Special Forces And Black Uniforms

Special Forces And Black Uniforms

Countries that employ their forces domestically might wear black for its intimidation factor or to appear like the police forces or just to be distinct.

No one uses black camo or black uniforms in the us military. Now, dive suits such as what SEALs would use during a waterborne entry are black, and the pilots in the Nightstalkers wear dark. So if youve seen someone in person wearing a black uni, hes either SWAT, Navy Seal’s or some super black OPS NSA type unit.

Full black is used for one reason: the fear factor. That seeing a faceless black form crash through a window or door is terrifying.

the black gear can also save lives, I believe, that in the case of SWAT and like teams, that fear can really save lives. If you are scared, as in most circumstances. you will more likely comply with orders and not do something stupid that could get you killed. The police are supposed to attempt arrest, not shoot, first. SWAT and police teams would rather arrest the suspect(s) than kill them.

I believe the psychological effect suited the shock and awe tactics used by SWAT and the SAS.

The purpose for uniforms also is uniformity, identifying team members to avoid friendly fire, and presenting an organized and disciplined appearance intended to intimidate suspects. There are advantages and disadvantages with black. However black is terrible camouflage, even at night.The psychological association for black is apparently one of malevolence and evil, increasing the intimidation factor. The problem with black is the stark contrast with lighter colored backgrounds or well-lit areas that has the potential to make one a visible target.

In many operations it’s standard procedure to wear face masks. The reason is because individual soldiers need to be unrecognizable in order to prevent terrorists from taking revenge on soldiers and their families.

There is also a slight psychological fact that when you wear a mask, or paint it like older cultures , it allows a certain detachment which allows you to do certain extreme things

In the 1970s and early 80s, there had been a number of high profile hostage situations. The Iran-US hostage crisis, the Munich Olympics, various plane hijacks…ect

Apart from any tactical considerations, the very visible symbol of world class troops blowing in the windows, and leaving most of the gunmen dead with a great deal of sound and fury was an advert of what happens if you messed with SAS or SWAT.

In London, 1980. There was a plan suggested by the SAS to infiltrate the embassy at night and take out the terrorists

But Margaret Thatcher as she wanted the world to see either a peaceful resolution by hostage negotiators or a an armed response by the SAS operators. Believe the logic at the time was that an armed response was only justified after they killed a hostage, which rendered the plan moot. 

The tactic employed by the SAS was a scare tactic ( as some pointed out its also known as Shock and awe)

They used as much noise and as much speed as possible to create confusion and mayhem (in which this soldiers thrive and normal human beings can’t handle themselves)

Finally. I think special forces wear black because it is the black belt of the army. In a dojo the students wear white but the teacher wear black in order to be a teacher you must achive black belt there are many different colors in advancement but the darkest color is the highest. Also ninjas wear black to supress them selves inbthe night so they are not to be seen.