The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting small-unit special operation missions in maritime, jungle, urban, arctic, mountainous, and desert environments. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or kill high-level targets, or to gather intelligence behind enemy lines. SEAL team personnel are hand-selected, highly trained, and possess a high degree of proficiency in direct action (DA), and special reconnaissance (SR), among other tasks like sabotage, demolition, intelligence gathering, and hydro-graphic reconnaissance, training, and advising friendly militaries or other forces.
The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The medal was established on July 2, 1926, and is currently awarded to any persons who, after April 6, 1917, distinguish themselves by single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Both heroism and extraordinary achievement are entirely distinctive, involving operations that are not routine. The medal may be awarded to friendly foreign military members in ranks equivalent to U.S. Pay Grade of O-6 and below, in combat in support operations.
The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds several annual conferences. The Naval Institute is based in Annapolis, Maryland.
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is a federal military cemetery in the city of San Diego, California. It is located on the grounds of the former Army coastal artillery station Fort Rosecrans and is administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The cemetery is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown San Diego, overlooking San Diego Bay and the city from one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Fort Rosecrans is named after William Starke Rosecrans, a Union general in the American Civil War. The cemetery was registered as California Historical Landmark #55 on December 6, 1932. The cemetery is spread out over 77.5 acres (31.4 ha) located on both sides of Catalina Blvd.
Michael Glenn Mullen is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the 17th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011.
Albert Thomas Church III is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy. Church served as on active duty for 36 years, retiring as a vice admiral in 2005. During his service he commanded two warships, the Navy's largest shore installation at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, and was the longest-serving budget director of the Navy (1998–2002). Church also served as the Naval Inspector General, during which time he completed a comprehensive review of interrogation techniques used by the Department of Defense in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He is currently president of Prescient Edge Corporation, a US-based national security services and technology Firm.
Marcus Luttrell is a retired United States Navy SEAL who received the Navy Cross and Purple Heart for his actions in June 2005 against Taliban fighters during Operation Red Wings in which he was the lone survivor. Luttrell became an SO1 by the end of his eight-year career in the United States Navy.
Michael Patrick Murphy was a United States Navy SEAL officer who was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the War in Afghanistan. He was the first member of the United States Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War. His other posthumous awards include the Silver Star Medal and the Purple Heart.
Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps, such as Private France Silva who during the Boxer Rebellion became the first Marine of the thirteen Marines of Latin American descent to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and Private First Class Guy Gabaldon who is credited with capturing over 1,000 enemy soldiers and civilians during World War II, have distinguished themselves in combat. Hispanics have participated as members of the United States Marine Corps in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I, the American intervention in Latin America also known as the Banana Wars, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and most recently in the military campaigns of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Hispanics in the United States Navy can trace their tradition of naval military service to men such as Lieutenant Jordi Farragut Mesquida, who served in the American Revolution. Hispanics, such as Seaman Philip Bazaar and Seaman John Ortega, have distinguished themselves in combat and have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States. Hispanics have also reached the top ranks of the navy, serving their country in sensitive leadership positions on domestic and foreign shores. Among those who have reached the highest ranks in the navy are Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish descent, who participated in the War of 1812 as an assistant Sailing master; Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, for whom the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy was created during the American Civil War; and Admiral Horacio Rivero, who led the navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
John Rutherford Allen is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general, and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A). On September 13, 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Allen as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was succeeded in that role by Brett McGurk on October 23, 2015. He is the co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence with Darrell M. West and Future War and the Defence of Europe alongside Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges and Professor Julian Lindley French. Allen was president of the Brookings Institution from October 2017 until his resignation on June 12, 2022.
Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers - The Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan is a nonfiction book by author Ed Darack published in hardcover in 2009 and in paperback in 2010 by The Berkley Publishing Group, an imprint of The Penguin Publishing Group. Victory Point comprehensively documents Operation Red Wings and Operation Whalers, two historically significant military operations that took place in the summer of 2005 in the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar Province.
Owen West is a United States Marine, banker, and author who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict from 2017 to 2019. His June 6, 2017, nomination for this post was confirmed by a 74–23 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2017. West submitted his resignation in June 2019.
Rear Admiral Robert O. Wray, Jr., United States Navy, is a businessman, author and retired two-star admiral who was the President of INSURV, the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. He is now CEO of BlueStar TeleHealth, based in Washington DC. He is Vice Chair of the Board of Vinson Hall, the continuing-care-retirement-community (CCRC) for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Wray is also adjunct professor of leadership at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, the Med School of the Department of Defense, as well as the Executive Director of the Flag and General Officers Network, the only association of retired admirals and generals in the US, numbering some 1500 members.
This article lists events involving women in warfare and the military in the United States from 2000 until 2010. For 2011 onward, please see Timeline of women in warfare and the military in the United States from 2011–present.
William Joseph "Bill" Toti is an American author, photographer, military technology corporate executive, and former naval officer. Toti was the final captain of the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Indianapolis (SSN-697). He also served as commodore of Submarine Squadron 3 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He is known for his role in the exoneration of Captain Charles B. McVay III of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), as well as for his actions during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. He authored the 2022 book, From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership.
Paul W. Brier is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. A combat veteran of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, he retired on 31 December 2016, completing 36 years of military service. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. A 2012 CAPSTONE Fellow at the National Defense University, he is a graduate of the Defense Resources Management Institute, Naval Postgraduate School; Air War College; Joint Forces Staff College; and Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
