Special Forces facts

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Thebes had a special forces military unit comprised entirely of Homosexual Couples. The belief was that couples on the battlefield would fight their hardest to protect their lovers and not flee for fear of looking weak in front of their significant others.

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In 2003, an F-16 patroling in Iraq was called in to assist British special force troops ambushed by Iraqis. Because it was night-time, the pilot can't drop his bombs without hitting the British. So he dived and pulled his jet up, forming a sonic boom that hit the Iraqis, causing them to flee.

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In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what special forces are in the marines. Here are 50 of the best facts about Special Forces Army and Special Forces Movies I managed to collect.

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A Chechen terrorist attack in Moscow theater in 2002. Of the 130 people who died in the attack, only 1 was killed by terrorists, the other 129 were killed by the Russian special forces trying to rescue them.
The people of St. Pauli, Hamburg, were sick of their district smelling like urine because of nightclub patrons relieving themselves on the street. So they painted the buildings with special paint that repels water so forcefully public urinators end up peeing on themselves.
Steven Seagal was given Serbian citizenship after starting a martial arts school in Belgrade and giving Aikido lessons to Serbian Special Forces.
The US Army Special Forces have a training exercise where they have to liberate a fake country called "Pineland" in the style of a LARP. Since the exercise is based within an actual town, actual civilians are often called upon to preform roles such as shopkeepers or torturers.
Russian Special Forces use a knife that fires a bullet out of the bottom of the hilt. The "safe" way to fire involves holding the blade to absorb recoil.
Germany opened its Special Forces to women in 2001. Only one woman applied & she failed the requirements. As of 2016, no woman has passed the selection process.
Christopher Lee (91), who played Saruman, Count Dooku, etc. is a descendant of the First Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. He is a heavy metal singer and recorded a full solo album (2010). He killed Nazis in the British special forces, and even witnessed the last guillotine execution in France
A Soviet Special Forces Commander who ordered the execution of all Afghan witnesses to a coup was killed because he was wearing an Afghan uniform.
The ex-bassist of Nirvana and Soundgarden went on to become an Army Ranger and a Special Forces Green Beret.
Canada's elite special forces unit JTF2 once earned a US presidential unit citation whilst serving with Task Force K-Bar. Vice admiral Robert Harward, a US Navy SEAL in charge of the task force also stated that the JTF2 team under his command was his first choice for any direct action.

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Maj. Iván Castro is the only active duty blind officer serving in the US Army Special Forces. Castro lost his eyesight in 2006 in Iraq when a mortar round severely wounded him. After being told he'd never see again, he learned to train and serve without sight. He was promoted Captain in 2008.

Operation Paul Bunyan which included 60 US troops, 64 South Korean Special Forces troops, 7 attack heli's, an array of attack jets, nuclear ready B-52 bombers, and 12,00 troops on stand-by to finish cutting down a tree after North Korean soldiers killed 2 US soldiers cutting a tree. - source

Jason Everman the guitarist that was kicked out of Nirvana and Soundgarden went on to become a special forces war hero. - source

During the Vietnam War special forces used a silenced pistol called a 'hush puppy' for eliminating noisy animals like guard dogs. It was also sometimes used on ducks.

There was a man who fought for Finland, the Nazis, and the US Army Special Forces, escaped a POW camp, was pardoned by the President of Finland, earned a Bronze Star and Five Purple Hearts, and disappeared in 1965, only to have his remains confirmed in 1999. - source

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The Guatemalan Special forces, the Kaibiles, are infamous for forcing recruits to raise a puppy, bonding with it and then killing and eating it. Recruits are also shot and forced to perform field surgery on themselves, and they also have to drink water out of recently fired artillery shells.

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The British army created a special force of "Facebook warriors," skilled in psychological operations and use of social media to engage in unconventional warfare in the information age.

Special training is given to prison officers administering corporal punishment in Singapore and Malaysia, to teach them how to swing the 1.09-metre cane at a minimum speed of 160kph and produce a force upon impact of at least 90kg.

