Nicholas Jordan
US Army Sergeants Major Academy
Abstract Since World War II ARMY SOF has had many changes. SOF forces before and during World War II were usually adhoc in nature and usually disbanded at the end of the conflict. Following World War II events, success, and failures show military and civilian leadership the importance of creating and sustaining a permanent Special operations Force within DoD and the Army. This paper will concentrate on the changes in the Special Forces and Psychological Operations Regiments. It will show what events and decisions that were made by congress that changed and the evolved the regiments since World War II. The operational environment …show more content…
has changed since World War II and ARSOF has had to adapt to those changes. ARSOF has become a premier capability that has developed from the OSS and Merrill’s Marauders to today’s Special Forces and Psychological Operations. ARSOF has played an important role in every conflict since World War II.
Army History: Evolution of ARSOF since WWII
Introduction
During World War II the Office of Strategic Services were responsible for what today’s Army Special Operations does. They focused on unconventional warfare and psychological operations behind enemy lines. OSS was not an Army entity but was manned by many Army personnel that influenced the creation of today’s ARSOF. During the Korean War doctrine for unconventional warfare doctrine was developed which later became the cornerstone of Special Forces.
Special Forces Major General McClure played an integral role in setting the foundation for ARSOF.
In 1951 he appointed COL Arron Bank to the Operations Branch of the special operation division of the Psychological warfare staff. In 1952 he proposed the US army Psychological warfare center and school and it established at Fort Bragg, NC to provide training and doctrinal support for unconventional and Psychological warfare. MG McClure places Col Bank in charge of the center and the 10n Special Forces group that was newly established. The 10th group was split in 1953. The personnel that maintained the 10th group designation were deployed to Germany, and the rest form the 77th SFG which was redesigned to 7th Group in 1960. In 1964 5th group was created to command and control the increasing amount of SF advisors training the South Vietnamese into an anti-communist force. Also in the 1960s SF Advisors were in Central and South America training counter insurgency forces to combat guerrilla forces in the AOR, eventually leading to the capture of Che Guevara the infamous …show more content…
revolutionary. John F Kennedy had a unique and close relationship with SF. In 1961 he made the Green Beret the Official head gear of SF. He believe the needed something to set them apart since they had a special mission. His fondness with the SF community was apparent during his funeral when the Sergeant in charge of the funeral detain, a sf soldier, laid his beret on the Coffin. Also the Special warfare center holds his name. On the 25th anniversary of his death the Commander of the JFK Special warfare center spoke at the ceremony and laid a wreath in the shape if the green beret on his grave. After Vietnam, when President Reagan took office there was a focus on National security and SF was on the areas that benefitted. The SF qualification course increased in length and became harder. This was to ensure the most capable soldiers were joining the storied ranks of the regiment. In 1983 the SF tab was authorized for wear, the enlisted career field was established in 1984, CMF 18. And by 1987 the WO and Officers braches were established. By 1990 the SF Groups were organized to what you find them today. In the 1980s and 1990s SF had major roles in many small conflicts and were involved in many long term engagements developing countries militaries into capable forces. They were heavily involved in Panama, operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia.
Psychological Operations Psychological Operations or more commonly known as PSYOP has been used heavily in WW2 and every major conflict since then. PSYOP units use every form of media to convey information to influence those selected foreign target audiences. PSYOP can utilized at every level of warfare. PSYOP Soldiers also deploy to US embassy support the Public diplomacy efforts in that country. This effort to avoid conflict before it occurs. Their unique ability to influence foreign target audiences have been integral to not only winning the physical fight but also the none kinetic fight, by gaining the support of the local populaces, disrupting the enemy’s ability to make decisions and getting the enemy to surrender without a single shot being fired. During Desert Storm and Desert Shield PSYOP messages prayed on the Iraqi’s Army wishes not to fight the more capable US forces. There were some reports that whole Battalions of Iraqi soldiers would surrender to company or platoon sized elements to avoid being bombed. PSYOP has been used extensively in South America to help with the counter Narcotics fight. They are able to inform the local populace of the atrocities that the cartels commit. PSYOP has proven to have been a force multiplier that shouldn’t be left out of planning. With the jumps in technology since WW2 PSYOP is expanding capabilities to not only have the ability to disseminate over radio and print to using the web and cellular based communications to spread the narrative.
