US Military Involvement in Conflict

Where have the United States fought and when?

The United States has been involved in 100 direct conflicts since it was first recognized as a nation in 1776, soon after the colonies shirked British rule. Of those, 42 of those conflicts were against Native Americans, some of them lasting several decades, such as the Apache Wars, which spanned 1851-1900 in the Southwestern United States.

Indians & Rebellions

The US was also at the forefront of several other conflicts.  Of the 58 remaining conflicts that weren't fought against Indians in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Century, four of them were uprisings, such as Shay's Rebellion in 1786, which resulted in anti-tax protestors being suppressed by the army (but also led to the ratification of the Constitution the following year) and the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791, again against tax protestors, which led to the army defeating armed resistance and asserting control over frontier people in Western Pennsylvania. There was also a slave uprising in present-day Louisiana in 1811, backed by Haiti, which was defeated by the US; the last rebellion the US fought was in 1859 when abolitionists seized a government armory in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  Their leader, John Brown, was arrested by US Marines after they defeated the uprising.  Brown was executed for acts against the government soon after.

Problems with future allies

The US also fought several conflicts against Great Britain after the Revolutionary War, most notably the War of 1812 from 1812-15, during which British soldiers burned down the White House and forced the evacuation of President James Madison and his wife. The British were defeated in New Orleans by then General Andrew Jackson, who repelled a larger force of British soldiers with a combined force of US Army and US Marine troops, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1815.

But the US fought the British in the Northwest Indian War from 1785-93, a continuation of the Revolutionary War during which the British allied with the Western Confederacy against the United States, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians over territory disputes in the Northwest Territory.

Despite being allied with France, the US fought against them in the Quasi War in 1798 because French privateers were attacking American shipping in the Atlantic Ocean.  Privateers at the time were state-backed pirates who attacked shipping and stole their goods (or the ship too) in exchange for money from their sponsoring government.  The war ended after the United States and France reached an agreement to stop privateer attacks.

Pirates?

The United States fought pirates in the First and Second Barbary Wars (1801-05 and 1815 respectively) in present-day Algeria and Libya, because Barbary Coast pirates were attacking American shipping. The US also sent ships to the Aegean Sea in 1825 to fight Greek pirates, which led to the liberation of a Greek-held British warship, the HMS Comet.  Due to the US role in saving the British sailors, the British government sent a letter of thanks to the US, and the two nations became friendly from that day forward.

Today, the US is heavily involved in counter-piracy operations, most notably in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa.  A high profile mission from those operations was the rescue of the MV Maersk Alabama crew by US Navy SEALs in 2009 after Somali pirates hijacked the vessel. Since then, there have been many more rescues by the US and their allies.

All in the interest of learning

During the 1800s, much of the world was still closed off to the West. The United States sent ships to several areas as part of expeditions so they could establish trade, alliances, or colonial rule over them.  Sometimes, these expeditions led to armed conflict with local tribes or military forces.  The First and Second Sumatran Expeditions (1832 and 1838 respectively), the First and Second Fiji Expeditions (1855 and 1859 respectively), the Formosa Expedition (1867), and the US Expedition to Korea (1871) were all instances of such conflict.  While small scale in nature, the Korean Expedition led to the awarding of 15 Medals of Honor for personnel involved.

Neighborly issues

The US has fought two conflicts alongside Mexico and three against them. The US and Mexico shared the fight against the Comanche Indians between 1820-75 during the long-running Texas-Indian Wars, and Victorio's War from 1879-81, against the brutal Apache.

The US first fought against Mexico during the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, which led to the acquisition of the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas after an armed conflict against Mexico. The US and Confederates also fought against Mexico together during the American Civil War in the First and Second Cortina Wars of 1859-61. Most recently, the US fought against criminal elements of Mexico during the Border Wars of 1910-19, during which Pancho Villa and his gang of bandits terrorized American transportation and hassled the US Army.

