Understanding “Jade Helm” Part 1: UW vs. DA and Part 2: Why We Need This Kind of Training

Good summary here (from Part 2):

To put it in very plain terms, once the decision had been made by the senior leaders within USASOC and Special Forces Command to refocus on Unconventional Warfare:

• 2012, Army Doctrine Publication 3.05 formally introduced into doctrine the two complementary capabilities of ARSOF: special warfare (UW) and surgical strike (DA).
• 2012 USASOC created a 10 year plan, or blueprint to refocus the Green Berets from kicking doors, back to training guerrilla forces.
• 2013 released ARSOF 2022 (the ten year blueprint)
• 2014 released ARSOF 2022 part 2 showing the lesson learned, progress and way ahead.
• 2014 created 1st SFC (A) which combines all the Army units trained in UW
• JULY 15 – SEP 15 2015 JADE HELM

Basically JADE HELM 15 is the culmination of three years of work. It is an exercise for USASOC and the 1st Special Forces Command (A) to see how their 10 year blueprint is coming along. It will allow them to find out which skills are on track, and find those that need more work. deficient and need to be emphasized. and at what level that need to be

With all that being said and explained what does it have to do with Jade Helm 15? Jade Helm 15 has two goals. The first is to give the teams on the ground a chance to practice all of the varied skill’s required to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating “by with and through” an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area.

The second and in my opinion the most important reason for Jade Helm 15 is to give the commanders, and staffs at multiple echelons a chance to practice command and control of a SIMULATED regional UW campaign.

Every Green Beret has to go through Robin Sage before they graduate. Robin Sage is UW training that happens during the last phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course. It takes place in south central NC, and has for over 50 years. (For more information on Robin Sage and other types of off realistic military training RMT check out Jade Helm 15: Special Forces Off-Post Training.)

Richard, a Green Beret on the popular Special Forces forum Professionalsoldiers.com put Jade Helm 15 vs Robin sage in a beautifully simplistic way everyone can understand.

Robin Sage, the large UW exercise for SF students which has been taking place throughout NC for over fifty years, is only an introductory 100 level undergrad course for an SF soldier in training.

Once assigned to an SF Group, follow-on exercises like Jade Helm 15, for example, are the 500-800 level courses for advanced studies in UW to be applied world-wide when directed in support of US strategic policy.

Understanding “Jade Helm” Part 1: UW vs. DA

July 16, 2015 by Loren Schofield ~ Leave A Comment

http://www.havokjournal.com/nation/understanding-jade-helm-part-1-uw-vs-da/

To understand Jade Helm 15, and why this type of training is important, people need to understand two major key concepts. The first is Unconventional Warfare (UW); what it is, why it is used and the training required to become proficient at it. The second is the internal fight within the Special Forces community on the UW vs. Direct Action (DA) mentality.

Understanding “Jade Helm” Part 2: Why We Need This Kind of Training

http://www.havokjournal.com/nation/understanding-jade-helm-part-2-need-kind-training/

July 18, 2015 by Loren Schofield ~ Leave A Comment

If you missed Part 1 of this series, you can read it here.  And if you are not familiar with Special Forces history I recommend looking at my article Special Forces Primer: Lesson 1 – Correcting Misconceptions:

Special Forces traces its roots as the Army’s premier proponent of unconventional warfare from the Operational Groups and Jedburgh teams of the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS was formed in World War II to gather intelligence and conduct operations behind enemy lines in support of resistance groups in Europe and Burma. After the war, individuals such as Col. Aaron Bank, Col. Wendell Fertig and Lt. Col. Russell Volckmann used their wartime OSS experience to formulate the doctrine of unconventional warfare that became the cornerstone of the Special Forces. In June of 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) was established under Col. Aaron Bank. Concurrently with this was the establishment of the Psychological Warfare School, which ultimately became today’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Special Forces Soldiers first saw combat in 1953 as individuals deployed from 10th SFG (A) to Korea.

