Texas special operations units

Established in 1823 and officially organized in 1835 by Stephen Austin and Moses Morrison, the Texas Rangers served as the first special operations unit of the Texas Military Department until 1935 when they were re-designated to the Texas Department of Public Safety as a State Bureau of Investigation.[4][5] Their Special Operations Group was reestablished in 2011, consisting of six units.[6][7] However, the Rangers did not begin conducting special operations until the Texas—Indian Wars via their Frontier Forces and Special Forces companies, among others.[8][9][10]

The first special operations conducted by Texas Military Forces occurred during the Texas Revolution by ad-hoc units that executed reconnaissance, rescue, and demolition missions. They were primarily directed by Deaf Smith whom William Travis described as "the Bravest of the Brave in the cause of Texas" and Sam Houston as his "stay in my darkest hour...a man more brave, and honest, never lived".[11] Smith was instrumental in advising Houston in the controversial strategy that mirrored Comanche guerrilla tactics in evasion and selective attacks against Santa Anna's forces.[12][13][14] The strategy resulted in the Runaway Scrape, mutiny, and accusations of cowardice, but ultimately victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.[15]

• (Since 1989) Joint Counterdrug Task Force (Reconnaissance, Interdiction)[16]
• (Since 1998) Homeland Response Force
  • 6th Civil Support Team (Weapons of Mass Destruction)[3]
• (Since 2008) 19th Special Forces Group[17]
  • C Company, 1st Battalion
  • A Company, 5th Battalion
  • 197th Special Troops Support Company
• (Since 2012) Special Operations Detachment - Africa
  • Deploys in CONUS and conducts Command and Control of Special Operations and sensitive interagency liaison missions in support of State and Federal Homeland Security Operations.[18]
• (Since 2023) Texas Tactical Border Force[19][20]

• (Since 2020) 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th Brigades[1]
  • A Company (Waterborne - Boat and Dive)
  • B Company (Search and Rescue)
  • C Company (Engineers)

• (Since 2009) 147th Air Support Operations Squadron, 147th Attack Wing[21]

• (1846-1848) Frontier Regiment (Reconnaissance and Guerilla Warfare during Mexican—American War).[8]
• (1861-1865) State Troops[8]
• (1870-1901) Frontier Forces[8]
• (1874-1881) Special Forces[8]

• (1862-1864). Shock troops that received advanced training and equipment and conducted unconventional methods and tactics in direct action assaults.[22] When the first units reached Virginia, Jefferson Davis purportedly greeted them by declaring: "Texans! The troops of other states have their reputations to gain, but the sons of the defenders of the Alamo have theirs to maintain.”[23]

• (2010-2012) Southwest Border Task Force[3][24]

Standard and Subdued Texas State Guard Quick Response Team Tabs

• (2005-2015) Quick Response Team (QRT), 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 19th, and 39th Regiments (Critical Infrastructure Protection, Search and Rescue)[25]
• (2005-2019) C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computing, and Intelligence) Detachment, 2nd, 4th, and 39th Regiments (Signals, Technology)[25]

• (Unknown-2017) 181st Weather Flight, 136th Airlift Wing.[26]