Pages 155 through 158, The Earth Alliance Fact Book.
Earth Alliance Special Operations
Earth Alliance Special Forces Units, also known as SpecOps, are among the finest in known space, comparing favorably to the elite forces of the Centauri Republic and the Narn Regime. Their renown is still high from their successes in the Earth/Minbari War, where they were one of the only EF capabilities to be superior to their Minbari foes. The men and women of SpecOps are highly trained and superbly equipped goal-oriented specialists with a fierce sense of pride and duty.
The following units are the operational and non-classified special operations units in EarthForce. This list includes suspected units such as the Psi Corps Alpha Team, that organization's counterpart to the Special Assault Service. Allegations of a mysterious Bureau 13 that may include non-registered telepaths corresponds with rumors of several small EarthForce units that may include telepaths outside of Psi Corps control. There are also persistent rumors of Special Action Teams (SATs) working for the Civilian Intelligence Directorate, but these have yet to be confirmed.
Note: Names of these units reflect the rather painful consolidation process of many national special operations groups during the formation of EarthForce. In many cases, different regiments inside each overall command maintain traditions that date back to the 21st Century. As an example, the 5th Combat Swimmers Flotilla operating out of North America still retains traditions of the US Navy SEALs, while the 12th Flotilla still refers to itself as 'Delfin.'
Special Assault Service (SAS)
The various SAS regiments make up the largest numbers of EarthForce special operations personnel, with regiments and teams based on every major colony and world of the Earth Alliance. When the average civilian thinks of Special Operations, he is thinking of the Special Assault Service. SAS operators are primarily ground troops, operating for months in enemy territory performing reconnaissance, sabotage, ambushes, and covert training of indigenous peoples. Typical squads consist of one officer and 12 enlisted operators. Usually these 12 consist of one combat medic, two snipers, two turret operators, and a mix of assault and recon specialists. However, this line is quite blurry due both to the high-degree of cross training as well as the tailoring of squads to perform different missions.
Special Assault Service operators also have access to many of the advanced technologies that the average FROPS can only dream about. Stealthy ablative pods can be dropped by transports from the various Special Air Wings for re-entry onto hostile worlds, breaking apart to deploy powered paragliders for precise insertion. Black light camouflage suits and changeling nets are available for special needs. Highly expensive sniper rifles and accurate PPG carbine rifles are standard equipment, along with the archaic-seeming but extremely advanced liquid-propellant (BilPro) weaponry.
Combat Swimmer Flotillas
Nicknamed the 'Killer Whales,' these are the nautical versions of the Special Assault Service. Designed to operate in planetary oceans, they are tasked with commando and reconnaissance operations on the water (or other liquid), on the coastlines, and along rivers and lakes. They work closely with their SAS counterparts and often form combined teams for various missions. It would be a mistake to assume that they are simply Special Assault Services operators who like to swim! Combat swimmers typically are tasked with shorter duration missions than their SAS counterparts. They also have a grater tendency to be tasked with quick direct action missions, emerging from the water to destroy a military target, ambush an enemy unit, or capture high-ranking enemy personnel.
Flotilla 23 is the exception. Long enjoying a relationship with the Abbai and cross training with that race's famed Bas'har units, they have become adept at patrols of up to several months operating on or below the sea in their Piranha-class assault submarines. It was Flotilla 12 that operated on several captured EA worlds during the Earth/Minbari War, hiding in the oceans and lakes on those planets to emerge and harass the Minbari occupiers before melting back into the surf. Their success has led to the creation of specialized platoons in several other flotillas that are trained to operate from the water for long periods.
Combat Swimmers are equipped with similar equipment to their SAS brothers and sisters, although they typically prefer highly advanced slug throwers to PPGs. The primary advantage of a slug thrower is that it functions almost as well under the waters as above them, whereas PPG shots and other energy weapons are blunted and ineffective. The Combat Swimmer's Mk-7 insulated wetsuit is a marvel of efficiency, providing total coverage of the body to protect them from water-borne toxins, while the battery can continue to crack oxygen from the water for up to 2 weeks before needing a recharge. Combat Swimmer platoons are also equipped with several models of submersibles, from the three-man Minnow dive vehicle to the 60=meter-long Piranha used for multi-week submerged operations and attack missions. The typical Killer Whale team consists of 23 operators – once officer and 11 enlisted men and women organized into swim pairs. The composition is similar to that of the Special Assault Service squads.
