USMC Special Operations

United States Marine Corps (USMC) special operations forces move through a building during training, 2011.

The Marines are withthe 3d Marine Special Operations Battalion (3d MSOB), Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR).

The Critical Skills Operators with the MSOR are the fighting element of MARSOC, the USMC's contribution to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the unified command that oversees the special operations forces of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

The USMC resisted the 'special operations' moniker for a long time, preferring to considering every Marine as special.

Despite not being officially called special ops units , USMC units such as Force Recon had a comparable role and reputation to special ops within the other service branches.

The MEU(SOC), 'Special Operations Capable' designation was something of a compromise that acknowledged the MEU(SOC)'s capabilities without directly calling them special operations forces and having them be part of the USSOCOM umbrella.

Then 9/11 happened.

The subsequent U.S. military action in Afghanistan and elsewhere was spearheaded by USSOCOM, with the USMC missing out.

This situation was eventually remedied with the creation of Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One (MCSOCOM Detachment One or Det 1).

Det 1 was a pilot initiative which paved the way for the integration of USMC forces into USSOCOM and saw a trial deployment of USMC special operations forces to Iraq in 2004.

Even though Det 1 was eventually disbanded in 2006 its trial deployment paved the way for the establishment of United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) in 2008.