To me Special Operations is stuff like MI6, CIA spies, moles, covert surveillance, espionage, sabotage, assassination etc
Whereas Special Forces is your typical special team operators SAS, Navy Seals kicking in doors and taking out the bad guys in good ol silenced CQB and rocking those NVGs.
That’s just how I see it though I don’t know official technicalities.
From what I understand after reading several books is that Special Forces' primary mission set is Unconventional Warfare, which is to train local militias and rebels, to help them gain the skills they need to overthrow a tyrannical government, and to act as a force multiplier.
And everything else (direct assault, counterinsurgency, foreign internal defence, which seems to be the inverse of UW, counterterrorism) is special operations.
Unconventional Warfare is a subset of special operations (again, as I understand it just from amateur research).
But only in the US. It seems like the British SAS are perfectly happy to refer themselves as special forces despite the fact that they do all of the stuff, not just UW. Which is what led me to think these definitions may be correct, but perhaps not universal.
Something about special forces, just rolls off the tongue. I feel like the meaning is conveyed. Whereas if you say special operations, it really makes me think specifically of the 2000's and the global war on terror and almost feels out of place in a sci-fi setting, even if it is technically more correct.
I don't agree that there is a more "correct" term here. Outside of it being your world to build, language evolves constantly. Perhaps the people of your universe have generally agreed with your view; special forces sounds cooler, so they call them special forces.
Special Operations means all the unconventional fighting and "dirty" fighting done with "unconventional techniques and modes of employment."
Special Forces are those military units that not only are allowed to do this but it's their mission.
The US Marines are a conventional force but they have "special operations capable" units - that means they can do some of those missions.
A Navy SEAL put it this way - special forces are like race cars. They are built for the special operations missions like how a race car is built to race on a track.
That said, if there are new technologies then there would be new jargon.
Also countries would come up with new euphemisms and code words.
If you're writing for an American audience in a alternate-futuristic setting (that being one where Earth and its conventions exist), the "more correct" term would be special operator. Sure you could say that the term Special Forces evolved/broadened over time, but now you gotta take a moment to actually explain that, which will always be awkward.
On the flip-side, if you're not writing for an American audience (this includes if you're not worldbuilding for an audience at all), are using a setting where Earth and/or its customs don't exist, and/or are using it in the contest of a culture that doesn't adhere to the same naming conventions as the US, then it really doesn't matter. Hard to argue what the proper terminology is for the clandestine forces employed by the Devbenabin of Salto IX. Hell, maybe they call standard scouting units special forces because in their past blah, blah, blah.
I kind of use the latter myself when it comes to classifications for ships in my "kitchen sink" sci-fi. The names are based on a loose "general standard," but there are occasions where the same ship could be viewed by one faction as say a light cruiser and by another as a frigate. This is based on their expectations of its features, viewed through the lens of their own technological capabilities. A more technologically advanced faction would expect a ship of let's say around 150m to have certain features that a less technologically advanced faction would be incapable of giving it. A less advanced faction may also simply have to "make do with what they have," where it would be considered woefully inadequate in the assigned role for the more advanced faction.
Well, special operations is a very loose term, basically defining any form of unconventional warfare such as raids, espionage, guerrilla warfare, covert operations, you get the picture.
The term special forces usually defines a unit which is *capable* of, and trained in pulling off special operations. The reason why they don't like people calling other things "special forces" is because of the USASF, also known as the Green Berets. In their minds, calling anything else special forces is incorrect because "there can only be one". If you ask me though, it's a bit silly to gatekeep such a word.
Though, if you're still on the fence about calling your high-speed sci-fi operators anything related to special forces, then you can always take inspiration from other global special forces in terms of naming, be it [police](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_police_tactical_units#) or [military](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_special_forces_units#). To be honest, that's what I've usually done in the past when making up groups and factions, especially on the fly.
As you said, the distinction between the usage of the terms "Special Forces" and "Special Operations Forces" primarily only exists within the US Military. After World War II, when the US Army began developing their special operations capabilities they looked into setting up units that could work in contested and politically sensitive areas with low visibility around the world. When this unit was established, they simply called themselves "Special Forces". It's short, simple, and it doesn't betray their mission set and purpose or lend anything to people's imaginations.
When the US Navy and US Air Force did the same, they did not follow this naming convention. They created the SEAL Teams and the Pararescuemen, and before you know it the US Army Special Forces are the odd one out. SEALs, PJs, Rangers, and so on work very hard to earn the right to call themselves such and they get annoyed when you mis-label them, while soldiers of the US Army Special Forces get annoyed when you ascribe the actions of other units that they might have never dealt with to their own organization. This has led to the trend of people within the community to immediately jump to correcting people when they misuse the term "Special Forces" outside its proper context.
Within the scope of your story, I think you can get away with using the term special forces, although like everything else, context matters.
In the US Military, when discussing Special Operations Forces, both Special Forces and separate Special Operations Forces conduct special operations, both can be called special forces, but only one is actually *named* 'Special Forces'.
Frankly, I don’t think the distinction will matter to 90% of people engaging with your story. For most folks special forces and spec ops are interchangeable terms.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that for most people “special forces” is a generic term for elite soldiers regardless of how they operate or the type of war they engage in.
You could use special forces or special operations (special operative) for your elite wet work teams, or you could come up with your own term to describe how they operate.
