US SOCOM

Does the United States Army Really Need E-10s or E-11s?

Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey was recently at Ft. Bliss, TX among the senior enlisted members of the service and in a closed-door meeting floated the idea that perhaps the Army should consider creating pay grades E-10, and E-11 for the senior NCOs who serve in positions of higher authority.

And although the meeting was just a discussion with no formal proposal having yet taken place, word seeped out when one of the attendees posted his notes in a closed Facebook post.

That post quickly turned viral and the Army, through its own publication Army Times, ran a poll asking service members this question:

Should the Army create two new pay grades for senior NCOs who take on more responsibility?

Yes, they deserve the extra pay for all that extra work.

No, they already get paid enough.

Maybe. It depends on what job they have.

The reasoning behind this “not-yet-official-proposal” is that while officers receive a promotion and a raise when they reach Battalion, Brigade, and Division commands, the senior NCO in each unit, an E-9 Sergeant Major (SGM/CSM) stays at the same rank.

Currently, if a CSM serves with a Major General (2-star billet), he receives an extra $150 per month, plus $75 for each additional star.

Army Times did run its poll and got over 9,800 responses.

38 percent of the responders said it was a good idea,
22 percent said they were open to the idea depending on the senior NCO’s job.
40 percent thought E-9s make enough money as it is.

Without trying to sound catty, I wonder how many of that 38 percent were Sergeant Majors? The Army has functioned quite well for the past 242 years with the rank structure the way it is. And I don’t think that this idea would make the Army run any smoother nor increase the morale of the troops. But this is just my two cents.

I have (again this is strictly an opinion) a couple of problems with this and will try to spell out my concerns here. First let me say, I wasn’t a Sergeant Major so if that precludes me from this discussion, so be it.

Here’s Problem #1: The Sergeant Major of the Army is the senior enlisted man in the service. He’s the enlisted men’s voice in the Pentagon and is key for NCO Development, being the sounding board for senior Army leadership on standards, policies, and programs. He’s also the sounding board for military families.

We’ve had a force that has been at war since 9/11. Soldier suicides, a crushing OPTEMPO of constant combat deployments and the strain that this all places on military members and their families. Is there something that senior Army NCOs could be discussing that is infinitely more important than giving themselves a boost of pay?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not picking on SMA Dailey here, from everything I’ve read about him, he’s a good man and has been a good role model as the Army’s senior enlisted man. But this is just a bad look. Many of the lower enlisted personnel have a hard time making a go of it on what the Army pays while the base pay for the Sergeant Major of the Army is $8888 a month or $94,734 per year.

If I am a low-to-mid ranked enlisted soldier in the Army, I’d expect my senior leadership to be working for me and my fellow soldiers, not looking for a way to give themselves a boost in pay. Don’t we get enough of that already with Congress?

Problem #2: The Army that I grew up in, and it shouldn’t have changed that much in the past few years, had a philosophy about leadership. Leaders and the Army’s backbone is the NCO leadership, worked hard to achieve rank to have the privilege of working with more responsibilities and opportunities to move your unit forward. Pay was never a prime consideration.

Sure, the extra rank and pay grade was a bonus, but leaders didn’t seek out promotion for recognition and pay, they did it to better serve the needs of the unit and the Army

One of the Army’s Core Values is “Selfless Service. And the services’ definition sums it up nicely: Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person. In serving your country, you are doing your duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain.

Problem #3: It is unneeded. And exactly what kind of political clout will go into getting these positions? Because that is exactly what it sounds like, the politicians will be the ones pushing for and getting these prestigious and utterly necessary billets.

We were blessed with having some great Sergeant Majors in Special Forces. There were too many to list here, but for every two “Macs” or “Fridays” we also get one of the worst kind. The walking, talking regulation master. The one who forgot what it was like to be on an A-team and having chickensh… useless regulations spouted at you like you had nothing better to do.

I won’t repeat the worst of the worst’s names. Because if you say it three times, he may appear again like that a-hole Betelgeuse. Oh, you remember those guys… Conducting a brief back before the Group Commander for a sensitive six-month MTT and the Group Staff asking questions about your mission. When it is time for Betelgeuse, what did he ask the Team Sergeant? “How do you plan on keeping the team’s haircuts within regulation while you’re down there for six months?” Literally, I shit you not.

