Socom’s Impact Outweighs Its Size, Commander Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2011 – U.S. Special Operations Command brings increasingly vital capabilities to the nation’s military missions, its commander said yesterday.

Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, Socom commander, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Socom’s current and projected missions and budget requirements.

“I am convinced that the forces we provide to the geographic combatant commanders are the most culturally attuned partners, the most lethal hunter-killers, and most responsive, agile, innovative and efficiently effective advisors, trainers, problem-solvers and warriors that any nation has to offer,” he said.

Olson said 85 percent of Socom’s deployed troops are working in the U.S. Central Command’s area of operations. Socom operators are backed by “a magnificent assortment of administrative, intelligence, communications, engineering, logistics and other specialists,” their commander said, adding that the command’s headquarters staffs around the world also include more than 300 representatives from at least 15 other agencies within and beyond the Defense Department.

“Our value comes from both our high level of skills and our nontraditional methods of applying them, which is to say that our principal asset is the quality of our people,” he said.

Olson said his forces achieve “impressive effects,” whether they are conducting precision raids, organizing a village police force, arranging a new school or clinic, or partnering with counterpart forces.

“In Afghanistan and Iraq especially, it is undeniable that they have had impact far above their relatively small numbers,” the admiral said.

Socom has forces deployed to dozens of other countries as well, Olson said, contributing to regional stability by training and advising counterpart forces.

“This balance of direct and indirect operations must be carefully managed, but because special operations forces live in both of these worlds, we have become the force of first choice for many missions,” he said.

Socom faces the key challenge of how to meet an increasing demand for its capabilities, Olson said.

“We can’t grow them more than a very few percent per year, but the demand is outpacing the supply,” he said, noting that although the command’s manpower has doubled over the last decade, its overseas deployments have quadrupled.

Socom continues to successfully perform its missions, but the command is undergoing strain, Olson said. “The fabric is strong, [and] the weave is tight,” he said. “It’s not unraveling, but it’s showing signs of wear.”

Possible approaches to ease Socom’s strain include finding a process to assign units from the services to train and deploy with special operations forces, Olson said, and upgrading or adding training ranges and other facilities.

Olson also suggested “investing more broadly in the types of enabling capabilities that will relieve special operations forces from sending our own people to perform functions that could be performed by others.”

Finally, Olson urged expanding the services’ inventory of specific irregular warfare assets and ensuring Socom has the specialized equipment and advanced training its forces need “to survive and succeed in the complex, ambiguous and often violent environments in which we ask them to serve.”

“I ask for your action to approve a defense budget for fiscal year 2011, and for your support for your support for the fiscal year 2012 budget proposal,” he told the committee.

“I also ask that you fully fund the special operations budget, particularly as conventional forces begin to draw down from major operations,” Olson said, “because our forces will most likely be allocated at the same levels to areas with pent-up demand for our unique capabilities.”

The nation can take great pride in its special operations forces, the Socom commander said, adding that he is humbled to “command this formidable force, and to provide it to answer our nation’s most-daunting security needs.”

Special Operations Command Observes 20th Anniversary Amid Growth

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 25, 2007 – As it observes its 20th anniversary this week, U.S. Special Operations Command continues to face more demand for its forces than it can accommodate -- a challenge the command's deputy commander reported yesterday won't abate even with more special operators in the pipeline. SOCOM is slated to grow by about 6,300 members in fiscal 2008, boosting its strength to 54,000 military and civilian positions, Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

This growth, nearly all within the reserve components, includes nearly 1,900 soldiers to make up an Army Special Forces battalion, three Ranger companies, and nearly 800 additional civil affairs, psychological operations and support troops. Naval Special Warfare will add about 400 members, and Air Force Special Operations Command will grow a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle squadron and establish a distributed common-ground system.

In addition, the new Marine Corps Special Operations Component established in 2006 will increase from its current 1,500 members by nearly 550, Olson reported.

This growth rate won't reduce the high stress on the current force or its current presence in Afghanistan or Iraq, he said. Rather, it will enable SOCOM to expand its presence in parts of the world where it's currently underrepresented.

Olson urged the senators to support the $6.2 billion fiscal 2008 budget request that boosts retention initiatives for senior enlisted operators and ensures current and incoming special operators have the equipment they need to do their jobs. "It's important to sustain a balanced force as we grow, so we must retain our experienced people as we train new accessions," he said.

The budget request also includes more aircraft, prepositioned ship- and land-based equipment, and precision-guided munitions. It also will provide more Special Operations Force Warrior Systems, with body armor, helmets, weapons, ammunition, night-vision optics, individual- and squad-level radios, and other items, which Olson said "optimize success while minimizing casualties."

As the command monitors the challenges of a growing force and aging equipment, it's continuing to demonstrate its capabilities confronting terrorism and helping nations around the world bolster their own defenses against terrorist intentions, he said.

Created by Congress to organize, train and equip special operations forces, SOCOM has paid big security dividends over the past two decades, but particularly during recent years. As its members support war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, they're also facing off against emerging terrorism in the Philippines, Colombia and other parts of the world through training and assistance programs, he said.

In operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, special operators conduct direct-action missions daily and capture or kill terrorists and violent insurgents nightly, Olson told the Senate committee.

But equally important, he said, are the command's indirect actions worldwide that are crucial to building a global environment that shuns terrorism and embraces stability and security.

"We know that we cannot kill or talk our way to victory," he said. "Our actions must demonstrate our values and be convincing locally, regionally and, ultimately, globally."

That makes it essential that U.S. forces develop meaningful relationships with coalition partners that provide a stepping stone toward building their capabilities and encouraging them to resolve threats within their own borders, he said.

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