Special Ops Must Be More Lethal, Effective, Efficient, DoD Official Says

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 28, 2018 — The special operations enterprise must become more lethal, effective and efficient, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict said today.

Mark E. Mitchell kicked off the National Defense Industrial Association’s 29th annual SOLIC Symposium here, saying the community is at an inflection point.

“I think [Defense] Secretary [James N.] Mattis has thrown down the gauntlet in the National Defense Strategy, challenging not only the department, but our industry partners to find technological solutions that support [U.S. Special Operations Command’s] missions, including counterproliferation and counternetwork,” he said.

Times have changed, Mitchell said. After spending the better part of the last two decades concentrating on the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions, he explained, there is a return of great power confrontation. “The threat from terrorists is not going to go away, but we think we’ve become pretty adept at limiting the threat from the terrorist organizations,” he said.

Combating the terrorists will require constant attention, but the special operations enterprise “is going to have to rediscover and reinvent ourselves to deal with these near-peer competitors,” Mitchell said.

Advantage No Longer Assured

Mitchell, who entered the Army in 1987, said that during his whole career the U.S. military always enjoyed dominance over any foe or potential foe. “We’ve always enjoyed significant technological advantages over the enemy,” he said. “But we can no longer assume that we will enjoy this advantage, especially in the new competition with other great powers.”

This is not a return to the Cold War, he said, as Russia is not the Soviet Union, China is not the China of the 1980s, and both nations are much more integrated into the security architecture and economic systems, even as they try to undermine them.

The National Defense Strategy notes that much of the great-power competition will take place short of actual conflict, Mitchell said. “We’ve seen how good our adversaries are at employing ambiguous, deniable or even unwitting proxies to wage information warfare, cyberwarfare, industrial espionage, sabotage and subversion,” he said.

DoD leaders want to ensure the U.S. military can fight and win a high-intensity conflict, but the best solution is to compete at the level of the adversaries and win there before actual combat occurs, he said. “This is where the [special operations forces] enterprise can, and must, play a significant role,” he added.

Technology Drives the Threat

The special operations community needs new technology, but technology is also driving the threat, Mitchell said. Terror organizations, transnational criminal networks, and even individuals can get technologies that pose a threat to the United States, he pointed out, citing advanced computing, the ability to crunch big data and artificial intelligence among technologies available to them “at the retail level.” he said.

“We face an intelligent, adaptive and determined adversary seeking to deploy these technologies in new ways,” he said. “We must be able to do the same.”

The enemy uses social media. The U.S. military must be able to respond “at the speed of relevance,” Mitchell said.

“The technological edge that we’ve enjoyed for three decades, and which are essential for us to fight and win these wars, still exists, but by no means are assured,” he said. “As Americans, freedom is our birthright. But a perpetual technology advantage is not assured, and both must be vigorously defended.”

Centcom Undertaking Realignment to Meet Future Concerns

By Terri Moon Cronk DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2018 — Based on military progress in the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, U.S. Central Command is undertaking an operational alignment and rebalancing effort to achieve three specific goals, Centcom commander, Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel told the House Armed Services Committee today.

However, the commander said, “We remain very cleareyed regarding both the permanence of that progress and the challenges that we face in the future.”

The first goal, he outlined, is to complete major combat operations in Iraq and Syria and bring the campaign to defeat ISIS to a responsible close. Military success in the campaign up to this point presents Centcom with an opportunity to reposition some of its resources from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan, he said, “in a manner that keeps the pressure on ISIS but also sets us up to break the stalemate in Afghanistan.”

“We retain sufficient capability to continue our efforts against ISIS,” he emphasized, “despite the increasingly complex situation across Syria and especially in the northwest province of Afrin.”

Afghanistan Strategy

The second goal is to prioritize the implementation of the South Asia strategy in Afghanistan, Votel said. This strategy reaffirms the U.S. government's enduring commitment to Afghanistan by reinforcing the two complementary military missions: the NATO-led train, advise and assist mission, and the U.S. counterterrorism mission.

“We are making sure that with our support, the Afghan national defense and security forces are well-postured to begin operations to seize the initiative, expand population control and secure credible elections,” the Centcom commander said. “Part and parcel of this effort is our regionalized approach to engage all countries with a stake in Afghanistan’s stability, especially Pakistan.”

