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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Special Operations Branch (SO) was a branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II that "pioneered" many of the unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency (COIN), and foreign internal defense tactics and techniques used by today's US Military Special Operations Forces (SOF).[1][2] Special Operations was the American equivalent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) of the United Kingdom.[1][3][4][5][6]
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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1942 |
Dissolved | 1945 |
Superseding agencies | |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
Agency executive |
|
Parent department | Deputy Director Strategic Services Operations |
Parent agency | Office of Strategic Services |
The Chief of SO, Millard Preston Goodfellow, reported to the deputy director of Strategic Services Operations.[7]
In the Special Operations Field Manual, OSS Director William Donovan writes;
"The mission of the Special Operations Branch is to carry out that part of the OSS mission which can be accomplished by certain physical subversive methods as contrasted with the operations of the Morale Operations, the Operational Groups, and the Maritime Unit. The primary objective of the Special Operations Branch is the destruction of enemy personnel, materiel, and installations." [8]
Special Operations operators and agents trained first at Camp X, then at Camp David, and several National Park Service properties around the Washington, D.C. area.[9]
The concept of OSS Operational Groups (OG) began as Special Operations units within SO Field Bases, but eventually outgrew the SO, where the newly established Operational Group Command was granted Branch status.[1]
Headquarters
Special Operations was headquartered at the E Street Complex in Washington, D.C.
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