US Special Forces Use “Unique” Training Method

US Special Forces Use “Unique” Training Method

special forces

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The U.S. Special Operations Command operates a school to teach courses that are germane to special operators. The self-professed mission of Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) is “to prepare Special Operations Forces (SOF) to shape the future strategic environment by providing specialized joint professional military education.”

To that end, JSOU offers courses like “Strategic Utility of Special Operations” and “Covert Action and SOF Sensitive Activities.” It also offers a course that is called “Introduction to Special Operations Forces.”

However, theintercept.com criticizes the anachronistic video games used for quizzes during training courses,

The last course’s goal, Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw told theintercept.com, is “to educate the student about the core activities, primary functions, organizations, capabilities, and doctrinal employment of U.S. Special Operations forces along with key concepts and terms.” An online course, it runs continuously and, says McGraw, is geared toward those “who have been identified to serve on a joint special operations staff, staff members at U.S. Special Operations Command and its subordinate commands.”

The course offers five interactive lessons that guide the student through the basics of special ops. The course then moves to a more advanced curriculum with lessons on everything from the composition of SOF to the concept of “Special Operations Forces Peculiar” (their unusual gear). The course is built and based on video-game like quizzes in order to test the pupil.

In many ways, however, the introductory course is more shadowy than the Special Operations forces themselves. We know a great deal about where these forces are deployed around the world (138 nations in 2016), and where they’ve been involved in firefights this year (Somalia, for example), and where they train and advise allies and proxies (like Syria).

However, it’s a mystery who dreamed up the idea of using game show knockoffs to instruct America’s elite warriors, writes The Intercept.