Foreign intervention

The United States has taken smaller roles as an ally in several wars. During the Second Opium War of 1856-59, the US and France aided Great Britain in ceding Kowloon to the UK from the Qing Dynasty. The US was also involved in taking control of the Shimonseki Straits in Japan from the Choshu regime in 1863-64 alongside French, British and Dutch troops because the Choshu refused shipping access to the strait. The US was also responsible for helping restore order to Peking, China in 1900 after the Boxer Rebellion, during which a US Marine, Dan Daly, was awarded the Medal of Honor for singlehandedly killing over a hundred Boxers as they attacked the US Embassy. That action involved troops from Great Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary and France, in what is considered one of the first multinational peacekeeping operations.

The US also participated in the Banana Wars of 1912-33, during which the US helped Cuba repulse Cuban blacks during the Negro Rebellion of 1912 and the Sugar Intervention in 1916, and Nicaragua against the Sandanista rebels over the next two decades. The US also occupied Haiti during 1915-34 as part of the Banana Wars, helping that regime fight rebels as well.

The US ended up joining World War I late, in 1917, in response to German aggression that had begun to target US shipping to the UK, and also in World War II in 1941, after Japan attacked the US Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  In both conflicts, despite heavy casualties, the US helped the Allied Powers overpower the enemy (Imperial Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Turks in WWI, and Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and the Italian Empire in WWII). Both wars introduced technology to the battlefield that led to the employment of chemical weapons, machine guns, airplanes, and later, at the end of WWII, nuclear weapons.

The Korean War was the first United Nations action, during which UN forces attempted to keep the Communist North, backed by the Soviet Union and China, from taking over the democratic South, backed by the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and over thirty other nations. That war, fought from 1950-53, was fought to a stalemate that led to the present border between North and South Korea at the 38th Parallel.  Despite an armistice signed in 1955, North Korea still remains in a state of war with the US and South Korea because a peace treaty was never signed.

The US also intervened peacefully in Lebanon in 1958 to keep rebel elements from taking over the sea and airports in Beirut; US forces eventually withdrew without engaging in combat.

The US, alongside Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea and South Vietnam fought in the Vietnam War from 1965 until 1973. This conflict led to the strategic defeat of the US, even though the United States military overwhelmingly won battles in the war. Public resentment of the war led to a withdrawal of combat forces in 1973 and a complete evacuation in 1975, which was followed by the takeover of South Vietnam by the North.

The US also aided in uprisings in the Congo and the Dominican Republic (1964 and 1965 respectively) that led to victories and democratic elections.

The US helped South Korea repel several incursions over the DMZ by North Korea in 1966-69, and aided Thailand in fighting Communist rebels from 1965-83.

The US aided France, Belgium and Zaire (present-day Congo) in fighting rebels there in 1978.

The US and a Caribbean peace force primarily composed of troops and police from Barbados and Jamaica intervened in Grenada in 1983 after Cuban-backed Communist rebels overthrew the government there. The conflict ended when the Cubans and rebels were defeated by the US military and Grenada's governor reinstated.

The US and UK intervened together in the Iran-Iraq War during 1987-88 when both sides were sinking oil tankers in the Persian Gulf; the US and UK targeted Iranian and Iraqi naval vessels and also conducted mine clearing operations to make international shipping routes safe. The intervention led to the end of the Iran-Iraq War.

The US invaded Panama in 1989 to depose Manuel Noriega, whom had previously been supported by the US in the 1970s. Noriega was wanted because the Panamanian military was harassing US citizens in Panama and also backed the drug trade. Noriega was captured by Navy SEALs at the Vatican embassy in Panama City after a week-long standoff, and tried in international court. A democratic government was brought to power in 1990 after the peaceful withdrawal of US forces.

An American-led international coalition entered the Middle East in 1990-91 to combat Iraqi aggression against Kuwait, which led to Operation Desert Storm.  After two months of conflict, Iraq was kicked out of Kuwait, a no fly zone was created over Iraq to keep their air force on the ground, and security was restored to the region.  The US and its allies would continue to intervene within Iraq from 1992 to 2003, when the US invaded the country. US forces withdrew in 2011 after quelling a massive insurgency there, but started intervening again in 2014 when a new organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) took over large swaths of Iraq and Syria. That intervention continues today with the deployment of US forces to aid the Iraqi military.

