Home | Education & Distance Learning Articles | Article

Behind friendly lines: enforcing the need for a joint SOF staff officer

Military Review - May 1, 2004

Continued from page 5.

The strategic bomber has emerged as one of the preeminent weapons systems in support of SOF. B-52s and B-1s have the advantages of long loiter time; all-weather operations; reduced short-range, foreign-basing requirements; large numbers of near-precision guided weapons; and large crews able to man a number of communications radios. The joint SOF operator and planner will achieve success if he understands the capabilities joint assets can bring to the fight. In the GWOT, Navy and Air Force assets provide the most responsive joint fire support for SOF.

The special operations liaison element (SOLE) is critical to accessing joint fires and deconflicting battlespace. The SOLE integrates all SOF air and surface operations in the combined air operations center and is responsible for carrying out the JSOTF commander's intent through liaison with the joint forces air component commander's (JFACC) combat plans division (CPD). Efforts to enhance SOLE integration must continue through research that airmen and SOF conduct in their ISS education and in training of JSOTF staffs. Experimentation with agencies such as the Combined Air Operations Center- Experimental at Air Combat Command is also important.

Future JSOTF commanders might request an air support operations center (ASOC). The ASOC is a JFACC asset normally attached to an Army corps headquarters operating as a JTF. Joint Publication 3-05 states, "ASOCs can help the SOF commander request and integrate air power into all the JFC's [joint force commander's] special operations." (20)

The modern JSOTF can be employed as a standalone with a joint interagency task force (JIATF), or as part of a JTF. The JSOTF becomes the interface between conventional and unconventional compartmentalized operations. Although operational security (OPSEC) is paramount to successful special operations, in the recent campaign in Afghanistan, SOF staff officers hampered logistical support to the Northern Alliance and coordination of some critical air support by creating informational stovepipes. SOF staff officers must ensure that their key theater counterparts, on whom they rely on for air support, logistics, and intelligence, are "read-in" so these counterparts can plan and allocate available theater support. Joint SOF officers must continually identify who must participate in planning at the theater level and assess the effect of OPSEC in accomplishing the overall campaign plan.

Advanced SOF education and training must include information management and technologies that can help streamline planning processes through collaboration tools that create a dynamic, interactive interface between a JTF and a JSOTF and its components. (21) Because of the ad hoc nature of today's JSOTF, gaps exist in "national-level intelligence support, operators for systems which provide the common operational picture, and sufficient personnel to sustain combat operations in the future operations and plans cell of a JSOTF." (22) One recent study of the technological GWOT challenges stated that another priority must be "integration of SOF and the leveraging of multilateral capabilities more seamlessly with conventional forces operations." (23)

The recent joint experiment Millennium Challenge-02 (MC-02) debuted a number of collaborative tools for future JTF and JSOTF headquarters. As technology increases, these tools will become more efficient and have greater capability. Proficiency in these techniques and technologies is perishable, however, and reliance on technology alone without a system of back ups could result in the techniques and technologies becoming a millstone to the JSOTF if they falter or are disrupted.

At the start of MC-02, selected personnel had up to three training periods on systems and procedures. The demands of an information-based JSOTF (telephone, e-mail, net-chat, radio, television, video teleconferences, web pages, and on-line collaboration) overwhelmed soldiers with little or no training. SOF must take advantage of advances in information management and technologies to remain relevant.

For SOF to synchronize with conventional forces, they must understand sister service and joint doctrine to comprehend the idiomatic expressions sister services use. Unfortunately, military culture discounts doctrine more than it adheres to it. After every major conflict, SOF seem to reinvent the wheel, and the GWOT is proving no different. Because SOF tend to slight doctrine and education, they "lack the training, equipment and manning to rapidly and effectively establish what are now ad-hoc headquarters at the joint operational level." (24) SOF sacrifices time and energy because they do not know the doctrine well enough and need more warrior-scholars with the skills necessary to serve at all operational levels. SOF personnel must know national security master strategies to combat terrorism, understand SOF capabilities, and build a SOF strategy to prosecute the GWOT.

Experience demonstrates that establishing a JSOTF is easy, but manning it with qualified joint personnel is difficult. Because JSOTFs are not likely to become less complex, SOF must better educate and train officers, especially communications, intelligence, and support field grade officers, finding ways to track and recall officers with expertise in joint SOF operations as they rotate from SOF to conventional units.

