Special Forces Underwater Operations (SFUWO) is the term for United States Army Special Forces combat operations involving the use of underwater infiltration methods. These typically involve the use of closed circuit dive equipment to infiltrate a beach landing site (BLS) undetected.[1] The US Army Special Forces, also known as Green Berets have been conducting maritime operations and underwater operations since their founding in 1952. Currently, each company within a Special Forces Group mans, trains, equips, and deploys a SFUWO Operation Detachment Alpha (SFOD-A). These twelve-man teams train for SFUWO as their primary infiltration method when conducting one of their missions of unconventional warfare, direct action, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, among others.
Special Forces Underwater Operations Training (c. 1956) [2]
Special Forces Underwater Operations School Overview (2015) (2:52)
US Army Special Forces first existed within the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Operational Groups. Army Green Beret Combat Divers were first in the OSS Maritime Unit.[3] The Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit (LARU) was the first closed-circuit re-breather adopted by the US Military and used in Combat Operations with the OSS MU. It was invented by Dr. Christian Lambertsen.[4] Army Special Forces have been conducting these operations for nearly seventy years. The Army Special Forces fielded Special Operations Combat Divers with detachments conducting SFUWO in the early and mid 1950s, nearly a decade prior to the creation of the Navy SEALs. Archival footage from this time period depicts an Army Special Forces detachment conducting advanced underwater operations including underwater infiltration, submarine lockout procedures, and underwater demolition.[2]
^"FM-3-05-212 Special Forces Waterborne Operations". US Army APD. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
^ ab"The Big Picture," Pictorial Report No. 29, TV-372; U.S. Army; courtesy of PublicResourceOrg; circa 1956; last accessed 28 November 2022
^"OSS Maritime Unit". OSS Maritime Unit. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
^"Christian Lambertsen and the Secret Story Behind Scuba". CIA Library. Central Intelligence Agency Library. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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