The US also intervened in Somalia from 1992-95. The incident is most well-known because two US Army Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu in 1993.  The story is dramatized in the book and film "Black Hawk Down."  The US withdrew after providing humanitarian aid to over 100,000 civilians, while the prominent warlord behind the Black Hawk Down incident, Mohammad Farah Aidid, continued in power until his death in a motorcade ambush in 1996. The Somali Civil War continues to this day.

The US intervened as part of a NATO mandate in the Balkans in 1995-96 and 1998-99, but failed to prevent genocide between Serbians, Croats and Bosnian Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities. There was victory though because of the Dayton Accords, which led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the beginnings of war crimes trials.

Most recently, the US has been involved in the War in Afghanistan since 2001, in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The War in Northwest Pakistan and the broader Global War on Terrorism stemmed from the War in Afghanistan, which primarily targets the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The US was also the leading force behind the Intervention in Libya in 2011 which led to the ousting of Moammar Gaddafi, the nation's longtime dictator.  The US and NATO launched air strikes against the Libyan military to help rebels on the ground.  The US has begun bombing Libya again in 2016 in response to ISIS spreading to Libya.

Military Defeats

 The US was also involved in an international coalition that entered Russia to help quell the Russian Civil War of 1920-23, between the Communist Reds and democratic Whites.  The conflict was also the first military defeat against the United States, because it forced the withdrawal of international forces before the Communists took over Russia.

President John F. Kennedy ordered the US, especially the CIA, to back Cuban rebels in an assassination attempt of Fidel Castro in 1961. The US military landed the rebels in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, but the rebels were killed or captured.

Medal of Honor

America's Highest Honor

The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest military decoration for acts of valor, above and beyond the call of duty.  It is only awarded to US Military personnel.  The medal has three versions for the Army, Navy and Air Force; Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel who receive the medal are given the Navy version.  Since its creation in 1861, the Medal of Honor has been awarded 3,515 times to service members; 621 of those were posthumous, or awarded for actions that resulted in the death of the person being awarded the medal. Half of the awards were for Americans fighting in the Civil War alone.

A Brief History of the Medal of Honor

The medal was first created for the US Navy in 1861 as the "Medal of Valor"; a year later, the Army created the "Medal of Honor" to acknowledge the sacrifices of soldiers fighting on the ground, and the Navy changed the name of its award soon after.

In 1861, US Army Lieutenant Colonel Edward D. Townsend submitted a proposal to the Army for a valor award, because the US Military did not have such awards at the time. Winfield Scott, the general-in-chief of the Army (today called the Chief of Staff of the Army, the highest ranking officer in the branch) denied the proposal because awarding valor awards to soldiers was a European tradition, and the US Military did everything in its power to distance itself from European roots.

After General Scott retired in October 1861, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles adopted Lt Col Townsend's proposal to "honor distinguished naval service." Iowa Senator James W. Grimes, Chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs, proposed Public Resolution 82 in December 1861 to "promote the efficiency of the navy"; this provision included a section creating the Navy Medal of Honor.

In January 1862, Secretary Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the medal, and ordered 175 of the medals with the words "Personal Valor" engraved on the back.  The Army created their own Medal of Honor in July 1862, which were made of copper and coated in bronze, with the words "From the Congress to" on the back; the award was intended for privates and NCOs of the Army for valor on the battlefield. In July 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Medal of Honor as a permanent military decoration into law.

Officers in the US Military were not made elligible for the Medal of Honor until 1915; the US Air Force was created in 1947, but the branch did not get its own Medal of Honor until 1965. To that point, members of the Army Air Corps, Army Air Force and Air Force received the Army version.

Awards

The Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,496 people since 1861. Of those, 19 people were awarded the medal twice. 14 of those people were awarded two medals for two separate actions, while the other five were awarded the Army and Navy versions for the same action. Today, only one medal is permitted per person.

The first Medal of Honor was presented to Private Jacob Parrott of the Union Army, and five of his comrades, for their involvement with the Andrews Raiders unit, which attacked and destroyed a Confederate train in Big Shanty, Georgia on April 12, 1862.

Corporal John F. Mackie became the first US Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for taking charge of deck guns on the USS Galena and directing rifle fire toward enemy positions on shore when many of the deck crew were killed or wounded; Corporal Mackie maneuvered about the deck under heavy fire to motivate his men and man several different deck guns and rifles.

