The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU (DEVelopment GRoUp) commonly known as SEAL Team Six

The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU (DEVelopment GRoUp)^{[note A]} and commonly known as SEAL Team Six,^[3][4] is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often referred to within JSOC as Task Force Blue.^[4] DEVGRU is administratively supported by Naval Special Warfare Command and operationally commanded by JSOC. Most information concerning DEVGRU is designated as classified information, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either the United States Department of Defense or the White House.^[5] Despite the official name changes, "SEAL Team Six" remains the unit's widely recognized moniker.

DEVGRU and its Army and Air Force counterparts (Delta Force and 24th Special Tactics Squadron) are the U.S. military's primary Tier 1 special mission units tasked with performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions directed by, until 2002, the National Command Authority, and since then, directly from the President or the Secretary of Defense.^[6][7] DEVGRU conducts various specialized missions such as counterterrorism, hostage rescue, special reconnaissance, and direct action (short-duration strikes or small-scale offensive actions), often against high-value targets.^[8]

History

Main article: List of operations conducted by SEAL Team Six

The origins of DEVGRU are in SEAL Team Six, a unit created in the aftermath of Operation Eagle Claw.[9][10][11] During the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Richard Marcinko was one of two U.S. Navy representatives for a Joint Chiefs of Staff task force known as the TAT (Terrorist Action Team). The purpose of the TAT was to develop a plan to free the American hostages held in Iran. In the wake of the disaster at the Desert One base in Iran, the Navy saw the need for a full-time counter-terrorist unit and tasked Marcinko with its design and development.

 

 

Navy Unit Commendation awarded to SEAL TEAM SIX for exceptionally meritorious service from November 1980 to October 1982

 

SEAL Team Six Patch

Marcinko was the first commanding officer of this new unit. At the time, there were two SEAL Teams, SEAL Team ONE and SEAL Team TWO. Marcinko named the unit SEAL Team Six in order to confuse Soviet intelligence as to the number of actual SEAL teams in existence.[11][12][13] The unit's plankowners (founding members) were interviewed and hand-picked by Marcinko from throughout the UDT/SEAL community. SEAL Team Six was formally commissioned in November 1980, and an intense, progressive work-up training program made the unit mission-ready six months later.[13] SEAL Team Six became the U.S. Navy's premier hostage rescue and counter-terrorism unit. It has been compared to the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force.[5][10] Marcinko held the command of SEAL Team Six for three years, from 1980 to July 1983, instead of the typical two-year command in the Navy at the time.[11] SEAL Team Six started with 75 shooters. The unit has virtually unlimited resources at its disposal.[14] In 1984, Marcinko and a dozen members of SEAL Team Six would go on to form "Red Cell" (also known as OP-06D), a special unit designed to test the security of American military installations.

 

In 1987, SEAL Team Six was dissolved. A new unit named the "Naval Special Warfare Development Group" was formed, essentially as SEAL Team Six's successor.[3][15][16] Reasons for the disbanding are varied,[11] but the name SEAL Team Six is often used in reference to DEVGRU.

 

Controversies

Main articles: Death of Linda Norgrove and Death of Logan Melgar

In 2010, during the attempted rescue of British aid worker Linda Norgrove from Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan, she died as a result of injuries sustained from a SEAL's errant hand grenade. In 2017, Army Special Forces Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar died from trauma received during an apparent on-base hazing incident in Mali that resulted in the criminal prosecutions of two DEVGRU members and two Marine Raiders.

 

Recruitment, selection and training

 

NSWDG recruiting support personnel,[17] 2007

In the early stages of creating SEAL Team Six, Marcinko was given a six-month window to produce the team. Had he failed to do so, the project would have been canceled. Consequentially, Marcinko had little time to create a proper selection course on par with Delta Force's process. To get around this, recruits were selected after assessing their Navy records, followed by individual interviews. According to Marcinko's book, Rogue SEAL, SEAL 6 team members were chosen if they had initial struggles qualifying in aspects of training, but subsequently qualified, as the determination of these candidates was seen as more valuable than a candidate that breezed through his training. Originally, applicants came only from the east coast and west coast SEAL teams and the Underwater Demolition Teams.