U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) and National Guard (ARNG) SOF roles and the roles of conventional personnel supporting SOF are also crucial. Before conducting JSOTF operations in Afghanistan, the 20th SFG (ARNG) conducted several train-ups and participated with SOCJFCOM in MC-02, which provided an excellent shakedown before deployment. Manning with properly educated and trained teams is crucial.

Recommendations

No simple, one-size-fits-all solution exists to create better educated, trained, and joint-qualified SOF officers at the operational level. SOCOM must have creativity, perseverance, and a long-term, broad strategy. A recent Government Accounting Office (GAO) survey acknowledged that to develop an effective strategic plan the Department of Defense (DOD) needed "greater flexibility and that leveraging new educational technologies would facilitate its ability to prepare officers for the joint environment." (25) Two agencies address this education and training requirement: the JSOU and the SOCJFCOM.

In the near term, SOCOM must leverage the capabilities of both the JSOU and the SOCJFCOM. SOCOM assigns officers with the right operational and educational backgrounds and clearly delineates lines of operations. SOCOM must ensure unity of effort to make joint SOF education and training more effective and provide the necessary funding for education and training resources. Joint Publication 3-05.1 and SOCOM Directive 621-1 contain education and training guidance. (26) In accordance with JP 3-05.1, the USSOCOM commander has designated SOCJFCOM to conduct training of selected JSOTFs and to assess SOF-related doctrine in support of SOCOM's collective training program. (27)

There are three training levels. The first includes all staff officers, NCOs, and personnel, including AC and RC augmentees who might serve on a JSOFT headquarters or who are being assigned to a theater SOC. Training might be conducted via a compact disk for individual self-paced training. The JSOU would be responsible for maintaining and updating JSOTF training. Level-two training, which would include the theater SOC commander, potential theater SOC commanders, and selected SOC or JSOTF personnel, would be conducted in a formal classroom environment at the Joint Special Operations University. Level-three training would include staff officers, NCOs, and personnel assigned to or supporting a theater SOC or JSOTF headquarters in support of a JTF or higher joint force. USSOCOM- sponsored SOF training teams would conduct level-three training.

Both JSOU and SOCJFCOM are responsible for this effort, and SOCOM is the executive agent charged with ensuring that all education and training complies with established policy and standards. SOCJFCOM must evaluate the execution of SOFrelated joint doctrine in support of SOCOM's collective-training program through the JFCOM's joint training infrastructure.

Educating SOF in joint operations is also partly a matter of timing. The more senior an officer becomes, the greater the requirement is for joint education and training. JSOU research facilities and teaching focus on educating SOF leaders, giving SOCOM an unparalleled opportunity to meet education requirements for 21st-century SOF personnel. SOCOM must target ISS collectively with JSOU's education mission and SOCJFCOM's experienced trainers to build the necessary core of joint SOF officers.

Start

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next »

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article with hundreds of other Education & Distance Learning enthusiasts from around the world, please feel free to visit the discussion forums & post a message.

Discuss this article in the discussion forums now.

Popular Education & Distance Learning Discussions From The Past

Distance degree respected? (1 posts)
by Heather - Last post on: 09-19-04 15:12
Currently I am in an Educational Technolgoy graduate program that I am doing at a distance. My department has an on-campus version of the degree (although those graduates are in Instructional Technology, not education al technology). Has anyone had any experience(s) where a degree completed onli... (Read More)

DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN? (1 posts)
by yourthght - Last post on: 08-26-03 06:21
If anyone cares about their childrens' safety, please read this. I am a firm believer that the major cause of injury in our schools are in gym class and play ground activity. I'm tired of seeing my children come home with twisted ankles etc... After some research I have to believe that a simple ... (Read More)

Degreeinfo's Recommends - BOTH ON PROBATION (4 posts)
by Roy Tumak - Last post on: 01-26-04 02:36
To the uninitiated, Degreeinfo is a place where you won't find any high-profile mentors, no VP's, no real professors, no engineers, but a community of loners with questionable background and achievement, who likes to pat each other on the back and say "yeah, the Columbia Pacific, Fairfax, and ... (Read More)

duggle_ass@hotmail.com (1 posts)
by Duggle Ass - Last post on: 09-07-03 07:25
Whoa! What a fucking asshole I am. By no using my real name and constantly making fun of Dr. Douglas. I invite others to make a fucking idiot out of me! Since I don't know who is doing it i will just sit here with my dick up my ass and complain!!!! ... (Read More)

You must register before posting in the Education & Distance Learning discussion forums. It's free & only takes a few seconds. Please also remember that no advertising is allowed...
Enter The Forums Here