The first Navy Medal of Honor was awarded to 41 sailors by Secretary of War Stanton on April 4, 1863 for their actions during the Battles of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip.

The only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, was a Canadian-American who singlehandedly evacuated 500 US Marines from Guadalcanal on September 27, 1942 while under heavy fire from Japanese troops. He was killed in the action and received the medal posthumously.

Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman to have received the Medal of Honor. The Union Army surgeon was awarded the medal in 1865 for two separate actions, one during the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861 and another for her part in the Battle of Atlanta in September 1864.

61 Canadians serving in the US Armed Forces have been awarded the Medal of Honor, with only 4 of them being after the Civil War. One was awarded to Peter C. Lemon, the only Canadian-born naturalized US citizen to receive the award, for actions during the Vietnam War.

In 1993, two Delta Force snipers, Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon became the first Medal of Honor recipients since the Vietnam War when they sacrificed their lives to secure a downed helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia. Their actions saved the life of the helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Two Michael Durant.  The incident was portrayed in the book and film "Black Hawk Down".

Only 14 Medals of Honor have been awarded for action during the War in Afghanistan, and 4 for the War in Iraq.

US Special Operations Command

Special Operations: What Are They, and What are Their Roles?

Today, the United States Armed Forces are more networked and coordinated than they ever have been before. While each branch has its own missions, its own culture, and its own way of doing things, sometimes they have to work together on the battlefield. During Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983, the United States Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy were involved in an invasion of Grenada to restore their democratically elected leader after a Cuban-backed coup. The lack of coordination between Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and US Marines led to friendly fire incidents and needless command arguments over who was really in charge of military operations on the tiny Caribbean island.

The answer?

Special Operations Command.

Every branch of the military has their own Special Operations units, but they were not amalgamated under a common command until SOCOM's formation in 1986. The command shortfalls in Grenada and the disastrous rescue attempt of hostages in Iran during Operation Eagle Claw in 1980 were a huge motivation for the creation of SOCOM, which would enable the Department of Defense to oversee units in all branches and be able to better coordinate their missions.

In this post, I will explore the history of the units under SOCOM, and what their roles are.

SOCOM is made up of commands from each branch that oversee their individual special operations units.  They are as follows:

United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC)
United States Air Force Special Operations Command (USAFSOC)
United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC)
United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (USMARSOC)

Since they are not a part of the DoD, the Coast Guard is not included in SOCOM, but they do have their own special operations units.

USASOC
The US Army has several special operations units with varying missions:

• 75th Ranger Regiment, aka "Army Rangers": Formed in 1942, the Rangers are made up of three battalions who are specialized light infantry, headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgia. Rangers have some of the toughest training in the military, and emphasize teamwork and speed. They are well known for taking the cliff at Point du Hoc during the D-Day landings in 1944, infiltrating enemy positions in Panama in 1989, securing landing zones in Somalia in 1993, and other missions in the Global War on Terrorism since 2001, where their reputation as a rapid reaction force was perfected. Their main roles are direct action, counterterrorism, and reconnaissance.

• US Army Special Forces, aka "Green Berets": Formed in 1952 and headquartered in Fort Bragg, North Carolina Green Berets are trained to be experts in weaponry and in various forms of warfare. Green Berets are required to learn foreign languages, and are divided into various jobs in three categories (weapons, medical and communications). Green Berets often spend long periods of time behind enemy lines training partisans; they are also used to train partner nations' police forces and militaries. Green Berets are well known for their operations during the Vietnam War and also during the Salvadoran Civil War in the early and mid-1980s. Their main missions are irregular & guerilla warfare, foreign internal defense and counterterrorism.

• Special Operations Detachment - Delta, or more common in contemporary times Combat Applications Group, aka "Delta Force": Delta Force was formed in 1977 and is the United States' premier counterterrorism unit, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Delta is well-known for being incredibly secretive. Delta Force operators destroyed Iraqi Scud missiles in Desert Storm and were involved in the capture of several high level lieutenants from Mohammad Farah Aidid's regime in Somalia in 1993 during the Blackhawk Down incident. Delta's main mission is counterterrorism and direct action; they are trained to conduct hostage rescues.

