We hope you enjoy our video on the three different tiers of units in the United States Military! As always, if you learned something from this video, make sure to give us a like, and subscribe if you're new! We will see you next week with another video. Have a great weekend everyone!
I would like to ask you to start making distinctions between career fields and units. There are no career fields (rates, AFSCs, MOS) that are tiered. Also, I would like you to understand and then explain to others that “tiers” aren’t an actual thing that is defined in the US government. The term is used by operators themselves simply to refer to different types of units. They understand that the distinctions are actually simply unit-specific and that a “tier” isn’t really a thing. Therefore, your understanding is inaccurate. “Tier 3” isn’t used as a term at all. ANY unit that is less than a “Tier 2” one is a conventional warfare unit, regardless of their operational or readiness capability.
This is so true. You could always tell "who is what" by looking at what's attached to their rhino mount and how many extra attachments they had on their weapon.
I have a buddy who I have known for over 20 years who is a Tier 1 Operative. He is very intelligent, humble, sharp-minded, and does not talk about his military experiences. He has been in the military for almost 16 years and the only time that he has talked about it is after he graduated from bootcamp in 2007. He never boasts. When you know that you are the baddest dude on the block, there is no reason to bring attention to yourself. The guys who talk about their military experiences and how many people they killed in combat are full of shit.
A gangster does not need to selfpromote. I have met several tier 1,2 and 3 operators. I live by Ft Bragg, was stationed there 20 years ago and was part of the 82nd. Tier 1 and 2 operators cannot talk about missions or training due to the fact they are most of the time classified, even some of their training and gear they use would fall under the cannot share with others who are outside of the need to know category. The person who is bragging is the person who is not a tier 1 or 2 operator. Most 1,and 2 operators are highly skilled and have seen more combat and deploy several times a year. The video is 100% correct, tier 1 and 2 are basically the same skill level, with tier 1 being funded better, they have the highest tech on the battle field with the best support of any asset we have.
I went from regular Marine infantry up. I will never ever say I am anything more than a Marine. Ever. Every unit serves its own purpose and I respect all of them.
Legally, they aren’t allowed to talk about their missions. My brother did spec ops for 20 years. He was in spec ops during 9/11 and never was allowed to reveal his current location (even to my parents).
I've had it explained that, in terms of funds, tier one is a "choose anything that you think works best for you" and tier two is a more general "pick the really good stuff for everyone" type of kit selection.
I've worked with guys from "The Unit" aka Delta Force, when i was a ranger. Man, those guys are the epitome of elite and professional. They get shit done and are great guys to be around. Pretty good video, too, good job.
@ Nunja Argo I agree with you, but from my own experience (TACP/JTAC) this pretty much goes for all these units and supporting units. Including the counterparts from many of our allies (based on the few times I worked with them during my deployments, and during my time at NATO JFC at the end of my career). Personally I often find these comparisons between the men who serve in these units to be silly, considering what we all had to do to make into any of these units.
My cousin was an army ranger who moved into green berets. He had worked with delta from time to time, when I asked him about them. He said the difference as far as combat ability goes, what separates them is that they have mastered the basics.
@@pulëeskuqurdheshalqi sir you should probably pick up a book. Why don’t you start with black hawk down. Prime example of Rangers and Delta together. Also people do go from rangers to green beret. It’s extra training for a few months.
@@pulëeskuqurdheshalqi First of all you just admitted that delta and rangers work together. Which you told me I was lying about. Idk what to tell you man. He served in rangers for years and later moved to Green Beret And served with them for several more years. Dude was in the army for like 27 years and earned a bronze star. He retired a major in his 50’s and now has to wear hearing aids because his ears are blown out and had to have back surgery. Sorry but I’m gonna have to trust the man I know and not the stranger on the internet.
@@RiderZer0 a bronze star is the most basic award for an officer, is like a participation trophy, that's 1. 2. I admitted that Rangers do work with delta, but your writing has it to make it believe that SF works with Delta which never happens for multiple reasons but a few are SF are jealous of delta and 2 is that SF is not part of JSOC! 3. You are way out of your depth here, your cousin was a Ranger and SF and an officer? Ummmm no, if he was a Ranger as an officer by the time he was done there as a junior officer he had too much rank to go into the Q course, if he was a Ranger and then went green to gold and then attended the Q course that might as well have been a hinder in his career which doesn't make sense. Rangers either stay Rangers for as long as they are RFS back to the normal Army which then maybe if was and stayed enlisted they'll go the Q course route since its easier than staying a Ranger, that I believe.
But 27 years, 2 SOF units and he got was a bronze star? Anyone here that served more than a month will tell you your cousin has been lying to you. As a Ranger everyone has seen combat and Bronze star with V decice, ARCOM eith V device, sliver stars and Purple Hearts are very common, but a plain old bronze star? With 27 years in 2 SOF units? And the whole rank issue? I'll take 💩 that never happen for $100 scrub!
We had a PFC in our platoon that went to PRC & got peered out then went to Special Forces qualification selection & passed the selection process for Special Forces. He got promoted to E5 in 3 months after passing his selection process now has training for the next 2 years
Had a similar dude (e-4) come back all chill after passing selection and his whole chain of command (like battalion level) got told to leave him alone until he leaves for the actual training.
As a plank owner with TF158th, 159th and TF160, 160th SOAG and later 160th SOAR, I can say honestly that being a tier 2 soldier was never something others used to degrade us. In fact, the opposite was true. We were all adult enough to understand the each of us had a vital role to play and it showed. I was never expected to hop out of my Chinook and go full Rambo on the badguys, but hanging out with and training with the best of the best, I always knew I stood a 50/50 chance of doing it right. Being a Busdriver to the Stars was something I would NEVER change. NSDQ
You need them and they need you as a civilian I think its stupid to clown on each other because you're all one team including the cooks. I played sports my entire life and went to college instead of the military so thats my perspective
This reminds me, go back and rewatch GI Jane. When they first get to BUDs the instructor says something like, "You've all come here from the best of the best. SEALs, intelligence, Army Delta Force". I had to rewind, wait what did he say? I was laughing so hard I turned it off
had to go watch that again, and had a good laugh. This movie was so bad and full of fallacies (making them eat out of trash cans, any book on BUD/S said they ate 4 times a day at the chow hall and as much as they wanted) and them all being "proven operators." already.
I was a tier 3 guy (navy riverine) and the majority of my job was security. We did occassionally get the chance to train with some seal teams, which was cool. But since our job was primarily anti-piracy, we usually did mostly water-born training with them
Jocko talked about the Navy’s hand in ops in Iraq and how they loved the Army boys working with them because they were “dogs that were locked up for 6 weeks” 😂🔥
I love your emphasis that support people are no less important than operators. I spend 6 years in logistics with The Old Guard. I've met so many combat vets that insist that I shouldn't be considered a veteran because I wasn't a grunt and I never got deployed. It's infuriating, humiliating and demoralizing.
people often neglect the capability of individual soldiers, and compare equipment and weapons blindly. Give a Delta guy a broken glass, he can autopsy you before you realise what happened; give an untrained insurgent a proper marksman rifle, he can't shoot a shit. experience and training do make you exponentially stronger.
I’ve been saying this to a lot of my enlisted peers in that the Military should focused in training serviceman fighting capabilities to cope rather than heavily relying on gimmicky tech equipment.
Give the operator 10 minutes to instruct the insurgent on the use of his marksman rifle and he would be able to shoot a shit. The operator IS the weapon; the weapons he uses are just the tools of his trade.
I think this covers it pretty well. Though I would say all the tiers really overlap. The nightstalkers are really the air support and air transport for all the tiers. I would say generally speaking the mission set of the tiers get more specific the higher you go. For instance Delta, Seal Team 6, and CIA special group, run more of your black ops missions, stuff you will never see on the news unless somethings goes terribly wrong, and probably never even then. Your tier 3 units are more of your expeditionary units and divisions. 82nd, 101st, 3rd ID to name a few. I am also glad you mentioned the support guys. What most people don't know if you are not an operator or infantrymen you are support. Everyone supports the Infantry. Air Cav, Artillery, Signal, Maintenance, Medical, HR, and every other corps or branch.
I didn't answer shit. lol. I was an army FO who got placed in a COLT because that's what I was suited to do. Didn't even know I was considered Tier 3 until I went to enlist in Marines. Recruiter got a classified block on my DOD number. He then explained the difference between the military and SOF. Apparently I was considered special operations support. I just did my job honestly. Cool to know though. I mean I DID work with marine scout snipers and such. But that was normal for me.
The selection process for Marine Recon is inarguably more extensive and intense than any of the other "tier 3" units. It's the only "tier 3" unit that has operational abilities on par with tier 2 units, to include combat dive and freefall insertion. Recon school has about a 60 percent attrition rate (of Marines who already are above average). The other tier 3 units don't even have a selection school aside from airborne and AIT.
