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Inside NATO’s Special Operations Forces

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Inside NATO’s Special Operations Forces

Step inside the shadowy world of NATO’s most elite – and secretive – units: the Special Operations Forces.

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Publication date 23 April 2026
Location Various
Version Master-with-subs
Themes SOF (Special Operations Forces)

Synopsis

NATO’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) are comprised of the most skilled and determined soldiers in the Alliance. But what makes a SOF soldier special? This documentary lifts the veil on some of NATO’s most elite – and secretive – units. We start in the cold darkness of the Lithuanian winter, where their Special Operations command chooses its new members through a demanding process. From there, we travel to southern Germany, where SOF soldiers pass on their hard-won experience at the International Special Training Center. Finally, we see the skills and determination of NATO’s shadow warriors come together in the lush hills of West Virginia, where US Army Special Forces soldiers are training in unconventional warfare with their Latvian and Polish counterparts. Among NATO’s forces on land, in the air and at sea, these soldiers stand apart. Find out why.

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Transcript

—VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — ‘They’re the shadow warriors. The few among many. The soldiers chosen for the hardest jobs because they won’t quit, can’t quit, no matter what. They’re willing to take on the most dangerous missions for little to no recognition, not for the money, not for the fame, but because their country requires them to. They’re the Special Operations Forces, and we’re about to show you what makes them NATO’s elite.’ —TEXT ON SCREEN — INSIDE NATO’S SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — ‘It starts here: in the dark. You're cold. You’re hungry. You’re more tired than you’ve ever been in your life. Simple tasks become complicated. But when you’re trying to join Special Forces, simple tasks can mean the difference between life and death.’ TEXT ON SCREEN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, LITHUANIA SPECIAL FORCES SELECTION —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — ‘For NATO’s Special Operations Forces, or SOF, the selection process is designed to push candidates to the breaking point, and beyond. Once they’re broken, the candidate has to choose: quit, or carry on. This is the moment that separates the ordinary soldier from the elite Special Operator.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — Instructor Lithuanian Special Forces ‘There are moments in the selection where physical strength diminishes. Everybody becomes the same. Because everybody’s tired, everybody wants to sleep. When the breaking point happens, you would see the real personality. About 90 percent dropped off.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — Special Forces candidate Lithuanian Special Forces ‘I maybe thought about quitting in the beginning. For me, it’s a very interesting experience. I’m sleeping one hour per day and I’m still performing something, I’m still doing something.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — Instructor Lithuanian Special Forces ‘When I went through selection, I had one rule for myself: I will not quit. No matter what happens, I can break my leg, my neck, whatever. I’m not going to say, ‘it’s over’. There’s no other place to be for me than this place.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — Candidate Lithuanian Special Forces ‘Now we are only a few persons left. And we agreed all together that we will go until the end. And we know that if anyone will say, ‘I’m done’, it will be only tougher for the band of brothers. Now we are not alone. We’re responsible for those guys as well. And we cannot leave them.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — ‘This is a scene played out in armed forces across NATO. When put to the test, ordinary soldiers discover that something inside them will not quit, no matter what. And this relentless drive to accomplish the mission makes them special.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — “Dionysus” Hellenic Special Forces ‘Everything starts from the soul. You can train the soldiers but you cannot train the character.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — “Anton” Slovak Special Forces ‘It was my dream to be in [Special Forces]. I didn’t know, because nobody knows what does it mean to be in SF. That was my motivation, just be a part of it.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — “Edward” US Army Special Forces ‘I never was going to quit. There was always times where I didn’t know how I was going to get there. I always knew the end state. I personally believe that everyone is capable of doing what I’ve done. All you have to do is put yourself out there. True self-discovery.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — Those who fail return to the regular forces to serve out their commitments. Those who succeed, however, will join elite units that have been tested and proven by years of real-world operations. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Shawn’ US Special Forces ‘It seemed exciting. My team and I jokingly say that we’re part of the Gentlemen’s Adventure Club and that’s really what we do.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — In recent decades, NATO’s Special Operations Forces have deployed alongside and learned from each other. As a result, many of the Alliance’s elite units look similar and have similar missions. Unlike regular forces, Special Operations units are small, favouring speed and surprise over brute firepower. They prepare for missions considered too sensitive or risky for regular forces. Different units can have different specialities. The US Navy SEALs train for underwater operations and lightning raids launched from the sea. The Danish Jaeger Corps train for a variety of missions, among them full-frontal assaults called “direct action”. The Romanian Special Forces have taken lessons from years of combat deployments to hone their chops in close-quarters fighting. And in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Special Operators have developed a knack for manoeuvring through the densely wooded forests on NATO’s eastern flank. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘David US Army Special Forces (Retired) ‘Certain missions require specialised skills. You cannot just pick a regular soldier from the infantry and expect him to do a certain skill at a higher level.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — Taken together, they represent a wealth of experience. How do they preserve that knowledge? And how do they pass it on to the next generation? Welcome to the International Special Training Center in southern Germany. Here, NATO’s elite soldiers gather to learn from each other, sharpen skills and build friendships they’ll rely on in the field. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Shawn’ US Army Special Forces ‘This place is a microcosm of NATO on a bigger scale. We’re all foreigners that have been thrown together. It’s just amazing, the similarity in personalities between the SOF guys that are here. And we all get along amazingly well. I don’t have to pick my friends anymore.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — One of the skillsets built at the training centre is close-quarters battle, or CQB. As conflict in urban areas becomes more common, operators need to know how to move and fight in tight spaces. It’s a nerve-wracking job that requires lightning reflexes and flawless judgement. