Combined Special Operations In World War II
()
About this ebook
The study concludes that current U.S. doctrine does not adequately address the organization, training, and command and control of combined special operations. Current doctrine provides sufficient strategic guidance, but requires supporting doctrine at the operational and tactical level. One of the contributing factors is an over-reliance on Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM.
The study provides planning considerations that should be incorporated into current combined doctrine. The historical examples illustrate the criticality of establishing clear goals and objectives and the use of training to assist in achieving unity of effort. The study also identifies centralized control, clear communications, and coordination as fundamental to successful command and control of combined special operations units.
Captain James C. Nixon
See Book Description
Related to Combined Special Operations In World War II
Related ebooks
Handbook on German Military Forces Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Twelfth US Air Force: Tactical And Operational Innovations In The Mediterranean Theater Of Operations, 1943-1944 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret Air War Over France: USAAF Special Operations Units In The French Campaign Of 1944 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWehrmacht Combat Reports: The Russian Front Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCombined Operations; The Official Story of The Commandos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBusting The Bocage: American Combined Arms Operations In France, 6 June-31 July 1944 [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReading The Enemy’s Mail:: Origins And Development Of US Army Tactical Radio Intelligence In World War II, European Theater Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScouts Out! The Development Of Reconnaissance Units In Modern Armies [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fire Support in the Reduction of an Encircled Force - a Forgotten Mission Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarfare in the Enemy’s Rear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpecial Forces Vehicles: 1940 to the Present Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SAS and Special Forces in World War II: The Complete Guide to Paratroop, Commando, Ranger, SS, Marine and Other Elite Units Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Bosnia To Baghdad: The Evolution Of US Army Special Forces From 1995-2004 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Americans on D-Day & in Normandy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The British at First and Second Ypres Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Flanders 1915 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scouts Out: A History of German Armored Reconnaissance Units in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beachhead Assault: The Combat History of the Royal Naval Commandos in World War II Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rommel's Desert Warriors: 1941-1942 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnited States Army in WWII - Europe - the Lorraine Campaign: [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend: From Formation to the Battle of Caen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAllied Special Forces Insignia, 1939–1948 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSir, They're Taking the Kids Indoors: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1973–74 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fighting 30th Division: They Called Them Roosevelt's SS Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUbique: The Royal Artillery in the Second World War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Flew With the Lafayette Escadrille Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5United States Infantry Weapons of the Second World War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Build Up Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Wars & Military For You
Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Combined Special Operations In World War II
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Combined Special Operations In World War II - Captain James C. Nixon
This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com
To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com
Or on Facebook
Text originally published in 1993 under the same title.
© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Publisher’s Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
COMBINED SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II
BY
CPT (P) JAMES C. NIXON, USA.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
ABSTRACT 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7
CHAPTER ONE — INTRODUCTION 8
Assumptions 9
Definitions 10
Limitations 11
Review of Literature 11
Research Design 12
Significance of the Study 13
CHAPTER TWO — DIEPPE RAID 14
Organization 14
United States Rangers 16
Inter-Allied Commandos 16
Recruitment and Training 17
Training 18
Unit Training 18
Commando Equipment 18
Dieppe Raid Preparation 19
Command and Control 19
Dieppe Raid 19
Commando Mission 20
Enemy Situation 20
Commando Plans 21
Execution 22
Aftermath 24
Conclusion 25
Organization 25
Training 25
Command and Control 26
Dieppe Raid 26
CHAPTER THREE — THE FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE 27
Organization 27
Training 31
Command and Control 33
Operation ANVIL/DRAGOON 35
Conclusion 39
CHAPTER FOUR — THE JEDBURGH TEAMS 41
Organization 41
Training 43
Initial Training 44
Team Marriages
45
Operational Training 45
Problems 47
Team Equipment 47
Command and Control 48
External Command and Control 48
Operation DRAGOON 49
Conclusion 52
Organization 52
Training 53
Command and Control 53
Operation DRAGOON 54
CHAPTER FIVE — DOCTRINE 55
JCS PUB 3.0 Doctrine for Unified and Joint Operations 55
FM 100 - 5 Operations 56
FM 100-25, Doctrine for Army special Operations Forces 57
FM 100-5 Operations (Draft) 60
FM 100-8 Combined Army Operations (Draft) 61
Conclusion 63
CHAPTER SIX — CONCLUSION 65
Doctrine 65
Combined Special Operations in the European Theater During World War II 65
Planning Considerations 70
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 72
BIBLIOGRAPHY 73
Primary Sources 73
Unpublished Sources 73
Government Publications 73
Books 74
Articles 76
ABSTRACT
This study is an historical analysis of combined special operations units in the European Theater during World War II. The study examines the Dieppe Raid Force, the First Special Service Force, and the Jedburghs to determine common strengths and weaknesses in organization, training, command and control, and effectiveness. The study also analyzes the adequacy of current United States combined and special operations doctrine based on the results of the historical analysis.