Not only that, but airborne is nowhere near as hard as it used tobe. I guess the closest thing you could get to Marine Recon/ Force Recon in terms of coolness AND difficulty would be airborne scouts (not Cav Scouts, I mean the grunts that are in the airborne battalion scout platoons), and even then its not as hard or as capable as Marine Recon.
@@SchoolyB I know dude, there was a few instances where Scout/ Sniper trained Force Recon Marines were on the MEU getting ready to takedown a pirate ship, and right before they went in they were called off for the SEALs to go in instead. It's bullshit, I wish the SEALs would go back to being UDT.
@@bdlit7165 how do you figure? The "tiers" aren't even an official thing but i don't get what type of criteria sets them back that far. Both their selection process, funding, and where they fall in the order of battle is far beyond the named tier 3 units in this video...
I think it's important to note on the support roles; in my experience, it's not entirely uncommon for something like USAF general communications (telecom, satcom, radio, etc.) personnel to find themselves attached to t2/3 marines, army, or contracted civilians. Particularly towards the tail ends of OIF/OEF, we were getting attached to the most seemingly random units at SOF/SOC and FOBs that were well outside of our standard training. We'd get sent to like 6 mos or more of additional training just for those expeditionary missions, solely to assist in communications.
Wasn't it after a bunch of SOF operators died due to bad weather information that the DoD started mandating that many SOF missions include meteorologists trained to complement, not get in the way of, those SOF missions?
@@davidhoffman1278 I'm not familiar with that specific situation, but it sounds reasonable. What I did notice is that, over time, Joint Operations became more prominent in the SOF realm with other branches for support. The USAF just generally has longer, more extensive training in support roles that complement spec ops (including meteorology), so we started getting attached to those missions. In my opinion, it's just more economical to train a USAF satcom person to exist in the SOF ecosystem for a year than it is to sideline a SOF operator to learn satcom to the degree that it would be valuable for that period.
I was tier 0 in a basic marine infantry unit. Never sleeping on deployments always post, patrol, fill sandbags, 3 hours sleep repeat. Not glamorous but a shit load of work and always in combat.
You can go directly thru the selection process for Army tier 1 formally known as Delta an so on from tier 3 but just because u pass the selection process doesn't mean you will be selected in the end, people that pass selection process for Green Berets an Delta still get sent back to their regular units
I love the water. I am 19 in college and wanted to join the navy and go to BUD/S but I didnt, because I have doubts on whether or not I could make it. It sounds very difficult.
It is very difficult. But if you truly want it and you work really hard for it. And your will outweighs your fear and doubt. You have a solid chance. No one can truly guarantee if anyone gets through before they have gone through it. But there is only one way to find out. If you truly desire it then you should go for it and work hard for it no matter what. Good luck with college and what you will do after.
You gotta want it more than anything on Earth, and be willing to die to make it through the training. Don’t join the navy if you aren’t 100% all in on getting through Bud/s or you’ll fail, and get stuck on a ship standing 12 hour watches and getting micro managed 24/7
First to those on here who have served, thank you. My father was Airborne 68-70, my mother a Corpsman in the AF 65-70. I am only a former non contracted cadet 91-92 and a current Auxiliarist CG Auxiliary. I remember watching plenty military movies with a friend of min who was 11 M in the Army, he would shake his head a number of times, and though I was as trained couldn't figure what wasn't correct, but knew something wasn't right in a few of them. I grew up respecting all who wore the uniform and continue to do so. I liked this video since I have only heard of the tier system and didn't fully understand. Thank you General Discharge.
Tier 1 has the highest funding. They’re the best of the best. Delta, Devgru, RRC, 24th STS, and ISA. Tier 2 are regular SOF forces under control of JSOC and also have high funding. 75th Rangers, Seals, Green Berets, 160th SOAR, Marsoc, etc. Tier 3 is made up of large division sized components and seem to be given large scale operations, they seem to be a step above standard infantry, and specialize in certain areas. For example the 10th Infantry specialize in being Light Infantry capable of working with little equipment and mountainous terrain. Also they may have additional training that standard Infantry won’t have like Mountain or airborne training. 10th Mountain Division, Force Recon Companies, 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne, etc
When I was in the 2nd ID in Korea back in the late 80's we had an 11B staff sergeant get recruited by Delta. He went to selection and never returned to the unit so I assume he was successful.
Tier 1,2,3 is also how narrow focus their missions usually are when things are busy. Tier 1 will probably do Kill/Capture, Tier 2 will do some Kill/Capture, some Spec Ops patrol. Tier 3 will usually be a security force. Outside of the US operators will just be multipurpose spec ops. I know at one stage DEVGRU was just doing missions against guys in suicide vests who held hostages while regular SEALS were clearing out support elements.
Thanks for the support & prayers towards Us I really appreciate and it really goes a long way & I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions towards us
Brother, the tier system is about reaction time to time on target and mission set. Mission set in several no fail situations require highly specialized training which cost money. So money is not wagging the dog, the mission sets shake the money tree in order to make the unit FMC.
I served with a guy back in the 70s he was a corporal in Canadian Infantry. I meet him again almost 30 yrs later he is a Major and among other things had gone off and trained with the Green Berets. He did 35 yrs in the Infantry.
It's not super rare for Delta to pull guys from light infantry units, they are there at every selection. You can start you're career in a Tier 2 unit with a Ranger or SF contract you may not make it but you can go there directly you do not need deployments in the regular under your belt. Plenty of people will do time with the Rangers then end up back in a conventional unit, it is a hard lifestyle and officers have to prove it everyday. Also Rangers have just about every MOS. Green Berets are not the most likely to be Delta , it's heavily Ranger.
I was just a young secfo in the airforce amd I can personally vouch for the pjs brothers being the best of the best of the best of the absolute best. Squared away, extremely disciplined, straight bad asses. 🔥
Different mission spaces have different requirements. All need support from each other based on threat, and that’s saying too much. This video is a basic layout of the structure and how it works. Well done!
Great video. And I agree. The only guy that referred to our unit as Tier 2 was mocked mercilessly. And rightfully so. It’s never used. Tier 1 was never even used as a term in my time in to refer to any of those units.
It’s not just a difference of missions and equipment though. For example, the difference between a seal team 6 guy and the other seal teams is actually fairly dramatic. They go through a series of interviews, tests, and training that sharply hone the skills of the seals who qualified to enter green team training or devgru training. It’s not really a gray area it’s black and white. Not to be confused with the white grey and black colors used in this videos description.
My stepdad used to be super nice but he came back 1 time and just changed so much then he went back again and he's been completely different ever since
The patch you represent in tier 1 as Delta or CAG is the Nightstalker patch. I know.. I have 2. Good video.. I stand corrected. I was unaware they changed the 160th unit patch. I prefer mine! Lol. Again great video. I will send this link whenever people ask me to explain JSOC to them.
Wow. Never even heard of this channel. Then RUclips plops you in my recommendations and I've liked, subscribed, and now commented. I now feel like I've made Tier 37! (Or was that Pier 37. I flunked Land Nav in basic.)
Thank you for acknowledging the Support Personnel. Their Mission no less Important, their Sacrifice no less Great. Thank you for not only Honoring One but Honoring All. Very Respectfully, Nickolas A. Jones ITC(EXW/SW) USN Retired "Go Hard... Be Humble..."
I was a combat Engineer, with a security clearance, because I worked in s2 , after I went to a regular line company my clearance followed me. When everyone else was off duty, not me I started going TDY as an attachment with tier 2 units on a regular basis. At the time I couldn't exsplain it other than I was good at my job and that clearance. I understand what happened to me much better now.
LOL, I got assigned to S2 after a training accident, which ultimately led me to permanent duty in a line unit. KInd of hard coming from where I was to where I went, but you are right about the clearance. I shuttled classified material to Seoul on an overland every day, sometimes at 3 in the morning, depending on if G2 needed it immediately. In the end, I never regretted my time as a 12B. Turned out to be the best career choice for me, given the circumstances.
In a Nutshell, What separates them is the amount of tubes they have, the more tube lookin equipment, the more operator you are. e.g GPNVG, suppressors, Drager diving gear, you get the picture...
Yes, but I've never heard anyone call us that. We definitely are more advanced fighters but it mostly just comes down to why these tier 3 units exist. Airborne units train to insert behind enemy lines, like shock troopers. Normal infantry units are taught to fight normal Frontlines. Though, most of the time from what I've seen there's not too much of a difference for the most part.
@@DarkHorseParatrooper It's not just your mission. It's your readiness timelines. I was a Marine, so obviously I don't know EVERYTHING about the 82nd, but from what I do know, you guys have to be on-call and ready to go within 18 hours if you're on the Immediate Response Force rotation. Also. I would say that it's fair to factor in the fact that airborne school helps you stand out from the "leg" Army grunts, as well as the fact that airborne unit culture does certain things like prefer that you have a Ranger tab and EIB a tad bit more than a leg Army unit would prefer it. I'd say all those things combine to put you guys at a higher place than the rest of the conventional army. In other words, you guys are the best of the conventional Army. Maybe one day the 10th Mountain will actually become a mountain unit again, and you guys will have some competition, but until then, you guys have the top spot.
