Trip_Wire
RIP
More on SF growth:
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=3199
More Special Ops Troops Will Better Answer Global Needs, Official Says
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Feb. 27, 2007)
Vice Adm. Olson:
ARLINGTON, Va. --- Special Operations forces will grow by 17,000 active-duty members over the next six years, a senior military official said today at the 18th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium here.
âWe are fielding ⦠the largest growth in special operations history without sacrificing quality along the way,â Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said.
The admiral said SOCOMâs role has been enlarged since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2003, âthe secretary of defense said, âI hereby designate special operations the lead combatant commander for planning, synchronizing and, as directed, conducting defense activities against terrorists and their networks,ââ Olson said. âThis was a huge charter for us.â
Military planners are using a carefully vetted threat model to develop direct and indirect strategies in combating terrorism, he said. âThe direct approach is the one that gets the headlines,â he said. âItâs often kinetic and sometimes violent; itâs about finding terrorists and engaging them directly in order to render their networks less effective.
âMost importantly,â he said, âthe direct approach buys us time for the other, longer-term, indirect approach.â
The indirect approach changes the environment by building U.S. partnersâ capabilities, reducing local support to prevent terrorist safe havens, and eroding underlying conditions that contribute to terrorism, he said.
Olson cited the Jan. 28 battle in Najaf, Iraq, that reportedly killed 200 insurgents, to illustrate special operationsâ direct and indirect approaches. âThe Iraqi military forces attacked on their own and fought for 45 minutes before the arrival of the first U.S. forces, which was the Special Forces A-Team,â he said.
âThat A-Team commander took charge of his piece of it and contributed as best as he could,â Olson said. âHe posted snipers, called in fixed-wing air support (and) began to turn the tide of what had been sort of an inconclusive fight.â
Snipers picked off targets, a quick-reaction force arrived, and the A-Team coordinated what became a more complex fight that âultimately became a significant victory,â Olson said.
âThe Iraqi forces provided most of the manpower and most of the fighting forces,â he said. âIt was Iraqi forces that had been trained by U.S. forces; (they) responded quickly, took initiative to launch their own assault; ⦠and they were there as the victors.
âThe beauty of this is that it all worked,â Olson said. âThat is a complex international incident that we would not have thought possible not too long ago.â
Efforts to deny terrorists safe havens in Iraq and Afghanistan are important, Olson said, but the global threat is not limited to those two countries.
âDirect and indirect activities must be carefully synchronized to be most effective,â he said. âTo help synchronize these efforts, SOCOM, other agencies in departments of our government and our partner nations are beginning to build a global combative terror network.â
The admiral cited the 2002 U.S.-Philippine combined action against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group as an example of the international cooperation needed to effectively combat the common threat.
âTerrorists in the southern Philippines associated with the al Qaeda network (were) an intimidating presence for many years until the arrival of American forces led by Army Special Forces,â he said.
U.S. Special Operations Forces there trained and assisted Filipino forces, Olson said. âAt the end of the day, through persistent military training and local humanitarian efforts, Abu Sayyaf was essentially run off Basilan Island, and theyâre struggling now to make their presence known in other areas of the Philippines.â
The struggle there continues, but it was âa great local success of a different flavor and another powerful demonstration of how this is coming together as a synchronized global effort,â he said.
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=3199
More Special Ops Troops Will Better Answer Global Needs, Official Says
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Feb. 27, 2007)
Vice Adm. Olson:
ARLINGTON, Va. --- Special Operations forces will grow by 17,000 active-duty members over the next six years, a senior military official said today at the 18th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium here.
âWe are fielding ⦠the largest growth in special operations history without sacrificing quality along the way,â Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said.
The admiral said SOCOMâs role has been enlarged since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2003, âthe secretary of defense said, âI hereby designate special operations the lead combatant commander for planning, synchronizing and, as directed, conducting defense activities against terrorists and their networks,ââ Olson said. âThis was a huge charter for us.â
Military planners are using a carefully vetted threat model to develop direct and indirect strategies in combating terrorism, he said. âThe direct approach is the one that gets the headlines,â he said. âItâs often kinetic and sometimes violent; itâs about finding terrorists and engaging them directly in order to render their networks less effective.
âMost importantly,â he said, âthe direct approach buys us time for the other, longer-term, indirect approach.â
The indirect approach changes the environment by building U.S. partnersâ capabilities, reducing local support to prevent terrorist safe havens, and eroding underlying conditions that contribute to terrorism, he said.
Olson cited the Jan. 28 battle in Najaf, Iraq, that reportedly killed 200 insurgents, to illustrate special operationsâ direct and indirect approaches. âThe Iraqi military forces attacked on their own and fought for 45 minutes before the arrival of the first U.S. forces, which was the Special Forces A-Team,â he said.
âThat A-Team commander took charge of his piece of it and contributed as best as he could,â Olson said. âHe posted snipers, called in fixed-wing air support (and) began to turn the tide of what had been sort of an inconclusive fight.â
Snipers picked off targets, a quick-reaction force arrived, and the A-Team coordinated what became a more complex fight that âultimately became a significant victory,â Olson said.
âThe Iraqi forces provided most of the manpower and most of the fighting forces,â he said. âIt was Iraqi forces that had been trained by U.S. forces; (they) responded quickly, took initiative to launch their own assault; ⦠and they were there as the victors.
âThe beauty of this is that it all worked,â Olson said. âThat is a complex international incident that we would not have thought possible not too long ago.â
Efforts to deny terrorists safe havens in Iraq and Afghanistan are important, Olson said, but the global threat is not limited to those two countries.
âDirect and indirect activities must be carefully synchronized to be most effective,â he said. âTo help synchronize these efforts, SOCOM, other agencies in departments of our government and our partner nations are beginning to build a global combative terror network.â
The admiral cited the 2002 U.S.-Philippine combined action against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group as an example of the international cooperation needed to effectively combat the common threat.
âTerrorists in the southern Philippines associated with the al Qaeda network (were) an intimidating presence for many years until the arrival of American forces led by Army Special Forces,â he said.
U.S. Special Operations Forces there trained and assisted Filipino forces, Olson said. âAt the end of the day, through persistent military training and local humanitarian efforts, Abu Sayyaf was essentially run off Basilan Island, and theyâre struggling now to make their presence known in other areas of the Philippines.â
The struggle there continues, but it was âa great local success of a different flavor and another powerful demonstration of how this is coming together as a synchronized global effort,â he said.