that there are special forces unknown because they are hand picked from the best around and meant to be kept from the charts?

Israelis have adopted the 'we have more Special Forces than you' mantra which means that the number of SF units they have is disproportionate to the size of their military force.
Many countries do it and it is all in the name of kudos.

Originally posted by zatara

Originally posted by Occy Anonymous
The British SAS are Officially the best SF in the world.

However the Spetsnaz have without a doubt the most grueling training regime and are truly the toughest ones individually, they are taught to love pain.

Though the toughest special forces would undoubtedly be the ones we don;t know of...

Would it not be nice to have an international contest show each 2 or 5 years.....wow that will have a lot of viewers i think.

The only place you'll see that is on The Unit

reply to post by The_Archangel


In my studies, and I'm sure you'll agree, you'll find that most SF casualties are of no fault by the operators, but mostly the one's giving the orders. It's always sad to hear about SF soldiers being killed in battle, or any soldiers for that matter.

The Unit was a great show, by the way

reply to post by ProUSA


Many of the casualties in this war have been as a result of the incessant need for intel whatever the cost. This mean operators are forced into a position where full assesments cannot be made on individual situations.

A well known British example of this was the infamous Bravo Two Zero incident where their gung-ho commander failled to heed the advice of his team members and pull of the task and where one of the sister callsigns who did lead the way to their team leader being marginalised and branded as 'weak' by certain peers but who, in realitiy, took the right option.

Originally posted by The_Archangel
reply to post by ProUSA

 

Many of the casualties in this war have been as a result of the incessant need for intel whatever the cost. This mean operators are forced into a position where full assesments cannot be made on individual situations.

I agree.

The unrelenting "necessity" of intelligence puts our SF in dangerous locations, where the unknown is the only thing known. That sounds a little cheesy, but it's the truth.

Elite soldiers are put into territory that's virtually uncharted and extremely dangerous due to the unknown threats that reside there.

reply to post by ProUSA


The problem with this form of opertion means that the guys on the ground end up despondent, weary and prone to error. I know from experiance that many guys have taken 'sabbaticals' to earn money on the Private Security circuit to step of treadmill of operational tours.

I'm just a little bit biased. My husband is a former Army Ranger, and was trained as a sniper as well. In my eyes he can do anything.

And, he'll be working very hard at keeping me and the children alive during the next couple of years. LOL

[edit on 22-1-2010 by Lolliek]

reply to post by Lolliek


You biase is only natural and good to see but Rangers are not strictly Special Forces. They are the 'muscle' brought in to support SF tasks in the same way that the British SAS/SBS/SRR use the newly formed SFSG (1 PARA).

reply to post by funlovincriminal


Well we wouldn't know anything much about the types of equipments that Special Forces Units and operators use in the field. Remember most of their activities and operations are always kept a secret and away from the public. But the SAS is one of the best around I have read about their selection courses and testimonies from retired operators about their time and life as SF operators.

reply to post by The_Archangel


yes quiet true the US Army Rangers are not fully special forces operators as yet but their training to qualify as a Ranger is very demanding from Ranger School. They are similar to the Royal Marines in the UK who also support SBS and SAS during operations and raids. Most Rangers and RMs later become candidates for special forces and further as SF operators.

They are all good at their jobs,but I just can't get past what they actually are.....

They are all murderers,I used to be one too.

They died,I have to live with it.

One has to live with what they have done.

reply to post by The_Archangel


I would recommend DEVGRU they are truly experts in all and have one of the most demanding special forces training courses in the world and any military has to offer.

reply to post by EyeOnYou


I agree with you on that

I must say in My opinion that while I have trained with alot of them first and foremost because I am loyal and totally partial is FORCE RECON Marines I have met and trained with some bad MFERS from all walks but my list equates to this....

Force Recon USMC (2nd SRIG whoo whoo)
Navy Seal Boys
ROK Marines (Republic Of Korea)(not really special forces but bad dudes you wouldnt want po'd in an alley)
Marsouins (french)
SARS Australia
Airforce
Army

reply to post by hurst85


to me the operators should get all the credit minus the name of the units they belong to whether SFOD-D, SAS, SBS, DEVGRU etc etc

reply to post by ProUSA


I agree as well. Intel passed from the top is like bags of shrimps these are people who sit around in air conditioned offices in comfortable chairs and expect our SF operators to complete tasks that sometimes intel is soo unreliable resulting in heavy casualties and further loss of life.

Gotta be SAS either ours or the Aussie SAS. IIRC people have even died in their training it is that intense. I think the most bad ass are the Aussie SAS. Oh and our SAS most of the blokes are Scots.