Former 82nd ABN person here. We regularly trained with Rangers and sometimes SEAL teams as direct support to them on certain missions. We also trained with Marine Recon at times. Our missions were usually behind enemy lines with little to no support from main forces. We carried everything with us to survive for at least 2 days. We had our own Apache's, Blackhawks, armor, transport, medical and artillery. The 82nd is a complete force. Pope AFB provided the ride to missions anywhere in the world, usually within 18hrs, and after that we were on our own. We rotated through readiness (RDF). Our mission was "Anywhere in the world in 18 hours." Besides airborne and combat training, we also received hostage, rescue, riot, hand-to-hand, POW, and other more specialized training. Delta Force was located near my unit and recruited a few of our NCO's.
There's plenty of people in tier 3 capable of joining tier 1. But you will get more frequent deployments and away from home. And the tier It is all about funds. Being in tier 2 or tier 3 doesn't mean you are any less than sf or delta force in terms of fighting capability, even if you are tier 3 you get enough funds to get the best available gear on deployment but they do have more special requirements for tier 1.
This was recommended to me by the google overlords and caught my attention. I've heard references to these tiers throughout my career, but never got a good explanation. How you describe them as a delineation of how things are funded was highly informative. I've wondered why it is so damn easy for xviii airborne corps to get funding for fitness equipment while it is such an incredible chore throughout the rest of FORSCOM. It all makes sense now, all of the other corps don't even make the tier list! Fortunately HQDA seems to have signed on to the idea that expenditures targeting human performance optimization have the potential to provide a return on investment in the form of reduced healthcare burden and improved retention, but I digress. Thanks for the interesting content!
Funding and mission sets. Tier 1 will always be ran by the JSOTF (forward command for SOCOM). The units under JSOTF can change but they are usually the ones we all know (ST6, CAG, Ranger recon, etc). Tier 2 will more than likely comprise of CJSOTF units (5th group, 3rd group, ranger bats non recon, etc). The C in CJSOTF is usually indicative that it is not a tier 1 unit. Combined units are almost always white SOF or Tier 2. Tier 2 are the units that conduct joint raids, training with the host nation and can fill in or support a tier 1 op if needed. The color codes are not formally used anymore though. They use unit designations now.
I noticed that someone commented about how civilians are out shooting SF on the ranges. And that them being SF doesn't make them the end all be all... Well, just because you have served in Special Forces or Special Operational Forces, doesn't mean that you are a better shooter by default. There are many civilians that can out shoot military members. They are really good on ranges and competition shows. But, that still has little meaning overall. Why? Because being a good soldier, sailor etc, means having many skills sets. For example, it is one thing to be a good shot on a range. It is another thing to have the ability to ruck long distances, swim in and with combat gear, rappel, and move into a fire fight as a team with good professional communications and coordination. While civilian shooters are good at what they do, generally; from my experiences - they lack the overall skills needed to conduct a special operation. Unlike the movies, its more then just shooting. I have served in the Army, Air Force and after the military side - law enforcement as a civilian (I was not in law enforcement in the military branches). So I do have some experience when I say that, civilian shooters are good, yet they still are not trained as good in different areas that you need when conducting real world missions. For example, my military experience and training has helped me to be a better officer. I use many other skills and tools more then my weaponry. That makes me a better Forest Ranger vs just being a good shooter on the range.
@@x-calibearusallc It's a thing. Typically for example California Forest law enforcement personnel are heavy armed compared to other state agencies. Several reasons a couple back up is hours away. You are isolated out in the middle of no where. You are dealing with people growing weed who do not want to go to prison/return.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has a SORT team (Special Operations Reaction Team) that I think would be good for this channel. They got some publicity after the riots last year after the DOJ Attorney General confirmed they were there
STS personnel don’t operate as units or teams. They train that way, but they are modular. They are attached to various special ops teams, as the mission requires. STS include Pararescue, Tactical Control, Tactical Air Control Party (specops) and Special Recon (used to be special weather) AFSCs and their support.
@@MexicanBagpiper96 There is, of course. Primarily for training, equipping, funding, and administration. However, their point is to provide very special skills to unconventional warfare, and that’s why these units employ 3-4 different types of operators. STSs, like other Air Force squadrons have their command and support elements and a number of flights, which are all broken down into sections.
I have the highest respect for units like the US 75th Ranger Regiment, the German EGB or the Polish JW AGAT... these rangers have crazy combat experience. Absolute warriors.
Much like how DEVGRU is made up of the best of the SEAL community, the 24th STS is comprised of the best of the best from the PJ, CCT, and SR communities who directly augment with other Tier One Units.
All Pararescue, Tactical Control, Special Recon and TACP are considered AFSPECWAR, and are “tier 2” technically, whatever unit they’re assigned to. There are a few Special Tactics Squadrons, one of them being the 24th. All of them provide war fighters to the special operations community. The 24th has a specific mission to support the top level missions and units, which people often call “Tier 1”. In reality, there is no tier system. It’s a complete urban myth perpetrated by Hollywood.
@@afcgeo882 Yeah, I really wish this whole "Tier 2, Tier 3" nonsense would just die. The old JSOC tier system doesn't exist anymore, and even when it did, it only referenced specific units who were on the short list for specific operations who got all the money shunted to them to fund said operations. As far as I'm concerned it's "Tier One" and "everything else." You're either on the short list or you're not, JSOC doesn't keep tabs on every single unit in the Armed Forces.
There is at least one unit above Tier 1. You know something is up when you get sent to a major joint HQ and find yourself in front of the J2 and J3 and have to accept orders before you can find out why you are there.
Tier 3 units are not conventional units. They are specialized units for very specific missions sets. I was a riverine and we are far from conventional navy. We had more training than conventional units as well doing a very similar job as SWCC unfortunately we were disbanded and merged with another unit. I got out right beforehand. My company was all trained by MARSOC and SEALS In camp legeune.
I'm here because I was Tier 3 and never realized it at the time. Until I went to enlist in the Marines, dude put in my army DOD and got a classified block. He then explained SOF and then the military. I was just like riiigghhtt. I was an FO on a COLT. Which means my leaders were a full bird, chief warrant and a master sergeant. Everyone else FKd off.
Conventional just means you do not fall directly under SOCOM. It does not necessarily have anything to do with skill, exact mission, or training level.
Do you think near the future you can do a video how to join the armored battalion, or Calvary? And explain what it takes to join them, what you do? What you need?
Force Recon Tier 3? Is that because they are Marine Corps division assets instead of being part of SOCOM? Is it just the funding piece? Before MARSOC, Recon was always compared to the tier 2 units featured in this video. No disrespect but the individual abilities of a Force Recon Marine far exceed any of the named Tier 3 groups. There is no comparison.
Force recon is tier 3 not only from the command structure, but the simple size of the force dictates inability for "black" operations. Its built and maintained as a tier 3 for purpose and mission parameters. The larger the force the slower and "louder" it moves.
Its because when MARSOC appeared, they took the best of the best from the force recon and kinda made them the tip of the spear. Its the idea of giving the marsoc raiders the "tier 2" capabilities at the expense of the force recon
While different units certainly have different “levels” of capability, the tiers as they apply to SOF units isn’t related to skill but that units operational distance from SOCOM. Units like CAG/DEVGRU report and take orders directly from SOCOM, making them tier 1. A tier 2 unit, like SF, falls under USASOC which reports to SOCOM, making them “2 tiers” below the overall command HQ. Reason some units appear “better” is the closer they are to command the more funding/resource allocation they receive allowing for more training opportunities/improved equipment/ and the best mission sets.
First GD video I've ever watched. Most content creators wouldn't have bothered mentioning the support troops. Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. I've heard that for every Frontline troop there are 10 support troops. Does anyone know if this is accurate
Combat troops are the minority. Mechanics, health professionals, psyops, intelligence, hospitality, logistics, administration, etc. all count as support which makes up the bulk of the armed forces.
15% of the US Army is Infantry, 3% special operations leaving 83% of the US Army being support. The Army being roughly 485,000 strong it would be closer to 8 support soldiers for every front line combat soldier. During the surge in Iraq that number probably was 10, possible higher. I can say this, knowing you have support when you’re outside the wire is quite calming and we couldn’t do our jobs without all the support elements.
The Marines chose not to lend out their best fighters to the joint fight at JSOC as they would lose operational control of them. Since the Marines already believe they’re special, they chose to keep their elite just for themselves.
@Slenda Man For SOCOM? Yes. The Raiders are a spec ops force, but not a JSOC one. “Tier 1” is under JSOC. As a SOCOM asset, the Raiders are primarily tasked by the geographic combatant commands and more often than not, in support of larger Marine operations. They basically do all the same missions as most Special Forces do - that is primarily train and organize indigenous military forces and provide foreign internal defense, with counterterrorism, direct action and recon mixed in. They’re what you might call a “standard” special operations force. If they were under JSOC, they’d need to become more specialized (or at least one team would be) and then JSOC would send them all over the world instead of them being a deployed theater asset. It may end up going that way one day, but the Corps have been very protective of their organic capabilities. The other thing is that JSOC teams are often mixed (different branches or foreign operators working a mission) and Marines generally don’t play all that well with others. At least not yet. That’s a culture the Corps need to change.
