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((Use dmy dates|date=June 2018))
((more citations needed|date=January 2013))
((Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Spanish UOE
| native_name                   = ((lang|es|Mando de Guerra Naval Especial))
| image                         = Emblem of the Former Spanish Navy Special Operations Unit.svg
| image_size                    = 160px
| caption                       = Spanish UOE'' Insignia
| dates                         = 1952 (officially 1967) – 2009
| country                       = ((ESP))
| allegiance                    = 
| branch                        = [[Spanish Navy (Armada Española)|Spanish Navy]] and [[Spanish Marines|Marines]]
| type                          = [[Special Forces]]
| role                          = Maritime Special Operations
| size                          = 170 (approx.)
| command_structure             = Naval Special Warfare Command
| current_commander             = 
| garrison                      = ((lang|es|Tercio de Armada))
| nickname                      = ((lang|es|La Unidad)) (The Unit)<br>((lang|es|Boinas Verdes)) (Green Berets)
| patron                        = 
| motto                         = "((lang|es|Entra quien puede, no quien quiere))"<br>''Enter those who can, not those who want''
))

The '''((lang|es|Unidad de Operaciones Especiales))''' (''Special Operations Unit'' – UOE) was the elite [[special operations]] force of the [[Spanish Navy]] and [[Spanish Marines|marines]] from 1967 to 2009. In June 2009, the unit was absorbed into the newly formed Special Naval Warfare Force (((lang|es|[[Fuerza de Guerra Naval Especial|Fuerza de Guerra Naval Especial - FGNE]]))), which inherited the reputation and which continues the record of the UOE.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://boinasverdesarmada.wixsite.com/asociacion|title=Sobre Nosotros|publisher=Asociación de Veteranos Boinas Verdes de la Fuerza de Infantería de Marina|language=Spanish))</ref> The UOE was formerly garrisoned in the ((lang|es|Tercio de Armada)) in [[San Fernando, Cádiz]] and operated under the direct control of the [[Spanish Navy (Armada Española)|Admiralty]] and Special Naval Warfare Command. It was thought to comprise approximately 100 men organized into three Operational Teams (((lang|es|Estoles))) as well as command and support personnel. The unit (and today's FGNE) has long been one of Europe's most respected special forces.<ref>((cite news
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-8-most-elite-special-forces-in-the-world-a7689436.html|title=The 8 most elite special forces in the world
|date=28 April 2017
|access-date=2019-08-13
| work=The Independent))</ref>

The UOE was tasked with Special Operations in maritime, coastal, and inland environments usually up to 50&nbsp;km from the sea, though this was not a restriction and its teams were known to operate deep inland. The unit's remit covered all aspects of modern Naval Special Warfare, including: Maritime [[Counter-Terrorism]], ship boarding (MIO non-compliant), combat diving and swimming, coastal infiltration, airborne insertion, [[special reconnaissance]], [[direct action (military)|direct action]], VIP protection and escort, and [[combat search and rescue]] (CSAR).

For these purposes, the UOE employed a wide range of naval and other military platforms, including submarines, [[frigates]], soft- and [[RHIB|rigid-hull]] inflatable boats, land vehicles, as well as helicopters and airplanes for airborne insertions.

==History==
[[File:Origins of the UOE.jpg|thumb|right|Origins of the UOE. (Source: ((lang|es|Armada Española)))]]
((lang|es|La Unidad)) ("The Unit"), as it was informally known in Spain, traces its roots to the Amphibious Climbing Company (((lang|es|Compañía de Escaladores Anfibios))), established in 1952 as an all-volunteer unit tasked with coastal assaults and [[infiltration tactics|infiltration]]. In 1967, using the [[United States Navy SEALs|US Navy SEALs]] and British [[Special Boat Service|SBS]] as its guides,((Citation needed|date=September 2009)) the unit expanded its mandate and range of skills to include [[frogman|combat diving]], [[underwater demolition]]s, [[airborne forces|airborne insertions]] and [[direct action]] [[military operation|missions]]. In 1985 the UOE was re-designated COMANFES (((lang|es|Comando Anfibio Especial))), but reverted to its original name in the early 1990s. Today, the unit is one of two operational elements within the Spanish Navy's Naval Special Warfare Force.

The UOE collaborated and trained closely with similar NATO units, such as the [[United States Navy]] [[United States Navy SEALs|SEALs]], the Italian Navy's [[Italian commando frogmen|COMSUBIN]], the French [[French commando frogmen|Commando Hubert]], and the Portuguese [[Special Actions Detachment|DAE]], as well as with special intervention units of the Spanish police forces ([[Unidad Especial de Intervención|UEI]] and [[Grupo Especial de Operaciones|GEO]]).

The UOE and its parent Naval Special Warfare Force are one of only three units in the Spanish military formally tasked with Special Operations, along with the [[Spanish Army|Army's]] [[Special Operations Command (Spain)|MOE]] and the [[Spanish Air Force|Air Force's]] EZAPAC.