 

Although much of the training and recruitment is classified, there are some requirements and training exercises that are now public knowledge. The requirements to apply for DEVGRU states that applicants must be male, be 21 years old or older, have served at least 2 deployments on their previous assignments, and be eligible for Secret clearance. Candidates come from the East/West Coast SEAL teams, SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) teams, the Special Boat teams (for Gray Squadron), the Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, and Navy SARCs. Enlisted candidates must be in be in the pay grades of E-4 through E-8 and Officer candidates need to be O-3 through O-4 to apply. Candidates must undergo physical screening, psychological testing and are then interviewed to deem whether they are suitable for assignment to NSWDG.[18] Those who pass the stringent recruitment process will attend an eight-month selection and training course with the unit's training department known as "Green Team". The training course attrition rate is high, usually around 50%; during one selection course, out of the original 20 candidates, 12 completed the course.[19] All candidates are watched closely by DEVGRU instructors and evaluated on whether they are suitable to join the individual squadrons. Howard E. Wasdin, a former member of SEAL Team Six said in a 2011 interview that 16 applied for SEAL

 

 

Team Six said in a 2011 interview that 16 applied for SEAL Team Six selection course and two were accepted.[20] Those who do not pass the selection phase are returned to their previous assignments and are able to try again in the future.[21]

 

Like all special operations forces units that have an extremely intensive and high-risk training schedule, there can be serious injuries and deaths. SEAL Team Six/DEVGRU has lost several operators during training, including parachute accidents and close-quarters battle training accidents. It is presumed that the unit's assessment process for potential new recruits is different from what a SEAL operator experienced in his previous career, and much of the training tests the candidate's mental capacity rather than his physical condition. Every candidate chosen will have already completed their respective advanced training pipelines; Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL training, the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman training, Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman training, the Navy EOD training or Navy Dive School.

 

Candidates are put through a variety of advanced training courses led by civilian or military instructors. These can include free climbing, land warfare, advanced unarmed combat techniques, defensive and offensive advanced driving, advanced diving, communications and Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training. Candidates are also taught how to pick locks on cars, doors, and safes. All candidates must perform at the top level during selection, and the unit instructors evaluate the candidate during the training process. Selected candidates are assigned to one of the Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadrons. Unlike regular SEAL Teams, SEAL Team Six operators can attend almost any other military course to receive further training depending on the unit's requirements.

 

Like Delta Force, live-fire marksmanship drills in both long-range and close-quarter battle drills are done with hostage roles being played by other students to help build the candidates' trust between each other.

 

DEVGRU regularly trains and operates with special forces units from other countries such as the British Special Air Service and Special Boat Service, Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment and 2nd Commando Regiment, Israel’s Sayeret Matkal and Canada’s Joint Task Force 2.[22][23][24]

 

Structure

DEVGRU is divided into color-coded line squadrons:[25]

 

Red Squadron (Assault)

Blue Squadron (Assault)

Gold Squadron (Assault)

Silver Squadron (Assault)

Black Squadron (Intelligence, Reconnaissance, & Surveillance)

Gray Squadron (Mobility Teams, Transportation/Divers, QRF)

Green Team (Selection/Training)[26]

Each assault squadron, usually led by a Commander (O-5), is divided into three troops of enlisted SEALs, often called assaulters. Each of these troops is commanded by a senior commissioned officer, which is usually a Lieutenant Commander (O-4). A troop chief also serves as an adviser to the troop commander and is the highest-enlisted SEAL in the troop, usually a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9). A DEVGRU troop is further divided into smaller teams of SEALs.[27] These individual teams of assaulters are led by senior enlisted SEALs; usually a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E-8), sometimes a Chief Petty Officer (E-7). The rest of these teams are filled out with more Chief Petty Officers (E-7), Petty Officers First Class (E-6), and Petty Officers Second Class (E-5); each member with a respective role.

