Few groups in the U.S. military are as revered as Army Special Forces. They slip into other countries and work with the locals to build up friendly forces and take down enemies. Here’s what it looks like when they strike a compound.
1. Operators prepare for the insertion, rehearsing if possible, before getting into their vehicles or transportation.
2. The soldiers then move to the target area. Walking allows them to move up quietly, but riding in ground vehicles or helicopters can allow them to strike quickly without warning.
3. The Special Forces soldiers insert as quickly as they can, trying to get into a combat footing before the enemy can respond to their arrival.
4. The soldiers then move to their entry point and prepare to breach.
5. Once they’re through the door, they start securing the target buildings.
6. Multi-story buildings in a compound have to be searched floor-by-floor. Whenever possible, they try to work from the top down.
7. Soldiers pull security on the perimeter so the enemy can’t come in behind the SF team.
8. Most of the operators carry rifles, but they bring some larger weapons like the Carl Gustav recoilless rifle with them to destroy enemy vehicles or shoot through some walls.
9. Once the compound has been taken, soldiers have to pull security to prevent an enemy counterattack while the team is still on the ground.
10. After searching the compound for intelligence and weapons, the operators will make their way back out of the compound.
11. If an enemy has been taken captive, they’ll be removed with the team back to the helicopter or vehicles.
12. The security teams stay at the edges of the compound until the last possible moment so the team remains safe from a counterattack.
13. When they make it back to their transportation, the SF operators will leave the compound.