==Selection and training==
[[File:UOE in submarine exercise.JPG|thumb|right|UOE commandos rendezvous with a submarine.]]
After completing [[recruit training|basic training]] and having served in a conventional unit, candidates aspiring to attain the "green beret" must undergo comprehensive medical and psychological reviews as well as physical trials, and then, if approved, pass a selection course (((lang|es|Capacitación))). The course is divided into ''Basic'' and ''Advanced'' phases and is staffed exclusively by UOE officers and NCOs, all of them fully qualified in special operations.((Citation needed|date=September 2015))

The ''Basic'' phase lasts for about four weeks and is aimed at testing the physical and psychological endurance of candidates through a grueling combination of intense physical exercise, long-distance marches carrying up to ((convert|50|kg|lb)) of weight, and numerous trials at sea and in mountain environments. The ''Advanced'' phase of selection lasts for about two months and, though the physical rigor of the course steadily increases, candidates also receive more specific [[training]] in basic naval [[commando|commando skills]]:

* [[frogman|Combat swimming]] 
* Small-craft [[navigation]]
* Shipboarding
* Mountaineering and [[rappelling]]
* Demolitions
* [[Marksman]]ship
* [[Military communications|Communications]]
* Hostage rescue
* [[Orienteering]] 
* Escape and evasion in enemy territory
* Land/maritime [[survival skills|survival techniques]] 
* Battlefield medicine

Candidates are free to drop out of the course at any moment, from the first day to the last. Though some drop-outs result from physical injury (or even death), most instances are voluntary.((Citation needed|date=September 2015)) The attrition rate for the UOE selection process can occasionally be as high as 100% and averages from 70 to 80%—the highest failure rate of any course in the Spanish armed forces. It is not uncommon that by the end of the course the instructor-candidate ratio is 3:1. The unit's harsh entrance criteria have furnished its official motto, "((lang|es|Entra quien puede, no quien quiere))" ("He who can enters, not he who wants").

Successful candidates are immediately sent to [[parachuting|parachuting school]] on arrival at the UOE and proceed to more advanced and specialized training in Naval Special Warfare skills (diving, sniping, intelligence, etc.).<ref>((cite web
|url=http://www.armada.mde.es/ArmadaPortal/page/Portal/ArmadaEspannola/buques_especiales/03_UOE|title=UOE official Navy website|access-date=2008-12-07))</ref>

==Deployments==
[[File:Sosan seizure Spanish Navy.jpg|thumb|right|UOE team boards North Korean vessel. (Source: ((lang|es|Armada Española)))]]
The UOE always maintains one of its three operational teams on maximum alert (''Alpha-1'') for immediate deployment on a rotational basis.

The UOE was first deployed overseas in 1969, just two years after it was founded, when it spearheaded the evacuation of Spanish citizens from the former Spanish colony of [[Equatorial Guinea]] in Africa. Since then, the unit has been reported to have participated in the fight against [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque]] [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] violence inside Spain<ref>''Elite Forces: The World's Most Formidable Secret Armies'', by Richard M. Bennett (London: 2003).</ref> (though today this is strictly the preserve of civilian police forces).

More recently, among its publicly known missions, the UOE was deployed to the former [[Yugoslavia]] as part of the Spanish IFOR and SFOR contingents. Also, in December 2002, while participating in [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] in the Indian Ocean, UOE commandos stormed a suspect North Korean vessel, the ''So San'', transporting a shipment of SCUD missiles destined for [[Yemen]].<ref>((cite news
|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/11/missile.ship.spain/index.html|title=Spanish official details high seas drama
|date=11 December 2002
|access-date=2007-04-25
| work=CNN))</ref> The unit is also known to have recently deployed its teams on undisclosed missions in the Middle East.

The UOE is a central element of the Spanish Maritime [[counter-terrorism]] capability.

==Weapons==
[[File:UOE-Sea-Ex.jpg|thumb|UOE commandos with German Heckler & Koch [[Heckler & Koch G36|G36KE]] carbines.]]

Weapons held at the UOE armory include, but are not limited to, the following:
*Sound-suppressed [[SIG Sauer P230]] pistol
*Sound-suppressed [[Sterling submachine gun|Sterling]] submachine gun
*[[MP5]] and [[MP5|MP5SD]] submachine guns
*[[HK G36E]] assault rifle
*[[HK G36KE]] carbine
*[[M16]] assault rifle
*[[Remington 870]] shotgun
*[[FN MINIMI]] machine gun
*[[CETME Ameli|Ameli]] light machine gun
*[[M60 machine gun]]
*[[MG3]] machine gun
*[[L96A1|Accuracy AW]] sniper rifle
*[[Barrett M95]] heavy sniper rifle
*[[HK 416]] assault rifle

==See also==
*[[Spanish special operations|Spanish special forces units]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*((in lang|es)) [http://www.armada.mde.es/ArmadaPortal/page/Portal/ArmadaEspannola/buques_especiales/03_UOE Official website (Spanish Navy)]
*((in lang|es)) [http://www.uoe5estol.es UOE veterans website (unofficial)]
*((in lang|en)) [http://www.shadowspear.com/spain-special-operations/unidad-de-operaciones-especiales.html ShadowSpear Special Ops Website (includes UOE video)]

[[Category:Spanish Navy]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of Spain]]
[[Category:Special forces of Spain]]

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