@@cliffhatcher94 That’s false. The unit is the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta of the U.S. Army and only Army soldiers are members of the unit, just like only US Navy sailors serve in the SeALs. Delta is a part of JSOC which is a joint service command, and you will see people of different branches there. To become a Delta operator if you were a Marine (say a Raider), and you were approached by them, you’d need to finish your contract with the Corps and then join the Army as prior service and go straight to SF indoc. Once passed, they will bring you to the tryouts. While there are joint service teams in the field, the units that supply the personnel belong to their respective branches and aside from an occasional exchange program, members of other branches are not members of those units.
@@afcgeo882 Go check out the Podcast of Combat Story: Episode 14. Todd Opalski was a Marine who has served as a member of Delta. Most of Delta is pulled from the Army, ie. SF, Ranger Regiment, 82nd, etc. However, other branches of the military are allowed to try out, be selected, and serve with Delta. I heard another podcast as well of a Marine that was a Delta operator but can’t recall his name. Granted it’s probably not super common but definitely not unheard of.
Are support personal of these units also have a selection process (other than have the qualifications to do their job) or are they pulled from the general military's support personal?
I know they do in the Australian army in regards to the sappers and combat engineers so that the can prove that they can keep up with and not slow down the spec ops unit they are attached to weather that be the commandos or the sas.
Yes. They pull the best of the best from all support personnel. You look at the NBA. Each team is like a Division. One the 82 airborne division. One 10th mountain. ID, all the different divisions. Then you have your Allstar team. Those are tear 2. Then you have the dream team. Those are tear 1. Just like the operators, the support personnel are hand picked, chosen for their skill and qualifications. You do not pick a scrub to support the dream team. You pick the best coaches, best medical specialists, best weapons specialists, best Intel experts, best combat controllers. You have the best logistics, best support, and the best operators for tier 2 and tier 1. I say 2 and 1 because many tier 2 can be tier 1. It just depends on what unit you are with at the time many tier 2 become tier 1 operators.
Question on terminology: I've heard that some specific groups take ownership over the term "Operator" versus "special operator" more so than some others. Today, "special operator" seems to have become sort of a ubiquitous term to describe individuals within Tier 2 and Tier 1 SOF groups. That said, is there a clear and verifiable history that identifies one specific group as having adopted the term before all others? And does that title within those teams have certain unique duty expectations? I've seen some claim that "true operators" are only those "high speed door-kickers" who are hyper focused on DA operations, that "Operators" are basically just highly skilled CQB specialists. To me, this viewpoint just seemed like a keyboard warrior argument as the highest speed dudes I've known have done WAAAY more than just kick in doors (SF and CCT). To be clear, I'm not interested in opinions. If anyone has specific experiences, books or other reading materials, etc., I'd appreciate any insights and/or recommendations.
In my experience, operators just refers to anyone in SOF. I would assume because they operate in their SO(perations)F. I don't think I've heard a specific unit gain the term operator more than any other though.
I have read SEALs used the term operator in Vietnam, but I don't know if that's really true as none of the sources were particularly good ie internet rumors. The term came to have it's meaning the way we know it to when Delta Force was stood up. They started what was known as the Operator's Training Course, which was the Delta qualification course. As a result, other tier 1 units also generally called their qualified personnel operators. When I first showed up to 1/75, Operator was a term specifically reserved for Tier 1 personnel who had earned that designation through their particular qualification course. But SOF came in the limelight around the same time as the GWOT was ragging on, and it became more popular for guys to call themselves operators that were in units outside of Tier 1. This especially came to head when SEALs got their own rating known as Special Operator(as opposed to having a regular Navy rating like Boatswain) and MARSOC eventually came up with their own MOS known as Critical Skills Operator. Probably the best books about the origin of Operator is Inside Delta Force or Beckwith's Delta Force. They go into how he came to choose that term.
NM gnarly gear. Just think about the ammo budget. Big difference between qualifying someone once year for watch vs. running someone through a "kill room" regularly.
We hope you enjoy our video on the three different tiers of units in the United States Military! As always, if you learned something from this video, make sure to give us a like, and subscribe if you're new! We will see you next week with another video. Have a great weekend everyone!
Awesome video as always guys! Keep killing it!!!! By now you guys are probably subject matter experts on damn near every unit! 😂😂
Can you guys do a similar structured breakdown for UKSF?
I would like to ask you to start making distinctions between career fields and units. There are no career fields (rates, AFSCs, MOS) that are tiered.
Also, I would like you to understand and then explain to others that “tiers” aren’t an actual thing that is defined in the US government. The term is used by operators themselves simply to refer to different types of units. They understand that the distinctions are actually simply unit-specific and that a “tier” isn’t really a thing.
Therefore, your understanding is inaccurate. “Tier 3” isn’t used as a term at all. ANY unit that is less than a “Tier 2” one is a conventional warfare unit, regardless of their operational or readiness capability.
Where does USCG MSRT fall in this tier?
@@matthewfarabee7041 They don’t. They aren’t under DoD, so not under SOCOM. DoD requests them from the DHS when needed for missions.
To make it simple
Tier 3 units use 5k NVG
Tier 2 units use 10k NVG
Tier 1 units use 50k NVG
Haha, pretty much sums it up.
@@skyred2 My unit had 7.5k NVG, does that make us 2.5 Tier? Like that kitten hanging for life from the money branch poster?
This is so true. You could always tell "who is what" by looking at what's attached to their rhino mount and how many extra attachments they had on their weapon.
😂😂😂😂
Thats literally not true at all
Tier 0 - JROTC
Lol yeah
Tier -1 CAP
Tier 1/2 - salvation army
😂
@@mikewilson684 .5
I have a buddy who I have known for over 20 years who is a Tier 1 Operative. He is very intelligent, humble, sharp-minded, and does not talk about his military experiences. He has been in the military for almost 16 years and the only time that he has talked about it is after he graduated from bootcamp in 2007. He never boasts. When you know that you are the baddest dude on the block, there is no reason to bring attention to yourself. The guys who talk about their military experiences and how many people they killed in combat are full of shit.
A gangster does not need to selfpromote. I have met several tier 1,2 and 3 operators. I live by Ft Bragg, was stationed there 20 years ago and was part of the 82nd. Tier 1 and 2 operators cannot talk about missions or training due to the fact they are most of the time classified, even some of their training and gear they use would fall under the cannot share with others who are outside of the need to know category. The person who is bragging is the person who is not a tier 1 or 2 operator. Most 1,and 2 operators are highly skilled and have seen more combat and deploy several times a year. The video is 100% correct, tier 1 and 2 are basically the same skill level, with tier 1 being funded better, they have the highest tech on the battle field with the best support of any asset we have.
May be you have buddy. But there are a lot of navy seals bragging about kills jesse ventura, chris kyle etc.
I went from regular Marine infantry up. I will never ever say I am anything more than a Marine. Ever. Every unit serves its own purpose and I respect all of them.
Legally, they aren’t allowed to talk about their missions. My brother did spec ops for 20 years.
He was in spec ops during 9/11 and never was allowed to reveal his current location (even to my parents).
no you don't.
I've had it explained that, in terms of funds, tier one is a "choose anything that you think works best for you" and tier two is a more general "pick the really good stuff for everyone" type of kit selection.
I've worked with guys from "The Unit" aka Delta Force, when i was a ranger. Man, those guys are the epitome of elite and professional. They get shit done and are great guys to be around. Pretty good video, too, good job.
Do you mind me asking ? What are they like, say, day to day ?? What is their fitness and mentality like??
@ Nunja Argo
I agree with you, but from my own experience (TACP/JTAC) this pretty much goes for all these units and supporting units. Including the counterparts from many of our allies (based on the few times I worked with them during my deployments, and during my time at NATO JFC at the end of my career). Personally I often find these comparisons between the men who serve in these units to be silly, considering what we all had to do to make into any of these units.
My cousin was an army ranger who moved into green berets. He had worked with delta from time to time, when I asked him about them. He said the difference as far as combat ability goes, what separates them is that they have mastered the basics.
SF doesn't do joint ops with Delta so your cousin is lying, and the whole "1st a Ranger then SF" is complete BS.
@@pulëeskuqurdheshalqi sir you should probably pick up a book. Why don’t you start with black hawk down. Prime example of Rangers and Delta together.
Also people do go from rangers to green beret. It’s extra training for a few months.
@@pulëeskuqurdheshalqi First of all you just admitted that delta and rangers work together. Which you told me I was lying about. Idk what to tell you man. He served in rangers for years and later moved to Green Beret And served with them for several more years. Dude was in the army for like 27 years and earned a bronze star. He retired a major in his 50’s and now has to wear hearing aids because his ears are blown out and had to have back surgery.
Sorry but I’m gonna have to trust the man I know and not the stranger on the internet.
