Special operations in the context of "United States Marine Corps"

The Gleiwitz incident (German: Überfall auf den Sender Gleiwitz; Polish: prowokacja gliwicka) was a false flag attack on the radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz (then Germany and now Gliwice, Poland) staged by Nazi Germany on the night of 31 August 1939. Along with some two dozen similar incidents, the attack was manufactured by Germany as a casus belli to justify the invasion of Poland. Prior to the invasion, Adolf Hitler gave a radio address condemning the acts and announcing German plans to attack Poland, which began the next morning. Despite the German government using the attack as a justification to go to war with Poland, the Gleiwitz assailants were not Polish but were German SS officers wearing Polish uniforms.

During his declaration of war, Hitler did not mention the Gleiwitz incident but grouped all provocations staged by the SS as an alleged "Polish assault" on Germany. The Gleiwitz incident is the best-known action of Operation Himmler, a series of special operations undertaken by the Schutzstaffel (SS) to serve German propaganda at the outbreak of war. The operation was intended to create the appearance of a Polish aggression against Germany to justify the invasion of Poland. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the European theatre of World War II had begun. Manufactured evidence for the Gleiwitz attack by the SS was provided by the undercover German SS officer Alfred Naujocks in 1945.

As of 2025, the United States Department of Defense operated 11 unified combatant command, also referred to as a combatant command (CCMD). These are joint military commands composed of units from two or more service branches, and conduct continuing missions. Each CCMD is the highest echelon of military commands, in order to optimize command and control of all forces, regardless of branch of service, during peace or war. CCMDs are organized either on a geographical basis (known as an "area of responsibility", AOR) or on a functional basis, e.g., special operations, force projection, transport, and cybersecurity. Currently, seven CCMDs are geographical, and four are functional. CCMDs have specific badges denoting their affiliation.

The Unified Command Plan (UCP) establishes the missions, command responsibilities, and geographic areas of responsibility of the CCMDs. Each time the UCP is updated, the organizations are reviewed for efficiency, efficacy, and alignment with national policy.

The Tactical Mobilisation Group (TMG, Turkish: Seferberlik Taktik Kurulu) was the special operations unit of the Turkish Army. It was founded in 1952 as part of NATO's efforts to establish a Counter-Guerrilla force in Turkey as the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio. It was disbanded in 1965, with special operations taken over by the new Special Warfare Department (Turkish: Özel Harp Dairesi).

In the 2000s it was revealed that the 1955 Istanbul pogrom was engineered by the TMG. Turkish Land Forces General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu, the right-hand man of General Kemal Yamak who organised the Counter-Guerrilla through the Tactical Mobilization Group, proudly reminisced about his involvement in the riots, calling the TMG "a magnificent organization".

Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment".

Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during World War II, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare.

A carbine (/ˈkɑːrbiːn/ KAR-been or /ˈkɑːrbaɪn/ KAR-byn) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.

The smaller size and lighter weight of carbines make them easier to handle. They are typically issued to high-mobility troops such as special operations soldiers and paratroopers, as well as to mounted, artillery, logistics, or other non-infantry personnel whose roles do not require full-sized rifles, although there is a growing tendency for carbines to be issued to front-line soldiers to offset the increasing weight of other issued equipment. An example of this is the M4 carbine, the standard issue carbine of the United States Armed Forces.

The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a company strength sub-unit to the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG), landing craft crews, and the Naval Service's military bands. The Royal Marines trace their origins back to the formation of the "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" on 28 October 1664, and the first Royal Marines Commando unit was formed at Deal in Kent on 14 February 1942 and designated "The Royal Marine Commando".

The Royal Marines have seen action across many conflicts but do not have battle honours as such, but rather the "Great Globe itself" was chosen in 1827 by King George IV in their place to recognise the Marines' service and successes in multiple engagements in every quarter of the world. Today it consists of the United Kingdom Commando Force, the Royal Marines Band Service, the Commando Training Centre and four Reserve Units.