Whats So Special About Special Operations

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Whats So Special About Special Operations?
Dale Schnabel, CDFM Deputy Comptroller /
President, Sandhills Chapter, ASMC
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JP 3-05, Doctrine for Joint Special Operations,
17 December 2003

• Special Operations Operations conducted in
  hostile, denied, or politically sensitive
  environments to achieve military, diplomatic,
  informational, and/or economic objectives
  employing military capabilities for which there
  is no broad conventional force requirement. These
  operations often require covert, clandestine, or
  low visibility capabilities. Special operations
  are applicable across the range of military
  operations. They can be conducted independently
  or in conjunction with operations of conventional
  forces or other government agencies and may
  include operations through, with, or by
  indigenous or surrogate forces. Special
  operations differ from conventional operations in
  degree of physical and political risk,
  operational techniques, mode of employment,
  independence from friendly support, and
  dependence on detailed operational intelligence
  and indigenous assets. Also called SO. (JP 3-05)

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Other Terms Youll Hear

• Irregular forces Armed individuals or groups
  who are not members of the regular armed forces,
  police, or other internal security forces.
• Unconventional warfare A broad spectrum of
  military and paramilitary operations, normally of
  long duration, predominantly conducted through,
  with, or by indigenous or surrogate forces who
  are organized, trained, equipped, supported, and
  directed in varying degrees by an external
  source. It includes, but is not limited to,
  guerrilla warfare, subversion, sabotage,
  intelligence activities, and unconventional
  assisted recovery. Also called UW. (JP 3-05)

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SOF Core Tasks

• Counterproliferation of Weapons of Mass
  Destruction
• Counterterrorism
• Special Reconnaissance
• Direct Action
• Unconventional Warfare
• Foreign Internal Defense
• Civil Affairs Operations
• Information and Psychological Operations
• Synchronize DoD Efforts in the GWOT

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ARSOF Core Tasks

• Unconventional Warfare (UW)
• Foreign Internal Defense (FID)
• Psychological Operations (PSYOP)
• Civil Affairs Operations (CA)
• Direct Action (DA)
• Special Reconnaissance (SR)
• Counterterrorism (CT)
• Counterproliferation (CP)
  Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Indirect Ops
Direct Ops
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Excerpts from Desert One and Its Disordersby
Charles Cogan

• The Special Forces' mission is to conduct
  unconventional operations. The other elements of
  the American armed forces, who engage in
  conventional wars, are known officially as
  General Purpose Forces
• From Second World War, Special (Operations)
  Forces have been characterized by two main
  tendencies
• the commando approach, utilizing elite assault
  troops. The example is the Rangers
• Second is the more clandestine approach,
  emphasizing infiltration and intelligence. The
  main example is the Special Forces

Excerpted from Journal of Military History,
2003 Charles G. Cogan is a Senior Research
Associate at the John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University
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Some of Our Predecessors
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Rogers RangersFrom 1754 to 1763 French and
Indian War
Rogers hired men solely on merit and shocked
regular commanders with his use of Indians and
freed slaves. The Rangers wore distinctive green
outfits and practiced tactics called "Rogers'
Rules of Ranging," which the British considered
unconventional.
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Swamp Fox Francis Marion
When British forces captured Charleston in 1780,
American troops pulled out of South Carolina.
Marion, however, stayed and organized a small
force of poorly equipped men, training them in
guerrilla tactics. Living off the land, Marion
and his men harassed British troops by staging
small surprise attacks in which they captured
small groups of British soldiers, sabotaged
communication and supply lines, and rescued
American prisoners. A British commander, gave
Marion his nickname when he complained that it
was impossible to catch the "swamp fox."
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Modern Historical Time Line

• 12 Jun 42 Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
  established from Office of the Coordinator of
  Information
• 19 Jun 42 1st Ranger Battalion (Darbys
  Rangers) activated in Carrickfergus, Ireland
• 9 Jul 42 1st Special Service Force, a joint
  Canadian-American venture, formed at Fort William
  Henry Harrison, Montana
• Rangers were activated in 1950 as an airborne
  unit. Members were volunteers. Composed of 17
  companies seven of these served in Korea.
  Inactivated in 1952.
• 10 Apr 52 U.S. Army Psychological Warfare
  Center established at Fort Bragg
• 19 Jun 52 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
  activated by Col Aaron Bank at Fort Bragg NC
• 12 Oct 61 President Kennedy visits the Special
  Warfare School (commanded by MG William
  Yarborough) wear of the green beret by Special
  Forces was subsequently authorized
• 1966 SSG Barry Sadler lyricizes and sings The
  Ballad of the Green Berets, (went on to sell over
  11 million records with The Ballad remaining at
  1 for five straight weeks in 1966. It still ranks
  21 for that 1960-1969 rock era and was the 1
  single for 66, eclipsing Nancy Sinatras These
  Boots are Made for Walking.)
• 28 Jan 74 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
  activated at Fort Benning