For eight or nine years Special Forces was getting further and further away from their roots. As the GWOT progressed, Special Forces commanders were only giving lip service to UW. Instead they focused more and more on DA. During this time there were people within the community screaming, that we can’t lose our UW skills. Behind closed doors there was intense and extremely heated debates. From the team rooms to the highest level of command, up and down the hallways there was the argument on UW vs DA.

With Iraq over in 2011, and (at the time) what looked like U.S. troops being pulled out of Afghanistan, coupled with the downsizing of the military, Special Forces Command finally realized the need to rebuild their UW capabilities, and use the lessons we learned from over a decade of war. In July of 2012, LTG Charles T. Cleveland took command of the United States Special Operations Command (USASOC) and in April of 2013 releasedARSOF 2022.

LTG Cleveland said in a 2014 interview:

Last year, USASOC took a major step forward by introducing ARSOF 2022 as our blueprint for the future. ARSOF 2022 sought to clarify the narrative for Army special operations, provide direction to the force, and establish a process for future force development that leads to better support of joint force commanders in the future environment. It set in motion a number of changes primarily focused on the tactical aspects of our business and exploring the beginnings of SOF operational art.

UPDATED - ARSOF NEXT A Return to First Principles

I received these comments from a friend in response to my comments on SOCAP.  I think these are very important clarifying comments especially in terms of Conventional and Special Operations Forces Interdependence, Interoperability and Integration (a new term I just learned): QUOTE: Would like to add that this program focuses on educating Army planners to develop campaigns that incorporate Special Operations capabilities at the operational level,,,,,, but is intentionally at Fort Leavenworth and includes approximately 50% conventional force students.  It isn't just a SOF course.  Furthermore, we have been aggressively pursuing coalition partner attendance as well - the more diverse perspectives, the better.  Interagency students are also welcome. In the end, this education opportunity addresses Conventional and Special Operations Force Interdependence, Interoperability, and Integration (CF/SOF I3), confronts the problematic striations that some have recently highlighted on this distro list, and invests in critical thinking about campaigning.   This course is on its fourth iteration, runs once a year from Feb - Jun, should be institutionalized with a MOA in the next few weeks, and is resourced for 24 students.  Great collaboration between the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies (UFMCS / Red Team School), ARSOF, and CAC over the last few years has made this possible. END QUOTE

Original Comments:

If you are interested in the nature of Army SOF (with a discussion of love that you will not find in any military manual), its missions, organizations, equipment and training and education, and where Army Special Operations is headed this is the document to read.  The entire document in Special Warfare Magazine can be downloaded here. http://www.soc.mil/swcs/SWmag/archive/ARSOF_Next/ARSOF%20Next.pdf 

Table of concepts below the Commander's message.

As an aside I spent a couple of days this week at Fort Leavenworth at the Special Operations Campaign Artist Program (SOCAP).  It is an 18 week course to prepare them to serve in the Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOC).  It is adapted from and built on the Red Team Leaders Course or Red Team "chassis" as some say.  It is the best SOF course I have seen that focuses on campaign planning and design for SOF and does an excellent job of teaching design, red team methodology and most importantly critical thinking skills.  I especially liked the new concept I learned called the pre-mortem analysis (though I guess this has been around Red Teaming for quite some time).  I was especially impressed with the students who gave me a pre-mortem analysis of all the things that might make Korean unification fail.  I strongly recommend this course.

ARSOF NEXTA Return to First Principles

///FROM THE COMMANDER 

After a period of successful but intense transition, it is time to refocus on what is most important to ARSOF: Our people. ARSOF Next; A Return to First Principles brings the ARSOF 2022 vision full circle by defining who we are and where we come from. It reminds us of our principles, which are deeply ingrained in the traits of the ARSOF Soldier, the characteristics of an ARSOF Unit and our Promise to the Nation. It explores our collective shared history, demonstrating that these first principles are not only who we are, but also who we have always been. 

ARSOF Next is about similarities; similarities between our ARSOF Soldiers and ARSOF units. The interwoven traits coupled with the unit characteristics generate “One Force, Without Equal.” The U.S. Army Special Operations Command is a force with more than 25 years of history providing the world’s premier special warfare and surgical strike capabilities to protect our nation against its enemies world wide. 