Razvedchiks
The Razvedchik regiments are EarthForce's elite reconnaissance patrols. Shunning direct action, they are the eyes and ears of Special Operations Command. If detected, they are perfectly capable of fighting their way to a combat pick-up. However, a smooth mission means that they go in, get the intelligence that they require, and slip away with the enemy never knowing that they were there. In one of the most notable intelligence successes of recent days, a Raz platoon spent 3 weeks in a twelve-foot square stand of trees right in the middle of a Minbari headquarters company during the occupation of Proxima 3. The information they overheard allowed a sweeping counter-attack that produced one of the few ground victories of the war. The Raz platoon slipped away during the night, and the Minbari never had a clue that anything was amiss.
As can be expected, Razvedchiks are heavily equipped with personal stealth gear. Black light camouflage suits are standard equipment, and the operator platoons travel light, typically carrying food and water, a PPG carbine, and some grenades. Platoons consist of 1 officer and 8 enlisted personnel, typically one combat medic and the rest scouts or assault specialists. Often, a heavy weapons specialist is included to provide covering fire in the event of detection.
Assault Rangers
Created largely from the North American Combat Rangers and the Russian Federation's Spetsnaz battalions, these are the hammer of EarthForce Special Operations. A comparatively large force, the Ranger regiments are seldom used in numbers less than a full company of approximately 152 men and women. They excel at seizing landing ports, ammo dumps, and headquarters facilities. Their intent is to be a highly mobile strike force, and they take great pride in the fact that there is not a world or colony in the whole Earth Alliance that cannot have 3 to 4 companies of Rangers on the ground within 18 hours.
The Rangers are unique among the Special Forces in that a Ranger battalion has its own Condor-class assault ships that they share with EarthForce Marines. A typical Ranger operation consists of the massing of a small fleet of Condor assault ships, Hyperion cruisers, and perhaps a Nova in hyperspace. The Ranger companies sit in their transports while the Fleet jumps into real space, swiftly taking control of the target zone. The Condors then swoop into the atmosphere and Rangers pour out of their rear ramps in their paragliders. Vehicles are released in low altitude paradrops, crashing to the ground with retro-rocket assist if necessary, the crews rattled by unharmed. If defenses are light, the Condors will often simply land about the target, as LAP drops can by nature be quite dangerous.
Ranger companies are comparatively lightly armed and depend on surprise and lightning-fast aggression to take their objectives. With luck, they will capture and hold their target for several hours until they either pull out or are reinforced by FROPS or Marine units. Rangers not receiving reinforcements after 23 hours or so are probably in trouble.
A typical Ranger company consists of three assault platoons of 36 men and women, a heavy weapons platoon of 30 men and women, and a headquarters platoon of 14 individuals.
Combat Search and Rescue Regiments (CSR)
Starfury pilots are a highly trained and difficult to replace resource. CSR (pronounced Caesar) operators are tasked with finding them when they are shot down and bringing them home in one piece. This task places the rescue regiment on land, at sea, or even in space. Combat Search and Rescue teams are all evasion an hit-and-run specialists, often racing through enemy forces to find the Fury pilot, then carry him back through those same enemy lines. During the Earth/Minbari War, they began performing this mission for other Special Operations units, so much so that other units call them "Mothers.' More than one Special Assault Service patrol, shot to pieces on an alien world, has had a CSR team fight through the enemy to patch them up and lead them to safety. A Combat Search and Rescue operator with a Special Operations Command rescue ribbon will never have to pay for a drink at a SpecOps watering hole!
A typical CST team consists of seven operators – one officer and six enlisted personnel. These six enlisted are all trained combat medics, although usually one is trained as a combat rescue surgeon. The rest are a mix of scouts, assaulters, and one to two heavy weapons specialists.
Forward Air and Space Combat Control Regiments (FASCC)
FASCCs are atypical of Special Operations units as they rarely operate as a distinct team. Rather, many if not most teams from the other units have one or two Forward Air and Space Combat Control regiments attached to them for a mission or even a long-term assignment. The reason is simple, Special Operations units are small – very small. Hence, when the spoo hits the fan, calling in a flight of Thunderbolts often means the difference between life and death. That's what FASCCs do. They are not the troops popping out of the bushes firing their PPG rifles, but instead are the ones hidden in those same bushes calling a strafing run down upon the enemy.
