Special Forces have long employed the use of Unconventional Warfare (UW), a.k.a. guerilla warfare, to train forces in enemy-held or controlled territory. Unlike Direct Action, which is generally a quick campaign, UW can last months, even years.

UW missions give the U.S. Army time to enter a country covertly and build relationships with local militia or natives, who are taught a variety of tactics including subversion, sabotage, intelligence collection and unconventional assisted recovery, which can be employed against the enemy.

By using UW training, the Army can possibly prevent larger conventional attacks. And because of deep roots set up by UW missions, other Special Forces tactics, like Direct Action or Special Reconnaissance, can be launched quickly and seamlessly.

One of the most prominent events in recent history to bring the idea of Unconventional Warfare to the public mind is Operation Enduring Freedom. During this mission, the United States worked alongside opposition forces in Afghanistan to bring down the Taliban regime and attempted to rid the country of al-Qaeda fighters.

Operation Enduring Freedom was the United States' response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Special Forces teamed up with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban's brutal hold on the country and bring known terrorists to justice. Within a few months of launching the campaign, U.S. led forces and Afghan opposition forces took control of Kabul, the capital, and Kandahar, one of the country's largest cities, and reclaimed the nation from the Taliban.

During this time, Special Forces worked with local militia to capture and detain Taliban members to extract information to thwart future terrorist plots. Soldiers remain in Afghanistan today and continue their hunt for top al-Qaeda officials, including Osama bin Laden, who is thought to be the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks.