Terriff, TerryCooper-Takada, Patrick2022-10-032022-10-032022-09-28Cooper-Takada, P. (2022). A study of military change: the transformation of Army Special Forces and Naval Special Warfare in the Vietnam War (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/115336https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/40336This work serves to investigate the nature of the changes experienced by the Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and Naval Special Warfare (NSW; Underwater Demolition Teams, and Sea, Air, Land [SEAL] Teams) during the Vietnam War, using contemporary military change literature to evaluate the processes and results. In conducting the research, this thesis used a combination of primary and secondary sources for a qualitative analysis of military change. The result of this investigation was two clear examples of military innovation that resulted from different processes in environments that were vastly different in terms of leadership conditions and mission requirements. Naval Special Warfare experienced innovation through the inception of the SEAL Teams, which gave them increased capabilities not seen before by a permanent Navy Special Operations Force unit. This revolutionary innovation was not directly impeded by Navy bureaucracy due to intervention by the Kennedy Administration on behalf of NSW. The Army Special Forces underwent a different kind of innovation; because of their open mindset, high level of training, and misappropriation by Army leadership, the Green Berets adapted to multiple new roles in the Vietnam War. As a result of these multiple smaller changes, the entirety of their existence was altered and they became a force transformed over 14 years of sustained adaptation, rather than the rapid changes experienced by Naval Special Warfare. These lessons of these two case studies are significant as they demonstrate different learning processes in similar combat environments as a result of variables in leadership, demands, experience, unit culture, skills, and relationships with external agencies.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.special forcesspecial operations forcesmilitary changemilitary innovationmilitary adaptationmilitary learning processesNavy SEALsGreen BeretUS special forcesVietnam WarEducation--Social SciencesEconomics--HistoryMilitary StudiesPolitical SciencePolitical Science--International Law and RelationsSociology--Theory and Methodsmaster thesis