Special forces units

Special forces, or special operations forces are military units highly-trained to perform unconventional, often high-risk missions. Special forces, as they would now be recognized, emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War.

Described below are some examples of special forces unit.

Delta Force
The United States Army's "1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D)" — commonly known as Delta Force by civilians — is an integral element of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Delta Force's primary tasks are counter-terrorism and national intervention operations, although it is an extremely versatile group that is capable of assuming many mission types, including (but not limited to) hostage rescue, enemy raids, and covert enemy force neutralizations. Delta Force conducts missions similar to those attributed to the British Special Air Service (SAS), from which it was originally modeled.

Former members
 * Roy Campbell

Extraterrestrial Environment Special Forces
The Extraterrestrial Environment Special Forces, also known as Black Ninja, was a special forces unit secretly formed by NASA, which envisioned future conflicts in outer space. The members of the group were technologically advanced ninja-like soldiers, outfitted with experimental flex armor and reflex-enhancing drugs. However, the unit was disbanded before it saw action, due to its controversial nature, and was regarded as being too dangerous to exist. Afterwards, some of the members fled to Zanzibar Land, where they participated in the country's war of independence. One of these members was the former leader of the Outer Heaven Resistance, Kyle Schneider, who was experimented upon after narrowly surviving the NATO bombing of Outer Heaven.

Former members
 * Kyle Schneider

Green Berets
The United States Army Special Forces, aka the Green Berets, is a renowned Special Forces group that was originally formed in 1952 by Colonel Aaron Bank, based on the Jedburgh teams of the Office of Strategic Services. It is operated under the command of the United States Army. The Green Berets are tasked with five primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism.

A young soldier by the name of John served as a Green Beret until he joined the CIA, as the first field operative of FOX. He also met another member, Roy Campbell, while imprisoned during the San Hieronymo Takeover. During his mercenary work after leaving America, John, now christened as Big Boss, had briefly rejoined the Green Berets to participate in Vietnam. At some point after McDonell Benedict Miller (aka, Kazuhira Miller) left the Militaires Sans Frontieres, he briefly worked with the Green Berets. During the Gulf War, one of the Les Enfants Terribles clones, David, participated in the Green Berets and was part of a dispatch unit to infiltrate Western Iraq.

Former members
 * Big Boss
 * Roy Campbell
 * McDonell Benedict Miller
 * Solid Snake

GSG 9
The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei, formerly the German abbreviation of Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (translated as "Border Guards, Group 9") is the counter-terrorism unit of the German federal police. Founded after the Black September Olympic Hostage Crisis, it is considered to be among the best of such units in the world. In fact, many later counter-terrorism units of other nations were modeled after the GSG 9. During the 1974 Peace Walker Incident, Kazuhira Miller, Big Boss's lieutenant within the latter's private military group, the Militaires Sans Frontieres, cited the GSG 9 as an example of a special forces group that was derived from The Boss and thus earned her the moniker of "the Mother of Special Forces."

Former members
 * Fire Trooper
 * At least one member of the Four Horsemen

South African Special Forces Brigade
The South African Special Forces Brigade (popularly known as "Recces") is the only special forces unit of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Former members


 * Jungle Evil

Spezialeinsatzkommando
The Spezialeinsatzkommando, also referred to as SEK and previously known as Sondereinsatzkommando, was the special response team of the German State Police forces. Comparable to the GSG-9, they often are deployed in areas with riots and high crime rates in Germany's states. Although they are officially deployed in the Capital cities of their states, they can also have multiple units stationed in areas other than the capital city if these areas have a high enough crime rate. SEK was involved in trying to stop some terrorist attacks caused by the Les Enfants Terribles terrorist organization, and were the ones who gave the sub-commander of the terrorist organization the name Running Man.

Underwater Demolition Team
Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) were an elite special-purpose force established by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Their primary function was to reconnoiter and destroy enemy defensive obstacles on beaches where U.S. and Allied forces were going to make amphibious landings. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The UDTs pioneered combat swimming, closed-circuit diving, underwater demolitions, and midget submarine (dry and wet submersible) operations. They were the precursor to the present-day United States Navy SEALs.

In 1983, the UDTs were re-designated "Swimmer Delivery Vehicle Teams" (SDVTs). SDVTs have since been re-designated SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams.

Former members
 * At least one member of the Four Horsemen

Behind the scenes
According to the MSX2 manual for Metal Gear, Big Boss had previously served with GSG 9. However, this information was disregarded from his biography in the sequel's manual, and received no mention in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database, so is presumed to no longer be canon.

In Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Chris Jenner is a member of Delta Force, whose team was ambushed and massacred by Black Chamber.