1. Task Force 88\/Task Force Black<\/h3>\n\n\n![\"1.](\"http:\/\/static2.businessinsider.com\/image\/575ed1769105844d018c8923-1200\/1-task-force-88task-force-black.jpg\")
<\/div>\nThey may or may not be the same group and they may or may not still be in operation. Task Force Black and Task Force 88 are names floating around the media for the unit that conducted raids against terror organizations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the wars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The unit was commonly described as being a joint US-U.K.<\/a> force made up of the best that SEAL Team 6, Delta Force, and the British SAS had to offer. Controversy erupted when they wereblamed for a cross-border raid<\/a> into Syria.<\/p>\nThere is speculation that Task Force Black may be back in operation to destroy ISIS<\/a>, if it ever stopped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n2. 6493rd Test Squadron\/6594th Test Group<\/h3>\n\n\n![\"2.](\"http:\/\/static6.businessinsider.com\/image\/575ec6e291058425008c87cf-1200\/2-6493rd-test-squadron6594th-test-group.jpg\")
<\/div>\nThese Air Force units existed from 1958 to 1986 and were tasked with catching \u201cfalling stars.\u201d<\/a>They would fly out of Hawaii and catch film canisters falling from America\u2019s first spy\u00a0satellites. The satellites, part of the Corona program, orbited the Earth and took photos of Soviet Russia. Then, the satellites would drop their film canisters over the Pacific Ocean where these Airmen would try to snatch the canisters out of the air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe recovery process was surprisingly low-tech. A plane with a large hook beneath its tail would try to catch the canister\u2019s parachute as it fell. When the planes failed to make the grab or the weather was too bad to attempt it, Coast Guard rescue swimmers in the unit would fish the film\u00a0out of the water.<\/p>\n
The unit boasted a perfect record\u00a0with more than 40,000 recoveries in 27 years<\/a>. When its airmen\u00a0weren\u2019t snatching film from the air, the unit supported rescue missions near Hawaii. It was credited with 60 saves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n3. Delta Force\/Combat Applications Group\/Army Compartmented Elements<\/h3>\n\n\n![\"3.](\"http:\/\/static2.businessinsider.com\/image\/575ec72f52bcd01b008c8caa-1200\/3-delta-forcecombat-applications-grouparmy-compartmented-elements.jpg\")
<\/div>\nLike many of the units on the list, Delta has gone through a few name changes over the years. Formation of an elite counter-terrorism unit had been proposed multiple times in the 1970s and Delta Force\u00a0is widely believed to have been formed in late 1977.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Its operational history got off to a horrible\u00a0start with the failed Operation Eagle Claw in 1980<\/a>. Since then, Delta has distinguished itself in combat from the invasion of Panama to the Gulf War to hunting Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora Mountains<\/a>.<\/p>\nSince the unit is still operational, many of their missions remain classified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Read about the Other Three at Business Insider\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\nThey may or may not be the same group and they may or may not still be in operation. Task Force Black and Task Force 88 are names floating around the media for the unit that conducted raids against terror organizations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the wars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The unit was commonly described as being a joint US-U.K.<\/a> force made up of the best that SEAL Team 6, Delta Force, and the British SAS had to offer. Controversy erupted when they wereblamed for a cross-border raid<\/a> into Syria.<\/p>\n There is speculation that Task Force Black may be back in operation to destroy ISIS<\/a>, if it ever stopped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n These Air Force units existed from 1958 to 1986 and were tasked with catching \u201cfalling stars.\u201d<\/a>They would fly out of Hawaii and catch film canisters falling from America\u2019s first spy\u00a0satellites. The satellites, part of the Corona program, orbited the Earth and took photos of Soviet Russia. Then, the satellites would drop their film canisters over the Pacific Ocean where these Airmen would try to snatch the canisters out of the air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The recovery process was surprisingly low-tech. A plane with a large hook beneath its tail would try to catch the canister\u2019s parachute as it fell. When the planes failed to make the grab or the weather was too bad to attempt it, Coast Guard rescue swimmers in the unit would fish the film\u00a0out of the water.<\/p>\n The unit boasted a perfect record\u00a0with more than 40,000 recoveries in 27 years<\/a>. When its airmen\u00a0weren\u2019t snatching film from the air, the unit supported rescue missions near Hawaii. It was credited with 60 saves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Like many of the units on the list, Delta has gone through a few name changes over the years. Formation of an elite counter-terrorism unit had been proposed multiple times in the 1970s and Delta Force\u00a0is widely believed to have been formed in late 1977.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Its operational history got off to a horrible\u00a0start with the failed Operation Eagle Claw in 1980<\/a>. Since then, Delta has distinguished itself in combat from the invasion of Panama to the Gulf War to hunting Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora Mountains<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since the unit is still operational, many of their missions remain classified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n2. 6493rd Test Squadron\/6594th Test Group<\/h3>\n
<\/div>\n3. Delta Force\/Combat Applications Group\/Army Compartmented Elements<\/h3>\n
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