• 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment aka "Night Stalkers": Formed in 1980 in response to the failed Iran hostage crisis, 160th SOAR is the only unit of its kind in the military. Based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. their pilots are highly trained in low-level and night flight, utilizing the MH-60 Pave Hawk, MH-47 Chinook, and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. Their primary mission is to support other SOCOM units; 160th SOAR transports Rangers, SEALs and other units to and from their operations, most famously during the Blackhawk Down mission in Somalia in 1993 and during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

• 4th & 8th Military Information Support Groups (Airborne): Formed in 2011, the MISGs are utilized to provide intelligence support to other Army Special Operations Units. They are also used to work with the State Department to gather information on political and military activity in foreign countries. Both MISGs are based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

• 528th Sustainment Brigade (Airborne): Formed in 1995, the 528th SB is used to provide logistical support to US Army Special Operations Command. The brigade is stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

AFSOC

AFSOC was created in 1983, moving all Air Force Special Operations units from Tactical Air Command to the newly formed Air Force Special Operations Command. AFSOC comprises four Special Operations Wings, one Special Operations Group, and one Special Operations Air Warfare Center on active duty, one Special Operations Wing, five Special Operations Squadrons, and three flights under the Air National Guard, and one Special Operations Wing in the Air Force Reserve.

Special Operations Wings contain parajumpers, joint tactical air controllers, civil engineers, weathermen, pilots and medical personnel who are tasked with combat search and rescue, irregular warfare, and behind enemy lines missions.

• 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 24th Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 27th Special Operations Wing, Cannon AFB, NM
• 352nd Special Operations Wing, RAF Mildenhall, UK
• 353d Special Operations Group, Kadena AFB, Japan
• Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center, Hurlburt Field, FL
• 193rd Special Operations Wing (Air National Guard), Harrisburg ANGB, PN
• 919th Special Operations Wing (Air Force Reserve), Eglin AFB, FL

NSWC

NSWC oversees SEAL teams, SDV teams, Special Boat Teams, and training units.  There are ten SEAL teams (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 17, 18), two SDV teams (1, 2) and three Special Boat Teams (12, 20, 22).

The Navy SEALs were formed in 1962, SDV teams in 1975, and Special Boat Teams in 1987. SDV teams utilize the SEAL Delivery Vehicle submersible, which can be attached to nuclear submarines and used to deliver SEALs into enemy areas underwater. Special Boat Teams utilize various small water craft to infiltrate coastal regions or rivers; the Special Operations Craft Riverine (SOC-R) was featured in the 2012 film "Act of Valor". SEALs are most well-known for their work in the Vietnam War, where they gained the nickname "Men with Green Faces" by the Viet Cong. SEALs also gained worldwide fame in 2011 after killing Osama bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist in the world.

SEAL Team 6, alternatively referred to as Naval Special Warfare Development Group, is a specialized SEAL team separate from other teams and included under Joint Special Operations Command, which is shared with Delta Force, Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron, and the 4th MISG.

• Naval Special Warfare Group 1 (SEAL Teams 1, 3, 5, 7; NSW Units 1 & 3) Coronado, CA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 2 (SEAL Teams 2, 4, 8, 10; NSW Unit 2) Little Creek, VA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 3 (SDV Team 1) Pearl Harbor, HI
• Naval Special Warfare Group 4 (SBT-12, 20 & 22) Little Creek, VA
• Naval Special Warfare Group 5 (Reserve) (SEAL Teams 17 & 18) Coronado, CA

MARSOC

MARSOC is comprised of one Special Operations Regiment, separated into three battalions. MARSOC operators are called "Raiders", harkening back to their World War Two lineage when Jungle Raiders attacked Japanese positions throughout the Pacific Theatre. MARSOC was formed in 2006 and is the newest unit in SOCOM. MARSOC Raiders are well known for their operations inside Afghanistan, where they have conducted counterintelligence missions, direct action raids and reconnaissance to assist Coalition forces.

 -- Marine Corps Special Operation Regiment (Camp Lejeune, NC)

• 1st Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Pendleton, CA)
• 2nd Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Lejeune, NC)
• 3rd Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion (Camp Pendleton, CA)