@@RiderZer0 a bronze star is the most basic award for an officer, is like a participation trophy, that's 1. 2. I admitted that Rangers do work with delta, but your writing has it to make it believe that SF works with Delta which never happens for multiple reasons but a few are SF are jealous of delta and 2 is that SF is not part of JSOC! 3. You are way out of your depth here, your cousin was a Ranger and SF and an officer? Ummmm no, if he was a Ranger as an officer by the time he was done there as a junior officer he had too much rank to go into the Q course, if he was a Ranger and then went green to gold and then attended the Q course that might as well have been a hinder in his career which doesn't make sense. Rangers either stay Rangers for as long as they are RFS back to the normal Army which then maybe if was and stayed enlisted they'll go the Q course route since its easier than staying a Ranger, that I believe.
But 27 years, 2 SOF units and he got was a bronze star? Anyone here that served more than a month will tell you your cousin has been lying to you. As a Ranger everyone has seen combat and Bronze star with V decice, ARCOM eith V device, sliver stars and Purple Hearts are very common, but a plain old bronze star? With 27 years in 2 SOF units? And the whole rank issue? I'll take 💩 that never happen for $100 scrub!
We had a PFC in our platoon that went to PRC & got peered out then went to Special Forces qualification selection & passed the selection process for Special Forces. He got promoted to E5 in 3 months after passing his selection process now has training for the next 2 years
Yup thats how it goes
Had a similar dude (e-4) come back all chill after passing selection and his whole chain of command (like battalion level) got told to leave him alone until he leaves for the actual training.
your CoC pushed a SFAS packet up after some guy couldn't get through a 2 week course? Well your unit is definitely a Tier IV
all humans go thru training every single day
Must be Army
As a plank owner with TF158th, 159th and TF160, 160th SOAG and later 160th SOAR, I can say honestly that being a tier 2 soldier was never something others used to degrade us. In fact, the opposite was true. We were all adult enough to understand the each of us had a vital role to play and it showed. I was never expected to hop out of my Chinook and go full Rambo on the badguys, but hanging out with and training with the best of the best, I always knew I stood a 50/50 chance of doing it right. Being a Busdriver to the Stars was something I would NEVER change.
NSDQ
Thank you for your service sir and keeping the rest of us free ... While I guess for now! Seriously though thank you.
NSDQ
Very cool, thanks for your service!
How can you not like having a badass bus driver helping you infil, exfil or providing CAS? Always appreciated.
You need them and they need you as a civilian I think its stupid to clown on each other because you're all one team including the cooks. I played sports my entire life and went to college instead of the military so thats my perspective
This reminds me, go back and rewatch GI Jane. When they first get to BUDs the instructor says something like, "You've all come here from the best of the best. SEALs, intelligence, Army Delta Force". I had to rewind, wait what did he say? I was laughing so hard I turned it off
Yesh I know right?? 😆
Lmao you guys are basically DEVGRU
Ya that was a movie bro, the chick even completeing that was out of this world, sorry ladies.
what group did u serve in
had to go watch that again, and had a good laugh. This movie was so bad and full of fallacies (making them eat out of trash cans, any book on BUD/S said they ate 4 times a day at the chow hall and as much as they wanted) and them all being "proven operators." already.
Don't know if I'm going crazy but I loved the fact that he used Marsoc to represent Tier 2. Marine die hard fan
You noticed that good eye semper fi
Oorah
Oorah
Thank you
why does he sound like he's on qualudes?
I was a tier 3 guy (navy riverine) and the majority of my job was security. We did occassionally get the chance to train with some seal teams, which was cool. But since our job was primarily anti-piracy, we usually did mostly water-born training with them
The animation of the symbol of the different units is really slick!
Very good. I like the mention of overlap between tiers 1 and 2. I've read how the Rangers operated in Iraq and it was compared favorably with Delta.
RLTW!!!!
@@LA-ep2nr the 160th fuel probe leads the way but yall aren't far behind 😂
@@carsonkouts Lol 🤣🤣🤣. Good one Carson.
Jocko talked about the Navy’s hand in ops in Iraq and how they loved the Army boys working with them because they were “dogs that were locked up for 6 weeks” 😂🔥
@@najeemartin2496 He said that about Marines.
I love your emphasis that support people are no less important than operators. I spend 6 years in logistics with The Old Guard. I've met so many combat vets that insist that I shouldn't be considered a veteran because I wasn't a grunt and I never got deployed. It's infuriating, humiliating and demoralizing.
You may want to check out the stories behind these alleged "combat vets" as that should never happen.
That kind of gatekeeping frequently comes from unhealthy egos.
I mean, you are a military veteran, but not a combat veteran. And that's the issue, many people equate "veteran" to someone who's seen combat.
No no no….let that shit go in one ear and out the other. 👊🏻👌🏻
Not like they’re winning wars either lol
people often neglect the capability of individual soldiers, and compare equipment and weapons blindly. Give a Delta guy a broken glass, he can autopsy you before you realise what happened; give an untrained insurgent a proper marksman rifle, he can't shoot a shit. experience and training do make you exponentially stronger.
I’ve been saying this to a lot of my enlisted peers in that the Military should focused in training serviceman fighting capabilities to cope rather than heavily relying on gimmicky tech equipment.
Give the operator 10 minutes to instruct the insurgent on the use of his marksman rifle and he would be able to shoot a shit.
The operator IS the weapon; the weapons he uses are just the tools of his trade.
What's the use of either with drones???
@@CaneSugarCane Pretty hard to control the ground from the air, wouldn't you say?
@@Danlovestrivium Nope. That's why modern warfare focuses so heavily on air superiority *before* ground units are sent in.
I think this covers it pretty well. Though I would say all the tiers really overlap. The nightstalkers are really the air support and air transport for all the tiers. I would say generally speaking the mission set of the tiers get more specific the higher you go. For instance Delta, Seal Team 6, and CIA special group, run more of your black ops missions, stuff you will never see on the news unless somethings goes terribly wrong, and probably never even then. Your tier 3 units are more of your expeditionary units and divisions. 82nd, 101st, 3rd ID to name a few. I am also glad you mentioned the support guys. What most people don't know if you are not an operator or infantrymen you are support. Everyone supports the Infantry. Air Cav, Artillery, Signal, Maintenance, Medical, HR, and every other corps or branch.
LOL 3ID is the laughing stock of the Army. Not anywhere close to the 82nd. The list in the video is a little screwed up as you mentioned though.
u just summarized BETTER imho
Marine grunt here and proud of it. Much respect to the badasses that answered the call to any of the tiered units.
I didn't answer shit. lol. I was an army FO who got placed in a COLT because that's what I was suited to do. Didn't even know I was considered Tier 3 until I went to enlist in Marines. Recruiter got a classified block on my DOD number. He then explained the difference between the military and SOF. Apparently I was considered special operations support. I just did my job honestly. Cool to know though. I mean I DID work with marine scout snipers and such. But that was normal for me.
Ooraw brother
I was Tier 12 USN. We got stuck with being at sea for 6-8 months on firewatch duty.
Lol
The selection process for Marine Recon is inarguably more extensive and intense than any of the other "tier 3" units. It's the only "tier 3" unit that has operational abilities on par with tier 2 units, to include combat dive and freefall insertion. Recon school has about a 60 percent attrition rate (of Marines who already are above average). The other tier 3 units don't even have a selection school aside from airborne and AIT.
And yet Recon gets snubbed. Crazy
Not only that, but airborne is nowhere near as hard as it used tobe. I guess the closest thing you could get to Marine Recon/ Force Recon in terms of coolness AND difficulty would be airborne scouts (not Cav Scouts, I mean the grunts that are in the airborne battalion scout platoons), and even then its not as hard or as capable as Marine Recon.
@@SchoolyB I know dude, there was a few instances where Scout/ Sniper trained Force Recon Marines were on the MEU getting ready to takedown a pirate ship, and right before they went in they were called off for the SEALs to go in instead. It's bullshit, I wish the SEALs would go back to being UDT.
Actually, something most people don't know, because of their mission set, Army Special Forces are considered tier 3. Do the math on that one.
@@bdlit7165 how do you figure? The "tiers" aren't even an official thing but i don't get what type of criteria sets them back that far. Both their selection process, funding, and where they fall in the order of battle is far beyond the named tier 3 units in this video...
Lol I was in 2nd Ranger Batt and didn’t even know about the regimental recon unit in tier 1… apparently I didn’t pay very good attention lol
I was in 2/75 as well, then OGA. RRC is 100% categorized as tier 1.
can you do a video on combat engineer/sappers, their pipeline, history, differences between army/marines combat engineers, etc…
How many beers can they actually demolish?
@@adamkreuz9068 40
@@Bagel3651 how many gallon cans of gasoline can they drink?
