Integrating SOF into joint warfighting

Military Review, May-June, 2003 by Mark Jones, Wes Rehorn

OPERATION Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan thrust special operations forces (SOF) into the spotlight of the U.S, military and the world. Despite this attention, these quiet professionals are only part of the U.S. Armed Forces team. They are members of a joint team made up of all military forces, along with the other elements of national power, and many multinational partners.

This article addresses many of the areas that SOF is pursuing to gain greater integration within this team. We have limited the scope of the article in several key areas. To stay focused on integration, we do not discuss the capabilities and limitations of SOF. We also do not discuss two key elements of SOF--psychological operations forces and civil affairs forces. Finally, we do not go into detail on integration within the interagency and multinational arena.

The article addresses theater SOF, the role of a theater special operations command (SOC), employment options for employment of a joint special operations task force (JSOTF), and how full integration of SOF within a joint force enhances operations.

Theater SOF and the Role of SOC

The regional combatant commander (RCC) has combatant command of assigned SOF in the theater, with operational control (OPCON) exercised for the most part by the theater SOC. The theater service component commands exercise administrative control (ADCON) of their respective service SOF for common service type activities.

The SOC commander is normally the supporting commander and provides SOF for employment by the RCCs. He might also be designated a supported commander in certain situations by the secretary of defense to conduct or coordinate operations.

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Each of the RCCs has a theater SOC. The SOC commander is normally an Army or Air Force brigadier general or a Navy rear admiral. These SOC commanders have three major roles similar to those of the theater-service component commanders. The SOC commanders have OPCON of attached and assigned SOF within the area of responsibility (AOR), advise the RCC and staff on employment of SOF, and when warranted, form operational headquarters to conduct special operations.

In every theater, SOF, like other elements of the Armed Forces, conduct operations throughout the RCC's AOR. Because of their training, equipping, and experience, these forces often provide the RCC with a presence as global scouts throughout the AOR. They are, however, high-demand and low-density forces that are often given politically sensitive or operationally complex high-risk missions. These missions demand special operations expertise in planning and execution. This requires the SOC to maintain a theater-strategic perspective focused on condition setting, while maintaining agility to respond to emergent requirements. This necessitates SOF to operate under centralized planning and control to maintain strategic and operational agility and to ensure mission success.

Theater SOF Employment Options

Excluding the psychological operations and civil affairs units, SOF are commonly employed in three ways. The RCC might continue to command SOF through the theater SOC. The SOC can either directly control SOF in a joint special operations functional component command role or form a subordinate JTF (that is, a JSOTF) to control SOF for a specific period or in a specific operational area. The SOC might be designated as either a supported or supporting commander vis-a-vis an RCC-designated functional component or JTF to conduct operations in the AOR.

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The RCC also might exercise direct control of a JSOTF if necessary. This situation might occur when the RCC wants to maintain direct control of highly sensitive operations or when the RCC requires a high degree of agility from the SOF in response to rapidly evolving situations elsewhere in the AOR.

The RCC, with the SOC commander's recommendation might also opt to attach SOF in the form of an established JSOTF under the control of a subordinate JTF. However, this control might not always be absolute. The RCC might choose to retain some SOF assets under OPCON of the SOC for theater-wide employment. This would give him the agility to anticipate and respond to other requirements in the AOR. The RCC also might limit tasking authority of attached SOF assets for specific purposes within the capability of the JTF to control.

An important organizational consideration for all of these employment options is that the employing headquarters has the special operations expertise and systems to support the planning, control, and operational support of SOE This expertise ensures that SOF is best employed within existing capabilities to support the joint warfight.

The typical JSOTF organization parallels that of most other JTFs. It has service force commanders like any other joint force. ADCON lines still exist for service responsibilities. There are also similarities on the air side. The JSOAC is functionally organized just as the JFACC is for an RCC or JTF commander. Subordinate task forces of the JSOTF are organized on either a functional basis (for reconnaissance or direct action) or geographic basis (by directing their focus to certain portions of the joint operations area to best conduct operations). SOF has experience working in the coalition and interagency environment. Coalition operations might be integrated at the tactical level or in more of a parallel command structure dependent on the nation involved; amount of authority delegated from the coalition force's government leadership; the capability and proficiency of the forces; and the mission and environment. SOF and the interagency also have experience working together. Both understand the value of unity of effort, and they work together toward common goals without worrying about achieving pure unity of command.