The Role of SOF Across the Range of Military Operations,

Since the creation of the United States Special Operations Command USSOCOM, Special Operations Forces SOF personnel have been working hard to tear down the walls of secrecy which have led to years of misunderstanding between conventional and special operations forces. Both USSOCOM and the Services are actively integrating SOF curriculum into the Services professional military education schools to educate future military leaders on the role of SOF across the range of military operations war and military operations other than war. The end of the Cold War has dramatically changed the international security environment. The US now faces a world marked by numerous regional and transnational uncertainties. The opportunity to employ SOF to meet these challenges is as great today as it has ever been. With its unique capabilities and specialized equipment, SOF can support a wide range of operations from humanitarian assistance in a benign environment, to combat operations during war. The purpose of this article is to explain how SOF can be integrated into joint operations across the range of military operations. Just as each Service team brings certain capabilities to the theater of operations, SOF similarly offer unique capabilities to the Joint Force Commander JFC. In addition to their primary special operations missions, direct action, special reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, counterterrorist operations, psychological operations, and support to counterproliferation operations, SOF are also suited to conduct certain collateral activities. Some of their more common collateral activities include humanitarian assistance, counterdrug operations, combat search and rescue CSAR, and coalition warfare.