Special Activities Division

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Special Activities Division
- SAD -

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State level Federation
position Special paramilitary unit
Supervisory authority Central Intelligence Agency
Web presence -

The Special Activities Division ( SAD ) is a paramilitary special unit of the American foreign intelligence service Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

overview

The SAD reports to the Directorate of Operations of the CIA, the former National Clandestine Service . It was founded in 1995 by Brigadier General William G. Boykin , the former commander of the Delta Force , a US Army specialty counter- terrorism and covert operations unit , when he joined the CIA and took over the management of the new unit. Within the CIA, they wanted to gain the military know-how of former members of special units, combine it with intelligence service deployment methodology and bundle the existing capabilities in a new unit (department). The current unofficial name of the unit is Special Activities Staff .

Organization and mandate

The official area of ​​responsibility of the unit is vaguely described as "Military Special Projects" ("MSP"). Organizationally, it is the paramilitary arm of the CIA and thus a cross-sectional department that is always deployed when one of the other departments of the CIA requests it. Their mission profile is correspondingly broad and can be summarized as the execution of covert paramilitary operations . This includes the entire range of capabilities available to certain military special units, such as the Delta Force or the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (the former Seal-Team Six ), such as:

The current strength of the unit is secret (is estimated at a few hundred), flexible, order-dependent and can be officially disputed at any time. Depending on the order, so-called Special Operations Groups are put together in cooperation with the responsible CIA operations department deployed by SAD , which are then headed by the locally responsible Chief of Station (COS) of the CIA. The team size usually ranges from 4 to 12 operatives, but sometimes it can only consist of one operatives.

Subdivisions

The SAD is divided into three sub-divisions, which are referred to as "Branches".

Ground branch

The ground branch has the most varied tasks of the three subdivisions. Its members are trained in all military special operations techniques as well as in classic operational intelligence activities.

Air branch

The CIA operates with camouflaged controlled civil airlines, the most famous of which was Air America (during the Vietnam War ). All of the CIA's covert air transports are carried out with them. Every type of aircraft that is required is available. The SAD pilots are considered extremely versatile. Often they are former members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment .

Maritime Branch

Operators in this subdivision have the same level of training as the Ground Branch, but with a focus on combat swimmers and amphibious operations, such as jet ski reconnaissance and hostage rescue in hostile coastal areas. Former seals are mostly used here.

Recruitment and training

In contrast to the usual CIA operators (agents), the SAD emergency services are regularly recruited from former soldiers of the Delta Force, the Seals, the Green Berets , the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command or the United States Army Rangers , but also if necessary from civil authorities such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or local SWAT police units. The training location is either the CIA training center Camp Peary (also commonly known as The Farm ) near Williamsburg , Virginia, or secret training facilities around the world. However, civil (private) training facilities are also used, such as John Shaw's Mid South School , TEES and Gunsite for shooting training. Dealing with handguns and sniper rifles, for example anti- sniper combat ( countersniping), of all kinds represents a special training focus. Instinctive, quick and safe handling in every situation has top priority.

history

During Operation Desert Shield (Iraq) in 1990, ground branch operators managed to break through the Iraqi lines in and around Kuwait several times and to reach the besieged US embassy.

The SAD-Air-Branch was involved in various missions, such as with Sea Spray , a secret air transport unit of the US Army and CIA, ensured the covert supplies of weapons for the Contras ( guerrillas ) in Nicaragua and supplied the UNITA rebels in Angola with supplies.

The Maritime Branch also supported the Contras in Nicaragua through training in underwater sabotage and mine-laying operations in the ports of the Sandinistas . In 1991 , this subdivision trained Green Berets teams in hostage rescue using modified jet skis during Operation Desert Storm (Iraq).

Calls

The unit is deployed worldwide, but currently mainly in Afghanistan and Iraq .

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