Relentless Strike

Workup – The phrase SEALs use for a training cycle, especially one that precedes a deployment.

AFO – Advance force operations, the name given to low-visibility missions conducted by JSOC operators to prepare for possible future combat operations. The concept was pioneered by Delta’s Operational Support Troop, before becoming the name of a cell on the JSOC staff. AFO missions are sometimes described as “operational preparation of the battlefi

Aztec squadron – The Delta Force squadron on call for no-notice deployments. Responsibility to be the Aztec squadron rotated between Delta’s assault squadrons.

6 – The attack, or gunship, version of the two-pilot Little Bird helicopter used exclusively by 1st Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Air assault – A combat mission in which infantry or special operations forces are delivered to the target by helicopter.

On July 1, 2002, the defense secretary sent a memo to Feith, titled “Manhunts.” “How do we organize the Department of Defense for manhunts?” the memo asked. “We are obviously not well organized at the present time.” The memo reflected a critical moment for Rumsfeld and JSOC, according to Andrews. “Once he fastened on the manhunt thing, he looked at

In the early hours of July 3, 2014, two Black Hawks full of Delta operators crossed the border from Jordan into Syria, flying fast across the desert. Their destination was a compound outside the town of Raqqa, on the north bank of the Euphrates in north-central Syria. It was there, U.S. intelligence analysts believed, that a group calling itself th

Wescam ball – A gyro-stabilized camera in a spherical mounting fixed to the underside of an aircraft, the Wescam ball tracked targets and sent live video back to the JOC. Used primarily by Delta’s Echo Squadron

Unconventional warfare – The use of proxy forces to foment rebellion against an enemy state. In the U.S. military, this is a primary mission of Special Forces