This fourth edition of the Special Operations Forces Reference Manual was redesigned to support the Joint Special Operations University's academic mission. It provides general information on U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force Special Operations Forces (SOF). More specifically, this document is designed to accomplish three broad purposes:
1. Provide a single primary source of reference material on all SOF components.
2. Provide an overview of special operations and SOF to facilitate a broader understanding of SOF capabilities to academic institutions and personnel who may not routinely use this data.
3. Provide standard SOF reference data to SOF faculty members at professional military education institutions for use in their instruction. 

The target audience for this manual spans from special operations staff officers and enlisted personnel at United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), its component and subordinate commands, the theater special operations commands, conventional force/unified commands and their staffs that may employ SOF in their areas of responsibility to partner-nation staffs, and both civilian and military educational institutions.