Or an early morning manifest call at Luzon Drop Zone in December. We had to show up there for a 4 a.m. manifest call and pre-jump. It was unseasonably cold that morning, nearly New England cold and the boys were wearing their Gore-Tex Jackets keeping the cold breeze off.

We heard a commotion and lo and behold this same guy is walking around making every swinging Richard lift his jacket and uniform blouse to see if any SF team guy (notice I didn’t say operator) was audacious enough to be wearing the highly illegal (at that time) A-7A strap for a belt. When it was my turn, I told him to get a life. It didn’t go over very well.

Those are the guys I would worry about getting those E-10 and E-11 slots. And there are far too many of those kinds in the Army now, the last thing it needs is for a whole new breed of them coming along.

Stick to what has worked for the past 242 years. The system isn’t perfect but it is the best-flawed system in the world. The US Army’s backbone is the NCO Corps. The Army has faced battles from the American Revolution to Afghanistan and everything in-between. And it didn’t need a bunch of E-10s to lead the troops then and certainly doesn’t need them now.

Photos courtesy US Army

Duterte’s Security Team Attacked in Mindanao, Cancels Talks

Rebels of the Maoist-led New People’s Army (NPA) attacked a convoy of security men for Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on Mindanao killing one guard and wounding six others. Duterte was not in the area when the clash took place early on Wednesday.

But the attack caused peace talks between the government and the Communist guerrillas to be shelved. The Philippines is also heavily involved with Islamist State fighters in the city of Marawi trying to oust them.

But the incident was basis enough for peace adviser Jesus Dureza to call off informal, “back channel” talks with exiled leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines aimed at restarting a stalled peace process.
“The situation on the ground necessary to provide the desired enabling environment for the conduct of peace negotiations are still not present,” Dureza said in a statement.
The peace process, an important initiative of Duterte, has been fraught with breakdowns, with both sides abandoning unilateral ceasefires in February, blaming each other for launching attacks while talks were going on.
Duterte on Tuesday met his negotiators dealing with the communists and told them not to agree to a bilateral ceasefire until the NPA ceased attacks on troops. He also called the political leadership to keep its fighters under control.
The clash at a checkpoint came a day after Duterte asked Congress to extend martial law until the end of the year to tackle rising Islamist militancy.
Communist and Muslim rebels both operate on Mindanao, stretching the military on multiple fronts on the island of 22 million people.
Government forces are battling to defeat Islamic State-inspired rebels who have occupied the heart of the island’s Marawi City for 58 days, while operations continue on islands to the west of Mindanao against Abu Sayyaf rebels behind kidnappings and piracy.

The wounded soldiers were on their way to another Mindanao city when they came upon a checkpoint manned by NPA communist guerrillas who opened fire on them. The NPA has been fighting the longest insurgency in Asia against the Filipino government. The fighting began in 1968 and has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

To read the entire article from Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Turkish Media Reveals Location of US Bases in Syria

The Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s state run news agency leaked information on the location of US bases which drew the ire of the Pentagon. The agency published a list of ten locations including two airfields and eight military bases.

The agency stated that the locations were “usually hidden for security reasons,” but then listed them anyway. The report went further also stating the number of US and French Special Operations Forces stationed at a post in Ayn Issah.

The locations are all in an area controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces known as the Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The U.S. supports the groups as they help combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but Turkey considers YPG as terrorists.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway told The Hill that the Defense Department doesn’t disclose the locations where U.S.-led coalition forces are in Syria are “for operational security reasons.”
“The release of sensitive military information exposes Coalition forces to unnecessary risk and has the potential to disrupt ongoing operations to defeat ISIS,” Rankine-Galloway said.
He added that Pentagon officials have expressed their concerns to the Turkish government.
“While we cannot independently verify the sources that contributed to this story, we would be very concerned if officials from a NATO ally would purposefully endanger our forces by releasing sensitive information, Rankine-Galloway said.

While Turkey is and has been a trusted ally since the Korean War, the civil war in Syria has developed a rift between Washington and Ankara. While both are actively supporting the fight against ISIS and the Islamic State, the US has funded Kurdish rebels, whom the Turks consider terrorists.

