Revised Vision for American Special Operations Operations: Highlights and Shortcomings Uncovered
Last week, Christopher Maier and General Richard Clarke released a new "Vision and Strategy" for the future of US special operations forces (SOF). The strategy, a response to the Department of Defense's 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) and the subsequent pressure on SOCOM to adapt its force structure and capabilities, marks a significant departure from SOCOM's prior guidance since the 2018 NDS was published.
The strategy declares that the vision for special operations forces over the next ten years is to create strategic, asymmetric advantages for the Nation in integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict. This shift in focus could lead to SOF becoming more embedded in joint operations, improving conventional force effectiveness, and contributing to national strategic goals by deterring aggression through combined military and nonmilitary means.
Despite being the sharpest departure from SOCOM's prior guidance, the strategy's tone and tenor remains aligned with something less than a step change in the future direction of SOF. The strategy does not address the need for revolutionary change, despite the 2018 NDS representing a step change in the trajectory of strategic defense guidance.
The strategy focuses on developing a sustainable approach to counterterrorism while strengthening capabilities in foreign internal defense, security force assistance, counter-threat finance, electromagnetic warfare, information, cyber, and space capabilities. The strategy also intends to reinvigorate SOF participation in training and exercises with conventional forces and to integrate its modernization efforts with the military services.
The strategy states that SOCOM will seek divestiture opportunities across the enterprise, focusing on legacy equipment, platforms designed for permissive environments, and capabilities that conventional forces can provide in lieu of SOF. The strategy's resourcing strategy alignment with the new vision remains unclear, particularly regarding the Armed Overwatch program.
The strategy refers to the findings and ongoing efforts of SOCOM's 2020 Comprehensive Review, committing to correcting lapses in leadership, accountability, and discipline across the SOF enterprise. The strategy does not provide clear guidance for how SOF intend to support the NDS's concept of integrated deterrence's other central concepts: campaigning and building enduring advantages.
The strategy does not fulfill somely embrace the 2022 NDS's central concepts, despite the purpose of the new strategy being to provide a framework for SOF's evolution from a counter-terrorism force into one optimally suited to support the Joint Force and the Nation as part of integrated deterrence.
The strategy represents public acknowledgement by Maier and Clarke that SOF must definitively move past two decades of counterterrorism and into a new era of balanced capabilities for competition, crisis, and conflict. However, the strategy does not state a similar intent for the future of SOF leadership diversity, despite President Biden's administration's emphasis on US government leaders reflecting the diversity of the nation.
The strategy incorporates elements from SOCOM's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, stating a desire to increase diversity in SOF formations. The strategy intends to retain Deploy for Purpose forces to provide flexibility and agility in support of emerging requirements.
In summary, the new strategy for US Special Operations Forces emphasizes enhancing the role of SOF in supporting conventional forces and the nation within an integrated deterrence framework, focusing on interoperability, agility, and holistic deterrence approaches. However, it falls short in fully embracing the concepts of campaigning and building enduring advantages outlined in the 2022 NDS, and it does not provide clear guidance on the future of SOF leadership diversity.
