The ‘morale challenge’ facing some special operators in the era of Great Power competition
The head of US special ops in the Pacific suggested some operators are struggling with a less direct mission, though USSOCOM chief Gen. Bryan Fenton told Breaking Defense that's not something he's seen.
By LEE FERRAN
on May 11, 2023 at 9:00 AM
SOF WEEK 2023 — After 20 years of high-tempo combat operations in the Middle East, parts of the US special operations community are facing a “morale challenge” now that much of the mission has shifted to less direct “campaigning” in the era of great power competition, according to the commander of US special ops in the Pacific.
“There is absolutely, when we get right down to deck plates, there’s a morale challenge, because there’s a lot of folks that quite frankly have joined the organization with a vision of what their day’s work, what their career would look like, and that’s rapidly morphing and changing,” Rear Adm. Jeromy Williams, commander of US Special Operations Command Pacific, said Wednesday during a panel at the SOF Week 2023 conference in Tampa, Fla. “But I think the paths [are] laid out very well for us, the cognizance of the challenge that’s on our shoulders.”
Williams’ comments came after he was asked if he had seen any issues with the transition away from counter-terrorism operations to “campaigning” as the US settles in for a long-term competition, especially in the Pacific, with China. Campaigning generally refers to non-kinetic special operations responsibilities — key among those is training, advising and establishing long-lasting relationships with the special operations forces of foreign partners and allies in hopes of preparing for, or better yet deterring, conflict.
https://breakingdefense.com/2023/05/some-us-special-ops-face-morale-challenge-after-shift-from-direct-combat-pacific-sof-commander/
