Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- The State of SF, PSYOP and CA Personnel - United States Army Special Forces, Psychological Forces and Civil Affairs

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The State of SF, PSYOP and CA Personnel - United States Army Special Forces, Psychological Forces and Civil Affairs

Special Warfare - March 22, 2001

Army special-operations forces, or ARSOF, face significant challenges as our nation continues to evolve its post-Cold War defense strategy and the Army embarks on one of the greatest transformations in its history. The success of ARSOF, as in the past, will depend upon its human capital. Today, the state of ARSOF personnel is generally sound. Nevertheless, the force confronts current and future challenges in developing and maintaining a properly sized force that will have the necessary quality and professional development.

The U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School, or SWCS, is the designated personnel proponent for Special Forces, or SF; Psychological Operations, or PSYOP; and Civil Affairs, or CA. In this role, SWCS is charged by regulation with developing plans, programs and policies that will maximize the potential of the SF and CA branches; of Functional Area 39, or FA 39 (PSYOP and Civil Affairs); of the SF warrant-officer military occupational specialty, or MOS; and of the SF, PSYOP and CA enlisted career-management fields, or CMFs.

Personnel-proponent functions for Army Rangers and Army Special Operations Aviation are performed by the U.S. Army Infantry Center and the U.S. Army Aviation Center, respectively. This article presents a snapshot of those ARSOF populations for which SWCS is the personnel proponent.

Overview

Active- and reserve-component soldiers in SF, PSYOP and CA make up about 1 percent of the Army's enlisted force and about 3 percent of the Army's officer force. Roughly 55 percent of SF, PSYOP and CA personnel are members of the Army's reserve component, or RC.

SF, PSYOP and CA units in the active component, or AC, are located at six installations within the continental United States and are forward-based in every theater. Major RC units (SF groups, PSYOP groups and CA commands) are located in 36 states.

SF Branch

As of April 2001, SF Branch had roughly the number of officers projected under the Army's Officer Personnel Management System XXI, or OPMS XXI. However, the branch was overstrength in the grade of colonel (138 percent filled), while it was short in the grades of captain (83 percent filled) and lieutenant colonel (78 percent filled). By the end of fiscal year 2001, the branch's overstrength of colonels will have been reduced by the career-field designation, or CFD, of colonels in year groups 1975-79.

Major parameters indicate that SF Branch is sound. Its retention rate for captains is among the highest in the Army. To date, all SF promotable captains who have requested CFD into SF Branch have had their request approved. SF officers have also been allowed to CFD into functional areas, or FAs, based mainly upon their preferences. All SF majors have had the opportunity to serve in branch-qualifying assignments an average of 24 months. Promotion rates for SF Branch continue to equal or exceed the Army's average.

SWCS and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, or USASOC, have developed the following officer-related initiatives:

* An increased recruiting mission for FY 2001.

* A three-year active-duty service obligation for graduates of the SF Detachment Officer Qualification Course.

* Ensuring that SF captains continue to have the opportunity to serve in 24 month branch-qualifying assignments.

* Developing intermediate-level education, or ILE, for SF majors, in conjunction with the Army's emerging plans for resident education for all majors.

One area of concern for the SF Branch is the lack of parity under OPMS XXI's command category "Training and Strategic Support," or TSS. To state the concern simply: Compared to their peers in other combat-arms branches, SF lieutenant colonels who have been selected for a command position have a relatively low probability of being assigned a tactical or TSS command. Conversely, they have a disproportionately high probability of being assigned an institutional (garrison or recruiting) command.

The effects of SF's low participation in the tactical- and TSS-command categories are negative. Command availability in these categories will decline further as larger year groups enter the zone of consideration. Thus, an even higher percentage of the command billets filled by SF officers will be institutional. While USASOC and the proponent recognize the importance of the Army's allocating institutional commands to SF, they are also committed to ensuring that SF officers have proportionate participation in institutional commands.

The question is, how can the Army increase SF's participation in the tactical-and TSS-command categories? While the number of SF tactical commands is fixed, SWCS believes that the Army could allocate additional TSS commands. Commands such as basic-training battalions would provide excellent professional development for SF officers. The issue is not career progression. Recent SF Branch promotion rates to colonel have been good, and SF lieutenant colonels from all command categories have been highly competitive for promotion. As this article goes to press, the issue remains unresolved.

SF warrant officers

The inventory of AC SF warrant officers (MOS 180A) grew from 80 percent of authorizations in FY 1996 to 97 percent of authorizations in FY 2000. In FY 2001, the inventory stands at 92 percent of authorizations. The reduction resulted from an increase in the number of retirement-eligible CW3s. The proponent projects that the MOS will drop to 88.5 percent of authorizations in FY 2002.

The warrant-officer MOS is filled in grades W1 and W2; it has a surplus in grade W3; and it has shortages in grades W4 and W5. One reason for these imbalances is that SF warrant officers are members of a relatively new MOS, and they will require time to grow into the higher grades.

Complicating the shortages is the relatively late accession point for new SF warrants: about 12 years' time in service. That leaves only about eight years of warrant officer service before the soldier is eligible for retirement. Because the AC 180A MOS has an increasing retirement-eligible population, SWCS and the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, or USAREC, would like to increase the number of volunteers for warrant-officer training.

The Army National Guard also faces a shortage of SF warrant officers - in fact, this is the greatest personnel shortage in ARSOF. In April 2001, despite a significant increase in the number of ARNG l8OAs since 1994, less than half of the ARNG's 180A authorizations were filled.

SWCS is planning three initiatives to increase the 180A strength in the ARNG:

* Employ distance-learning instruction for some of the lessons in the Warrant Officer Basic Course, or WOBC. WOBC's length (19 weeks) is a major impediment to ARNG 180A recruiting. Use of distance learning will reduce the course length for AC and RC students.

* Study the feasibility of an RC version of the 180A WOBC that would reduce the length of continuous resident training time.

* Allow selected ARNG SF officers, mostly captains, to become SF warrant officers after they have completed additional training at Fort Bragg.

Recent promotion rates for the AC 180A force have equaled or exceeded the Army's average, and recruiting for the force is meeting requirements. Still, major parameters indicate that the 180A MOS is "amber."

SF NCOs

The inventory of NCOs in CMF 18, Special Forces, remains a concern in FY 2001. As of January 2001, the CMF had filled only 88 percent of its authorizations. While CMF 18 experienced shortages in every MOS, the greatest shortages were in 18D, SF medical sergeant (82 percent filled), and in 18E, SF communications sergeant (85 percent filled). Many SF A-detachments were short one or two soldiers in each of those critical MOSs. MOS shortages compelled the U.S. Army SF Command to man only five of the six A-detachments authorized in each SF company.

CMF 18 recruiting efforts during FY 2000 were successful. USAREC recruited the 1,800 volunteers required by the FY 2000 recruiting mission, but it will take considerable time for those soldiers to graduate from the Special Forces Qualification Course, or SFQC. In fact, the length of time required to produce a CMF 18 soldier - from recruitment through graduation from the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE, Course - is a major factor that affects the fill of the CMF. The accession steps are:

* Recruitment and placement on orders for Special Forces Assessment and Selection, or SFAS: 12 weeks.

* SFAS (Phase 1 of SFQC): three weeks.

* Completion of tour in assigned unit: variable length.

* Airborne training (if required): three weeks.

* Primary Leadership Development Course (if required): four weeks.

* SFQC Phases 2, 3 and 4: 26-59 weeks (depending on the MOS).

* Language training (Phase 5 of SFQC): 16-24 weeks.

* SERE Course (Phase 6 of SFQC): three weeks.

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