Special operation forces have been a part of the U.S. military
since the colonial era. The Army Rangers were first organized in
1756 by Maj. Robert Rogers, who recruited nine companies of American
colonists to fight with the British during the French and Indian
War. They were known as “Rogers’ Rangers.”
The Rangers became well known for their stealth techniques and
methods of operation and Rogers is credited with having capitalized
on them. He incorporated those tactics into the fighting doctrine
of a permanently organized fighting force.
Throughout the French and Indian War, from 1754 to 1763, the Ranger
doctrine was developed, expanded and codified. Rogers published
a list of 28 common-sense rules, and a set of standing orders stressing
operational readiness, security, and tactics.
On June 6, 1944, the Army Rangers were the first to land on the
beaches of Normandy during one of the last major battles of World
War II. It was from that conflict that the Army Rangers, a special
force, earned their motto: “Rangers, lead the way.”
The Air Force commandos, now known as the Special Tactics Teams,
flew P-1 and P-47 fighters, as well as observation planes, cargo
aircraft, and B-25 bombers during World War II. They performed supply,
evacuation, escort, and liaison missions throughout the war, and
also attacked bridges, railroad, barges, oil wells and troop positions
by air.
After World War II, the role of the commandos continued to expand,
and in 1968, the 1st Operations Wing of the U.S. Special Operation
Forces was created. Its motto is “Any time ... Any place.”
Intelligence Functions
U.S. special operations forces also became well known for working
extensively with the Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam
War.
By 1987, Congress decided to charter the U.S. Special Operations
Command (USSOCOM), with the mandate to prepare and maintain combat-ready
special forces for operations in either peace or wartime. USSOCOM
is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., but each of the
services has special operations forces units located at other military
installations.
Special operations personnel are required to possess a wide range
of skills that are shaped by the requirements of their missions.
They include foreign language skills, regional orientation, e specialized
equipment and tactics, and an understanding of the political and
social context of their mission.
Generally, special operators are older than their cohorts in the
conventional services, said Robert Andrews, principal deputy assistant
secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict
(SO/LIC). One thing that sets them apart is that “they’re
all motivated by a desire to do well at that which is most difficult,”
he said during a Pentagon news briefing.
“They learn to work with people, learn to do area studies
and a very detailed country study, and then when they get assigned
an operational area, they do language training,” said Col.
Dave McCracken, from the Army Special Operations Command.
Units such as the Army’s Green Berets often participate in
operations to contain regional conflicts, strengthen government
infrastructure and prevent local threats from developing into larger
problems.
The special operator is defined in the Defense Department’s
“Joint Vision 2020” as “a warrior-diplomat who
will influence, advise, train and interact with foreign forces and
populations.”
Special operations forces receive about 1.3 percent of the Defense
Department budget and 1.3 percent of the manpower: about 45,000
members. They are deployed to approximately 144 countries.
One of the reasons why there are relatively few special operations
forces is because it “takes a long time to train these people,”
said Andrews. “To qualify a young man in some of the enlisted
ranks will take two years” and a special forces captain probably
has seven or eight years under his belt, he said.
Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, former commander of USSOCOM, said that
with special operation forces, “our past is prologue,”
to future operations. He reported that U.S. special operations forces
were present in many of the regional conflicts and humanitarian
operations of the past 10 years. These included Haiti’s “Restore,
Support and Uphold Democracy,” Bosnia’s “Joint
Endeavor, Joint Guard, Deny Flight and Provide Promise,” and
Turkey and Northern Iraq’s “Provide Comfort, Constant
Vigil and Proven Force.” They also participated in numerous
other operations in the Persian Gulf, South America and Middle East.
Schoomaker said that as the Defense Department adapts to an environment
of fewer “wars,” and more “conflicts,” special
operations forces are more important than ever. He said that SOF
are necessary to meet “distributed threats by asymmetric opponents.
“Humans are more important than hardware, and quality is
better than quantity. Special operation forces cannot be mass produced
and competent special operation forces cannot be created after crises
occur,” Schoomaker said.
Lt. Col. Thomas Adams, director of intelligence and special operations
at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping Institute, in Carlisle, Penn., noted,
“The bad news is that the future is already here. ... It’s
called ‘complex contingencies’—a breakdown of
internal authority, such that an international response is required
to restore order an alleviate suffering.”
The good news, he said, is that “special operation forces
are already carrying out these missions and are doing a pretty good
job. But the bottom line is that we can do even better.”
Adams highlighted the versatile roles of SOF in Haiti’s Operation
Support Democracy in 1996. He said that special operations forces
worked as liaisons with local military and police, provided coordination/support
to conventional forces, conducted psychological operations, reorganized
local jails, acted as ‘de facto’ local police, and provided
repairs of water and electrical systems.
Non-State Threats
Transnational threats are no match for conventional forces, and
that’s why special forces must be brought in, said Col. William
C. Duesbury, deputy chief of the Army special operations division.
Transnational threats result from the “diminished authority
and capacity of governments beleaguered by population explosion
and transmigration, domestic disorder, ethnic conflicts and failed
state services,” he said.
Duesbury also said that SOF need to be more prepared to tackle
asymmetric attacks by “non-state” actors, such as terrorist
organizations that use weapons of mass destruction and information
warfare.
Other transnational threats include drug trafficking, organized
crime, arms dealing and environmental damage.
In recent months, the U.S. special operations forces have played
a key role in Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan. “The
special operation forces dramatically increased the effectiveness
of the air campaign, and on the ground, they turned the [local militias]
Northern Alliance into a conquering army,” Andrews said.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark characterized special
operations forces as “force multipliers.” Commandos
on the ground, working alongside the opposition forces in Afghanistan
helped to pinpoint targets for naval combat aircraft. The upshot,
Clark said during a breakfast with reporters, is a “force
multiplier effect.”
The sensors on the ground, Clark said, “enabled the people
on the ground to provide the right kind of information to the people
in the cockpit. This has been a real good news story. The effects
of it have been very positive.”