US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, is divided up into the following. I will talk about each individual unit listed.

• Army: 75th Ranger Regiment, Special Forces (Green Berets), 160th SOAR (Night Stalkers)
  
• Navy: SEALs, and SWCCs (Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen)
• Air Force: Pararescuemen (PJs), Combat Controllers (CCTs)
• Marine Corps: Marine Force Recon
• Joint: Delta Force, DEVGRU, 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Intelligence Support Activity

For more information, read:
US Special Forces by Samuel Southworth
Chosen Soldier by Dick Couch
That Others May Live by Jack Brehm
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Audible (visit audiblepodcast.com/militaryhistory for a free audiobook download)

This episode answers four basic questions:

• Why were both North and South so unprepared for war?
• Which side had the initial advantage?
• Did the South have to secede?  Did the North have to respond with military force?
• Was Northern victory inevitable?

For information on sources, email me.

Vicksburg was a Confederate fortress guarding the Mississippi River during the American Civil War.  It was the only thing stopping the Union from taking control of the all-powerful Mississippi waterway.  Although the Vicksburg Campaign is most famously associated with General Ulysses Grant (whose capture of the fortress is considered a major turning point in the war), there were many earlier Union campaigns to take control of Vicksburg.  One of these campaigns, led by Navy Admiral David Farragut, is the focus of this episode.

The script for this episode was written by Jacob Bains from Texas.  If you would like to submit your own script, please send it to militaryhistorypodcast@gmail.com