In the forefront of the war on terror

Sea Power, Dec 2002 by Kreisher, Otto, Calland, Albert M III

Waging the war on terrorism has resulted in the heaviest combat use of special operations forces since the Vietnam War. The Navy's small band of elite warriors is playing a major role.

While engaged in dozens of customary maritime settings, such as the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the littoral waters of the Philippines, the Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, Land) and Special Warfare Combatantcraft Crewmen (SWCCs) saw their most intensive service in Afghanistan-400 miles from the sea.

Two SEALs already have made the ultimate sacrifice. and at least two others have been wounded in combat in the harsh desert and snow-capped mountains of the land-locked nation.

At one point early in Operation Enduring Freedom, a SEAL, Capt. Robert S. Harvard, commanded a multiservice international force of about 2,800 special operations forces (SOFs) and conventional fighters in and around Afghanistan.

The unconventional light against the al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban allies, Harvard said, was "a validation of what I call SOF-centric warfare.

"Where SOF has traditionally been seen on the periphery, supporting conventional forces, this is the first time you saw SOF in the center-being supported by conventional forces," Harvard said.

Although he could not say that Afghanistan would be an apt model for future conflicts. the veteran SEAL said: "The lesson I take away from this is that the advances in technology, capability, and weapons have allowed those small, flexible forces to have more impact on the battlefield."

The war on terror has brought new recognition for th Navy's elite Sea-Air-Land warriors, who have worked largely in the shadows since they were created in 196 from the Underwater Demolition Teams first formed du ilg World War II.

The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) force today has total of approximately 4.700,,relive duty personnel, in (lading 2.200 SEALs and 600 SWCCs (who operate an maintain the specialized ve ack shat SENI-s use on man of their missions).

Organized and trained primarily for counterterrorist an unconventional iii missions, the SEALs were a natural coie for the military response tone to the 9/11 attacks. Despite th great distance from the sea, these Navy fighters went among the first U.S. forces that deployed into afghanistam in 2001. They have been heavily engaged since then. Rear Adm. Eric T. Olson, former commander of Nav Special Warfare Command, said their tasking by U.N. Central Command had expanded threefold since Ll Sel tember 2001, a demand that, in Olson's view, "validation our missions and organization.

"We are doing what we prepared to do, and we have demonstrated that our capabilities match our enthusiasm," Olson recently said at a forum in the Washington, D.C., area.

The initial phases of the war in Afghanistan were led by Navy SEAL Rear Adm. Albert M. Calland III (who directed special operations for the U.S. Central Command before relieving Olson as the Navy's top SEAL last August). As the first U.S. flag officer to set foot in Afghanistan, Calland immediately saw the need to fight on two fronts to achieve success. His northern command, code named Task Force Dagger, focused on fighting "the war for Afghanistan" and working with the Afghan resistance to defeat the Taliban government. Calland's southern command, code named Task Force K-Bar, focused on "the war on terrorism" and working unilaterally to destroy al Qaeda's ability to conduct operations in Afghanistan.

Carrying the title of "commodore," Harvard led Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force South-or Task Force KBar-from October last year through April 2002.

His command included about 1,300 men inside Afghanistan and another 1,500 assigned elsewhere in the theater of operations, he said. In addition to his own SEALs and SWCCs, he led special operations fighters from the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and seven allied nations, along with U.S. conventional troops.

A Joint Team

Harward also was able to draw on the other capabilities of the joint special operations team, which was supported by AC130 Specter gunships and helicopters.

And, when he needed more help, he could call on U.S. strike aircraft, including Navy carrier-based F/A- 18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats, for close air support-and on the U.S. Marines of Brig. Gen. James N. Mattis's Task Force 58, Harvard said. "It was a real testament to the joint team," he said.

Harvard established particularly close relations with Mattis, an extension of the usual operational ties between SEALs and Marine Expeditionary Units.

Before Mattis's 400-mile move into Afghanistan from amphibious ready groups operating in the Arabian Sea, the SEALs surveyed and monitored the Pakistani beach used as a nighttime staging area and the austere airfield in central Afghanistan that became the forward operating base dubbed Camp Rhino.

Deployed by special operations aircraft at night, the SEAL team at Rhino kept the airfield under surveillance for four days and four freezing nights on a mission that ran twice as long as expected.