Special Operations Branch Explained

Superseding1:	United States Special Operations Command
Superseding2:	United States Army Special Forces
Superseding3:	Delta Force
Superseding4:	United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command
Superseding5:	Special Activities Center
Headquarters:	Washington, D.C.
Chief1 Name:	Millard Preston Goodfellow
Chief1 Position:	Chief
Parent Department:	Deputy Director Strategic Services Operations
Parent Agency:	Office of Strategic Services

The Special Operations Branch (SO) was a branch of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II that "pioneered" many of the unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency (COIN), and foreign internal defense tactics and techniques used by today's US Military Special Operations Forces (SOF).^{[1] [2]} Special Operations was the American equivalent of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) of the United Kingdom.^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

The Chief of SO, Millard Preston Goodfellow, reported to the deputy director of Strategic Services Operations.^[7]

In the Special Operations Field Manual, OSS Director William Donovan writes;

"The mission of the Special Operations Branch is to carry out that part of the OSS mission which can be accomplished by certain physical subversive methods as contrasted with the operations of the Morale Operations, the Operational Groups, and the Maritime Unit. The primary objective of the Special Operations Branch is the destruction of enemy personnel, materiel, and installations." ^[8]

Special Operations operators and agents trained first at Camp X, then at Camp David, and several National Park Service properties around the Washington, D.C. area.^[9]

The concept of OSS Operational Groups (OG) began as Special Operations units within SO Field Bases, but eventually outgrew the SO, where the newly established Operational Group Command was granted Branch status.

Responsibilities

^[10]

• Sabotage
  • Types of Sabotage
    • Industrial Sabotage
    • Military Sabotage
    • Political and Public Sabotage
  • Methods of Sabotage
    • Sabotage applied to individuals
    • Sabotage by destruction
    • Sabotage by Resistance
    • Coup de Main Projects
    • Defense Missions
• Direct contact with and support of underground resistance groups.
• Conduct of special operations not assigned to other governmental agencies and not under direct control of theater or area commanders.
• Organization, equipment, and training of such individuals or organizations as may be required for operations not assigned to other governmental agencies.

Divisions

Headquarters

Special Operations was headquartered at the E Street Complex in Washington, D.C.

Field Base Sections ^{[11] [12]}

• London
• Burma^[13]
• Yugoslavia
• France
• Italy
• Norway
• JEDBURGH

References

1. Web site: Special Operations . 2024-06-26 . www.soc.mil.
2. Web site: Balestrieri . Steve . 2017-05-10 . How the OSS Shaped Special Operations Forces and CIA of Today . 2024-06-26 . SpecialOperations.com . en-US.
3. Web site: University Library Microform: OSS/London: Special Operations Branch and Secret Intelligence Branch War Diaries . 2024-06-26 . www.albany.edu.
4. Web site: Fake News for the Resistance . 2024-06-26 . www.usmcu.edu.
5. Web site: https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=44UOE_INST:44UOE_VU2&search_scope=UoE&tab=Everything&docid=alma9920787533502466&lang=en&context=L&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&query=sub,exact,World%20War,%201939-1945%20--%20Secret%20service%20--%20Great%20Britain . 2024-06-26 . discovered.ed.ac.uk . en.
6. Web site: 2021-09-21 . OSS Agents: Kill or be Killed . 2024-06-26 . Warfare History Network . en-US.
7. Web site: HyperWar: Office of Strategic Servcices (OSS) Organization and Functions . 2024-06-26 . www.ibiblio.org.
8. Web site: Donovan . Willian J. . Special Operations Field Manual - Strategic Services .
9. Book: Whiteclay, John Chambers II . Training for War and Espionage: Office of Strategic Services Training During World War II . Studies in Intelligence . 2010 . Vol. 54, No. 2 . Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 20505.
10. Web site: Donovan . Willian J. . Special Operations Field Manual Version 4 .
11. Web site: United States. Office of Strategic Services. Special Operations Branch. Western Europe Section reports . 2024-06-26 . oac.cdlib.org.
12. Web site: https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/fulldisplay?&context=L&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&search_scope=UTL&tab=LibraryCatalog&docid=alma991106567667106196 . 2024-06-26 . librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca . en.
13. Web site: John Vanden Berg Collection . 2024-06-26 . Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.