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Edward’ US Army Special Forces ‘When you’re at the door, there’s nothing left to do but execute. CQB is dangerous because sectors of fire change rapidly. And that’s the easy part. The hard part being identifying and assessing what’s in front of you. Surgical firepower is extremely difficult.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — And when it comes to surgical firepower, nobody beats Special Operations snipers. But they’re more than just sharpshooters. They’re expert observers, capable of sitting in their hide sites for days, soaking in information. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Anton’ Slovak Special Forces ‘I have to be honest, just shooting, like, pull the trigger, and try to be accurate, is easy. Because you can learn, everybody can shoot.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Magnus’ Norwegian Long-Range Reconnaissance ‘You’ve got to know how to calculate wind, distances, air temperature, humidity of the air, so it’s not that straightforward to hit a target that is far away.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘David’ US Army Special Forces (Retired) ‘There’s a reconnaissance element. Snipers, for example, it’s not just a matter of taking a shot at a long range. You can identify an objective, gather information on that objective, and then provide the commander with information for him to plan.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Magnus’ Norwegian Long-Range Reconnaissance ‘Of course it’s boring to lie in a position for hours, days. But when you’re so focused on the goal, the feeling you get when you succeed, it’s worth it, to lie there and wait.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Anton’ Slovak Special Forces ‘I like the international environment because it makes you better. You can share a lot of information. The community is very small, but, I mean, it’s very strong, on the end.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — Small, but strong, and made stronger by training together. The pace is relentless, the scenarios challenging, and the operators take it seriously. They know they have to be prepared for all contingencies, including the one for which NATO was created: the collective defence of Allied territory. Enter the US Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets. Their motto is ‘De Oppresso Liber’. ‘To Free the Oppressed’. They train specifically to infiltrate dangerous areas and work alongside foreign fighters. If a NATO Ally were to be invaded and occupied, it would be their job to sneak behind enemy lines, link up with resistance fighters and open the doors for an Allied counter-attack. And that’s just what they’re training to do here. In this training exercise, held deep in the forests of West Virginia, USA, Green Berets are training with Latvian and Polish Special Forces to topple a simulated occupation force. The scenario is pure fiction, but the operators treat it like the real deal. This 12-man team has just snuck deep into hostile territory. They’re heading to link up with a cell of resistance fighters played here by soldiers from Poland’s Territorial Defence Unit. These soldiers are strangers to each other, and at first, there’s some uncertainty. But they’ll need to get over it. Over the next week, they’ll live together, train together, share meals and forge the bonds necessary to fight side by side. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Ethan’ US Army Special Forces Team Leader ‘We use Special Forces because we are specially selected and trained and then we also have a cultural understanding of the area that we go into, and we’re trained specifically to work with the local population.’ —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Jake’ US Army Special Forces ‘We’re all here to save each other’s lives.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — The Green Berets are master teachers. Wherever they go, whoever they work with, they’re capable of organising and training an effective fighting force. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Jake’ US Army Special Forces ‘The majority of what we do in this type of environment is teaching. We try to master our subjects so that we can come in and teach it to them. So they’ve got not just a warm fuzzy, but they know exactly what’s going on. We teach them to do what we do so that we can enhance our numbers so that we can turn 12 guys into 50 guys.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — This is the essence of unconventional warfare, the mission for which the Green Berets were created. On their own, these 12 soldiers don’t stand a chance against a larger force. But using language skills, emotional intelligence and strong leadership, they can raise an army of resistance fighters and help them strike an outsized blow against an occupying army. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Jason’ US Army Special Forces ‘You could send in some guys with a lot of great equipment, looking really great, barrel-chested freedom fighters, but, you know, we’re here to help them achieve their goals and re-secure their homeland. I mean, it goes back to the Special Forces Regiment, our motto, ‘To Free the Oppressed’.’’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — After the Green Berets conclude the day’s lesson, they bond with the Polish soldiers over food, fire and stories. When night falls, they take turns standing guard at the camp. —SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH — ‘Jason’ US Army Special Forces ‘A little awkward moment, where you’re like, ‘how am I going to pull off two hours of small talk?’. You know, with someone, no idea who he is. But then, slowly, the conversations, I always enjoy them. We had our [Night Vision Goggles] and were able to see the Milky Way. Could not say what the name was in Polish, but he explained it to me. And I explained the names of our constellations and it just kind of starts opening up, each other’s backgrounds, family. Pretty cool to see the similarities there.’ —VOICEOVER IN ENGLISH — Training for combat is only part of their mission. The resistance has to feed and equip itself. The soldiers send out patrols to recover supply caches hidden by their network. When you’re this deep in hostile territory, building supply lines means getting creative. While this is just an exercise, they don’t hesitate to get their hands dirty. With enough weapons to expand the resistance group, they start to collect intelligence. They debrief sympathetic locals and send out small teams on covert collection missions. They’re NATO’s eyes and ears in this notionally occupied territory and, now, they found a target that needs to be neutralised before the response force arrives. After so much time training together, it’s finally time to strike. For this raid, the Green Berets will team up with one of Poland’s elite commando units, the Jednostka Wojskowa Komandosów, or JWK. This deep in hostile territory, there’s no room for error. They’re few in number, so they’ll have to rely on the element of surprise, moving slowly and quietly until it’s time to launch the assault. The odds aren’t in their favour, but for Special Operators, the odds seldom apply. The firefight is intense, but brief. Now the operators collect intelligence that NATO forces can use to take back their territory. For these operators, this is the culmination of a long and relentless quest for excellence. To arrive at this moment, they’ve passed through the crucible of selection. They've proven themselves in real-world operations. They’ve forged bonds with Allied Special Operators that, if necessary, they’ll use to defend the alliance. They’re NATO’s elite. And when the mission’s too important for failure, they say, ‘send us’.’

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