By Michael Jacobson
CounterTerrorismBlog.org
This afternoon, as part of a Washington Institute lecture series(1) with senior US counterterrorism officials, we hosted Mike Vickers, Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict at the Department of Defense.
Mr. Vickers offered his thoughts on the threat facing the US, as well as the strategy necessary to defeat the global terrorist networks -- focusing on the role of the military in this effort. Of particular interest, he explained how the Special Operations have expanded since 9/11, and how much more they will still grow this decade. In his view, this is a step in the right direction in bolstering not only the US, but our partners counterterrorism capabilities.
"Special Operations Forces and our Special Operations command down in Tampa has been really one of the growth stocks of the Department of Defense during this decade. By the end of the decade or probably early in the next decade, our Special Operations Forces will essentially twice as large as they were at the beginning of the decade. They'll reach about sixty-four -- the mid sixty thousands in terms of total manpower. There will have been more than a doubling of Special Operations command budget. There will be a lot more -- there already is -- but there will be a lot more flag officers and general officers who come from a Special Operations background among our senior leadership.
"If you look at the operational core of our Special Operations Forces, and focus on the ground operators, there are some 15,000 or so of those -- give or take how you count them -- these range from our Army Special Forces or our Green Berets, our Rangers, our Seals, some classified units we have, and we recently added a Marine Corps Special Operations Command to this arsenal as well. In addition to adding the Marine component, each of these elements since 2006 and out to about 2012 or 2013 has been increasing their capacity as well as their capabilities, but their capacity by a third. This is the largest growth in Special Operations Force history. By the time we're done with that, there will be some things, some gaps we need to fix undoubtedly, but we will have the elements in place for what we believe is the Special Operations component of the global war on terrorism.
"Special Operations Forces, I think through this decade and into the next one, have been and will remain a decisive strategic instrument. We used the -- when trying to answer the question about what made Special Operations Forces special, we like to say that well, it was because of this tactical virtuosity or the skill of the individual operator that they were trained to such a high level. My counterpart, Admiral Olson, and I now like to talk about it that it really is the strategic employment or impact that these forces cumulatively have in this broad war that we find ourselves in that really is what's making them special. It's not so much the virtuosity, though that remains and is on display almost every day overseas."
To read the entire transcript from today's session, click here:
(1) Washington Institute for Near East Policy
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