On the advent of our 25th anniversary, we sought to do what many thought impossible — rapidly change our organization to adapt and prepare for the future, while maintaining our operational commitment to the geographic combatant commanders. Fiscal year 2015 has been a year of execution, and USASOC can take great pride in the milestones we’ve achieved. For example, we established the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)(Provisional), a force of 21,000 that is counted as one of the Army’s divisions. We created the foundation and backbone for SOF operational art and made sound progress in incorporating it into the national defense lexicon. We restored our unconventional warfare focus and deployed revitalized unconventional warfare capabilities in support of geographic combatant commanders and our interagency partners. 

I am extraordinarily proud of all that you have achieved over the last two years, but more so of your legacy as warriors. In many ways ARSOF Next is a story of recognition that honors these efforts and the people who made ARSOF 2022 a reality. More than this, it is an acknowledgement of the excellence that has been the benchmark of our first 25 years, and a promise to deserve the unbreakable trust of the nation for the next 25 years, and beyond. 

CHARLES T. CLEVELAND 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL, USA COMMANDING

03 > Commander’s Note 

04 > Introduction 

06 > ARSOF 2022 Review 

08 > ARSOF 2022 Execution 

11 > ARSOF 2022 Priorities 

24 > ARSOF Lineage 

26 > Characteristics of the ARSOF Unit 

34 > Traits of the ARSOF Soldier 

46 > Conclusion 

47 > ARSOF Promise to the Nation

The U.S. Army Has Quietly Created a New Commando Division 1st Special Forces Command brings together thousands of Green Berets

At this link to the web site at Ft Benning you can download 14 charts from BG Rogers (the commander of the 1st Special Forces Command) that explain the ground truth to this article.  (note also that nowhere on the charts does he use the term "commando.")

 http://www.benning.army.mil/mcoe/maneuverconference/presentation/pdf/BGRogers.pdf

As you can see what this does is to reorganize the units of US Army Special Operations command in order to provide the Theater Special Operations Commands and the Geographic Combatant Commanders for whom they work with an integrated and holistic approach to employment of Special Warfare Capabilities equal to the level of effort of our Surgical Strike capabilities.  Or another way to describe this is to provide capabilities to operate in the "missing middle" between diplomacy and war.

So on this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for the rise in stature of our nation's Special Warfare organization and capabilities.

Wish we could get the commando word out of the press and the pundit's vocabulary at least as it applies to Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations which is what this new command consists of.  And the Special Forces (Green berets) have always been "together" assigned to the US Army Special Forces Command.  Now that command has been redesignated as the 1st Special Forces Command

Excerpts:

But from the 1940s into the 1990s, the Special Forces mostly practiced unconventional warfare—indirect action, if you will, and the focus of the new 1st Special Forces Command. In that way, the new HQ brings Special Forces “back to its roots,” said Newson, a SEAL officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.

This indirect method of warfare is ideal in situations where an American presence could be “too costly or be counter-productive,” Newson explained.

A return to the roots for a vision of the future (that was the title of my first master's thesis in 1995).

We should keep in mind this fact:

Now, the Army’s new Special Forces structure doesn’t actually add manpower. In fact, the Green Berets will actually cut 1,000 people in order to stay within shrinking budgets, an official told War Is Boring.

The U.S. Army Has Quietly Created a New Commando Division

1st Special Forces Command brings together thousands of Green Berets

On Sept. 30, the U.S. Army unceremoniously stood up a new headquarters—

the 1st Special Forces Command—at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The division-level unit 

brings together more than 15,000 

Green Berets and other special troops in a single new organization.

Previously, the Army’s Special Operations Command had directly controlled all of these troops plus 

others on a wide range of missions. The idea behind the new HQ is to assemble a force specifically 

tailored for dealing with what the Pentagon calls “hybrid warfare.”

Simply put, hybrid warfare is a blend of straight-up traditional combat—with infantry, tanks and 

artillery—and secretive insurgency. Probably the biggest practitioner of hybrid warfare is Russia.