To compound matters Turkey has stated that weapons that the US has supplied to the Kurds in Syria have made their way into Turkey and into the hands of the PKK or the Kurdish Workers Party. Turkey, however, didn’t supply any evidence to back up this claim, which the US denies.

To read the entire article from The Hill click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.20.2017

Thursday is our Chest and Triceps day and we’ll work out in the gym and then hit the dirt trails for a 4-mile run. Remember to stretch well before and after and to stay hydrated. Mark your progress down in your workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Bench Press

3 x 10 Dumbbell Flies

3 x 10 Dumbbell Incline press

3 x 20 Pushups (alternate sets with wide, narrow and shoulder width)

3 x 10 ‘V’ Ups

3 x 20 Sit ups

3 x 20 Cable Push Downs (rope)

3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Iranian and Hezbollah Influence Growing in Latin America

It is no secret the Iranians are trying to export their own brand of influence across the Middle East. They are supporting the Assad regime in Syria during the bloody civil war there are trying to establish bases near the border with Israel. Tehran and their proxy terrorist group Hezbollah are preparing for their next foray against the Israelis and they’ve been rattling their sabers openly about it.

In a report on SOFREP from Travis Allen on July 14, Hezbollah launched 4000 rockets into Israel in the 2006 war. Now after being bled dry in the Syrian civil war, they’re ready for the next battle. The Iranians have built underground bunkers for Hezbollah rocket factories and they’re threatening one of the US’ staunchest allies in the region. But this isn’t the only place the Iranians are peddling their influence. And it is much closer to the US border in Latin America.

Since the 1980s the Iranians have been steadily building their presence in Latin America from just a handful to 12 diplomatic missions in the region. In 1992 at the Israeli Embassy and again in 1994 at the Jewish Community Centers (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, clear evidence linked Iran and Hezbollah to the bombings of those facilities, yet they were allowed to grow with impunity. The bombing in Buenos Aires killed 89 and wounded 300 in what was the worst terrorist attack in Argentine history.

In testimony only months after the attacks, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism expressed concern that Iranian embassies in the region were flooding their missions with far too many “diplomats”, and it is believed that many of whom were believed to be intelligence agents and/or terrorist operatives.

In 2015 chief prosecutor Alberto Nissman who investigated the AMIA bombing died under suspicious circumstances. Nisman, the special prosecutor who had been investigating the AMIA bombing for over a decade, filed a complaint against then Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and some officials in her administration for covering up Iran’s involvement in the attack.

Four days later, Nisman was found with a bullet in his head. His testimony before the Argentine Congress about the alleged cover-up had been scheduled for the following day.

In a 2016 interview, Treasury Department and Hezbollah expert Matthew Levitt who also the Director of the Washington Institute of Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence stated that:

FBI, CIA, Interpol, and other documents about terrorist activity in Brazil, which warned that Mohsen Rabbani, an Iranian intelligence agent who worked closely with Hezbollah to carry out the 1992 Israeli Embassy and 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires, “frequently slips in and out of Brazil on a false passport and has recruited at least 24 youngsters in three Brazilian states to attend ‘religious formation’ classes in Tehran.” In the words of one Brazilian official quoted by the magazine, “Without anybody noticing, a generation of Islamic extremists is appearing in Brazil.” Hezbollah reportedly has expanded its criminal activities in Brazil as well to include shipping fraud, involving containers that enter Brazil at the port of Sao Paulo and disappear on their way up the river to the Tri-Border Area.

The Tri-Border Area is the lawless area of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina where drug trafficking and counterfeiting run rampant. The Hezbollah operatives are blending into the numerous Shia and Lebanese communities in the area.

Hezbollah thru the Iranians are heavily involved in the drug business and a 2011 DEA report stated that a ring that was broken up had laundered over $200 million thru the Lebanese Canadian Bank where monies were used to fund the Islamic Jihad Organization, which is Hezbollah’s terrorist wing.