@@iantorres8253 that’s undetermined, more than a tanker tho
In my part of the world combat engineers lead the main force on D9s but do not get the credit due
I think it's important to note on the support roles; in my experience, it's not entirely uncommon for something like USAF general communications (telecom, satcom, radio, etc.) personnel to find themselves attached to t2/3 marines, army, or contracted civilians. Particularly towards the tail ends of OIF/OEF, we were getting attached to the most seemingly random units at SOF/SOC and FOBs that were well outside of our standard training. We'd get sent to like 6 mos or more of additional training just for those expeditionary missions, solely to assist in communications.
Wasn't it after a bunch of SOF operators died due to bad weather information that the DoD started mandating that many SOF missions include meteorologists trained to complement, not get in the way of, those SOF missions?
@@davidhoffman1278 I'm not familiar with that specific situation, but it sounds reasonable. What I did notice is that, over time, Joint Operations became more prominent in the SOF realm with other branches for support. The USAF just generally has longer, more extensive training in support roles that complement spec ops (including meteorology), so we started getting attached to those missions. In my opinion, it's just more economical to train a USAF satcom person to exist in the SOF ecosystem for a year than it is to sideline a SOF operator to learn satcom to the degree that it would be valuable for that period.
We hadn't even finished our basic mos course and some of my platoon was already being called up for marsoc support roles lmao
I always understood the Tier System as that of Operational Readiness, Rapidity of Deployment, and Pipeline Training..
I was tier 0 in a basic marine infantry unit. Never sleeping on deployments always post, patrol, fill sandbags, 3 hours sleep repeat. Not glamorous but a shit load of work and always in combat.
You can go directly thru the selection process for Army tier 1 formally known as Delta an so on from tier 3 but just because u pass the selection process doesn't mean you will be selected in the end, people that pass selection process for Green Berets an Delta still get sent back to their regular units
Yes we did
I love the water. I am 19 in college and wanted to join the navy and go to BUD/S but I didnt, because I have doubts on whether or not I could make it. It sounds very difficult.
It is very difficult. But if you truly want it and you work really hard for it. And your will outweighs your fear and doubt. You have a solid chance. No one can truly guarantee if anyone gets through before they have gone through it. But there is only one way to find out. If you truly desire it then you should go for it and work hard for it no matter what.
Good luck with college and what you will do after.
You gotta want it more than anything on Earth, and be willing to die to make it through the training. Don’t join the navy if you aren’t 100% all in on getting through Bud/s or you’ll fail, and get stuck on a ship standing 12 hour watches and getting micro managed 24/7
@@iitachi5 Thank you 🙏🙏
Sub force in the navy worked with all 3 tiers on multiple situations mostly stealth deployment or pickup
First to those on here who have served, thank you. My father was Airborne 68-70, my mother a Corpsman in the AF 65-70. I am only a former non contracted cadet 91-92 and a current Auxiliarist CG Auxiliary. I remember watching plenty military movies with a friend of min who was 11 M in the Army, he would shake his head a number of times, and though I was as trained couldn't figure what wasn't correct, but knew something wasn't right in a few of them.
I grew up respecting all who wore the uniform and continue to do so.
I liked this video since I have only heard of the tier system and didn't fully understand. Thank you General Discharge.
Tier 1 has the highest funding. They’re the best of the best. Delta, Devgru, RRC, 24th STS, and ISA.
Tier 2 are regular SOF forces under control of JSOC and also have high funding. 75th Rangers, Seals, Green Berets, 160th SOAR, Marsoc, etc.
Tier 3 is made up of large division sized components and seem to be given large scale operations, they seem to be a step above standard infantry, and specialize in certain areas. For example the 10th Infantry specialize in being Light Infantry capable of working with little equipment and mountainous terrain. Also they may have additional training that standard Infantry won’t have like Mountain or airborne training. 10th Mountain Division, Force Recon Companies, 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne, etc
@@aye1972 it’s tier 2
i think Force recon should be tier 2 unit cause they get pretty strict traininh
Force recon a very small community. And operate in teams of 6-10. Definitely not “large scale”
The 82nd is tier 2
lol no
Love all of it. Thanks for posting these. Even though I know about most of these, I still learn something from this.
When I was in the 2nd ID in Korea back in the late 80's we had an 11B staff sergeant get recruited by Delta. He went to selection and never returned to the unit so I assume he was successful.
Excited for this
We're happy to hear it!
Same
Tier 1,2,3 is also how narrow focus their missions usually are when things are busy. Tier 1 will probably do Kill/Capture, Tier 2 will do some Kill/Capture, some Spec Ops patrol. Tier 3 will usually be a security force. Outside of the US operators will just be multipurpose spec ops. I know at one stage DEVGRU was just doing missions against guys in suicide vests who held hostages while regular SEALS were clearing out support elements.
Delta will also do security
Can you guys do a video on how the navy selects military working dog handlers?
THIS
Thanks for the support & prayers towards Us I really appreciate and it really goes a long way & I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions towards us
You have to be MP. Then show out and hop your command lets you get that.
Brother, the tier system is about reaction time to time on target and mission set. Mission set in several no fail situations require highly specialized training which cost money. So money is not wagging the dog, the mission sets shake the money tree in order to make the unit FMC.
I served with a guy back in the 70s he was a corporal in Canadian Infantry. I meet him again almost 30 yrs later he is a Major and among other things had gone off and trained with the Green Berets. He did 35 yrs in the Infantry.
Cool story
I remember driving past the Delta Compound at Bragg. The "Deadly Force is Authorized" sign all over the fence said it all!
It's not super rare for Delta to pull guys from light infantry units, they are there at every selection.
You can start you're career in a Tier 2 unit with a Ranger or SF contract you may not make it but you can go there directly you do not need deployments in the regular under your belt.
Plenty of people will do time with the Rangers then end up back in a conventional unit, it is a hard lifestyle and officers have to prove it everyday. Also Rangers have just about every MOS.
Green Berets are not the most likely to be Delta , it's heavily Ranger.
I was just a young secfo in the airforce amd I can personally vouch for the pjs brothers being the best of the best of the best of the absolute best. Squared away, extremely disciplined, straight bad asses. 🔥
Different mission spaces have different requirements. All need support from each other based on threat, and that’s saying too much. This video is a basic layout of the structure and how it works. Well done!
Simple & straight to the core!
Great video. And I agree. The only guy that referred to our unit as Tier 2 was mocked mercilessly. And rightfully so. It’s never used. Tier 1 was never even used as a term in my time in to refer to any of those units.
It’s not just a difference of missions and equipment though. For example, the difference between a seal team 6 guy and the other seal teams is actually fairly dramatic. They go through a series of interviews, tests, and training that sharply hone the skills of the seals who qualified to enter green team training or devgru training. It’s not really a gray area it’s black and white.
Not to be confused with the white grey and black colors used in this videos description.
My stepdad used to be super nice but he came back 1 time and just changed so much then he went back again and he's been completely different ever since
What tier is the guy passing out the basketballs at the gym ?
Tier fun
He’s definitely not higher than the towel guy. That’s all cloak and dagger stuff.
8
Alpha lol
The patch you represent in tier 1 as Delta or CAG is the Nightstalker patch. I know.. I have 2. Good video..
I stand corrected. I was unaware they changed the 160th unit patch. I prefer mine! Lol. Again great video. I will send this link whenever people ask me to explain JSOC to them.
Wow. Never even heard of this channel. Then RUclips plops you in my recommendations and I've liked, subscribed, and now commented. I now feel like I've made Tier 37!
(Or was that Pier 37. I flunked Land Nav in basic.)
Thank you for acknowledging the Support Personnel. Their Mission no less Important, their Sacrifice no less Great. Thank you for not only Honoring One but Honoring All.
Very Respectfully,
Nickolas A. Jones ITC(EXW/SW) USN Retired
"Go Hard... Be Humble..."
I was a combat Engineer, with a security clearance, because I worked in s2 , after I went to a regular line company my clearance followed me. When everyone else was off duty, not me I started going TDY as an attachment with tier 2 units on a regular basis. At the time I couldn't exsplain it other than I was good at my job and that clearance. I understand what happened to me much better now.
LOL, I got assigned to S2 after a training accident, which ultimately led me to permanent duty in a line unit. KInd of hard coming from where I was to where I went, but you are right about the clearance. I shuttled classified material to Seoul on an overland every day, sometimes at 3 in the morning, depending on if G2 needed it immediately. In the end, I never regretted my time as a 12B. Turned out to be the best career choice for me, given the circumstances.
Sappers lead the way!
In a Nutshell, What separates them is the amount of tubes they have, the more tube lookin equipment, the more operator you are. e.g GPNVG, suppressors, Drager diving gear, you get the picture...
😮😮😮😮😮😮
Nice
Whew, so glad this dude masked his voice
It is my understanding that units like the 82nd airborne division would be Tier 3, while units like the 1st infantry division would be tier 4.
Yes, but I've never heard anyone call us that. We definitely are more advanced fighters but it mostly just comes down to why these tier 3 units exist. Airborne units train to insert behind enemy lines, like shock troopers. Normal infantry units are taught to fight normal Frontlines. Though, most of the time from what I've seen there's not too much of a difference for the most part.
