Assessing Special Operations Forces (SOF) 2040 (Part 1): The Operator Is the Platform
by Dr. David Dorsey, by David S. Maxwell, by Michael Ingerick, by Mick Crnkovich
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07.13.2026 at 06:00am
Assessing Special Operations Forces (SOF) 2040 (Part 1): The Operator Is the Platform Image
Series Introduction
This is the first installment in a four-part series examining how Special Operations Forces (SOF) should assess, select, and qualify operators for the operating environment of 2040. One argument runs through all four parts: in SOF the operator is the platform, so human performance is decisive, and the validity of any assessment, selection, and qualification (ASQ) system depends on the criterion space the system is built to predict, a space that is now shifting. Part 1 establishes the conceptual foundation: why ASQ system validity depends on the definition of success the system targets, how today’s SOF ASQ systems are structured, and the two questions that organize the series. Part 2 anchors the evolving SOF criterion space in the two SOF trinities. Part 3 examines the technology layer, cyber, space, and human-machine teaming, and connects it with those enduring human-domain demands. Part 4 turns to measuring what matters: adaptive performance as the central organizing construct, methods for assessing adaptability and related attributes, and a diagnostic framework for detecting when the criterion has shifted. We begin from the premise that has always defined SOF and will continue to: mission sets evolve, but the SOF operator and their performance remain decisive.
Foreword
The success of our military relies on our people. This series is a deliberate and thoughtful look into how we must continue to evolve our Special Operations Force assessment and selection process. The authors call for evolution in our process and examination of the attributes we rely upon for SOF selection. This paper captures the requirements for us to grow through our experience and intentionally prepare to win in this new age of warfare.
Perhaps most importantly, this series highlights the importance of individual character in our selection, training, and service within SOF. SOF is a high-performance organization. This is a desirable quality, but it can create blind spots where we overlook or devalue issues of character in high performers. Inevitably, this willful blindness erodes our mission effectiveness. As one seasoned SOF operator once told me, we have incredibly high standards of performance, but the most significant and strategic failures we have had were issues of character.
I commend this series to the active duty and retired SOF force. It is a professional and informed examination into the attributes of our most important SOF asset: our people. The goal is to evolve our assessment and selection while we stay true to our origins, confident in our identity, proud of our history, and never content.
– RADM (Ret) Jamie Sands, former Commander, United States Naval Special Warfare Command.
Introduction
https://smallwarsjournal.com/2026/07/13/assessing-special-operations-forces-sof-2040-part-1-the-operator-is-the-platform/