At one point during russian special purpose forces training, the trainees are shot at the chest while wearing body armor to give them a taste of the real battlefield

Bicycle Playing Card Company joined forces with American and British intelligence agencies to create a special deck of cards, specifically created to help allied prisoners of war escape from German POW camps.

Turkish Maroon Berets(special forces) has a training program called The Trust Shot. It consists of two members of a squad standing next to paper target boards, while another member fires on the targets with a handgun while walking towards them from 15 meters (50 feet) away.

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Argentinian special forces tried to destroy a UK ship during the Falklands War, but were foiled by a rental car salesperson.

The special forces unit that rescued Captain Philips was the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden two years later.

Canada has an elite special task force, JTF2. Almost all of its operations are shrouded in secrecy and in some cases were even unknown to the Canadian government.

About Italy's elite special force for WWI called the Ariditi. The soldiers, wielding only a knife and grenades could clear entire trenches. Hence being called "the most feared corps by opposing armies"

Roy Benavidez jumped from a hovering helicopter to save 12 Special Forces soldiers, who were surrounded by 1,000 NVA, with only a knife. He had 37 separate bullet, bayonet, and shrapnel wounds from the six hour fight.

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Virginia Hall, a UK Special Ops agent in World War II who helped train Resistance forces behind enemy lines & who the Gestapo called "the most dangerous of all Allied spies" -- despite being an amputee from a hunting accident & using an artificial foot she nicknamed "Cuthbert"

In 1991, actor Charlie Sheen contacted the FBI after watching a Japanese Horror Film , convinced that the movie depicted footage of an actual murder. After an investigation, the filmmakers were forced to prove that the gore shown in the movie had all been created using special effects

The US Mint printed special Hawaiian money during WWII "to easily distinguish US currency captured by Japanese forces in the event of an invasion of Hawaii."

The Cajun Navy (volunteer water rescues following hurricanes) has also spawned the Cajun Special Forces (special rescues with trained emergency personnel), Cajun Army (disaster clean-up), and Cajun Commissary (emergency food services)

In 2004 the Irish army Ranger Wing (special forces) rescued 35 civilians who were being held hostage in a large container by rebel gunmen in Liberia. The Irish rangers managed to capture the rebel leader and free the hostages without any fatalities

The base was originally built in 1962 as an Army Special Forces base before the Marines turned it into one of their camps. Khe Sahn had strategic importance for the Americans and South Vietnamese because it was close to the border with North Vietnam and Laos, which was also fighting a communist insurgency.

It took 10 hours for special forces to arrive and respond to Taj hotel siege in Mumbai, because Mumbai with 18M+ population didn't have special forces unit and it had to be flown from Delhi

Col. Smedley Butler was one of the highest-ranked and most-decorated marines in the US armed forces, and was also an outspoken critic of the policy of exploiting the nation's military service to serve private special interests.. 70+ years ago.

Italy's World War I special forces were some of the the best in the world. Called Arditi, which means "Daring Ones", they specialised in mountain warfare and fought with knives, flamethrowers, grenades and machine-pistols.

Larry Thorne, a Finnish soldier who served in Finnish Army, Waffen SS during WWII, and in U.S. Special Forces during Vietnam WAr.

Air Force Special Operator John Chapman, who was the first member of the Armed Forces to be awarded the Medal of Honor based on technical intelligence, and the first recipient whose bravery was recorded on video

Saddam Hussein's elite "Fedayeen" special forces group had helmets shaped like Darth Vader's, supposedly because his son was a Star Wars fan.

The Danish special forces conduct regular patrol missions for up to 4 months on Greenland to enforce their sovereignty

The "Bamboo Pentagon", the near mythical headquarter of the Viet Cong in Cambodia, which US special forces suffered heavy casualties every time they tried to capture. No Viet Cong leader was ever killed or captured by US bombing or Special Forces.

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