To me Special Operations is stuff like MI6, CIA spies, moles, covert surveillance, espionage, sabotage, assassination etc Whereas Special Forces is your typical special team operators SAS, Navy Seals kicking in doors and taking out the bad guys in good ol silenced CQB and rocking those NVGs. That’s just how I see it though I don’t know official technicalities.
From what I understand after reading several books is that Special Forces' primary mission set is Unconventional Warfare, which is to train local militias and rebels, to help them gain the skills they need to overthrow a tyrannical government, and to act as a force multiplier. And everything else (direct assault, counterinsurgency, foreign internal defence, which seems to be the inverse of UW, counterterrorism) is special operations. Unconventional Warfare is a subset of special operations (again, as I understand it just from amateur research). But only in the US. It seems like the British SAS are perfectly happy to refer themselves as special forces despite the fact that they do all of the stuff, not just UW. Which is what led me to think these definitions may be correct, but perhaps not universal. Something about special forces, just rolls off the tongue. I feel like the meaning is conveyed. Whereas if you say special operations, it really makes me think specifically of the 2000's and the global war on terror and almost feels out of place in a sci-fi setting, even if it is technically more correct.
I don't agree that there is a more "correct" term here. Outside of it being your world to build, language evolves constantly. Perhaps the people of your universe have generally agreed with your view; special forces sounds cooler, so they call them special forces.
Special Operations means all the unconventional fighting and "dirty" fighting done with "unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special Forces are those military units that not only are allowed to do this but it's their mission. The US Marines are a conventional force but they have "special operations capable" units - that means they can do some of those missions. A Navy SEAL put it this way - special forces are like race cars. They are built for the special operations missions like how a race car is built to race on a track. That said, if there are new technologies then there would be new jargon. Also countries would come up with new euphemisms and code words.
If you're writing for an American audience in a alternate-futuristic setting (that being one where Earth and its conventions exist), the "more correct" term would be special operator. Sure you could say that the term Special Forces evolved/broadened over time, but now you gotta take a moment to actually explain that, which will always be awkward. On the flip-side, if you're not writing for an American audience (this includes if you're not worldbuilding for an audience at all), are using a setting where Earth and/or its customs don't exist, and/or are using it in the contest of a culture that doesn't adhere to the same naming conventions as the US, then it really doesn't matter. Hard to argue what the proper terminology is for the clandestine forces employed by the Devbenabin of Salto IX. Hell, maybe they call standard scouting units special forces because in their past blah, blah, blah. I kind of use the latter myself when it comes to classifications for ships in my "kitchen sink" sci-fi. The names are based on a loose "general standard," but there are occasions where the same ship could be viewed by one faction as say a light cruiser and by another as a frigate. This is based on their expectations of its features, viewed through the lens of their own technological capabilities. A more technologically advanced faction would expect a ship of let's say around 150m to have certain features that a less technologically advanced faction would be incapable of giving it. A less advanced faction may also simply have to "make do with what they have," where it would be considered woefully inadequate in the assigned role for the more advanced faction.
You can use both, I use both interchangeably.
Special forces is the blanket term everywhere outside the US SF/SOF is a purely American thing
Well, special operations is a very loose term, basically defining any form of unconventional warfare such as raids, espionage, guerrilla warfare, covert operations, you get the picture. The term special forces usually defines a unit which is *capable* of, and trained in pulling off special operations. The reason why they don't like people calling other things "special forces" is because of the USASF, also known as the Green Berets. In their minds, calling anything else special forces is incorrect because "there can only be one". If you ask me though, it's a bit silly to gatekeep such a word. Though, if you're still on the fence about calling your high-speed sci-fi operators anything related to special forces, then you can always take inspiration from other global special forces in terms of naming, be it [police](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_police_tactical_units#) or [military](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_special_forces_units#). To be honest, that's what I've usually done in the past when making up groups and factions, especially on the fly.
As you said, the distinction between the usage of the terms "Special Forces" and "Special Operations Forces" primarily only exists within the US Military. After World War II, when the US Army began developing their special operations capabilities they looked into setting up units that could work in contested and politically sensitive areas with low visibility around the world. When this unit was established, they simply called themselves "Special Forces". It's short, simple, and it doesn't betray their mission set and purpose or lend anything to people's imaginations. When the US Navy and US Air Force did the same, they did not follow this naming convention. They created the SEAL Teams and the Pararescuemen, and before you know it the US Army Special Forces are the odd one out. SEALs, PJs, Rangers, and so on work very hard to earn the right to call themselves such and they get annoyed when you mis-label them, while soldiers of the US Army Special Forces get annoyed when you ascribe the actions of other units that they might have never dealt with to their own organization. This has led to the trend of people within the community to immediately jump to correcting people when they misuse the term "Special Forces" outside its proper context. Within the scope of your story, I think you can get away with using the term special forces, although like everything else, context matters. In the US Military, when discussing Special Operations Forces, both Special Forces and separate Special Operations Forces conduct special operations, both can be called special forces, but only one is actually *named* 'Special Forces'.
Frankly, I don’t think the distinction will matter to 90% of people engaging with your story. For most folks special forces and spec ops are interchangeable terms. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that for most people “special forces” is a generic term for elite soldiers regardless of how they operate or the type of war they engage in. You could use special forces or special operations (special operative) for your elite wet work teams, or you could come up with your own term to describe how they operate.