| The United States Navy's SEa, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the US Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).[4] The acronym is derived from their capacity to operate at sea, in the air, and on land. In the War on Terror, SEALs have been utilized almost exclusively for land-based operations, including Direct Action, Hostage Rescue, Counter Terrorism, Special Reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense operations. Without exception, all SEALs are male members of either the United States Navy or the United States Coast Guard.[5][6] The CIA's highly secretive Special Activities Division (SAD) and more specifically its elite Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits operators from the SEAL Teams.[7] Joint Navy SEALs and CIA operations go back to the famed MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War.[8] This cooperation still exists today and is seen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,[9][10] and more recently in the finding and killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. |