The study concludes that current U.S. doctrine does not adequately address the organization, training, and command and control of combined special operations. Current doctrine provides sufficient strategic guidance, but requires supporting doctrine at the operational and tactical level. One of the contributing factors is an over-reliance on Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM.
The study provides planning considerations that should be incorporated into current combined doctrine. The historical examples illustrate the criticality of establishing clear goals and objectives and the use of training to assist in achieving unity of effort. The study also identifies centralized control, clear communications, and coordination as fundamental to successful command and control of combined special operations units.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my thanks for the support provided by my research committee. Their comments and advice were invaluable to this project. I also want to thank my Academic Counseler/Evaluator, LTC Jose A. Rodriguez, DJCO, for his encouragement.
Finally, I want to express my appreciation for my wife, Debbie, without whose support and understanding I would never have completed this thesis.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Commando Organization
Ranger Organization
German Dispositions at Dieppe
The Dieppe Operation
First Special Service Force Organization
The Invasion of Southern France
First Special Service Force's Assault of the Iles D'Hyeres
Team Packard's Area of Operations
Special Operations Imperatives
Special Operations Employment Criteria
Special Operation Missions
Combined Principles
Parallel Command Structure
Unilateral Command Structure
CHAPTER ONE — INTRODUCTION
The United States military has frequently used combined special operations throughout its short history. A review of United States involvement in combined operations, special operations, and combined special operations demonstrate the scope of the topic.
From the Franco-American alliance in the American Revolutionary War to Operation Desert Storm, combined operations were central to American success. While researchers can trace special units and operations throughout United States history, they did not come into prominence until World War II. The role and use of special operations has continually grown since World War II. Special operations are currently used to accomplish strategic or tactical objectives with conventional forces or while acting independently.
Combined special units and operations extended throughout every theater of operation in World War II, and to varying degrees in every major conflict since World War II. Combined special units continue to exist today in organizations such as the United Nations Command Joint Security Force serving in Korea. Combined special operations were conducted most recently during Operation DESERT STORM.
In The Challenges of Combined Operations
Major General Waldo D. Freeman noted that World War II provided the best conditions to study the political and military ramifications of combined operations.{1}
World War II also provides the best opportunity to analyze the hybrid of combined and special operations. The size and intensity of the war forced the Allies to form coalitions and alliances to defeat the Axis threat. Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s backing of special purpose units and operations provided the backdrop for the evolution of combined special operations. The units and operations extended to all theaters of operation and resulted in the formation of more than twenty types of combined special operation units.
While all theaters in World War II conducted combined special operations to varying degrees, the European theater provides an opportunity to examine the full spectrum of combined special operations. The units in the theater ranged from permanent organizations like the First Special Service Force; to units formed for campaigns (OSS Jedburghs
); to units formed for one mission (Dieppe Raid force).
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Dieppe Raid Force, the First Special Service Force, and the Jedburghs to discover their strengths and weaknesses in organization, training, command and control, and effectiveness. In addition, an analysis of current United States military doctrine will be undertaken to determine if it is adequate to support combined special operations based on the results of this historical analysis.
These three units provide an opportunity to study a wide spectrum of combined special operations. Although limited to the same time span and theater of war, the units were formed and utilized in completely different ways. This wide difference in formation and use also provides for material to study current doctrine and its adequacy.
The Dieppe Raid force consisted of Canadians, U.S. Rangers, British Commandos, and French Forces. They conducted a controversial, large scale raid in August 1942 against strong Nazi fortifications, during an Allied debate over opening a second front.
The First Special Service Force (FSSF) was a fixed organization consisting of Americans and Canadians.