Hello kongulu,
I must say, you do ask some tricky questions ;) (ie. military
structure in DRC)
Whilst the excerpt below doesn´t answer your questions, I think you
might find it interesting as background information.
Best regards
THX1138
"The CIA is divided into four major divisions: the Directorate of
Operations (DO), the Directorate of Intelligence (DI), the Directorate
of Administration (DA), and the Directorate of Science and Technology
(DS&T)."
http://www.access.gpo.gov/intelligence/int/int010.html
"The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Directorate of Operations
(DO),
which is headed by a Deputy Director for Operations (DDO), is
responsible
for handling covert actions conducted on the Agency's behalf. Within
DO are
a number of subsections, including Counterterrorism, Counternarcotics,
Counterintelligence Staff (CIS), Covert Action Staff (CAS), Special
Operations, and others. Of these groups, the Special Operations unit
is
tasked with conducting paramilitary (PM) covert operations.
The Special Activities Staff (SAS)
The Special Activities Staff (SAS) is one of the least known covert
units
operating on behalf of the US Government. Operating in teams as large
as 12,
or as small as one, the SAS is considered to be among the world's top
special operations units. SAS personnel have been described as being
particularly skilled in counterterrorist/hostage rescue operations,
and are
said to capable of "taking down" any type of vehicle, aircraft, ship,
building, or facility.
The SAS provides a pool from which the various divisions within the
Agency
may draw trained personnel to form a Special Operations Group, or SOG.
SOG's
are short-term teams that carry out paramilitary operations such as
sabotage; friendly personnel/material recovery; threat
personnel/material
snatches; bomb damage assessment (BDA); counterterrorist (CT)
operations;
raids; hostage rescues, and other activities as directed by the
President.
Candidates for the SAS are primarily drawn from two sources. The first
of
these is the US military's Special Mission Units (SMUs) such as the
Army's
Combat Applications Group (CAG) better known as "Delta Force" (the 1st
Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta), as well as the US Navy's
Naval
Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU-formerly known as SEAL Team
SIX).
Other prospective candidates are drawn from former members of elite
military
units such as the USMC's Force Reconnaissance units; the US Army
Special
Forces; and Navy's SEAL teams, or from within the ranks of the Agency
itself.
A SOG detachment would be comprised of members from one, or more the
SAS's
three sections, which include a Ground Branch, Air Branch, and
Maritime
Branch, depending upon the needs of the SOG, and its mission tasking.
Once
organized, a SOG would travel to its selected Area of Operations (AO),
and
execute its mission as directed by the DDO through the local Chief of
Station, or whomever was tasked with carrying out the operation.
One successful operation conducted by the SAS occurred during
Operation
Desert Shield. During the operation a lone SAS operative repeatedly
penetrated Iraqi defense in and around Kuwait City in order to
deliver, and
retrieve intelligence material from the besieged US Embassy. In
another
operation SAS operators, along with US Navy SEALs, were involved in
the
covert mining of Nicaraguan harbors during the 1980s.
Air Branch
Air Branch is a descendent of such groups as Air America, Southern Air
Transport, and Evergreen Air. Air Branch provides all of the Agency's
covert
aviation assets, with both fixed and rotary wing aircraft being
available
for use. Reportedly there is virtually no type of aircraft that SAS
Air
Branch personnel cannot operate. Some Air Branch pilots are culled
from the
ranks of the US Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Air Branch has provided personnel for such diverse undertakings as
"Sea
Spray" (A covert Army/CIA aviation unit), the covert arming of the
Nicaraguan Contras, and the resupply of UNITA rebels in Angola.
Maritime Branch
Maritime Branch is primarily composed of former Navy SEALs from both
"regular" blue water SEAL Teams and the counterterrorist DEVGRU, and
USMC
Force Reconnaissance personnel. Maritime Branch personnel receive
training
similar to that of Ground Branch operators, but with a greater
training
emphasis on amphibious/waterborne activities. Maritime Branch
operators
receive training in conducting operations such as jet-ski
reconnaissance and
hostage rescue operations along hostile shorelines.
