Oftentimes, before the U.S. Army makes a strategic strike against an adversary, Special Forces are sent behind enemy lines to run Special Reconnaissance (SR) missions — covert, fact-finding operations to uncover information about the enemy.

These intelligence-gathering activities monitor as much about the enemy's movement and operations as possible and are considered by many to be the most important Green Berets mission.

Special Forces teams survey enemy camps, machinery and weapons and send back the information to their commanders in order to best prepare for a strike.

Special Reconnaissance missions generally take place before any movement by our military. Without that vital information, U.S. Army Soldiers might be caught off guard and unprepared when entering enemy territory.

Special Forces were sent into Afghanistan months before conventional forces entered the country in hopes of toppling the Taliban and al-Qaeda network spread throughout the country. Having information from SR missions exponentially aided this effort.