Ghost Unit

Fiction Only



Overview


Ghost Unit is a highly classified Special Operations Force (SOF) of the United States Navy Special Warfare Command employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations and an integral element of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Ghost Unit’s primary missions are kept highly classified. It is an extremely versatile group capable of assuming many missions including the blackest of black operations.

The Pentagon tightly controls information about the Unit and publicly refuses to comment on the existence of the unit.

Ghost Unit Operators are granted enormous amount of flexibility and autonomy. They do not maintain any general uniformed presence and civilian clothing is the norm on or off duty. This is to conceal the identities of the operators. When military uniforms are worn, they lack markings, surnames, or branch names. Hair style and facial hair are allowed to grow to civilian standards in order for the operator to be able to blend in and not be immediately recognized as military personnel.

Ghost Operators are allowed a significant degree of latitude in their personal grooming standards. They are allowed to wear their hair longer than what normal military regulations would allow.

Security is kept tight about the Unit’s existence. If it is suspected that an operator or even the wife of that operator is talking about the Unit, that operator would be expelled. The Unit operates throughout the world. The United States government has the ability to deny the existence of the Unit to prevent the onset of international incident.

Organization and Chain of Command
Ghost Unit is a battalion-sized command under the Special Operations Command. The smallest unit is a team, consisting of four to five members. Each team specializes in HALO/HAHO, SCUBA and/or other skill group. The next tier is the platoon level, consisting of four to five teams. Company level consists of two platoons.

Five companies make up the entire Unit. Four are direct action and one is for transport and support. The Unit maintains aviation and maritime platoon using aircraft and watercraft painted in civilian scheme with fake identification numbers different from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) or the SWCCs.

The Unit is commanded by an O-10. The Unit’s immediate chain of command goes to the commanding officer straight to the President of the United States. It bypasses the Secretary of Defense entirely. Each team is lead by an O-3 with an E-8 second-in-command.

Recruitment and Training


Most recruits come from the US military’s special operations forces. Not just anyone can become a Unit Operator, they are hand-picked; personnel must be in the rank of E-5 or above and attend a Unit Briefing to even be considered for admission. Women are recruited for staff positions only.

Such recruits are men with skills such as proficiency in foreign language or other desirable traits. The selection course begins with standard tests including: push-ups, sit-ups, and a three mile run. The recruits are then put through a series of land navigation course to include an eighteen mile, all-night land navigation course while carrying a thirty five pound rucksack. The rucksack’s weight and the distance of the course are increased and the time standards to complete the task are shortened with every march. The physical testing ends with a forty mile march with a forty five pound rucksack over very rough terrain which must be completed in an unknown amount of time. Only the highest-ranking members of the Pentagon are allowed to see the set limits, but all assessment and selection tasks and conditions are set by the Unit’s training cadre. The mental portion of the testing begins with numerous psychological exams. The men then speak to the commander of the Unit and others within the unit. If an individual is selected, then a 6 month training cycle/probation begins, starting with firearms accuracy and training with other types of munitions.

All Unit operators are expert marksman trained to hit head-size target at various ranges.

Weaponry
The Unit’s unconventional nature allows it members to carry highly customized weapons. Like any other military unit, Ghost Unit has dedicated mission tasking including snipers and squad machine gunners. The flexibility of Ghost Unit means that weaponry is quite varied and often depends on the mission at hand or personal preference of the individual operators.

A common weapon of choice may be the M4 carbine and more recently the H&K 416 often in use with various accessories including the M203 and M302 grenade launcher, and other accessories of the SOPMOD kit. Unit operators often decide to pick up or use weapons that are in use with the indigenous forces or the enemy in the Area of Operations. This is to help them blend in with the locals, to use local ammunition scavenged during the mission, or to conceal their country of origin if weapons are lost or captured. Unit snipers use M14s in urban environments due to their semi-automatic ability, allowing for a follow-up shot much more quickly than with a bolt-action rifle. More recent upgrades to the M14, such as the M21 and M25 rifles are commonly in use, and often misidentified as M14s. In addition, the SR-25 rifle, a 7.62 mm platform that is based on the same semi automatic operating system as the M4 and M16 rifle is also currently in use.