Application of Special Operations in Joint Strategic and Operational Plans
By Chad M. Pillai, Small Wars Journal: “When people think about Special Operations Forces (SOF) today, more than likely they will place the idea of SOF in the context of Counter-Terrorism (CT) operations and high-end units such as those that conducted the Bin Laden Raid into Pakistan.”
- According to The New York Times, the Secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff want options by mid-June that will strike more of a sustainable balance between rising security challenges and the current op-tempo for counter terrorism missions.
- But with rising strategic challenges coming from Russia, Iran and North Korea as well as China’s expanding Military presence and a persistent threat from terrorism, can US Special Operations Forces afford to slow down?
- According to Retired Special Forces Colonel David Maxwell, ‘If there is a war in North Korea and/or Iran (God forbid) it will create an even more complex problem for USSOCOM than has existed for the entire war on terrorism.’