The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (unit patch) worn by Army personnel who are serving at the Department of Defense’s Joint Forces Command was approved on 5 February 2003. It features an embowed and inverted shield divided into three colored sections, with ultramarine blue signifying the Command air and sea missions, green standing for ground missions, and the V-shaped black area denoting victory and might. A trio of images rendered in gold—trident, lightning bolt, and dagger—are adapted from the insignia of the Special Operations Command while it was still a sub-unified organization of the Atlantic Command.
The trident is the weapon wielded by Poseidon/Neptune in Greek/Roman mythology and is an emblem of naval military prowess and represents the Navy’s Special Operations units, the Navy SEAL Teams and Special Boat Teams. Air Force Special Operations, as well as the branch’s rapid response teams and aerospace power, are similarly represented by a mythological god’s favorite instrument of warfare, the lightning bolt of Zeus. And the dagger is associated with the Army’s Special Forces and Special Operations organizations, representing military preparedness and the ability to deploy almost instantaneously.
Established in 1980 largely as a response to the failure of Operation Eagle, a mission to rescue the hostages held at the American embassy in Teheran, the Joint Special Operations Command is a joint component command of the United States Special Operation Command. It is tasked with developing Special Operations tactics, studying Special Operations techniques and materiel requirements in order to ensure interoperability between components and to standardize equipment, and ultimately the execution of Special Operations across the globe. It is headquartered at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina.
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