However, since the bombings in Argentina, the Iranians and Hezbollah are keeping a low profile in Latin America, especially in the Tri-Border Region. Iran claims it is only trying to grow its trade with the region while leftist governments of Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia have vigorously welcomed Iran’s new influence in Latin America. Many of these countries are hostile to continuing US influence and have welcomed the Iranians in an attempt to thumb their nose at Washington. Especially in Venezuela prior to Chavez’s death and Bolivia.

The Spanish Language television station “HispanTV” has since 2012 carried the news from Tehran and its Islamist message to millions of viewers across the region. While conversion rates to Islam continue to be small, there is the concern that the message to entice some youth over to more radicalized views will ultimately occur.

Iran’s presence in Latin America developed over the course of four sequential stages:
Cultural – building of schools, mosques and “Cultural Centers”
Diplomatic – established diplomatic posts as a cover, solidified presence in the region
Economic – Illicit trade (drug smuggling, money laundering) to circumvent UN sanctions
Military – Money was used to help missile building programs and fund terrorism

And while Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif went on a six-nation tour and openly denigrated America, he espoused his beliefs that the US would go out of its way to encourage other nations to do business with Iran. He was correct. Then Secretary of State John Kerry visited Europe to encourage banks and companies to again do business with Iran. Outwardly under the Obama administration, the attempt was to downplay the growing Iranian presence in the region.

The new regime in Washington under President Trump will have to navigate the waters carefully. He was vehemently opposed to the Iran nuclear deal and his government could open the door for new sanctions against Tehran. The Colombian peace accord with FARC was a blow to Tehran as the leftist terror group was openly allied with Hezbollah. This peace pact besides disarming the rebel group may prevent further infiltration of Iranian influence in the area.

Trump’s inaugural address promised to eradicate radical Islamic terrorism “from the face of the earth.”

Perhaps a good place to start is close to home where Hezbollah has operated networks that have bought political influence among local powers, allied with organized crime, and has had financial dealings with both. The US has long advocated that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, and their proxies Hezbollah have certainly lived up to that distinction in the Middle East. Placing harsh financial sanctions on the banks and countries complicit in Hezbollah’s dealings is the only way to counter their efforts in the region.

Otherwise, the specter of more terrorism, this time closer to, if not in the United States is a distinct possibility.

Photo: Hezbollah

Turkey Claims to be Destroying ISIS Cells at Home

High-level Turkish officials speaking anonymously have claimed that Turkish security and intelligence organizations are dealing heavy blows to Islamic State cells and networks in the country.

The Turks have been rounding up foreign fighters who, according to their security organizations were plotting further terrorist attacks inside the country.

“Since the New Year’s attack by IS in Istanbul which took 39 lives, Turkey has been dealing heavy blows to this extremist organization,” the official said. “Turkey is part of the international anti-IS coalition. We are very determined as always and continue to fight against IS and all other terrorist organizations.”
Last week, Turkish security forces stormed a suspected IS cell in the Anatolian province of Konya, killing at least five IS fighters.
In recent weeks,Turkish special police forces have detained a total of 233 IS suspects in 29 provinces, according to Turkish media reports.
Separately, in early July, Turkish security forces also detained 29 suspected IS members in Istanbul.
The majority of the suspects, who were detained in raids carried out across the country, were foreign nationals and were allegedly preparing to stage attacks in Turkey, according to Turkish media reports.
Turkey’s interior ministry recently published a report listing the number of foreign nationals in IS ranks in the country. Tunisians top the list followed by citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, France, Russia and Belgium.
The same report said foreign fighters who arrive in Turkey to join IS try to cross into the war zones of Syria and Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed that Turkey has deported 5,000 people suspected of having links to terrorist organizations, banned more than 50,000 people from entering the country, and cleared the border region of IS fighters.
Yesugay Aksakal, a former law enforcement official and counterterrorism expert, told VOA that following a series of security operations across Turkey, IS cells have been dismantled and that the terror group’s ability to wage attacks has been considerably diminished.
“Turkey also shares intelligence with Western countries. This relationship is independent of political relations. Intelligence cooperation helps prevent violent terror acts in different countries,” Aksakal said.

The US has praised Turkey’s work on clearing out the cells of Islamic State terrorists and reiterated that the Turkish government has been staunch allies of the US since the days of the Korean War.

