Currently known as the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), SEAL Team Six is under the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). It is one of the several publicly disclosed units. It is an elite and highly classified group that coordinates counterterrorism and other security-related missions around the world. (Other groups include the Army’s fabled Delta Force and the Air Force’s 24th Special Tactics Squadron.) This is the Navy’s dedicated counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and direct-action special missions unit. Created in 1980 by Dick Marcinko, a visionary and rule-bending Navy SEAL officer.

What Made the SEAL Team Six Famous?

This special missions unit rose to fame as the team that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011. As History writes,

The mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden eluded capture for nearly a decade until DevGru carried out its most high-profile mission to date. While details of the operation have yet to be confirmed by officials, it is believed that two dozen SEALs from the unit stormed the terrorist leader’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the early hours of May 2, 2011. According to reports, a firefight broke out, lasting 40 minutes and resulting in the death or capture of 22 people. Bin Laden was fatally shot and then buried at sea after a meticulous identification process. All of the SEALs survived the assault despite a helicopter malfunction that nearly compromised their mission.”

A few months later, in January of 2012, SEAL Team Six, again made the headlines by rescuing two aid workers that were held captive by Somali pirates.