Special Forces

Career Overview

Implement unconventional operations by air, land, or sea during combat or peacetime as members of elite teams. These activities include offensive raids, demolitions, reconnaissance, search and rescue, and counterterrorism. In addition to their combat training, special forces members often have specialized training in swimming, diving, parachuting, survival, emergency medicine, and foreign languages. Duties include conducting advanced reconnaissance operations and collecting intelligence information; recruiting, training, and equipping friendly forces; conducting raids and invasions on enemy territories; laying and detonating explosives for demolition targets; locating, identifying, defusing, and disposing of ordnance; and operating and maintaining sophisticated communications equipment.

Alternate Job Titles

  • Advance Seal Delivery System Maintainer
  • Amphibian Crewmember
  • Basic Combatant Swimmer
  • Combatant Swimmer (SEAL)
  • Joint Special Operations
  • Master Naval Parachutist
  • Naval Special Warfare Medic
  • Parachutist
  • Pararescue Craftsman
  • Pararescue Manager
  • Reconnaissance Crewmember
  • Reconnaissance Man
  • Reconnaissance Man, Combatant Diver Qualified
  • Reconnaissance Man, Parachute and Combatant Diver Qualified
  • Reconnaissance Man, Parachutist Qualified

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Occupational data sourced from the O*NET OnLine database, developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), 2024.

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