Abbottabad is inland. Why send the Navy?

Factual Questions
1

I just trying to understand how the military chooses which branch to use for any given mission.

Granted that the SEALs are trained for operations on the SEa, Air, and Land - and that’s where the acronym comes from - but still, being part of the Navy, I would expect the Air and Land portions of their task to be associated with a Sea portion. I looked at a map of Abbottabad, and although there are some small rivers nearby, the Arabian Sea looks to be over 500 miles away. Sending the Navy to attack Abbottabad makes as much sense to me as sending the Navy to protect Kansas City.

And granted that the SEALs are an elite force and very good at what they do, but there are other elite forces too. How did this assignment go to the Navy SEALs instead of the Army’s Green Berets or Delta Force or some other group?

Mods, this does NOT belong in GD. I’m not debating the wisdom of the decision. I’m sure they had good reasons for it, and I’m certainly not complaining about the results. I’m just wondering what factors go into these things.

2

This is SEAL Team Six’s bread and butter. If you need a beach secured, send the Marines, If you need an air strip secured, send the Rangers. If you need a bunch of hostages in a hijacked airplane rescued, send Delta Force. If you need a whole city secured, send the Army. If you need a munitions plant bombed, send the Air Force. If you need one man in a walled compound killed, send SEAL Team Six.

3

Because they are supposedly the elite of the US special forces.

Also contingency. What if Bin Laden had been hiding in a jacuzzi? Only the SEALs are trained for amphibious operations.

4

I presume that what you mean is “the elite of the elite”. If so, then I guess that’s the answer I’m looking for. Thanks

Yeah, but if he was exercising, doing his jumping jacks, then we would’ve needed the Air Force, right? :smiley:

5

Wasn’t the attack launched from a carrier group?

6

From Carl Vinson.

7

In Joint Commands (such as Special Operations) who gets a specific mission is not tied up to the “home environment” of the various services that lend units to the command, but rather on the training, capabilities, specialization and availability of the unit and personnel vs. the needs of the specific operation - so there’s a division of labor independent of the “mother service” as UncleRojelio mentioned.

8

This is all I need for an explanation. Their local support, command and base of operations was apparently all on a Navy ship.

9

I am trying very hard not to laugh.

10

HEY! We had to double-time somewhere once at Lackland. Although they used to regularly cancel PTO because it was too hot (or too cold).

They even made us look at a real M-16 once too!

I loved the USAF!

11

No, the SEALs know how to take down aircraft with Stinger missiles.

12

Seal Team Six is part of JSOC, which, interestingly, is the group that Seymour Hersh referred to as “an executive assassination ring.”

13

'Cause the Marines would have let OBL get away while pink-misting the security detail and securing the living fuck out of the perimeter.

14

“Pink-misting”?

15

Heavy weapon + meatsack = Pink-Mist.

16
17

I heard on CNN this morning that it was because of the size of the unit. One of the others (didn’t pay attention to specifics) was too small, another was too big. Seal Team Six was exactly the right size and was perfectly trained for this type of mission.

18

I was suprised that it was not a Delta Force operation, but at this level of expertise DF & SEAL are pretty much the same thing. Depends on who has the best resources in the area to carry out the mission.

19

“Informal” but may have had some play in a logistical appropriateness.

20

More on the USS Carl Vinson Strike Group: Carrier Strike Group 1 - Wikipedia

There, there. As long as you didn’t have to actually, y’know, touch it. Eww.