And I would just add a few quotes to the Warlord's excellent commentary on SOF:
"Unconventional Warfare (UW) ... remains uniquely Special Forces'.
It is the soul of Special Forces: the willingness to accept its
isolation and hardships defines the Special Forces soldier. Its
training is both the keystone and standard of Special Forces Training: it has long
been an article of faith, confirmed in over forty years of worldwide
operations, that "If you can do the UW missions, you can do all others."
The objective of UW and Special Forces' dedication to it is expressed in
Special Forces' motto: De Oppresso Liber (to free the oppressed)."[1]
- Robert M. Gates, Remarks at dedication of OSS Memorial
"Men, Special Forces is a mistress. Your wives will envy her because she will have your hearts. Your wives will be jealous of her because of the power to pull you away. This mistress will show you things never before seen and experience things never before felt. She will love you, but only a little, seducing you to want more, give more, die for her. She will take you away from the ones you love, and you will hate her for it, but leave her you never will, but if you must, you will miss her, for she has a part of you that will never be returned intact.
And in the end, she will leave you for a younger man." James R. Ward, OSS
THE WARLORD ON SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES
September 10, 2013 · in Commentary and Analysis
Editor’s Note: This speech was originally given to the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, Camp Mackall, NC, 11 December 2008 by the author, Colonel (ret.) John Collins. And it remains rock solid, just like the author who has been an invaluable mentor to many on WOTR as the founder and leader of the Warlord Loop.
Vice Admiral James Stockdale, a Medal of Honor recipient and H. Ross Perot’s Vice Presidential running mate in 1992, opened his first and only televised appearance with these words: “Who am I? Why am I here?” His audience never did figure that out, but I’m going tell you right up front who I really am and why I’m here.
My Credentials
I’m a paper-pusher with no decorations for valor. I’m an honorary member of Special Forces Chapter XIII in Korea, but remain a wannabe who never wore a green beret and briefly served with only one Special Ops outfit more than 40 years ago. That makes me feel like Elizabeth Taylor’s eighth husband on their wedding night: I know what I’m supposed to do, but I’m not sure how to make it interesting, because my knowledge about SOF is almost all second hand.
Even so, I take comfort from long-standing close contact with a slew of icons like Bill Yarborough, who convinced President Kennedy that Army Special Forces possessed the capabilities he needed to combat Communist insurgencies; Sam Wilson, who helped convince Congress that it should create a U.S. Special Operations Command; and Barbwire Bob Kingston, who helped convince top-level decision-makers that Delta Force could provide the USA with much needed counterterrorism capabilities. Those great men all called me John and I called them by their first name, which is General.
My Past Contributions
Given their guidance and endless hours probing masterpieces by Special Ops groundbreakers like Mao Zedung, David Galula, and Sir Robert Thompson, I produced four surveys that publicized Special Operations Forces (SOF) favorably on Capitol Hill and beyond, when virtually every command, control, planning, and force posture problem reflected misunderstandings. Few members of Congress or flag officers in any U.S. military service fully appreciated Special Ops capabilities, limitations, and relationships with the rest of this great Nation’s national security apparatus. Scores of military and civilian authorities enlightened me during individual and roundtable discussions, then savaged each draft before publication.
First came an April 1987 House Armed Services committee print entitledU.S. and Soviet Special Operations, which reappeared commercially asGreen Berets, SEALs, and Spetsnaz. Several heavy hitters, including former CIA Director Bill Colby, expressed approval on the back cover. I’ll never tell anybody how much I paid ‘em.
Three years later that same committee published 60 low-intensity conflict case summaries that identified causes of success and failure during the Twentieth Century. That compilation soon resurfaced as America’s Small Wars: Lessons for the Future.
Correspondence on 30 March 1993 from me to General Carl Stiner, USSOCOM’s second commander, said, “I would like to prepare a ‘no bullshit’ unclassified report for Congress, not just another ‘gosh, gee whiz’ summation.” He cooperated. So did JCS Chairman General Colin Powell, who opened doors that Stiner could not. National Defense University Press distributed the results entitled Special Operations Forces: An Assessment.
Finally, I traced SOF ups and down since 1670, when Captain Benjamin Church, the original Ranger, began trailblazing during King Philip’s War – - I was still a schoolboy during those days and the United States of America wasn’t even a dream. My five chapters, which followed Pete Schoomaker’s Overview, consumed half of U.S. Special Operations Forces, a giant coffee table book that has made a grand doorstop since 2003.
Personal Opinions
The world little noted nor long remembered any of those potboilers, most of which are long out of print, so my mission this morning is to cherry pick and update bits that you might find particularly useful regarding SOF Truths, mission priorities, Special Ops responsibilities compared with those of CIA, strategic shortcomings that make your job more difficult than it should be, and finally identify ways to reinforce SOF strengths and reduce SOF weaknesses.
Humor me. Take notes. Act like you really believe that what I’m about to say is important.
SOF Truths
Many true believers throughout USSOCOM have memorized SOF Truths, the first four of five bullets that I conceived and Congressman Earl Hutto signed in the Foreword to U.S. and Soviet Special Operations on 28 April 1987:
- Humans are more important than hardware.
- Their quality is more important than quantities.
- Special Operations Forces cannot be mass-produced.
- Competent SOF cannot be created after emergencies occur.
When General Stiner sent me on a Cook’s tour of his subordinate commands in 1993 the first stop was Fort Bragg, where United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) commander Lieutenant General Wayne Downing proudly concluded his formal presentation with a slide that displayed SOF Truths. He did a double take when I told him “they’re wonderful,” then said, “I wrote ‘em.”
(Continued at the link below)
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