The United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment One

(MCSOCOM Detachment One or Det 1), was a pilot program to assess the value of US
Marine special operations forces permanently detached to the United States Special
Operations Command. It was commanded by Col. Robert J. Coates, former commanding
officer of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. Det One was activated on 19 June 2003 and
had its headquarters at Camp Del Mar Boat Basin in Camp Pendleton, California. It was
disbanded in 2006 and succeeded by the permanent United States Marine Corps Forces
Special Operations Command (MARSOC).

Personnel

The unit consisted of 81 Marines and 5 Navy Corpsmen divided among 4 sections:

reconnaissance element (30 men)

intelligence element (29 men), containing a headquarters element and

a Radio Reconnaissance Team (RRT), (9 men)

a SIGINT support team (3 men)

a human intelligence (HumInt) exploitation team (HET), (6 men)

an all-source fusion team (12 men)

 fires element (7 men)

headquarters element

The original Marines that formed the detachment were hand-picked from over 500 superior
candidates. Despite common misconception, Det One was not a beefed up Force
Reconnaissance platoon. While the reconnaissance element was composed mostly of Force
Recon Marines, they made up only 24 of the 86 members of the detachment. The
detachment, though lacking organic aviation, operated under the Marine Air-Ground Task
Force philosophy of leveraging integrated, complementary capabilities to be more effective
than the sum of its parts.[1]

More than half of Det One's Recon Marines were trained Scout Snipers.[2]

Insignia

This section needs additional citations for

MCSOCOM Detachment One
verification. Learn more
Detachment One's Insignia comes from
the World War II Marine Raider's patch, a
blue patch with a skull and stars. The
insignia was created by then-GySgt
Anthony Siciliano. The scarlet, blue, and
gold disk represents the unit's joint Navy-
Marine Corps origins. The crossed MCSOCOM Detachment One insignia

stiletto/lightning bolt represent the unit's Active 20 June 2003–2006

special operations mission, and its global
Allegiance United States
communications reach. The parachute
of America
wings represent airborne-qualified status
and the mask above it represents the Branch United States
combatant diver qualification. Marine Corps

Type Special operations

History
Size 86

Although Detachment One was a relatively Part of US Special

new unit its heritage can be traced back to Operations

the World War II Marine Raiders. In World Command

War II, the Marine Raiders were formed to Garrison/HQ Camp Pendleton,
seize key beaches and hills and also California, US
conduct guerrilla-style strikes against
Engagements Operation Iraqi
Imperial Japanese Forces. After two years
Freedom
the Raiders were disbanded but they set
Second Battle of
the stage for other raider-style units like Fallujah
Detachment One.

In 1986, when the Department of Defense Commanders

established the new joint Special Colonel of Robert J. Coates

Operations Command, the Marine Corps the Regiment
opted not to participate. Then
Commandant Paul X. Kelley expressed the belief popular in the Corps that Marines should
support Marines, and that the Corps should not fund a special warfare capability that would
operate independently of the Fleet Marine Force.[3] The Corps wanted to retain the Corps'
Force Reconnaissance units within the MAGTF command structure and prevent the
development of an "elite" within the Marine Corps. Marine Corps leadership believed that
such a development would be at the expense of the effectiveness of the Corps as a whole.
However, following the September 11 attacks and the current global war on terror, that view
began to shift. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld immediately directed the Marine Corps and
USSOCOM to work more closely together in what would be called the global war on terror.
Marine resistance to special warfare units dissipated when Marine leaders watched the
Corps' "crown jewels" – the 15th and 26th MEU Maritime Special Purpose Forces – sit on the
sidelines during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom while other special warfare
units led the way. Resistance from SOF commanders already in-country and indifference
from the Navy chain of command left the MEU(SOC)s unused for over a month, relegated to
supporting roles where SOF lacked manpower.[1]

In October 2002, Commandant James L. Jones, after consultation with USSOCOM leaders,
directed the establishment of a Marine unit for permanent USSOCOM employment. Out of
this came the T/O for Detachment One, officially activated aboard Camp Pendleton on 19
June 2003.