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Darbys RangersBrigadier General William O.
Darby
When the United States entered the second world
war Darby, then stationed in Northern Ireland,
was given the task of forming a U.S. special
forces unit modeled on (and initially trained by)
the British Commandos. This new elite soldier was
called Ranger and the order creating him was
General Order 1.
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Devils Brigade
Properly designated as the 1st Special Service
Force, the Devil's Brigade was a joint World War
II American-Canadian commando unit trained at
Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United
States It was at Anzio that the enemy dubbed the
1st Special Service Force as the "Devil's
Brigade." The diary of a dead German soldier
contained a passage that said, "The black devils
(Die schwarze Teufeln) are all around us every
time we come into the line." The soldier was
referring to them as "black" because the
brigade's members smeared their faces with black
boot polish for their covert operations in the
dark of the night.
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Merrills MaraudersMG Frank Merrill
THE 5307th COMPOSITE UNIT (Provisional) of the
Army of the United States was organized and
trained for long-range penetration behind enemy
lines in Japanese-held Burma. Commanded by Brig.
Gen. (now Maj. Gen.) Frank D. Merrill, its 2,997
officers and men became popularly known as
"Merrill's Marauders." From February to May, 1944
the operations of the Marauders were closely
coordinated with those of the Chinese 22d and
38th Divisions. On 10 August 1944 the 5307th was
reorganized as the 475th Infantry Regiment which
was redesignated the 75th Infantry.
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A Defining Moment
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National Defense Authorization Act of 1986

with Service and
Military Department-like responsibilities

• A Unified Combatant
  Command

• Organize, train, equip SOF
• Develop Strategy/Doctrine/Tactics
• Program and Budget
• Procure SOF-peculiar equipment
• Monitor SOF personnel
• Ensure interoperability

• Command of all U.S. based SOF
• Plan and Synch DoD activitiesin GWOT
• Deploy SOF to support GCCs
• As directed, conduct operations globally
• Plan execute pre-crisis activities

Acronyms
USSOCOM United States Special Operations
Command SOF Special Operations Forces GWOT
Global War on Terrorism GCCs Geographic
Combatant Commanders

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Nunn-Cohen Amendment
DOD Authorization Act of 1987
Established a joint military organization to
oversee SOF and a civilian policy element within
the Department of Defense
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Legislative Intent
10 USC Sec. 167 The commander of the special
operations command shall be responsible for, and
shall have the authority to conduct, the
following Development and acquisition of
special operations-peculiar equipmentProgram and
budget execution.
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Special Operations Peculiar

• SO-PECULIAR - Equipment, material, supplies, and
  services required for special operations mission
  support for which there is no broad conventional
  force requirement.
• Includes standard items used by other DoD forces
  but modified for special operations forces
  (SOF).
• Items initially designed for, or used by, SOF
  until adapted for use as Service-common by other
  DoD forces.
• Items approved by the USCOMSOC as critically
  urgent for the immediate accomplishment of a
  special operations mission but not normally
  procured with MFP 11.

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What is MFP-11?

• The Nunn-Cohen Amendment creating USSOCOM gave
  its Commander (USCOMSOC) direct control over many
  of the fiscal resources necessary to pay, train,
  equip, and deploy SOF through the establishment
  of a separate major force program (MFP), MFP-11.
• MFP-11 resourcing decisions are based on joint
  SOF data within SOF and is not included in the
  budget of the other military departments.
• MFP-11 is accounted for separately in the
  programming, budgeting, execution systems.

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USASOC Command Budget Structure
USASOC
DCG
USASFC
SWCS
75 RGR RGT
160TH SOAR
ACE
DCG
528th SB
1 SFG
19 SFG
ACE II
3 SFG
20 SFG
5 SFG
7 SFG
1SWTG
95th CA BDE
MEDTG
4th POG
10 SFG
Comptrollers COL Murray
USASOC LTC Netzel SFC(A) MAJ Pray
4th POG Ms. Brunner 95th CA
BDE LTC Charleston SWCS MAJ(P) Hyatt
160th SOAR MAJ LaSala 75th Rangers CPT
Doggett 528thSust. BDE
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Is MFP-11 Our Only Funding Source?

• No. We also receive funding from the following
  MFPs
• MFP-2 Army funding is provided for Army common
  requirements
• MFP-3 Provided in support of intelligence
  requirements
• But, MFP-11 is our primary funding source

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Budget Execution Interfaces

• USSOCOM
• Comptroller
• Programmers
• Assessment Directors
• PAE (Requirements)
• Congressional Budget
• Issues/Changes

• DA
• Army Budget Office
• ASA-FMC
• G3-Training
• G3-SOD
• G1
• Pay and Compensation
• PEG Executive
• ACSIM (IMA/BASOPS)

USASOC DCSCMP
SOC Comp.
CENTCOM EUCOM / PACOM/ SOUTHCOM
DFAS Field Sites - (1)
Installation Requirements
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USASOC Budget vs. DOD SOCOM
250.6
221.1
184.2
164.6
159.2
155.0
151.5
149.3
148.7
87.3
84.7
74.5
9.4
7.9
7.1
2.3
2.6
2.8
USSOCOM 1.3 USASOC .4
USSOCOM 1.4 USASOC .4
USSOCOM 1.2 USASOC .5
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MFP-2 Budget (Millions of Dollars)
Barracks, Ranges, BRAC (7th SFG move)
Baseline OM
QDR/PDM Growth
Installation Services/Facilities Operations
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USASOC Consolidated Budget (Millions of Dollars)
MFP-11 (SOF) Funding Supports special operations
unique equipment, facilities, training and
operations
MFP-11
MFP-2 (Army) Funding Service common BASOPS
support
MFP-2
Does not include Military Pay
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14,617
10,915
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Questions?

• Humans are more important than hardware.
• Quality is more valuable than Quantity.
• Special Operations Forces cannot be mass
  produced.
• Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be
• created after emergencies occur.