FORT LIBERTY, N.C. — Forced to do more with less and learn from the war in Ukraine, U.S. special operations commanders are juggling how to add more high-tech experts to their teams while still shrinking their overall force by about 5,000 troops over the next five years .
The conflicting pressures are forcing a broader restructuring of command teams, which are often deployed for high-risk counter-terrorism missions and other sensitive operations around the world. The changes being considered are influenced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the lessons learned by British special operations forces there.
The US Army’s Special Operations Command, which has borne the brunt of personnel cuts, is considering plans to increase the size of its Green Beret teams – typically around 12 members – to include people with more specialized and technical skills. to get. One possibility would be the addition of computer software experts who can reprogram drones or other technical equipment on the spot.
But similar changes could ripple across the military services.
“A detachment of 12 people could be armed,” said Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. He said an Air Force pilot, Navy ship driver, cryptologist or cyber expert may be needed as battlefields become more challenging and high-tech.
The United States “learns many lessons from the experience in Ukraine, especially through the eyes of our British special operations partners, who have not only done so in their formations, but have also learned very quickly that they need other elements of their joint force,” she said. he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
For example, he said British commandos needed Royal Air Force pilots to help advise on drone operations and Royal Navy teammates “to help them understand, more than a SOF (Special Operations Forces) teammate could, how a ship navigates in the Black Sea. .”
The bulk of the cuts stem from the military’s decision to reduce the size of its force by about 24,000 troops and restructure its forces as the U.S. shifts from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency to large-scale combat operations. The Army has also struggled to meet recruitment targets and had to reduce the overall size of its force.
The Army Special Operations Command, which Fenton said is taking on about 4,000 cuts over the past year and a half, wants to bring in people with high-tech skills.
“I think one of the questions is how much can you teach a Green Beret, when some of these specialties are extremely technical,” said Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, deputy commanding general at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. “You can teach someone how to use a drone. But to then say: I want a software engineer to program that drone, that’s something different.”
The cuts to the Army’s special operations forces have sparked some pushback in Congress, including during recent hearings on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers noted the impact on Fort Liberty. Fenton also spoke candidly during the hearings about the growing demand for special operations forces.
He said U.S. regional commanders around the world consistently want more and that reducing forces means “we will be less able to meet what they demand. And I think we owe the Secretary of Defense our review as we move forward.
For years, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of special operations troops and support personnel grew, largely because they were often spread out across small, remote bases where they needed extra security and other logistical assistance. Now Pentagon leaders say the numbers could shrink somewhat.
Fenton said the department ordered cuts of about 2,000 special operations personnel about a year and a half ago, including about 750 in the military. That was followed this year by a 3,000 cut in Army special operations. The cuts must be spread over five years.
“So the actual Army reduction overall is almost 4,000, and the remaining 1,000 will come from the joint force, SEALs, Marine raiders and other Army units,” Fenton said.
For Roberson, the question is where to return his Army troops. “Austerity has a way of crystallizing your focus and your view of, OK, what’s important to me? What is the future? What do I really need,” he said in an interview in his Fort Liberty office.
He and other Army leaders said a significant percentage of the special forces cuts would come in places that are already open and thus would not impact existing personnel. Roberson estimated that at least 30% of the cuts are for open jobs.
He says he is looking for layoffs for other cuts, including among trainers and instructors. Army leaders have also said that psychological operations and civil affairs, both part of the army’s command, will face cuts.
“At the end of twenty years of war it’s always a good time to look back and say, OK, what did I have when this started? What did I learn? What did I do, what was important to me?” Roberson said.
And even if not all teams are increased in size, he says the military should be able to quickly expand them with specialists. In some cases a mission may need only a few technical support members, and in other cases six or seven may be needed, he said.
More broadly, as his troops absorb the cuts, their training must also be modified or expanded to include more technology, robotics or sensors and information from signals, Roberson added. Right now, he said, his troops are experimenting with the different options at the National Training Center in California and in the field in Iraq and Syria.
Adaptability is key, he said, and “we have to figure out how to get the best out of this.”