Since September 11, 2001 Those old enough to remember where they were and what they were doing on that horrible day in United States’ History. Members in the Special Operations community immediately started planning and prepping for what the community knew was inevitable. Going into Afghanistan to uproot the evil that caused the horrors of that day. Since then Special operation forces of all services especially ARSOF have been the lead in countering terrorist in every corner of the globe. Not only have they kept their traditional role of unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense training indigenous and partner nation counter terrorist unit they also have increased roles in special recon and surgical strike. The days flowing 9/11, 75th Ranger regiment and members of 5th SFG finalized their plans and began the 16 years of combat in Afghanistan. 75th airborne assaulted into Bagram to secure an airfield to allow follow the Air force to bring in what was necessary to combat Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Members of 5th Group linked up with members of the Northern Alliance to oust the Taliban government in Northern Afghanistan. When the airstrikes started on October 7th, it took the coalition a couple of months to topple the Taliban government. In 2003 the focus turned to Iraq and ousting the regime who was harboring terrorist organizations and had weapons of mass destruction. During the initial campaign was one of the first times that special operations forces had the lead of TFs and being supported by conventional units. They were integral in taking strategic locations and infrastructure before the regimes forces could destroy or hinder them from being utilized by US forces at a later time.
With the successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus ongoing operations in Africa, the pacific AOR, and combating cartels in South America that have financially and logistically supported terrorist organizations, the 2006 QDR requested a huge growth in SOF. The QDR set up the establishments of Joint Special Operations Task Forces (JSOTF) and the Special Operations Commands Forward (SOC-FWD). These formations were developed to command and control the SOF forces within the AORs and have shown their effectiveness. There have been some issues being able to grow the force, SOF warriors are not created over night. Also, the qualification course can only be streamlined to a certain point without diluting the quality of soldier that eventually joins the regiment.
The Psychological Operations Regiment has also had some organizational changes.
It now is an accessions branch. PSYOP soldiers are no longer recruited off the street they have to be an SPC that is eligible for promotion or a 1LT eligible for promotion to go through the PSYOP assessment and Selection course. If they are selected they go through a PSYOP qualification course. This has proven to increase the maturity and quality of soldiers that have joined the regiment. Also they also come with other experiences and training that has been beneficial to the regiment. They have increased in size, 7th PSYOP ban was created to support Special Operations command Africa and the 4th PSYOP Group was split into 2 groups, the 4th PSYOP group and the 8th PSYOP group, to gain efficiencies in command and
control.
Conclusion
The Army Special Operations forces have had many changes since World War II. These events are a few of the important events in the regiments. There are many more events that have happened in these storied Regiments that are very important but have not been stated in this paper. The QDR 2006 is that last evolution that ARSOF has gone through and as the operational environment change they will adapt to it.
References
Special Forces (United States Army). (2017, November 24). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces_(United_States_Army)
Farley, R. (2017, May 15). The Pacific War Origins of US Special Operations Forces. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://thediplomat.com/2017/05/the-pacific-war-origins-of-us-special-operations-forces/
SF History. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.specialforcesassociation.org/about/sf-history/
Psychological Operations/Warfare. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2017, from http://www.psywarrior.com/psyhist.html
John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. (2017, November 01). Retrieved November 19, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_Special_Warfare_Center_and_School
COL David Maxwell and LTG Charles Cleveland. (2017, November 06). U.S. Special Operations Forces at 9-11, Today, and for the Future. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.thecipherbrief.com/u-s-special-operations-forces-at-9-11-today-and-for-the-future