After completion of Navy special warfare (NSW) certification and other training, Det One
was deployed to Iraq in March 2004 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operating under Naval
Special Warfare Group One, Det One executed direct action, coalition support, and
battlefield-shaping operations. A study conducted by the Joint Special Operations
University (JSOU) found that

The trial deployment demonstrated the MCSOCOM Det could effectively

conduct direct action (DA) and special reconnaissance (SR). It is reasonable
to suggest that the Detachment could also conduct or support foreign
internal defense (FID), counter-terrorism (CT), special activities, selected
 theater security cooperation plans (TSCP), and other tasks as required.[1]

Det One was dubbed as "Task Force Raider" and deployed alongside US Navy SEAL task
units contained within Naval Special Warfare Task Group - Arabian Peninsula, which was
part of CJSOTF-AP (Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula). As
the deployment took shape, the operators of the Task Unit Raider and Task Unit Thunder
(built around GROM) would become the task force's primary direct action assets, operating

in conjunction on multiple occasions.[2]

Det One's first "real" mission - a close target reconnaissance operation - was aided by a
GROM sniper, in which the target (a suspected insurgent sniper) was apprehended by the
GROM sniper. Task Unit Raider first operated in and around Baghdad before being ordered
by CJSOTF-AP to send its snipers to al-Najaf (a stronghold for the Mahdi Army) to relieve
pressure on the 11th MEU. Det One proceeded to demoralise the militiaman by "wiping out"
dozens of enemy combatants, confusing them as to the point of origin of the unrelenting
lethal fire. In addition, Det One kept their marksman on their SR-25s around the clock-
providing no respite for the militia. Det One's Scout snipers also carried out two successful
countersniper operations, obliterating Shia insurgent positions and the snipers themselves
with .50-caliber Barret M82 fire.[2]
In preparation for the Second Battle of Fallujah, Marines from the Det One, along with Green
Berets from the 5th SFG, SEALs, and Marine Force Recon, were heavily involved in shaping
operations prior to the 7 November D-DAY when coalition forces entered the city.[4]

However, the deployment also revealed interservice tensions. The Navy commander of
Naval Special Warfare Squadron One did not utilize Det One as a cohesive unit, but parceled
its capabilities as needed. In particular, the intelligence section was parceled out to other
Navy units, instead of supporting Det One operations, as the Navy lacked intelligence
personnel who understood ground combat.[3]

Following the conclusion of the deployment in September 2004, the Marine Corps and
USSOCOM continued to negotiate details of the long-term relationship through 2005, while
Det One trained for a possible second deployment. Though deployment proposals were
rejected on the basis that Det One was to provide the nucleus of the future permanent
MARSOC organization, it was disbanded on 10 March 2006 and its members dispersed
throughout the Marine Corps. The experience of Det One provided critical intelligence on
the organization and integration of a Marine special-operations force into USSOCOM and
was instrumental to the planning of MARSOC.[1]

See also

1st Force Reconnaissance Company

 Force Reconnaissance

Radio Reconnaissance Platoon

Marine Forces Special Operations Command

Strider SMF

References

i. Priddy, Maj. Wade (2006). "Marine Detachment 1: Opening the door for a Marine force
contribution to USSOCom". Marine Corps Gazette. Marine Corps Association. 90 (6):
58–59.

j. Martin, Chris, Modern American Snipers: From The Legend to The Reaper---on the
Battlefield with Special Operations Snipers, St. Martin's Press, 2014 ISBN 1250076455
ISBN 978-1250067173

k. Smith, Jr., W Thomas (2005). "Marines, Navy SEALs Forge New Special Operations
Team; An exclusive interview with U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine" .
Military.com. Retrieved 31 July 2006.

m. Neville, Leigh, Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military), Osprey
Publishing, 2015 ISBN 978-1-4728-0790-8, p.178
External links

ShadowSpear Special Operations Community Website & Forum

Last edited 15 days ago by Dl2000