Mission of Navy SEALs, SOF to Shift Focus For Future Conflicts
Mil & Intel
By FrumentariusSandboxx-logo-300x59 | December 20, 2021
The mission of U.S. special operations forces (SOF) appears to be changing. According to an article in Sea Power Magazine published earlier this month, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Army General Richard D. Clarke, is planning for U.S. special operations forces (SOF) to play a significant role in more “traditional” SOF missions that support conventional military units and the nation’s wider national strategy in relation to great power rivalries (which, these days, is referred to as “peer-to-peer conflict” within the U.S. military). This would mean SOF moving away from the last twenty years’ focus on counterterrorism-related direct action missions.
It seems counterintuitive to ascribe the word “traditional” to any SOF operations, as they are, by definition, unconventional forces focused on non-traditional military missions. However, such language underlines the extent to which modern-day SOF have taken a lead role in U.S. military operations. Units such as the Navy’s SEAL task forces, Special Forces Operational Detachments – Alpha (ODAs), Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) squadrons, and the Army’s Operational Detachment – Delta, have taken a lead role in America’s various conflicts in the post-9/11 world. Counterterrorism operations have been the primary realm in which these missions have been executed.
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