The attached notes were prepared by the Combat Studies Institute in response to a request by TRADOC Chief of Staff, MG Robert Forman. To assist in formulating ideas on elite forces using a historical perspective CSI staff members discussed the paper with MG Forman at a working luncheon during his visit to the US Army Command and General Staff College on 16 March 1984. Most of the material in the "Notes" come from Roger Beaumont's Military Elites and Eliot Cohen's Commandos and Politicians. These two works address elite units in general. Many other works on elite units address specific operations of elite forces; some of these works appear under sources. This is not a comprehensive study of elite forces and only represents an overview prepared in response to MG Forman's request.

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