Having separate structures for paramilitary operations within the federal government is redundant, the panel said.

"Whether the price is measured in either money or people, the United States cannot afford to build two separate capabilities for carrying out secret military operations, secretly operating standoff missiles and secretly training foreign military or paramilitary forces," the report said. "The United States should concentrate responsibility and necessary legal authorities in one entity."

It does not rule out CIA involvement in such operations but says the military should be in charge.

Paramilitary operations, which range from training pro-U.S. insurgents to hunting terrorists, sometimes are overseen by the CIA and sometimes by military special operations forces like the Green Berets. Which is used depends on the situation, the need for secrecy and the number of people required.

In its recommendation, the 9/11 panel said the CIA's paramilitary capabilities are regarded as agile, while the military's culture is "methodical and cumbersome."

Whether those reputations are deserved the report does not say, but it suggests that the CIA's experts should be integrated into the military's much larger paramilitary force.

Pentagon and CIA officials said all the report's recommendations will be studied closely but were noncommittal about specific proposals. A Pentagon spokesman said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, military personnel and CIA operatives have enjoyed an unprecedented level of cooperation.

Although similar in mission, some distinctions exist between the military and CIA commandos.

Military special operations forces number just under 50,000, including reservists, and have a wide range of capabilities. The Army's Rangers serve as an elite infantry force, the Green Berets work with foreign troops and insurgents, and Delta Force is a specially trained counterterror and hostage rescue unit.

Navy SEALs specialize in maritime and coastal operations but often are found alongside the Army's special operators. The Air Force has a highly trained cadre of operators capable of coordinating airstrikes and rescuing downed pilots.

These forces fall under the military chain of command and bureaucracy and are subject to military law and treaties to limit activities of armed forces.

That's were the CIA's paramilitaries traditionally have entered the picture. Many are retired military special operators.

They are part of the CIA's covert operations arm, called the Special Activities Division. Some of the spies in the unit specialize in propaganda and economic and political disruption; others, members of the Special Operations Group, are true warriors.

One such paramilitary was Johnny "Mike" Spann, the first American to die in combat in Afghanistan, killed during a 2001 prison uprising.

For the paramilitaries to go into action, the president must a sign a secret document called a "finding" that governs their activities, and designated congressional leaders are informed.

Unlike the Green Berets, the CIA agents can operate without uniform or identification as officers of the U.S. government. If any are caught or killed, the government plausibly can deny their identities as government agents. Unlike most military special operations forces, women are among the CIA's paramilitary ranks.

In recent decades, the paramilitary force has seen heavy use in Central America, Angola and Afghanistan.

-During the Reagan administration, they mined harbors in Nicaragua and armed the Contra rebels fighting out of neighboring Honduras.

-In Afghanistan, they helped the mujahedeen fight the Soviet invasion. Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaida network, was among them.

-During the Vietnam War, CIA operatives ran "Air America," which supplied the agency's covert effort in Laos; and Operation Phoenix, which claimed tens of thousands of lives in an effort to root out Communist leaders in South Vietnam.

The size of the CIA's paramilitary force is classified, although it's known to have enlarged significantly since the Sept. 11 attacks.

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