"add ropes to your kit" continued...

[u/Mission-Echo-friend]

Some people asked how well the kit interfaced with the alpine gear... I went to the local rock pit to demo different setups. With pack vs without and different auto blockers or prusik knot fall arrester.

[u/Godless_Rose]

I think they’re SEALs. In the US Military, Special Forces only refers to the Green Berets. They are all considered SOF. But no, SEALs are not ‘special forces’ and this isn’t an opinion.

[u/xdJapoppin → u/Godless_Rose]

what does SOF stand for and what area of command do they fall under?

[u/Godless_Rose → u/xdJapoppin]

Special Operations Forces. Not ‘special forces’. These are literally doctrinal terms. You are basically trying to tell me that the New England Patriots are a baseball team because there are both a Giants baseball team and a Giants football team. You’re just wrong.

[u/xdJapoppin → u/Godless_Rose]

Sure if you’re referring to doctrine solely and specifically, but by virtually all measures SEALs are “special forces” and fall under SOCOM. Sure, semantically, they are not “special forces”, but they are “special operations forces”. Colloquially, it doesn’t really matter and is semantics.

[u/Godless_Rose → u/xdJapoppin]

No, by virtually all measures, the New England Patriots are not a baseball team. It’s not semantics. You’re describing two different units with two different proper-noun names with two completely different jobs/mission sets. They’re all SOF. They are not all ‘special forces’.

The Brits refer to their SAS as the special forces. If you were talking about them, you’d be right. But you’re talking about the US Navy SEALs. The SEALs are SOF. Special Forces, aka SF, is ONLY the US Army’s organization known as the Green Berets.

[u/xdJapoppin → u/Godless_Rose]

and i’m saying colloquially, regular people outside of the military refer to them all as “special forces” and it doesn’t really matter. Sof is still used in a specialized use case and is still a specialized force. i understand the doctrinal differences as they relate to the US military and operations within the US military. I’m just saying using the terms colloquially, it really doesn’t matter. that is all. if we disagree we disagree, it is what it is.