How about another tidbit of information from the  military ring man? Well you know that I'm going to give it right? So here it is...the military term for today is "Raid." My definition of a raid is a surprise attack conducted for a specific purpose. A raid is normally conducted behind enemy lines and it is not usually done to gain control over a piece of terrain. Surprise is the key to a raid. You want to go in, do your thing, and get out before the enemy can react to you. You go in with as much firepower as you can bear, and then get out while the enemy is still in shock.

There are many purposes for conducting raids. Some of them are: to destroy or damage people, supplies or equipment; to capture people or equipment, to test the enemy's reaction to the raid, to gather intelligence, or to free prisoners such as the Son Tay raid during the Vietnam War, and to demoralize or confuse the enemy.

Raids can be conducted by any branch of the military or can be a conbined operation of several branches working together.

One example that comes to mind of how a raid can be beneficial is when a raid destroys fuel and/or supplies which causes a larger attack force to not be able to function thus aiding the overall war effort.