When was socom established

And, thus,. As per Bill M. All this suggesting that:. Unconventional warfare will play a much larger role in our strategic future and that, accordingly,. Answer remains the same How really strange is that? Luddite4Change: SF has been a branch for 30 years. There have been a sufficient number of career SF officers who have achieved 3 star rank at least six that I can immediately name and dozens who have achieved two stars and who could have continued to progress in their career had the Army determined they should.

The problem is not the age of SF branch. SF has only been a discrete branch since the late 80's, your only just getting the first cohort of career 18 series officers into the junior and mid level Go ranks.

The Navy and Air Force have so few special operators from which to choose the Navy will always nominate a SEAL if one is qualified but the Army has such a wide variety of special operators to choose from that it will likely never nominate a career SF officer when you have such notable Army officers as Downing, Brown, Votel,and Thomas to name just a few.

As you also know it is Congress that really looks out for special operations. What is interesting is that there could be some changes to how SOF is organized, trained, and equipped and perhaps educated but not operationally employed because of Section in the NDAA excerpted below. Note also in the section is the formal establishment of the Special OperationsPolicy and Oversight Council. In addition, it is Congress that recognized the importance of unconventional warfare. In the NDAA Section it directed DOD along with other agencies to develop a counter-UW strategy as Congress recognizes that adversaries around the world are conduct modern UW with their own characteristics and we need to be able to counter them See Section below.

It does not refer to the exercise of authority, direction, and control of operational matters that are subject to the operational chain of command of the commanders of combatant commands or the exercise of authority, direction, and control of personnel, resources, equipment, and other matters that are not special operations-peculiar that are the purview of the armed forces.

The strategy shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. I would ask that the SWJ editor somehow enshrine this and keep it available for easy access and review by all our readers, now and in the future. I would hate to see this information and effort simply fall away from our view and ready access -- this, because new articles push it into the background.

I found your question interesting. What would we use UW for today? Maybe it is useful to quickly review the past first from a U. The American Colonies embraced a war of posts mostly guerrilla warfare like to impose costs upon the British and convince the French we were still in the fight until the American Army was prepared to wage decisive conventional battles that convinced the British that clinging to the colonies wasn't worth the cost compared to other interests they needed to defend closer to home.

Guerrilla warfare was essential to victory, even if it wasn't decisive. A lot things generally happen before decisive battles that are under appreciated. Concurrently, the USSR waged UW in many of the same locations in Europe, but with a longer goal in mind, which was the establishment of communist and pro-Soviet governments after Hitler was defeated.

The USSR also provided support to Mao in China, but they didn't want to see Mao win, they preferred to see China stay in a condition of civil war to prevent a unified China from posing a threat to their eastern flank. Just like other countries, the USSR learned you can't always control outcomes in conventional or unconventional warfare. The proxy wars were plenty bloody and destructive, but for the most part they stayed below the level where the U.

Korea, Vietnam, and the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan were obvious exceptions to the norm, and two of the three were failures, and even the outcome of the Korea War was hardly ideal. They focused on political organizing setting conditions before they waged armed conflict , but at the end of the day it was apparent to everyone who wasn't blind or indoctrinated to the point of being blind, that the communist system was oppressive and economically unsustainable.

Their cruelty, lack of vision, and backwardness ultimately failed them as much as our efforts to oppose them. Most of us in SF at the time very much believed in our motto, De Oppresso Liber, because in fact a good portion of what we supported that objective.

Contrary to your frequent assertions, most people in the world preferred the U. Even the Islamists in the Middle East during the 70's and 80's complimented the U. The point is that Soft Power does matter, it matters a lot. We should never deviate from what we stand for as a nation, it has strategic implications over time. That doesn't mean we can foolishly intervene in every conflict.

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Page Content. Established - April 16, Commander - U. The task force's mission included the attack on the Panamanian Defense Headquarters and the rescue of American hostage Kurt Muse. The operation ended with Noriega surrendering to SOF and the country establishing a democratic government. Operation Just Cause demonstrated just how far SOF had come since Desert One; not only with regard to internal enhancements to SOF capabilities and command and control structures, but also with regard to the close integration of SOF and conventional forces.

Operation Desert Storm - Scud Hunters. He decided to use Scud missiles to attack Israel in January Tactically, the Scud would not have a major impact, but its strategic effect was felt Jan. SOF Scud hunting operations greatly reduced the attacks, persuading Israel to not enter the war. Operation Provide Comfort - Iraq.

SOF's diverse talents made it a natural choice to support humanitarian assistance efforts. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled to the mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey.

Civil Affairs units helped with medical assistance, food distribution and daily camp operations. SEALs and special boat unit personnel provided security for the camps, and psychological operations units produced thousands of leaflets providing instructions on how to get help within the camps. SOF were credited with saving thousands of lives by providing skilled personnel to rebuild the civil infrastructure, establish supply networks and provide medical assistance.

Mohamed Farah Aideed and his lieutenants in October During the mission, two MH Blackhawks were shot down forcing a rescue operation. The task force faced an overwhelming Somali mob that overran the crashed helicopter sites, creating a dire situation. Task Force Ranger experienced a total of 17 killed in action and wounded. Task force members had to operate in an extremely difficult environment that required constant innovation, flexibility and sound judgment.

The task force had more than held its own against a vastly superior enemy that was battle-hardened from years of civil war and urban fighting.

Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. Operation Uphold Democracy - Haiti. Operation Allied Force - Balkans. A day bombing campaign eventually forced Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces from Kosovo.

The bombing strategy did not prevent Serbia from forcing an estimated , refugees out of the country, creating an enormous humanitarian crisis in neighboring Albania and Macedonia. SOF played a strategic role throughout the Balkans region with civil affairs units coordinating large-scale humanitarian relief efforts with U.

SOF helicopters airlifted supplies into refugee areas prior to conventional forces arriving. Within Kosovo itself, SOF aircraft dropped food and supplies to displaced people. SOF engaged in direct action and special reconnaissance missions to include AC gunships attacking Serbian positions.

SOF also rescued the only two U. SOF employment during Allied Force enabled commanders to conduct ground operations in a politically sensitive environment, fostering a strategic impact throughout the Balkans region. Their mission was to conduct unconventional warfare with coalition forces to free Afghanistan from Taliban oppression and to no longer allow the area be a safe haven for terrorist organizations. Subsequently, SOF elements coordinated Air Force and Navy attacks against enemy positions while working with coalition forces to arm, train and lead elements under extremely hazardous conditions.

The effort led to the complete rout of Taliban and al Qaeda terrorist elements in Afghanistan within 49 days. The teams did all this with an amazing variety of equipment: everything from donkeys and horses to computers and satellite communications. The success of unconventional warfare operations in Afghanistan generated many lessons for future operations, but their swift and complete success, with minimal U. Operations still continue today on a smaller scale.