SEAL Team Six

"Team 6" redirects here. For the news organization in Miami, see WTVJ.
For the multinational police force, see Special Team Six. For the television series, see SEAL Team (TV series) and Six (TV series).

Naval Special Warfare Development Group
ActiveNovember 1980 – present
Country United States of America
Branch United States Navy
TypeSpecial Operations Forces
Special Mission Unit
RoleSpecial operations Counterterrorism
Size1,787 personnel authorized (2014):[1]
  • 1,342 military personnel
  • 445 civilian personnel
Part of Joint Special Operations Command
United States Naval Special Warfare Command
HeadquartersDam Neck Annex
NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Nickname(s)"SEAL Team Six", "DEVGRU", "Task Force Blue", "NSWDG"
EngagementsInvasion of Grenada
TWA Flight 847 hijacking
Achille Lauro hijacking
Operation Prime Chance
Operation Just Cause
Gulf War
Somali Civil War

Operation Uphold Democracy
Yugoslav Wars

War on Terror

Unit awardsPresidential Unit Citation[2]

The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU ("Development Group")[3][note 1] and commonly known as SEAL Team Six,[5][6] is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often referred to within JSOC as Task Force Blue.[6] DEVGRU is administratively supported by Naval Special Warfare Command and operationally commanded by JSOC. Most information concerning DEVGRU is designated as classified, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either the United States Department of Defense or the White House.[7] Despite the official name changes and increase in size, "SEAL Team Six" remains the unit's widely recognized moniker.

DEVGRU and its Army and Air Force counterparts, Delta Force and 24th Special Tactics Squadron, are the U.S. military's primary Tier 1 special mission units tasked with performing the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions directed by, until 2002, the National Command Authority, and since then, directly from the President or the Secretary of Defense.[8][9] DEVGRU conducts various specialized missions such as counterterrorism, hostage rescue, special reconnaissance, and direct action (short-duration strikes or small-scale offensive actions), often against high-value targets.[10]

  1. ^ "SEAL Team 6 by the Numbers – Foreign Policy". 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. ^ Brook, Tom Vanden (16 May 2016). "Navy SEALs' secret medals reveal heroism over last 15 years". Navy Times. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Administrative Organization of the Operating Forces of the U.S. Navy" (PDF). 17 February 2023. p. 2.
  4. ^ "Delta Force Gets a Name Change". theatlantic.com. 12 October 2010.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference janes-devgru was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Naylor, Sean. "Chapter 4". Relentless Strike.
  7. ^ Emerson, Steven (13 November 1988). "Stymied Warriors". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  8. ^ "The U.S. Army's Delta Force: How This Secret Group of Deadly Soldiers Came to Be". The National Interest. 30 April 2019.
  9. ^ "In high demand, Air Force commandos must find new ways to cope with stress of duty". The Gaffney Ledger. Gaffney, South Carolina. Associated Press. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Special Operations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.


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