Intelligencees Correlation to Special Operationns Mission Success from WWII to Present

Abstract

Missions conducted by Special Operations have historically resulted in both stunning successes as well as major failures. During World War Two (WWII), German, Italian, British and American Special Operations Forces (SOF) experienced both phenomenally successful missions and some equally spectacular failures. Since that time, SOF missions have grown in complexity and prominence in supporting both military and diplomatic endeavors. Operation Eagle Claw’s tragic outcome in 1980 was both a political and military embarrassment to the United States and hampered any future rescue of the American hostages taken by Iran. Conversely, the death of Osama Bin Laden was widely regarded as one of the great SOF successes of the 21st century. Though all Special Operations (SO) missions share audaciousness as a common characteristic, the corresponding “high-risk, high-reward” nature of SO requires a careful analysis of any factor that may strongly correlate to mission success or failure. Historically, no other element of SO mission success has been as important as the intelligence used when planning SO missions. The following article will research several case studies in SOF history in order to analyze the intelligence and planning techniques that were closely correlated to mission success.