Special Operations Forces (SOF) are elite military units with special training and equipment that can infiltrate into hostile territory through land, sea or air to conduct a variety of operations, many of them classified. SOF personnel undergo rigorous selection and lengthy specialised training. The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) oversees the training, doctrine and equipping of all U.S. SOF units. This book examines the background and issues for Congress of the U.S. Special Operations Forces with a focus on their history, mission and priorities, as well as their core activities.