One example of these activities occured during the early 80's, when
Maritime Branch personnel trained Nicaraguan Contras to use of high
speed
boats for attacks against Sandanita shipping. They also stood by to
launch
underwater sabotage attacks against ships docked in Managua's harbor.
Another example occurred in early 1991. This time Maritime Branch
operators
instructed US military SOF in the use of modified jet skis for a
possible
hostage rescue mission during Operation Desert Storm.
The amphibious skills of Maritime Branch personnel are sometimes
duplicated
within Ground Branch, due to the fact that many Ground Branch
operators are
already combat diver or scout-swimmer qualified.
Ground Branch
Ground Branch personnel are the most diversely trained group of all
SAS
personnel, receiving training at various civilian and military
courses, with
particular attention being given to the use of small arms. Training is
known
to include instruction in the following areas: assessing threat types;
intelligence gathering; room entry techniques; tactical communications
(covert radios, infrared, microwave transmitters, etc.); levels of
force;
use of the baton; armed and unarmed crowd control; edged weapons;
unarmed
combat techniques; team training and leadership; individual and team
movements; structure penetration; boarding and securing vessels;
prisoner
search/ snatch and handling; hostage situation management; small unit
tactics; long range reconnaissance and patrol; explosives; field
medicine;
extreme environment survival; and land, sea and airborne operations.
Small arms instruction is provided using a wide variety of weapons,
ranging
from pistols and shotguns, to rifles and carbines. CQB shooting
skills,
sniping, and countersniping are all considered vital skills and are
emphasized thoughout operator training. Civilian training centers
such as
John Shaw's Mid South School, TEES, BSR, and Gunsite are known to
frequently
play host to SAS personnel.
Another important area of Ground Branch operator training is advanced
automobile handling (evasive, high-speed emergency driving). Students
learn
how to drive virtually any type of vehicle under any condition, both
during
daylight and at night, with or without night observation devices
(NODs).
They also receive instruction on how to use the car as a weapon,
should the
need ever arise. These skills, along with related techniques, are
known
collectively as Tactical Vehicle Commandeering (TVC) and are learned
both at
civilian academies and by G8: Training Division.
All Ground Branch personnel are required to undertake every class
offered by
OTR that has anything to do with small arms, vehicles, terrorism, or
covert
fieldcraft. While such training obviously enhances the individual
operator's personal skill level, a secondary reason for such training
is
the fact that Ground Branch personnel will, at some point in their
career,
have to serve as an instructor at a CIA or government run training
facility.
SAS Training
Those individuals who pass the initial SAS selection phase, which is
based
on a modified version of the CAG (Delta)/Special Air Service (SAS)
selection
course, and accepted into the group, are then selected for one of the
three
operational sections. Upon arrival, the new operator will under take a
wide
variety of civilian and military training courses, to help develop the
skills necessary for the demanding tasks that may be asked of him.
Established during World War II as a training base for U.S. Navy
Seabees,
the 10,000 acre Camp Peary training center, which is also known as the
Special Training Center (STC) or "The Farm", is used by DO for a wide
variety of training. The STC's primary training focus is on basic
tradecraft
skills such as weapons handling, explosives, infiltration and
exfiltration
technique. It is not unusual for students attending the Basic
Operations
Course (required of all Case Officers) to travel to nearby
Williamsburg to
practice their skills in a real-world environment. Yet, while numerous
films
and novels have portrayed "The Farm" as the ultimate training ground
for the
Agency's paramilitary operators, this is in fact, not the case. For
advanced
instruction in other skills, such as breaking into buildings
undetected
(sureptitious entry); stealing and photographing documents or
equipment;
"snatch and grab" techniques (recovery of a friendly or hostile
individual);
CQB, intelligence gathering, and a course known as AET, or Applied
Explosive
Techniques (which is popular with US Navy SEALs), students travel to
the"
Point" which is located outside of Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
The Harvey Point Defense Testing Activity was originally constructed
during
World War II to serve as a base for anti-submarine patrol blimps
operating
along the Eastern seaboard, acts as an advanced training center for
Agency,
US military, and friendly special mission/operations units. One known
example of this occurred when Agency personnel provided instruction to
the
US Secret Service (USSS) in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
techniques.
