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Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" (that is, non-conventional).

Examples of special operations include such operations such as reconnaissance
Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Australian, Canadian, and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon ....
/military intelligence
Military intelligence

Military intelligence , is a military service that uses List of intelligence gathering disciplines which informs the commanders' decision making process by providing intelligence analysis of Intelligence from a wide range of sources including forecast environmental changes , and opposing force intentions....
, unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
, and counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, Military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, military, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorism, both real and imputed....
 actions. Special operations are sometimes associated with unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
, counter-insurgency (operations against insurgents
Insurgency

An insurgency is a rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognised as belligerents. Not all rebellions are insurgencies, because a state of belligerency may exist between one or more sovereign states and rebel forces....
), operations against guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is the Irregular warfare warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile Military tactics to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
 or irregular forces
Irregular military

Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is a lot of variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used....
, low-intensity operations, and foreign internal defense
Foreign internal defense

Foreign internal defense is used by a number of Western militaries, explicitly by the United States but sharing ideas with countries including France and the United Kingdom, to describe an approach to combating actual or threatened insurgency in a foreign state called the Host Nation ....
.

Special operations may be carried out by conventional forces but are often carried out by special forces
Special forces

Special Forces , also known as, Special Operation Forces is a generic term for highly-trained military teams/units that conduct specialized Military operation such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions....
 (SF), which are military units that are often highly-trained and use special equipment, weapons, and tactics.






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Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" (that is, non-conventional).

Examples of special operations include such operations such as reconnaissance
Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Australian, Canadian, and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon ....
/military intelligence
Military intelligence

Military intelligence , is a military service that uses List of intelligence gathering disciplines which informs the commanders' decision making process by providing intelligence analysis of Intelligence from a wide range of sources including forecast environmental changes , and opposing force intentions....
, unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
, and counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, Military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, military, police departments and corporations adopt in response to terrorism, both real and imputed....
 actions. Special operations are sometimes associated with unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
, counter-insurgency (operations against insurgents
Insurgency

An insurgency is a rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognised as belligerents. Not all rebellions are insurgencies, because a state of belligerency may exist between one or more sovereign states and rebel forces....
), operations against guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is the Irregular warfare warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile Military tactics to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
 or irregular forces
Irregular military

Irregular military refers to any non-standard military. Being defined by exclusion, there is a lot of variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military organization, or to the type of tactics used....
, low-intensity operations, and foreign internal defense
Foreign internal defense

Foreign internal defense is used by a number of Western militaries, explicitly by the United States but sharing ideas with countries including France and the United Kingdom, to describe an approach to combating actual or threatened insurgency in a foreign state called the Host Nation ....
.

Special operations may be carried out by conventional forces but are often carried out by special forces
Special forces

Special Forces , also known as, Special Operation Forces is a generic term for highly-trained military teams/units that conduct specialized Military operation such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions....
 (SF), which are military units that are often highly-trained and use special equipment, weapons, and tactics. They are sometimes described as "elite" forces.

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