Marines

History

Marines (from the English adjective "marine", meaning "of the sea", from Latin language "mare", meaning sea, via French adjective "marin(e)", "of the sea") are, in principle, seaborne or seagoing land soldiers that are part of a navy. However, in some countries, Marines are no longer part of the navy, notably the United States Marine Corps, which has become an independent armed force.
The exact term "marine" does not exist in many other languages. Typically, foreign equivalents are called "naval infantry" (e.g. as in Spain, Germany, and Russia). In French-speaking countries, two terms exist which could be translated as "marine": "troupes de marine" and "fusiliers-marins"; similar pseudo-translations exist elsewhere, e.g. "Fuzileiros Navais" in Portuguese. The word "marine" means Navy in many European languages such as Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian.
Historically, Marines served on board warships, assisted the crew in battles, boarded enemy ships, conducted small coastal raids, protected the officers from mutiny by the crew, protected ports and naval bases, and served as a landing force.
As a result of their mixed land and naval role, Marine forces are mainly specialised in amphibious assaults using infantry, armour, aircraft, and watercraft.

The primary role of marine troops is amphibious operations. Operating from ships, they are trained to land on and capture a section of coast-line.
Marine units primarily deploy from warships, in a variety of ways. This is mainly in the form of waterborne methods such as landing by hovercraft, landing craft, boats and amphibious vehicles; based on amphibious-support ships. Methods of deployment also include landing by transport aircraft or the launching of combat aircraft units, from aircraft carriers or amphibious-support ships. They may also be deployed from other kinds of warships.
In addition to their primary role, marine troops are also used in a variety of other naval roles.
Embarked Marines parties serve on warships to assist with bridge watch-keeping, fire-fighting, ship security and the provision of boarding parties to board other vessels.
They are also used for coastal or riverine boat patrols, security of naval bases and other naval security-related tasks.
In modern warfare, most Marines usually form an elite force, of highly-mobile troops, usually tasked with short, rapid deployment and intervention missions; however some forces are also capable of sustained warfighting missions. As a category of front-line soldiers, they can also be used in other, more basic soldiering roles such as peace-keeping, humanitarian assistance, military aid to civil authorities and general, land warfare operations.
For example the United States Marine Corps, a part of the United States Department of the Navy and the largest Marine force in the world, is often used in situations that do not involve naval elements, such as general land warfare. It has the capability to be used as a spearhead for major military offensives or as a stop-gap when a military requirement arises, performing military operations until more permanent forces arrive.

Marine Maps

Ambush
Backlot
Bog
Broadcast
Crash
Crossfire
District
Showdown
Strike
Winter Crash

In Multiplayer the Marines always play against the Opfor.

SAS

History

Special Air Service, the principal special forces unit of the British Army
Australian Special Air Service Regiment, Australian regiment derived from the British Army regiment
New Zealand Special Air Service (NZ SAS), New Zealand regiment derived from the British Army regiment
French SAS: Predecessor units of the French Army's 1st Naval Infantry Parachute Regiment:
The two regiments of the original Special Air Service formed from Free French soldiers
1st Colonial Demi-Brigade of SAS Parachute Commandos (1ere Demi-Brigade Coloniale de commandos parachutistes SAS) Dec 1947 - Feb 1955
Rhodesian Special Air Service (Disbanded)
Su Alt1 Savunma, a special operations unit of the Turkish Navy

SAS Maps

Bloc
Chinatown
Countdown
Creek
Downpour
Killhouse
Overgrown
Pipeline
Shipment
Vacant
Wet Works

In Multiplayer the SAS always play against the Spetsnaz

Spetsnaz

History

Russian special purpose regiments or Spetsnaz, Specnaz (Russian: Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya, pronounced [spetsnaz]) is a general term for "special forces" in Russian, literally "special purpose units". Russian special forces (Spetsnaz) can refer to any élite or special purpose units under subordination of the Federal Security Service (FSB) or Internal Troops of Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the units controlled by the military intelligence service GRU.
Currently, the term is used as well to describe any special purpose units or task forces of other ministries (even the Emergency Situations Ministry special rescue unit) Foreign special forces are also commonly referred to as Spetsnaz on Russian television, for example "American Spetsnaz." Spetsnaz has trained the Republican guard of Syria, Iraq and Iran and they have been involved in training other special forces units across the world. Strictly speaking, all Spetsnaz units operated by the KGB/FSB were called OSNAZ, an acronym for [voiska] osobogo naznacheniya or "special purpose [detachments]".
These internal troop units originally were raised for internal use against counter-revolutionaries and other undesirables. There has always been a certain amount of shifting of personnel and units between both the GRU who control SPETSNAZ and the MVD with OSNAZ MVD and OSNAZ KGB or FSB, especially between the latter two. Today, OSNAZ is a term mainly used in connection with GRU-controlled COMINT, ELINT and radio-surveillance units within the Armed Forces. Spetsnaz carry out reconnaissance and social warfare missions in "peacetime" as well as in war. According to Vladimir Rezun, a GRU defector who used the pseudonym "Viktor Suvorov", there were 20 Spetsnaz brigades plus 41 separate companies. Thus, total strength of Spetsnaz forces in the 1980s could have been around 30,000 troops.
 

Spetsnaz Maps

Bloc
Chinatown
Countdown
Creek
Downpour
Killhouse
Overgrown
Pipeline
Shipment
Vacant
Wet Works

In Multiplayer the Spetsnaz always play against the SAS.

Opfor

History

An Opposing Force or OPFOR is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios. The related concept of aggressor squadron is used by some air forces.
At a basic level, a unit might serve as an opposing force for a single scenario, differing from its 'opponents' only in the objectives it is given. However, major armies commonly maintain specialized groups trained to accurately emulate real-life enemies, to provide a more realistic experience for their training opponents. (To avoid the diplomatic ramifications of naming a real nation as a likely enemy, training scenarios often use fictionalized versions with different names but similar military characteristics to the expected real-world foes.)
Opposing forces can also coincide with Red Teaming activities. Once the Analytic Red Team develops adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) it will be the opposing force that makes use of those TTPs in wargames and exercises.
Some dedicated opposing forces may fight using the likely enemy's doctrine, weapons, and equipment. They may wear uniforms which resemble the likely enemy's, or one dissimilar to "friendly forces". Their vehicles may either be those operated by the likely enemy's, or may be modified to look like those. All these measures help to enhance training realism and provide useful lessons on how to fight this particular enemy.
Blank ammunition, smoke grenades, and artillery simulators are often used by both sides in the exercise to provide the fog of war caused by the noise and smoke of battle.
In addition, a simulation system such as the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) may be used. This system is attached to various weapons, and are zeroed to the sights of the weapon. When a blank round is fired, the system sends out a laser beam, which score "kills" or "injuries" on any soldier or vehicle in what would be the path of the weapon's projectile. These laser beams are detected by receivers on harnesses worn by the soldiers, or on the vehicle itself.
Alternatively, paintball weapons which look like real weapons, or simulation rounds such as plastic bullets may be used. Usually, controllers follow the training troops to help score additional kills, such as when a simulated grenade is thrown. They may do so with the MILES system using a controller gun. All these measures help to emphasize the importance of aimed fire, and taking cover. These concepts, while obvious, are often neglected in ordinary one-sided training exercises because the soldier does not suffer the consequences.

Opfor Maps

Ambush
Backlot
Bog
Broadcast
Crash
Crossfire
District
Showdown
Strike
Winter Crash

In Multiplayer the Opfor always play against the Marines