Editing United States Navy SEALs (section)

=== Scouts and Raiders ===
Recognizing the need for a beach reconnaissance force, a select group of Army and Navy personnel assembled at [[Joint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek|Amphibious Training Base (ATB) Little Creek]], Virginia on 15 August 1942 to begin Amphibious Scouts and Raiders (Joint) training. The Scouts and Raiders' mission was to identify and reconnoiter the objective beach, maintain a position on the designated beach prior to a landing, and guide the assault waves to the landing beach.<ref name="Navy Seal History"/> The unit was led by U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Lloyd Peddicord as commanding officer, and Navy Ensign John Bell as executive officer. Navy Chief Petty Officers and sailors came from the boat pool at U. S. Naval Amphibious Training Base, [[Solomons, Maryland]], and Army Raider personnel came from the [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd]] and [[9th Infantry Division (United States)|9th Infantry Division]]s. They trained at Little Creek until embarking for the North Africa campaign the following November. [[Operation Torch]] was launched in November 1942 off the Atlantic coast of French Morocco in North Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.navysealmuseum.org/about-navy-seals/seal-history-the-naval-special-warfare-storyseal-history-the-naval-special-warfare-story/seal-history-origins-of-naval-special-warfare-wwii|title = SEAL History: Origins of Naval Special Warfare-WWII}}</ref>

The first group included [[Phil H. Bucklew]], the "Father of Naval Special Warfare," after whom the [[Naval Special Warfare Center]] building is named. Commissioned in October 1942, this group saw combat in November 1942 during [[Operation Torch]] on the North African Coast. Scouts and Raiders also supported landings in [[Sicily]], [[Salerno]], [[Anzio]], [[Normandy]], and [[southern France]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://navysealmuseum.com/about-navy-seals/seal-history-the-naval-special-warfare-story/seal-history-origins-of-naval-special-warfare-wwii/ |title=SEAL History: Origins of Naval Special Warfare-WWII |website=National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum |access-date=24 May 2014}}</ref>

The second group of Scouts and Raiders, code-named [[Special Service Unit No. 1]], was established on 7 July 1943, as a joint and [[combined operations]] force. The first mission, in September 1943, was at [[Finschhafen]] in [[Papua New Guinea]]. Later operations were at [[Gasmata]], [[Battle of Arawe|Arawe]], [[Battle of Cape Gloucester|Cape Gloucester]], and the east and south coasts of [[New Britain]], all without any loss of personnel. Conflicts arose over operational matters, and all non-Navy personnel were reassigned. The unit, renamed 7th Amphibious Scouts, received a new mission, to go ashore with the assault boats, buoy channels, erect markers for the incoming craft, handle casualties, take offshore soundings, clear beach obstacles, and maintain voice communications linking the troops ashore, incoming boats and nearby ships. The 7th Amphibious Scouts conducted operations in the Pacific for the duration of the conflict, participating in more than 40 landings.<ref name="Navy Seal History"/>

The third and final Scouts and Raiders organization operated in China. Scouts and Raiders were deployed to fight with the [[Sino-American Cooperative Organization|Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO)]]. To help bolster the work of SACO, Admiral [[Ernest J. King]] ordered that 120 officers and 900 men be trained for "Amphibious Raider" at the Scout and Raider school at [[Fort Pierce, Florida]]. They formed the core of what was envisioned as a "guerrilla amphibious organization of Americans and Chinese operating from coastal waters, lakes, and rivers employing small steamboats and sampans." While most Amphibious Raider forces remained at [[Camp Knox]] in Calcutta, three of the groups saw active service. They conducted a survey of the upper [[Yangtze River]] in the spring of 1945 and, disguised as [[coolies]], conducted a detailed three-month survey of the Chinese coast from [[Shanghai]] to [[Kitchioh]] Wan, near [[Hong Kong]].<ref name="Navy Seal History"/>