@@DarkHorseParatrooper It's not just your mission. It's your readiness timelines. I was a Marine, so obviously I don't know EVERYTHING about the 82nd, but from what I do know, you guys have to be on-call and ready to go within 18 hours if you're on the Immediate Response Force rotation. Also. I would say that it's fair to factor in the fact that airborne school helps you stand out from the "leg" Army grunts, as well as the fact that airborne unit culture does certain things like prefer that you have a Ranger tab and EIB a tad bit more than a leg Army unit would prefer it. I'd say all those things combine to put you guys at a higher place than the rest of the conventional army. In other words, you guys are the best of the conventional Army. Maybe one day the 10th Mountain will actually become a mountain unit again, and you guys will have some competition, but until then, you guys have the top spot.
Former 82nd ABN person here. We regularly trained with Rangers and sometimes SEAL teams as direct support to them on certain missions. We also trained with Marine Recon at times. Our missions were usually behind enemy lines with little to no support from main forces. We carried everything with us to survive for at least 2 days. We had our own Apache's, Blackhawks, armor, transport, medical and artillery. The 82nd is a complete force. Pope AFB provided the ride to missions anywhere in the world, usually within 18hrs, and after that we were on our own. We rotated through readiness (RDF). Our mission was "Anywhere in the world in 18 hours." Besides airborne and combat training, we also received hostage, rescue, riot, hand-to-hand, POW, and other more specialized training. Delta Force was located near my unit and recruited a few of our NCO's.
No General Discharge Do YOU even want to be here?!
So expanding on this. Would tier 4 be some national guard unit and tier 5 would be bubba and his five buddies in the local milita?
Love your vids mates! They make my day!
There's plenty of people in tier 3 capable of joining tier 1. But you will get more frequent deployments and away from home. And the tier It is all about funds. Being in tier 2 or tier 3 doesn't mean you are any less than sf or delta force in terms of fighting capability, even if you are tier 3 you get enough funds to get the best available gear on deployment but they do have more special requirements for tier 1.
Reconnaissance marines are a great example of that
Tier 2 are special operations and navy eod and reconnaissance marines are all hard warriors
Thank you for avoiding which is "better." We've all seen the ranking videos of SOF units and they are just so cringy.
This was recommended to me by the google overlords and caught my attention. I've heard references to these tiers throughout my career, but never got a good explanation. How you describe them as a delineation of how things are funded was highly informative. I've wondered why it is so damn easy for xviii airborne corps to get funding for fitness equipment while it is such an incredible chore throughout the rest of FORSCOM. It all makes sense now, all of the other corps don't even make the tier list! Fortunately HQDA seems to have signed on to the idea that expenditures targeting human performance optimization have the potential to provide a return on investment in the form of reduced healthcare burden and improved retention, but I digress. Thanks for the interesting content!
Hahaha, love the animations and explanations, simply put, the top of the pyramid are predominantly CT focused!
The thumb nail tier 3 reminded me of the insurgency sandstorm loading screen
Would love to see a video on USAF SERE Specialists, please!
Seconded.
Funding and mission sets. Tier 1 will always be ran by the JSOTF (forward command for SOCOM). The units under JSOTF can change but they are usually the ones we all know (ST6, CAG, Ranger recon, etc). Tier 2 will more than likely comprise of CJSOTF units (5th group, 3rd group, ranger bats non recon, etc). The C in CJSOTF is usually indicative that it is not a tier 1 unit. Combined units are almost always white SOF or Tier 2. Tier 2 are the units that conduct joint raids, training with the host nation and can fill in or support a tier 1 op if needed. The color codes are not formally used anymore though. They use unit designations now.
I noticed that someone commented about how civilians are out shooting SF on the ranges. And that them being SF doesn't make them the end all be all...
Well, just because you have served in Special Forces or Special Operational Forces, doesn't mean that you are a better shooter by default. There are many civilians that can out shoot military members. They are really good on ranges and competition shows. But, that still has little meaning overall. Why? Because being a good soldier, sailor etc, means having many skills sets. For example, it is one thing to be a good shot on a range. It is another thing to have the ability to ruck long distances, swim in and with combat gear, rappel, and move into a fire fight as a team with good professional communications and coordination. While civilian shooters are good at what they do, generally; from my experiences - they lack the overall skills needed to conduct a special operation. Unlike the movies, its more then just shooting. I have served in the Army, Air Force and after the military side - law enforcement as a civilian (I was not in law enforcement in the military branches). So I do have some experience when I say that, civilian shooters are good, yet they still are not trained as good in different areas that you need when conducting real world missions. For example, my military experience and training has helped me to be a better officer. I use many other skills and tools more then my weaponry. That makes me a better Forest Ranger vs just being a good shooter on the range.
US Forest Service law enforcement?
@@x-calibearusallc
It's a thing. Typically for example California Forest law enforcement personnel are heavy armed compared to other state agencies.
Several reasons a couple back up is hours away. You are isolated out in the middle of no where. You are dealing with people growing weed who do not want to go to prison/return.
@@electroniccheeks I’m very familiar with them. Past employed for over 10 years doing same/similar work.
@@x-calibearusallc
Nice!
Well articulated. Everyone looks great shooting in an controlled environment.
I just realized that the guy all the way to the right on the thumbnail is the soldier from the cover of Insurgency: Sandstorm
Facts
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has a SORT team (Special Operations Reaction Team) that I think would be good for this channel. They got some publicity after the riots last year after the DOJ Attorney General confirmed they were there
But they’re not Military. Many/most are former Military, but not active duty.
The SAS/SBS/SRR from UK have known provide support in tier 1 operations.
You guys remember the video you did on the breakdown of a SEAL unit? Can y'all do a similar one, but for the special tactics squadrons?
STS personnel don’t operate as units or teams. They train that way, but they are modular. They are attached to various special ops teams, as the mission requires. STS include Pararescue, Tactical Control, Tactical Air Control Party (specops) and Special Recon (used to be special weather) AFSCs and their support.
@@afcgeo882 I'm well aware, but there's still a certain level of organization.
Not anymore, they operate within their own units now
@@benji7002 No. No they don’t.
@@MexicanBagpiper96 There is, of course. Primarily for training, equipping, funding, and administration. However, their point is to provide very special skills to unconventional warfare, and that’s why these units employ 3-4 different types of operators. STSs, like other Air Force squadrons have their command and support elements and a number of flights, which are all broken down into sections.
I have the highest respect for units like the US 75th Ranger Regiment, the German EGB or the Polish JW AGAT... these rangers have crazy combat experience. Absolute warriors.
Sorry here, but you said PJs and CCT are Tier 2, but 24th Tactics Squadron is Tier 1.
24th STS is PJs, CCTs, Special Reconnaissance.
I'm confused 🤔
Much like how DEVGRU is made up of the best of the SEAL community, the 24th STS is comprised of the best of the best from the PJ, CCT, and SR communities who directly augment with other Tier One Units.
24 STS is composed of applicants who pass selection. Conventional CCT, SR, PJ will not be assigned there by default.
All Pararescue, Tactical Control, Special Recon and TACP are considered AFSPECWAR, and are “tier 2” technically, whatever unit they’re assigned to. There are a few Special Tactics Squadrons, one of them being the 24th. All of them provide war fighters to the special operations community. The 24th has a specific mission to support the top level missions and units, which people often call “Tier 1”. In reality, there is no tier system. It’s a complete urban myth perpetrated by Hollywood.
@@afcgeo882 Yeah, I really wish this whole "Tier 2, Tier 3" nonsense would just die. The old JSOC tier system doesn't exist anymore, and even when it did, it only referenced specific units who were on the short list for specific operations who got all the money shunted to them to fund said operations. As far as I'm concerned it's "Tier One" and "everything else." You're either on the short list or you're not, JSOC doesn't keep tabs on every single unit in the Armed Forces.
This is one of the best spoken videos on this topic ever.
Thank you!
Can you make a video on U.S. Army (federal-active duty) Officer Candidate School?
There is at least one unit above Tier 1. You know something is up when you get sent to a major joint HQ and find yourself in front of the J2 and J3 and have to accept orders before you can find out why you are there.
Facts
Tier 3 units are not conventional units. They are specialized units for very specific missions sets. I was a riverine and we are far from conventional navy. We had more training than conventional units as well doing a very similar job as SWCC unfortunately we were disbanded and merged with another unit. I got out right beforehand. My company was all trained by MARSOC and SEALS In camp legeune.
I'm here because I was Tier 3 and never realized it at the time. Until I went to enlist in the Marines, dude put in my army DOD and got a classified block. He then explained SOF and then the military. I was just like riiigghhtt. I was an FO on a COLT. Which means my leaders were a full bird, chief warrant and a master sergeant. Everyone else FKd off.
Conventional just means you do not fall directly under SOCOM. It does not necessarily have anything to do with skill, exact mission, or training level.
Hey, this doesn't suck! What a pleasant surprise. Well done.
If force recon is tier three where does it put the MAGTF?
They’re all conventional warfare.