 

Each assault squadron also has a specific nickname. Examples include Gold Squadron's Crusaders, Red Squadron's Indians, Blue Squadron's Pirates, Silver Squadron's Headhunters, and Gray Squadron's Vikings.[25][28][29] The assault squadrons are supported by a variety of support personnel, including cryptologists, communicators, EOD technicians, dog handlers, and sometimes airmen from the United States Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron, the Air Force's JSOC element.

 

According to the Government Accountability Office report on special operations forces, in the fiscal year of 2014, DEVGRU had a total of 1,787 authorized positions, of which 1,342 are military and 445 are civilian.[30][31]

 

Firearms

The following is a list of firearms known to be used by DEVGRU, but because of the unit's secretive nature, this list is not exhaustive.

 

Carbines

Noveske 10.5" NSR 5.56×45mm[32]

Heckler & Koch HK416 5.56x45mm (previously favored rifle among operators and usually modified, both significantly and varied to personal preference, with SOPMOD accessories such as suppressors, stocks, optics, lasers, lights and grips)

Heckler & Koch MP7 4.6x30mm

Colt Mk 18 CQBR 5.56x45mm

M4A1 (various manufacturers) 5.56x45mm (not as commonly used, but still in inventory. Also customized with SOPMOD items)

Sniper and anti-materiel rifles

Colt Mk 12 SPR 5.56x45mm

Knight's Armament Company SR-25 7.62x51mm

Remington Model 700 "Mk 13 Mod. 5" .300 Winchester Magnum

McMillan Firearms TAC-338 .338 Lapua

McMillan TAC-50 "Mk 15 Mod. 0 .50 BMG

Barrett M107A1 .50 BMG

Side arms

Heckler & Koch HK45 "Mk 24 Mod. 0" .45 ACP

SIG Sauer P226 "P226R Mk 25" 9x19mm

Glock 19 9x19mm[33]

 

 

Roles and responsibilities

 

Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter is briefed on the Sentry HP UAV at Dam Neck, 2007

DEVGRU's full mission is classified but is thought to include pre-emptive, pro-active counter-terrorist operations, counter-proliferation (efforts to prevent the spread of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction), as well as the elimination or recovery of high-value targets from unfriendly nations.[55][56] DEVGRU is one of a handful of U.S. Special Mission Units authorized the use of pre-emptive actions against terrorists and their facilities.[57]

 

When SEAL Team Six was first created in 1980, it was devoted exclusively to counter-terrorism with a worldwide maritime responsibility; its objectives typically included targets such as ships, oil rigs, naval bases, coastal embassies, and other civilian or military bases that were accessible from the sea or inland waterways. On certain operations, small teams from SEAL Team Six were tasked with covertly infiltrating international high-risk areas to carry out reconnaissance or security assessments of U.S. military facilities and embassies to give advice on improvements in order to prevent casualties in an event of a terrorist attack. SEAL Team Six was disbanded in 1987, and its role, minus non-counter-terrorism ship-boarding, which was given to the newly formed SEAL Team 8, given to the newly formed DEVGRU.[58]

 

Since the start of war on terror, DEVGRU has evolved into a multi-functional special operations unit with a worldwide operational mandate. Such operations include the successful rescue of Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, the attempted rescue of Linda Norgrove, the successful rescue of American doctor Dilip Joseph[59] and in 1991, the successful recovery of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family during a coup that deposed him.

 

The official mission of the currently operating Naval Special Warfare Development Group mission is "to provide centralized management for the test, evaluation, and development of equipment technology and Techniques, Tactics and Procedures for Naval Special Warfare".[60] DEVGRU and the Army's Delta Force train and deploy together on counter-terrorist missions usually as part of a joint special operations task force (JSOTF).[5][13][61][62] The Central Intelligence Agency's highly secretive Special Activities Center and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group often works with, and recruits from, DEVGRU.[63] The combination of these units led ultimately to the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Operation Neptune Spear.[64][65][66]

 

·         Sister JSOC units;

o    1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta

o    24th Special Tactics Squadron

o    Intelligence Support Activity

·         Additional SEAL articles;