However, the Turks didn’t mention nor did the US of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, who the Turks have branded a terrorist organization. They are closed aligned with the Kurdish forces that the US has been arming in Syria. It has been a particularly sticky point between Washington and Ankara.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America News click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.19.2017

Wednesday is a back and shoulder day at the gym followed by a 6-mile rucksack march. Look to better the time that is the standard and remember to hydrate throughout the march. Get an early start and beat the heat today. Don’t forget to mark your progress in the workout log book and stay hydrated.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Lat Pull downs, behind the neck (go as heavy as possible)

3 x 12 Lat Pull downs, front

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

6-mile Ruck sack march (45-pound minimum)

Stretch well after completion

Chinese Conduct Several Air Drills Near Japan, Tell Tokyo “Get Used to It”

The Chinese air force confirmed Saturday that its warplanes had conducted long-range drills over the Bashi Channel and the Miyako Strait “several times” over the past week. This news broke just a day after the country’s Defense Ministry told Japan that it should “get used to” the military exercises in the area.

“China’s air force over the past week conducted multiple drills far out at sea, with H-6K bombers and many other types of aircraft flying through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait, testing actual battle capabilities over the sea,” air force spokesman Shen Jinke was quoted as saying by the state-run CGTN website.
Shen said the drills were carried out as part of the air force’s yearly training plan, stressing that they complied with international law and were not aimed “at any specific country, region or target.”
Saturday’s announcement came after a Defense Ministry spokesman defended what he called “routine exercises” Thursday that saw six Chinese H-6 bombers fly through the Miyako Strait.
Japan scrambled fighters in response. There was no violation of Japanese airspace.
“It is legitimate for Chinese military planes to fly through the strait, and more similar training will be conducted on the high seas as needed,” spokesman Ren Guoqiang Guoqiang said.
“The parties concerned don’t need to overact and make a great fuss about it,” he added. “They will feel better after getting used to such drills.”

With the Chinese flexing their muscle in the region and increasing their influence, indeed the Japanese will need to get used to these kinds of exercises by the Chinese. According to Japanese Defense Forces, they scrambled aircraft in response to Chinese drills a record-high 1168 times during the fiscal year 2016 which ended in March.

During the months from April – June, Japanese aircraft have scrambled 101 times.

To read the entire article from The Japan Times, click here:

Photo courtesy Japan Ministry of Defense

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.18.2017

Tuesday means Leg Day at the gym followed by sprints to build up some explosion. Begin with pull-ups and towel pull-ups for those who don’t have access to climbing ropes. Then squats, lunges and the sled followed by some sprint work.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pull-ups 10 reps

3 x Towel pull-ups 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell lunges

3 x 20 Spider Man Planks

40-yard sprint

50-yard sprint

60-yard sprint

80-yard sprint

2 x 100-yard sprint (after each sprint, walk back to the starting point)

Stretch well after completion

Importance of Intelligence Operations in Special Operations Missions

The attacks of 9/11 which seem so long ago caught the United States by surprise. There were some warning signs that were missed by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies but pointing the finger isn’t the purpose here. The last 16 years has our forces fighting a different kind of war, with a different set of parameters. But we shouldn’t forget the hard lessons learned thru the decades of the Cold War. Because we’re going to need them.

After the collapse of the old Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, our intelligence agencies were gutted. Some ex-CIA operatives in the media have opined that as many as 1000 trained operatives left the agency in the aftermath as budgets were being cut and clandestine-trained operatives were leaving in droves. Alex Finley a former CIA operative wrote an interesting piece where she talked about the need for the return of the Cold War espionage tactics that can be found here:

The war on terror was different, and it has been much harder to gain inroads into the inner workings of terror groups that operated in failed states, in austere environments. The agency pumped new blood and money into their Counter-Terrorism Center and their employees now worked closely with military personnel. Their mission was/is to track and target the enemy.

Due to the nature of the areas that they’re operating in, intelligence operatives couldn’t walk the streets, ala James Bond and Jason Bourne as the threat was far too high and the need for security was paramount. They were forced to work thru Middle Eastern partners, which was a radical change from traditional Cold War espionage operations.

That goes for the Special Operations Forces as well, with the troops fighting a war which has dragged into the latter half of a second decade, the intelligence requirements are geared around the targeting of insurgent groups and specific leaders.

