The team of US Special Operations Forces who killed Osama bin Laden in a pre-dawn raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, were led by elite Navy SEALS from the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC, pronounced: JAY-sock). They basically serve as the president’s secret army, planning and executing the most dangerous, highly classified missions of the United States military. Somali pirates killing? Nabbing Saddam Hussein? Black Hawk Down? JSOC was involved in all of them.
The Command: Deep Inside the President’s Secret Army by Marc Ambinder and D.B. Grady is a new book that goes deep inside JSOC and gives us a look at why our military is badass. It is now available at Amazon.
mental_floss has a great article here on 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the President’s Secret Army. Here’s a few:
- JSOC can reconstruct documents that have been burned.
- The aircraft used in the Bin Laden raid were from Area 51.
- There is a JSOC base in a major European airport.
- When you hear “Delta Force” or “SEAL Team Six,” they’re talking about JSOC.
Click over to there to read about them and see the rest.