·         Navy SEALs in popular culture

·         List of Navy SEALs

·         Other national maritime-based units

o    GRUMEC (Brazil)

o    Commandos Marine (France)

o    Kampfschwimmer (Germany)

o    MARCOS (India)

o    Shayetet 13 (Israel)

o    COMSUBIN (Italy)

o    MARSOF (Netherlands)

o    JW Formoza (Poland)

o    Special Actions Detachment (Portugal)

o    Naval Special Warfare Force (Spain)

o    Special Boat Service (UK)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAL_Team_Six

 

^{[note A]}The designation "DEVGRU" may have been changed sometime before October 2010, with the subsequent designations being classified. The unit is still commonly known as "DEVGRU"^[67]

1.     ^ "SEAL Team 6 by the Numbers – Foreign Policy". 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

2.     ^ Brook, Tom Vanden (16 May 2016). "Navy SEALs' secret medals reveal heroism over last 15 years". Navy Times. Retrieved 1 January 2017.

3.     ^ Jump up to:^a b von Rosenbach, Alexander (4 May 2011). "Devgru: Bin Laden's ultimate nemesis". IHS Jane's Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013. Devgru was established in 1987 as the successor to SEAL Team 6 (although it is still colloquially known by this name). The unit serves as the US Navy's dedicated counter-terrorism unit and is believed to consist of about 200 personnel.

4.     ^ Jump up to:^a b Naylor, Sean. Relentless Strike. Chapter 4.

5.     ^ Jump up to:^a b c Emerson, Steven (13 November 1988). "Stymied Warriors". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2008.

6.     ^ "The U.S. Army's Delta Force: How This Secret Group of Deadly Soldiers Came to Be". The National Interest. 30 April 2019.

7.     ^ "In high demand, Air Force commandos must find new ways to cope with stress of duty". The Gaffney Ledger. Gaffney, South Carolina. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 May 2013.

8.     ^ 

9.     ^ Fallows, James (13 December 1981). "Iran from five American viewpoints". The New York Times.

10.  ^ Jump up to:^a b Halloran, Richard (26 November 1986). "U.S. moving to expand unconventional forces". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2011.

11.  ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Marcinko, Richard (1992). Rogue Warrior. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-79593-1.

12.  ^ Pfarrer, Chuck (2011). SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden. Macmillan. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-4299-6025-0.

13.  ^ Jump up to:^a b c Gerth, Jeff; Philip Taubman (8 June 1984). "U.S. military creates secret units for use in sensitive tasks abroad". The New York Times.

14.  ^ Wasdin, Howard (9 May 2011). "'SEAL Team Six' And Other Elite Squads Expanding". NPR. Retrieved 19 May 2011.

15.  ^ "Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU)". Global Security. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

16.  ^ Ambiner, Marc (10 October 2012). "Delta Force Gets a Name Change". The Atlantic. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

17.  ^ Abhan, Courtney Messman (30 July 2010). "Special Warfare Development Group seeks Sailors" (PDF). Naval Station Everett Public Affairs. Northwest Navigator. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2012. NSWDG is located in Virginia Beach and is a type two sea duty cno priority one major command. The command is an elite counter-terrorism unit that conducts research, and develops, tests, and evaluates current and emerging technology. This technology is related to special operations tactics and joint warfare to improve Special Forces warfighting capabilities. ... While at NSWDG, support personnel could have opportunities to earn many special qualifications, their expeditionary warfare specialist (EXW) pin, and Combat Service Support and Combat Support Naval Education Codes (NEC). Special qualifications include parachuting and fast roping, among many others. NSWDG support personnel receive special duty pay and have some of the highest promotion rates in the Navy.

18.  ^ Anderson Cooper (3 May 2011). "'This is their type of op,' ex-SEAL says". CNN.

19.  ^ Pfarrer, Chuck (2004). Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal. New York: Random House. pp. 325–26. ISBN 978-0-89141-863-4. In one year, the operators of SEAL Six fire more bullets than entire USMC.

20.  ^ "The iron will of Seal Team 6". CBS News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.

21.  ^ "LCV Cities Tour: Interview