This is Where American Special Operations Forces are Helping Advise U.S. Allies by Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Washington Post
U.S. Special Operations forces have been quietly deployed around the world since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in an effort to shore up U.S. allies embroiled in their own conflicts.
While not secret, the missions — known often by some variation of “train, advise and assist” — have served as an extension of America’s larger wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead of large deployments of troops, U.S. Special Operations forces instead embed with local militaries to help bolster their capabilities and often accompany them on missions that serve both their government’s interests and those of the United States…