Just look at what’s going on in Ukraine, where Russian-supplied separatist insurgents are fighting 

alongside disguised Russian troops in an attempt to seize territory from the government in Kiev and 

bring it under Moscow’s sway.

Among other tasks, the U.S. Army’s new 1st Special Forces Command could help the ground combat 

branch counter hybrid warfare—by sending Green Beret advisers to train, advise and lead native troops 

in embattled countries.

“This is … a real requirement based on Russia’s hybrid warfare approach, as well as the need for partners 

in places like Libya, Syria and Iraq, where we want to help stabilize the chaos,” Navy captain Robert Newson, 

a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said of the new Army HQ.

(Continued at the link below)

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-u-s-army-has-quietly-created-

a-new-commando-division-2b90961b4821

If I could make one recommendation to GEN Allen it would be to consider establishing a SOF-led command that could integrate the entire special warfare and surgical strike efforts.  Since it appears that special operations are going to provide the bulk of the ground advisory forces and the effort in Syria is likely to be one of unconventional warfare this might be a good time to employ SOF operational art that balances special warfare and surgical strike in order  to orchestrate the entire SOF effort on the ground.  I would recommend this so as not to become overly fixated on the counterterrorism effort and better employ the capabilities across the entire spectrum of SOF.  Interestingly I learned this summer that the old US Army Special Forces Command has be reorganized and re-designated as the 1st Special Forces Command and now consists of not only Special Forces but also Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations forces.  But most importantly it has developed a cadre of campaign planners to support the Theater Special Operations Commands.  These campaign support teams and the operational division equivalent headquarters might be well suited for orchestrating the campaign in Iraq and Syria (especially in Syria since it appears to  be an unconventional warfare heavy operation).  If I were GEN Allen I would ask for this capability.

Although some might say that it is not a tested HQ, I would be willing to bet that it would be superior to any ad hoc HQ we are putting together.  And I would say that this mission is not an appropriate one for JSOC, even if some special mission units may be employed.  The diversity of the special warfare requirements go beyond JSOC and its superior hyper-conventional killing capabilities.  

Retired Marine Gen. John Allen to coordinate Iraq, Syria effort

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/retired-marine-gen-john-allen-to-coordinate-iraq-syria-effort-1.302601

By LOLITA C. BALDOR 

The Associated Press

Published: September 11, 2014

http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/retired-marine-gen-john-allen-to-coordinate-iraq-syria-effort-1.302601

WASHINGTON - Retired Marine Gen. John Allen will coordinate the broad international effort to battle the Islamic State militants, as the campaign against the extremist group ramps up and nations begin to determine what role each will play, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Allen, who has been serving as a security adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, is expected to work with the almost 40 nations around the world who have agreed to join the fight and help them coordinate what each will contribute, several officials told The Associated Press.

The officials spoke about Allen's expected appointment on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of an announcement.

Allen comes to the job with vast experience coordinating international allies on the warfront. He served as deputy commander in Iraq's Anbar province from 2006 to 2008, working with Arab partners on organizing the Sunni uprising against al-Qaida. He moved from there to serve for two years as the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military troops and operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Allen next became the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013, where he worked with international allies who sent troops to the battlefield.

As a result of his experience, Allen is very familiar many of the Middle East nations and leaders considered crucial to the latest effort to degrade and destroy the Islamic State group militants who have seized control of portions of Iraq and Syria in a ruthless reign of terror. He also has worked closely with most of the key military and diplomatic leaders, including Gen. Lloyd Austin, the current head of U.S. Central Command, who will oversee America's military campaign.

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday night that the U.S. will be expanding airstrikes in Iraq and into Syria, in an aggressive move to root out the Islamic State group extremists where ever they are. Obama, Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have spent the last week meeting with international leaders overseas in an effort to build a broad coalition of nations - particularly Arab countries in the region - to aid the fight.

Officials are looking for partners to help train moderate Syrian rebels, work with the Iraqi security forces, contribute equipment, ammunition, intelligence, logistics and funding, as well as possibly also launch airstrikes.