Do you think near the future you can do a video how to join the armored battalion, or Calvary? And explain what it takes to join them, what you do? What you need?
Shout out to all Tier 5 operators!
That’d be me behind my Xbox playing COD. LOL
Thanks man means alot 🤣
The asshole that wouldn't give me seconds in the chow hall?
@@DarkHorseParatrooper we had a cook, he was good...
WOOW....MANY SPY ARE WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW AND THEY ARE VERY AMAZE.....
Hold on, I heard a knocking on my door, it must be Seal Team Six!!!. Never mind it was the Uber eats dude 🤣🤣🤣
These videos are great! I learned a lot about our military that I didn’t know about.
I want a video about Air Force DAGRE!
I was infantry in the 101st in 1984 and Delta came to our company (delta 1/502) to recruit. Had be be at least a E-4, I was a e-3 at the time.
Force Recon Tier 3? Is that because they are Marine Corps division assets instead of being part of SOCOM? Is it just the funding piece? Before MARSOC, Recon was always compared to the tier 2 units featured in this video. No disrespect but the individual abilities of a Force Recon Marine far exceed any of the named Tier 3 groups. There is no comparison.
Force recon is tier 3 not only from the command structure, but the simple size of the force dictates inability for "black" operations. Its built and maintained as a tier 3 for purpose and mission parameters. The larger the force the slower and "louder" it moves.
Its because when MARSOC appeared, they took the best of the best from the force recon and kinda made them the tip of the spear. Its the idea of giving the marsoc raiders the "tier 2" capabilities at the expense of the force recon
@@alinhatnean6783 Uh.. size of deployable units..
This a good comprehensive explanation. I wasn’t clear on the tier system. Good work.
While different units certainly have different “levels” of capability, the tiers as they apply to SOF units isn’t related to skill but that units operational distance from SOCOM. Units like CAG/DEVGRU report and take orders directly from SOCOM, making them tier 1. A tier 2 unit, like SF, falls under USASOC which reports to SOCOM, making them “2 tiers” below the overall command HQ. Reason some units appear “better” is the closer they are to command the more funding/resource allocation they receive allowing for more training opportunities/improved equipment/ and the best mission sets.
A easier way of thinking of it is overall funding
In AIT we had a SFC that had his Ranger tab and was heading to selection.for the 75th. I wish him the best, he was a great leader and a beast!
First GD video I've ever watched. Most content creators wouldn't have bothered mentioning the support troops. Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. I've heard that for every Frontline troop there are 10 support troops. Does anyone know if this is accurate
I've heard same about 10 to 1 support. This could be a sign of bloating? I'm a civilian.
Combat troops are the minority. Mechanics, health professionals, psyops, intelligence, hospitality, logistics, administration, etc. all count as support which makes up the bulk of the armed forces.
15% of the US Army is Infantry, 3% special operations leaving 83% of the US Army being support. The Army being roughly 485,000 strong it would be closer to 8 support soldiers for every front line combat soldier. During the surge in Iraq that number probably was 10, possible higher. I can say this, knowing you have support when you’re outside the wire is quite calming and we couldn’t do our jobs without all the support elements.
@@syskusa6512 thanks for the answer bro. Makes sense to me
Operators could be support personnel but support personnel can’t be operators! So there is a difference
I have two questions first why doesn’t the marine corps have a tier 1 unit? Two do you think the marine corps will ever have a tier 1 unit?
The Marines chose not to lend out their best fighters to the joint fight at JSOC as they would lose operational control of them. Since the Marines already believe they’re special, they chose to keep their elite just for themselves.
@Slenda Man For SOCOM? Yes. The Raiders are a spec ops force, but not a JSOC one. “Tier 1” is under JSOC. As a SOCOM asset, the Raiders are primarily tasked by the geographic combatant commands and more often than not, in support of larger Marine operations. They basically do all the same missions as most Special Forces do - that is primarily train and organize indigenous military forces and provide foreign internal defense, with counterterrorism, direct action and recon mixed in. They’re what you might call a “standard” special operations force.
If they were under JSOC, they’d need to become more specialized (or at least one team would be) and then JSOC would send them all over the world instead of them being a deployed theater asset. It may end up going that way one day, but the Corps have been very protective of their organic capabilities. The other thing is that JSOC teams are often mixed (different branches or foreign operators working a mission) and Marines generally don’t play all that well with others. At least not yet. That’s a culture the Corps need to change.
Marines do serve and can try out and serve with Delta. As can other branches of the military.
@@cliffhatcher94 That’s false. The unit is the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta of the U.S. Army and only Army soldiers are members of the unit, just like only US Navy sailors serve in the SeALs. Delta is a part of JSOC which is a joint service command, and you will see people of different branches there. To become a Delta operator if you were a Marine (say a Raider), and you were approached by them, you’d need to finish your contract with the Corps and then join the Army as prior service and go straight to SF indoc. Once passed, they will bring you to the tryouts.
While there are joint service teams in the field, the units that supply the personnel belong to their respective branches and aside from an occasional exchange program, members of other branches are not members of those units.
@@afcgeo882 Go check out the Podcast of Combat Story: Episode 14. Todd Opalski was a Marine who has served as a member of Delta. Most of Delta is pulled from the Army, ie. SF, Ranger Regiment, 82nd, etc. However, other branches of the military are allowed to try out, be selected, and serve with Delta. I heard another podcast as well of a Marine that was a Delta operator but can’t recall his name. Granted it’s probably not super common but definitely not unheard of.
when i was in the 82nd in the mid 80s when you got your sgt. stripes you get a letter from project delta asking you to try out.
Maybe a video discussing the Air Force or Naval Academy?
thanks GD for the new video!
bro that beat drop in the background is going hard with the video..dayumn
Can you do Defense Atache from the US Army next please. Links up nice with the MSG video you did last week
No better than their support personnel. A very unappreciated and true statement
There are 3 tiers to government
1. Con artist
2. Liars
3. Thieves
Really like that tip of the hat to support units GD.
Are support personal of these units also have a selection process (other than have the qualifications to do their job) or are they pulled from the general military's support personal?
Both. They pull the best of the career fields needed.
I know some support troops here in SF and Special Tactics. They get a lot Xtra weapons, pt, etc. training. Some jump qualified too.
I know they do in the Australian army in regards to the sappers and combat engineers so that the can prove that they can keep up with and not slow down the spec ops unit they are attached to weather that be the commandos or the sas.
Yes. They pull the best of the best from all support personnel. You look at the NBA. Each team is like a Division. One the 82 airborne division. One 10th mountain. ID, all the different divisions. Then you have your Allstar team. Those are tear 2. Then you have the dream team. Those are tear 1. Just like the operators, the support personnel are hand picked, chosen for their skill and qualifications. You do not pick a scrub to support the dream team. You pick the best coaches, best medical specialists, best weapons specialists, best Intel experts, best combat controllers. You have the best logistics, best support, and the best operators for tier 2 and tier 1. I say 2 and 1 because many tier 2 can be tier 1. It just depends on what unit you are with at the time many tier 2 become tier 1 operators.
Thank y’all for your Service 💯💯💯
Question on terminology: I've heard that some specific groups take ownership over the term "Operator" versus "special operator" more so than some others. Today, "special operator" seems to have become sort of a ubiquitous term to describe individuals within Tier 2 and Tier 1 SOF groups. That said, is there a clear and verifiable history that identifies one specific group as having adopted the term before all others? And does that title within those teams have certain unique duty expectations? I've seen some claim that "true operators" are only those "high speed door-kickers" who are hyper focused on DA operations, that "Operators" are basically just highly skilled CQB specialists. To me, this viewpoint just seemed like a keyboard warrior argument as the highest speed dudes I've known have done WAAAY more than just kick in doors (SF and CCT). To be clear, I'm not interested in opinions. If anyone has specific experiences, books or other reading materials, etc., I'd appreciate any insights and/or recommendations.
In my experience, operators just refers to anyone in SOF. I would assume because they operate in their SO(perations)F. I don't think I've heard a specific unit gain the term operator more than any other though.
I have read SEALs used the term operator in Vietnam, but I don't know if that's really true as none of the sources were particularly good ie internet rumors. The term came to have it's meaning the way we know it to when Delta Force was stood up. They started what was known as the Operator's Training Course, which was the Delta qualification course. As a result, other tier 1 units also generally called their qualified personnel operators. When I first showed up to 1/75, Operator was a term specifically reserved for Tier 1 personnel who had earned that designation through their particular qualification course. But SOF came in the limelight around the same time as the GWOT was ragging on, and it became more popular for guys to call themselves operators that were in units outside of Tier 1. This especially came to head when SEALs got their own rating known as Special Operator(as opposed to having a regular Navy rating like Boatswain) and MARSOC eventually came up with their own MOS known as Critical Skills Operator. Probably the best books about the origin of Operator is Inside Delta Force or Beckwith's Delta Force. They go into how he came to choose that term.
NM gnarly gear. Just think about the ammo budget. Big difference between qualifying someone once year for watch vs. running someone through a "kill room" regularly.