Updating the Practice of Unconventional Warfare: A Blueprint for the Continued Evolution of Special Forces
by Curtis L. Fox
U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is weighing visions for how the Special Forces Regiment will evolve to be ready for the next conflict.
The U.S. Army is in the midst of the worst recruiting crisis in modern history. Plagued by the public’s frustrations with two decades of involvement in two separate wars, a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, controversial culture-war changes to military policy, a dearth of healthy militarily-fit young people graduating from American high schools, and an increasingly tight employment market, the U.S. Army has catastrophically fallen short of recruiting goals for the last three years. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George have decided to close 32,000 personnel billets over the next 5 years. This will ensure that none of the Army’s 12 divisions are hollow due to chronic under-manning. Recruiting challenges appear to be a feature rather than a bug of American’s desire to serve in the Army. Closures will include 3,000 billets from USASOC.
Since the War on Terror began in 2001, mother USSOCOM has grown by a full 58.4%. USASOC, the largest component under USSOCOM, added 10,000 bodies to its ranks (37.4% growth). USASOC also shifted an enormous number of Reserve component billets to Active Duty. In 2001, 41% of USASOC’s personnel billets were in the Reserve component. By 2022, USASOC’s Reserve component had dwindled to a mere 12%, while Active Duty forces had increased from approximately 15,000 to over 31,000.
During the War on Terror growth spurt, Civil Affairs and Psyops (PO) grew by 1,000 billets. These non-kinetic units proved to be the secret sauce for counter-insurgency (COIN) operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nevertheless, USASOC’s “trigger-pullers” grew by 12,000 billets during the same period, and it is now the “trigger-pullers” that the USASOC is attempting to preserve. The Ranger Regiment, Army Special Operations Aviation, Special Forces, and special mission units are unlikely to see significant cuts. Instead, the PO will lose a headquarters, and most of the Special Forces Groups (brigade-level commands) will lose a plethora of enablers and support specialists.
