Taking “De Oppresso Liber” to the Streets: Why the US Army’s Special Forces Qualification Course Nee

[rangerrebew]

Taking “De Oppresso Liber” to the Streets: Why the US Army’s Special Forces Qualification Course Needs to Become More Urban

Sandor Fabian | October 7, 2020
 

    There are two thousand years of experience to tell us that the only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military mind is to get an old idea out.
    — B. H. Liddell Hart

The old military maxim, “train as you fight,” remains as relevant as ever. And yet, at least in one particular and important way, it is not being followed in the current US Army Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC).

Unconventional warfare has been the foundation of the SFQC from its beginnings and although historically its curriculum has always been updated to reflect the characteristics of actual conflicts, the training requirements generated by the emergence of urban warfare as the primary way of conflict do not seem to have gained appropriate attention in the US Army’s Special Forces training. If the SF community wants to maintain its strategic relevance—specifically, its ability to enable local resistance forces—it must understand that such future resistance will increasingly be conducted in major urban centers. The US Army must acknowledge this reality, and the educational and training implications associated with it, and realign the curriculum of the SFQC toward combat skills that enable future SF operators to effectively conduct their operations in complex, built-up areas.

How the US Army Trains its Special Forces Soldiers at the SFQC

https://mwi.usma.edu/taking-de-oppresso-liber-to-the-streets-why-the-us-armys-special-forces-qualification-course-needs-to-become-more-urban/

[sneakypete]

Just the most recent attempt by Big Army to eliminate SF as a stand alone unit,and bring them under their direct command.

I would argue the opposite. If Big Army wants a urban warfare unit,they start from scratch by drafting members from conventional infantry and MP units,and forming a new command.

Let SF go back to BEING SF,and fulfilling their unique role of training counter-guerilla armies to fight guerilla wars in their own countries. They do more in this role to preserve peace while keeping Big Army from getting itself involved in foreign wars,and thousands of young American men and women dying for nothing.

With the exception of Project Delta,of course. They too have a unique role that is not to be discussed other than to note it is essential and nobody else in the rest of the army is qualified to take it on.  Leave them the hell alone and let them do what they do.