The third goal is to ensure that Centcom has aligned its military efforts with its broader interagency and international efforts to neutralize, counterbalance and shape the destabilizing impact that Iran has across the region, Votel said.

“Make no mistake: While we continue to confront the scourge of terrorism, Iran's malign activities across the region pose the long-term threat to stability in this part of the world,” he said. “We view ourselves -- the military -- as supporting the many other and more effective resources and capabilities of the U.S. government and its partners in this endeavor.”

National Defense Strategy

Votel emphasized that the recently published National Defense Strategy “rightly identifies” the resurgence of great power competition as the United States’ principal national security challenge.

“And we at Centcom see the effects of that competition throughout the region,” he added. “Russia's support of the [Syrian President Bashar Assad] regime has not only propped them up, but it's also added complexity to the defeat-ISIS campaign.”

As for big-power competitions, China is pursuing a long-term, steady economic growth in the region through its “one-belt, one-road policy,” Votel said, adding, “but it is also improving its military posture by connecting ports such as Gwadar in Pakistan with its first overseas military base in Djibouti, adjacent to the critical Bab el-Mandeb.”

And while Beijing claims both locations support peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, the new military base and port bolsters China’s force projection into the region, the general testified.

Further, “both Russia and China are cultivating multidimensional ties to Iran,” Votel pointed out. “The lifting of U.N. sanctions under the joint comprehensive plan of action open the path for Iran to resume membership application to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”

Postured For Purpose

“Our strategic approach of preparing the environment, pursuing opportunities and working to prevail wherever we can is working. We are postured for purpose, proactive in pursuing opportunities and resolve to win,” he said.

The general told HASC members there are three dynamics that Centcom assesses as central to prevailing in its region.

First, in the conduct of Centcom campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and its operations in places such as Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt, the combatant command has adopted a “by, with and through” approach that places a heavy reliance on indigenous partner nation forces, he said.

“This approach is not [without] risk, as we are seeing unfold in Syria today, but in general, it is proving very effective and will likely pay significant dividends going forward,” Votel noted.

Second, successful pursuit of U.S. objectives in the Centcom region only comes from an integrated approach aligned with interorganizational partners, he said.

Defense ‘A Team Sport’

“Defense of the nation is a team sport,” Votel said. “This applies not just within the command, but with our fellow combatant commands, our component commands, our established combined and joint task forces, the central regions, 18 country teams and other departments, agencies and organizations of the U.S. government [that] have provided unwavering support over almost two decades of a persistent conflict.”

Centcom’s allies in the region and the wider international community are equally critical to supporting the command’s mission, he added.

Third, the support of Congress and the American people are vital to Centcom’s mission, the commander said.

“Your support will remain important as we contend with what potentially are generational struggles to defend our homeland from the threats outlined in our national defense strategy,” Votel said. “U.S. government commitment to the Centcom area of responsibility is more important now than ever.”

Signing of Agreement Marks Mattis Meeting With Montenegrin Defense Minister

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2018 — Defense Secretary James N. Mattis today welcomed his Montenegrin counterpart to the Pentagon for a meeting that included the signing of a general security of information agreement as evidence of increased cooperation, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said.

In a statement summarizing the meeting, White noted that it marked the first time Defense Minister Predrag Boskovic has visited the Pentagon since Montenegro achieved full membership in the NATO alliance in June.

The two defense leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Montenegro defense relationship and addressed emerging security challenges, White said.

Expressions of Gratitude

Mattis expressed gratitude for the support Montenegro provided in the wake of the recent grenade attack on the U.S. Embassy in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, White said.

“He congratulated Minister Boskovic on Montenegro’s accession as the 29th member of NATO,” she added. “He also thanked him for the strong leadership Montenegro has shown in maintaining stability in the Balkans.”

The secretary also praised the contributions Montenegro has made to the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, White said, and lauded the country’s plan by 2024 to meet the pledge agreed upon at NATO’s 2014 summit that member nations would devote at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense spending.

‘A Community of Values’

Before the meeting, Mattis noted that during Montenegro’s NATO accession ceremony, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the alliance “a community of values.”

“The United States is proud to call you our ally as we stand shoulder to shoulder alongside our fellow NATO members against common security threats,” Mattis told his Montenegrin counterpart. “It is opposed by Russia as it seeks to redraw international borders by force and seeks veto authority over European diplomatic, economic and security decisions.”