HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

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make a promise, we deliver.” With SOF in high demand, Holland directed USSOCOM to secure approval for transferring some missions (like training the Georgian armed forces) to conventional forces. USSOCOM reoriented its priorities and efforts to focus on the GWOT. The command created a joint interagency collaboration center, MH-53 flying near the World Trade Center site on 11 September 2001. a counterterrorism campaign, unlike any previous war. Indeed, a planning group, and supported the counterterrorism sea change would occur because the 9/11 terrorist attacks forced a reevaluation of U.S. national military strategy, with a focus on combatting missions and activities of the other unified commands. In 2003, General Holland provided SOF for terrorism worldwide. This reevaluation would Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF), the largest lead to the greatest changes in USSOCOM’s SOF deployment since the Vietnam War. mission and force structure since its inception. On the battlefields and by other means around the world, SOF countered terrorism and took on even greater relevance, becoming the cornerstone of the U.S. military response to terrorism. Immediately after 9/11, General Holland and USSOCOM provided SOF to the geographic During his three years as Commander (CDR) USSOCOM, General Holland presided over SOF taking on a much larger role in U.S. defense planning, operations, and FID than it had in 2000. The Joint Special Operations Task Force- Philippines (JSOTF-P) countered the al Qaedaaffiliated Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) by training combatant commands (GCCs) in the fight with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). against terrorism, especially Special Operations SOF assisted in the overthrow of the Taliban Command, Central (SOCCENT) and U.S. government in Afghanistan and played a prominent Central Command (USCENTCOM) for role in OIF. Thus, USSOCOM during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) in General Holland’s tenure made significant contributions Afghanistan. Support to Special Operations to the GWOT and set the stage for sig- Command, Pacific (SOCPAC) and U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) soon followed as SOF provided assistance in the form of foreign internal defense (FID)—training Filipino forces and providing civil and medical assistance. nificant new authorities that would give USSO- COM the lead for planning in the war on terrorism. After having served as Deputy Commander for a year, General Brown assumed command of General Holland cited the SOF successes in USSOCOM on 2 September 2003. During his OEF to illustrate the quality of SOF personnel. For example, he recognized the crucial role SOF had in the overthrow of the Taliban government by affirming that “our people make a difference.” He also noted that the GCCs had requested tenure, USSOCOM continued to focus its priorities and resources on prosecuting the GWOT, and the command secured approval of new authorities and missions that would fundamentally alter how it addressed worldwide terrorism. more SOF because of their professionalism and General Brown pushed the command to specialized skills, and he concluded, “When we shed missions that conventional forces could 11
Mission and Organization USSOCOM’s mission, as delineated in the 1987 Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) Manual 71-87, was to prepare SOF to carry out assigned missions and, if directed by the President or the Secretary of Defense, to plan for and conduct special operations. Mission responsibilites were: • Develop SOF doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures. • Conduct specialized courses of instruction for all SOF. • Train assigned forces and ensure interoperability of equipment and forces. • Monitor the preparedness of SOF assigned to other unified commands. • Monitor the promotions, assignments, retention, training, and professional development of all SOF personnel. • Consolidate and submit program and budget proposals for Major Force Program 11 (MFP-11). • Develop and acquire special operationspeculiar equipment, material, supplies, and services. General Bryan D. Brown, CDR, USSOCOM 2003-2007 execute and concentrate on having SOF focus more on their unique skill sets. Thus, not only would Brown push for new authorities for the command, he also insisted that budget and procurement programs and new capabilities and capacities be aligned with the command’s priorities for the GWOT. Admiral Olson took command of USSOCOM on 9 July 2007, after serving as Deputy Commander. He defined his priorities as: • Deter, disrupt and defeat terrorist threats • Develop and support our people and families • Sustain and modernize the force Evolution of the Command The responsibilites of managing MFP-11 and developing and acquiring special operationspeculiar items made USSOCOM unique among the unified commands. These responsibilities— dubbed “service-like”—had heretofore been performed exclusively by the services. Congress had given the command extraordinary authority over SOF force structure, equipping, and resourcing. General Lindsay organized the command along the lines of a typical unified command “J directorate” structure, with two modifications: he assigned MFP-11 and acquisition responsibilities to the J-8 (Resources) directorate, and created a new J-9 directorate, responsible for PSYOP and CA support, on 15 June 1988. The command’s mission statement evolved with the changing geopolitical environment. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of regional instability, SOF’s capabilities were in ever greater demand. To reflect this increased OPTEMPO, which called for a large SOF involvement in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, General Downing modified the command’s mission statement in 1993. The revised wording read: “Prepare SOF to successfully conduct worldwide special operations, civil affairs, and psychological operations in peace and war in support of the regional combatant commanders, American Ambassadors and their country teams, and other government agencies.” 12
Page 1 and 2: HISTORY 6th Edition
Page 3 and 4: 1968 - The future home of U.S. Stri
Page 5 and 6: General James J. Lindsay accepting
Page 7 and 8: Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) Senator Wil
Page 9 and 10: USSOCOM Commanders There have been
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Page 15 and 16: Logistics (SOAL). Finally, the Chie
Page 17 and 18: During the review process for the 2
Page 19 and 20: HQ USSOCOM Organization Chart 2006
Page 21 and 22: greatly improved the command’s ab
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Page 33 and 34: President George W. Bush signed the
Page 35 and 36: Iran Ajr, caught laying mines, was
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missions into Mogadishu, all of whi
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Haiti had endured unremitting polit
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of Haiti. These themes stressed nat
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In the early 1990s, rival ethnic st
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what they had done for JOINT ENDEAV
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Kosovo Operation ALLIED FORCE NATO
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Peace Operations and Crisis Respons
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In conjunction with the UN, the Org
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Special Forces soldiers train Niger
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Operation SILVER ANVIL Noncombatant
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second patrol coastal vessel, USS F
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Operation FIRM RESPONSE, ESAT vehic
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In Phase II, the relief phase, CA s
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No other international donor has ma
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flooded and damaged areas, signific
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government, so the “lead agency
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Objective Rhino, a desert landing s
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ather than target coordinates into
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would prove adequate to both assaul
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100 Despite what, in retrospect, ma
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coalition forces continued to searc
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the valley. Takur Ghar was a perfec
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inside the helicopter and began tre
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not designed to form a JSOTF. DAGGE
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Special Forces began training the A
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During 2003, however, Afghanistan s
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east of the city of Khowst. While b
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Operation RED WINGS LT Michael P. M
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their combat operations in southern
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Force (SOTF) 71 was CJSOTF’s batt
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Civil Affairs (CA) augmentation. Th
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line demarcating the KAZ, SOF and P
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TEXACO) and metering and manifold s
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accordance with his importance, Sad
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Saddam’s regime, terrorists, and
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with Iraqi police units. SOF have c
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increasing security in Iraq. The ER
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“extra-judicial killings” condu
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Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Trans-Sa
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Training in Yemen In December 2005,
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esulting operation known as Balikat
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that template, SOCPAC deployed one
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CTJTF..Counterterrorist Joint Task
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Command, Central SOCEUR....Special
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AQIZ: 134, 135 Al Qaim: 127, 136 Al
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Guatemala: 75 H Haditha: 127, 129 H
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47, 48 Northern Alliance: 91, 92, 9
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United Arab Emirates: 73, 118, 119,
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HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

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