Both the EOD and the above mentioned AET courses are managed by a
group
within the Agency's Department of Science and Technology known as the
Special Activities Division (SAD).
Civilian facilities also play a major role in SAS operator training.
The
West Virginia-based ITI provides instruction for select US government
specialty teams, such as the Agency's SNAP teams, CAT teams and the
SAS. ITI
also supplies Counterterror Surveillance instructors for the CTTC
course.
There is also another school, located in West Point Virginia, that
teaches
Agency specialty teams. The Mid-South Institute of Self Defense
Shooting
near Memphis, TN is known to be frequented by SAS personnel. Of all
the
civilian facilities, however, G8: Training Division, a private sector
company, provides the preponderance of SAS training, and thus bears
closer
discussion.
Formed in 1981 under the direction of an EOD-qualified retired Navy
SEAL,
and a CIA paramilitary officer, G8 trains US government personnel in
"black
arts", such as CQB, tradecraft, surveillance, sniping,and other
clandestine
skills . G8's was originally based in the valley of Aina Haina, on the
island of Oahu, in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1982 G8 moved to
the
mainland United States, and in a short period of time, primarily due
to a
growing relationship with the CIA, grew to a full-fledged training
group,
capable of hosting a steady flow of paramilitary personnel. As the
number of
students increased, so did the quantity and quality of instructors.
Today,
G8's staff includes not only former SAS personnel, but former
military
personnel from variety of units, including the US Army Special
Operations
Command (USASOC); US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM);
the
20th Special Forces Group; the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center
and
School (JFKSWCS), and the US Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.
Vehicle Training
An important part of SAS training includes the operation of motor
vehicles
in both permissive and non-permissive environments. The basic driving
course
called CTTC (Countering Terrorist Tactics Course) or in Agency slang
as the
"Crash and Bang" course, is taught at CampPerry. This course is
required
for any CIA personnel being sent to a potentially hostile area.
During the
course the traineeis qualified in the use of the Browning 9mm, .38
Special
revolver, and Winchester 1200 12-gauge shotgun. It also introduces the
student to basic counterterror driving techniques, and counterterror
awareness/counter surveillance techniques. For the highly trained
Ground
Branch personnel such techniques are elementary, however they are
still
required to attend the course due to the fact they will later return
as
course instructors.
SAS vehicle training is broken down into several categories:
TVC is a course designed for individuals who may have to escape from
hostile
territory by quickly acquiring a vehicle. The training focuses on
vehicle
types and selection, improvising tools, overcoming security devices,
and
driving away. This course is followed by the more advanced Tactical
Vehicle
Interception (TVI), which teaches how to stop a moving auto using one,
two
or more vehicles or firearms.
The Evasive Driving Module (EDM) is for operators who might come under
attack while operating a motor vehicle. Whether the attack be an
attempted
carjacking, kidnapping, or terrorist assassination, the response is
the
same, to get out of the situation quickly. The goal is to train the
driver
how to use his vehicle as a means of escape or weapon for survival.
The
driver will learn what a car is capable of and most importantly, his
own
limits. He will be shown how hard it is to stop a moving vehicle, and
he
will conduct a series of exercises where instructors actually try to
run
the driver off the road. The driver will be taught evasive maneuvers
such as
forward and reverse spins and ramming. Training is brought together
through
realistic situational exercises where the student comes under
different
types of attack and is challenged to react."
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