Prior to the Earth Minbari war, FASCCs were often ridiculed and looked down upon. That changed when, as a result of some spectacularly unsuccessful fire missions, they started being attached to other units. For some reason, having a flight of Starfuries coming out of nowhere to smash the teeming enemy units encircling your position changed some minds. Now it is a rare unit that goes into the field without requesting a FASCC. The Rangers in particular have come to depend on them to get the relieving troops into their position before they are overrun.
Special Air Wings (SAWs)
Being a commando is great. Excitement, adventure, and combat pay abound. Of course, you also risk certain death on missions that no sane being would contemplate. You also walk. A lot.
That's where the Special Air Wings come into play. These are the highly trained pilots that laugh at ordinary Fury jocks. A typical SAW response might go like this: 'You want us to fly through thick Centauri air defenses to deposit a squad of Special Assault Service personnel, then come back through that area an hour later to land on the Emperor's palace courtyard? Sure, no problem! Which flagstone do you want us to land on?'
Simply put, the SAWs pride themselves on delivering Special Operations personnel anywhere at any time, no matter the danger. They can also get them out at the end, and support them during their actions. Flying in Valkyrie gunships and Frigga transports, they will go nearly anywhere if the mission calls for it.
Alpha Unit
Rumors abound of this unit, which is the Psi Corps equivalent to the Special Assault Service. Before the Earth/Minbari War, Alpha Unit didn't exist. Telepaths were assigned to SpecOps units as needed. They proved invaluable for recon teams, and several close personal relationships developed between Razvedchiks and P5 to P10 level telepaths. Some say that this is what caused the eventual problems. Telepaths working closely with mundanes and forming friendships was not in the best interests of the Psi Corps, after all. So, at the conclusion of the conflict, teeps were pulled from Special Forces units and rarely assigned there again. However, telepathic special operatives are still too valuable to ignore, so something must come into play to replace them. References surface from time to time of an 'Alpha Unit' that seems to fit the bill. Organization is sketchy, but it seems reasonable to assume that they are primarily reconnaissance since Psi Corps is unlikely to risk highly trained telepaths in direct action. They are often linked with the 'Black Omega' fighter squadrons occasionally rumored to be in Psi Corps service.
Blue Berets
The Blue Berets are another suspected unit. Supposedly modeled closely after the Special Assault Service, no one is quite sure whom the Blue Berets report to. However, they are rumored to have a large number of unregistered telepaths in their ranks. It seems unlikely, but there must be a need for telepaths outside of Psi Corps control. Whether the Psi Corps is aware of Blue Beret actions or if the telepaths are rogues who have found a home elsewhere in EarthForce remains to be seen.
Special Action Teams (SATs)
Civilian intelligence services occasionally have need of more direct action. Generally, members of the Special Operations Command are temporarily assigned to an ad hoc unit to perform a mission and then head back home. However, there is also apparently a need for a small cadre of experienced operators, and the Special Action Teams fulfill this role. Made up mostly of former Special Operations Command members, they are structured similarly to the Special Assault Service. Beyond that, little is known of these mysterious organizations.
Counter-Terrorism/Hostage Rescue Regiment (CTHR)
Terrorism has been a part of the Earth Alliance since its founding. CTHR (pronounced cother) is the oldest of the EarthForce special operations units, and the cooperation required for its founding led to the formation of the Earth Alliance Special Operations Command.
A Counter Terrorism/Hostage Rescue team is a tight unit of nine operators. Somewhat atypically, there is one specific commanding officer, but often several members of the team are officers as well. This is because most members are already experienced operators from other Special Operations Command units. It is very rare for someone to make the team without having served in another Special Operations unit.
CTHR operators have only two jobs – capturing or killing known terrorists and rescuing hostages. They often work with other units who support them with intelligence or extra muscle. However, CTHR regiments are the unit that actually comes flowing into the room. These men and women are a cut above even the elite Special Operations Command operator, with better marksmanship, higher strength, but lower endurance. Their missions take days or weeks to plan and minutes to execute. A typical CTHR regiment has six teams, four of which are skilled in ground operations, one in water-borne, and one which combines elements of both types. The latter is the command squad, and is to the rest of the regiment as those teams are to Special Operations Command.
Counter Terrorism squads are extremely important to the Earth Alliance and have the highest level of support in every walk of life. Whatever these teams want, they get. They are the most highly trained of all the SpecOps organizations, since running into a room filled with terrorists clutching hostages to themselves demand the best operators in existence.