And while the War on Terror isn’t going anywhere for the near future, the threats to the US aren’t just in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Other parts of the globe are heating up and our SOF, already operating at an incredible tempo will find themselves in other global hotspots.

It is important to remember that intelligence lessons learned in the Cold War can be and should be used in other areas where the risk for conflict are high. The CIA has in the last five years beefed up their African intelligence gathering capability with different surveillance aircraft, both manned and unmanned. Human intelligence (HUMINT) and the live sources of information require more time to set up.

In case anyone hasn’t noticed the Russians, once again have been pushing their influence far past their borders and their bellicose intentions, despite how our president perceives Putin, is an area of concern. Russian efforts to undermine the US are everywhere, the Chinese are beefing up their navy, have opened a base in Djibouti and are currying favor with many of the US’ Latin American allies as well as Iran.

So, what does this mean for Special Operations missions? It means getting back to what they do and has always traditionally done. The Direct Action (DA) and Counter-Terror (CT) missions in the Global War on Terror will continue, but SOF, as well as intelligence agencies, will step back into the “gray zone” between war and peace in other parts of the world to stop conflicts before they begin.

With the expanding of conflicts in Africa, Latin American and parts of Asia, the time is right to expand the intelligence gathering operations and increase the reach of the Special Operations Forces once they’re committed.

SOF and its engaging of our allies will build rapport prior to an open conflict. The language and cultural expertise in these regions help the troops facilitate stability and counter negative influence with and through local security forces. This will buy time to prevent conflict before it happens and the work in the shadows in a long-term effort to build assets, provide force protection and gain valuable intelligence assets that can put US forces in proactive rather than a reactive mode.

The Unconventional Warfare (UW) model is what SOF and the Special Forces groups have based their training around. UW operations are usually long-term and will carry on over years rather than months. Indigenous or proxy forces are organized, trained, equipped, supported, and directed by SOF elements.

UW includes Guerrilla Warfare and other direct offensive, low-visibility, covert, or clandestine operations. UW also includes the indirect activities of subversion, sabotage, intelligence collection, and Escape and Evasion (E&E).

To successfully conduct operations in these environments, the SOF teams have intelligence requirements to support the overall US objectives from the area. This goes above the tactical level, but the SOF teams need to know how their tactical objectives tie-in with strategic goals. Therefore, they need not only target information on hostile forces but all-source processed information on
• Military and paramilitary organizations.
• Economics.
• Politics.
• Climate.
• Geography.
• Sociology.
• Ethnic composition.
• Religious factors.
• Personalities.

Some of these intelligence requirements the SOF teams can generate in their area study guides before deployment. And on others, the national intelligence agencies can keep the special operations units up to speed by doing what they’ve always done and will get back to how they’ve conducted operations in the past.

For the deployed SOF units, force protection is an extremely important factor in the overall security for the mission. Here, local intelligence nets must be organized and resourced. They can be tailored to fit the mission and the operational area. This expertise has been used since the times of the teams of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II. The OSS was the forerunner of both the CIA and the US Army Special Forces.

Special Forces have exceptionally trained personnel and are very well versed in spotting, assessing, developing, and recruiting low-level sources for force protection requirements. These operations, in what the troops used to refer to as “long-hair ops” are extremely important in the force protection and early warning in the operational areas.

Close coordination with the CIA and other national and theater intelligence agencies may be required to identify potential in-country sources. It is important because the area doesn’t need “cross-pollination” or the duplication of effort and/or assets.

Because SOF operations will vary depending on the area and other factors, they require a wide range of support. This ties with the SOF Truths and specifically #5 “Most Special Operations require non-SOF Support.” This support includes everything from basic logistical support to very sophisticated intelligence. All-source intelligence is essential regardless of the mission.

Special Operations Forces will continue to meet the mission requirements as tasked by the National Command Authority and sub-tasked thru USSOCOM (United States Special Operations Command) or JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command). And the intelligence required for these operations will increase as time goes on. Commanders need every available scrap of information that can be used for mission accomplishment. And they will dust off those Cold War operational plans for many of these activities.

Photo Courtesy: Detachment A Berlin