FM 31-28: Fouo Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat - A Comprehensive Guide
It bridged the gap between traditional "Linear Warfare" and the asymmetric warfare that would come to define the post-9/11 era, anticipating the kinds of operations that would become routine in cities like Baghdad, Fallujah, and Kabul just a few years later. FM 31-28: Fouo Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat
Content Sensitivity: It includes specific floor-clearing "geometry" and communication signals that could be used by adversaries to counter SF tactics. ⏱️ Historical Context: Why 1999? Uniquely for SF, the manual reportedly included sections
References
The manual provides the framework for the 15-to-30-day SFAUC course, which is designed to ensure ODAs can "own" urban rooms rather than just clear them. Key content areas include: It bridged the gap between traditional "Linear Warfare"
Prior to 1999, SF relied on general-purpose urban combat manuals such as FM 90-10-1 (1993) An Infantryman’s Guide to Combat in Built-Up Areas. While thorough, these manuals were designed for heavy conventional forces (battalion and above), not for 12-man Operational Detachment-Alphas (ODAs). SF operators in the 1990s—deployed to Somalia (1993), Haiti (1994-95), and the Balkans (1996-99)—improvised urban tactics without a dedicated SF-specific manual.
Do not rely on this manual as current doctrine. U.S. Army Special Operations has since replaced it with more recent publications (e.g., SF Tactical Urban Combat – 2011+ and ATPs). However, as a historical baseline for how Green Berets were trained to fight in cities at the turn of the millennium, it remains a valuable reference.