When SEAL Team Six was first
created it was devoted exclusively to counter-terrorism with a worldwide
maritime responsibility; its objectives typically included targets such as
ships, oil rigs, naval bases, coastal embassies, and other civilian or military
bases that were accessible from the sea or inland waterways.
On certain operations small teams
from SEAL Team Six were tasked with covertly infiltrating international high
risk areas in order to carry out reconnaissance or security assessments of U.S.
military facilities and embassies; and to give advice on improvements in order
to prevent casualties in an event of a terrorist attack.
Although the unit was created as a
maritime counter-terrorism unit, it has become a multi-functional special
operations unit with multiple roles that include high-risk personnel/hostage
extractions. Such operations include the successful rescue of Jessica Buchanan
and Poul Hagen Thisted, the attempted rescue of Linda Norgrove, the successful
rescue of American doctor Dilip Joseph[39] and in 1991 the successful recovery of
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family during a coup that
deposed him.
After SEAL Team Six was disbanded
and renamed, the official mission of the currently operating Naval Special
Warfare Development Group is to test, evaluate, and develop technology and
maritime, ground, and airborne tactics applicable to Naval Special Warfare
forces such as Navy SEALs; however, it is presumed this is a small part of the
group's work assignment and more of a cover.
DEVGRU's full mission is classified
but is thought to include pre-emptive, pro-active counter-terrorist operations,
counter-proliferation (efforts to prevent the spread of both conventional
weapons and weapons of mass destruction), as well as the elimination or
recovery of high-value targets (HVTs) from unfriendly nations. DEVGRU is one of
a handful of U.S. Special Mission Units authorized to use pre-emptive actions
against terrorists and their facilities
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