And that was really where the question was meant to go is that you are tasked for particular missions. You are part of a larger planning and execution process correct?

Correct.

I think to be as effective as we can be, we do need to maintain a lower profile. I don’t want to give away anything to potential adversaries, especially on the intelligence side. So we’ll maintain a lower approach. We don’t care who gets the credit. So, we’ll work in the background and continue to support our partners to do the best they can.

You’ve obviously started doing missions, some of which you can talk about and some of which you can’t. I’ve frankly been fascinated with the work you’ve been doing with the Bahamian forces. How has that relationship developed, and do you see The Bahamas becoming a place where you could go and create a training and, if you will, refresher activity venue that could be advantageous to both the Bahamian forces as well as the United States?

Absolutely. You have to remember that the Royal Bahamian Defense Force is a very small force. Therefore, they have a limited capacity to absorb multiple training events. But they are very eager to maintain the momentum we’ve got going. And, it’s a maritime defense force. They have some new watercraft, and while they don’t have a special operations force per se, our boat guys from Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM) train them on things as routine as motor maintenance, patrolling, underway towing, and recovery operations – all the basic ship handling skills – all the way up to more advanced tactics, techniques, and procedures. They’re very hungry for it and they are great to work with.

What do you see happening with SOCNORTH over the next few years? Do you see it in the context of staying pretty much as is, notwithstanding contingencies and real world responses? Or do you have a program for it to evolve and grow or do other things?

Well, I think the way you just described it is perfect. Pretty much as is, but at the same time, we’re always trying to mature the command. For example, when you stand something like SOCNORTH up, you normally have, “three of these and four of those and two of those.” And you gradually realize maybe I need three, three, and three, respectively. So, as you modify and figure out what it is you’re exactly going to do, you try to cross-level the load. You know, you’ve got two guys working in operations 12 to 15 hours a day, where you might have somebody in plans working only eight hours a day, and you want to cross-level that. So, that’s just one example, but multiply that across the entire command, and you want to look at getting the balance right.

So, as part of the maturing of the command, we did finally get to move into our own facility in April 2015. I invite you out here to take a look at it. This is a refurbished 1940s-era hangar on the flight line, and from the outside it looks terrible. However, on the inside, it’s actually pretty nice. So for a TSOC headquarters, it’s just about ideal.

In the long run, is SOCNORTH going to be a quietly run little command that the public doesn’t really have much of a sense of day to day? Or are there plans for it to have a higher visibility operationally within NORTHCOM?

I think to be as effective as we can be, we do need to maintain a lower profile. I don’t want to give away anything to potential adversaries, especially on the intelligence side. So we’ll maintain a lower approach. We don’t care who gets the credit. So, we’ll work in the background and continue to support our partners to do the best they can.

As you balance SOCNORTH out, polish it, and get it to where it needs to be, what sorts of roles and missions do you see SOCNORTH being involved in over the next decade or two? Or, is that really kind of a notional question that doesn’t have a good answer right now?

Well, SOCNORTH has the NORTHCOM lead for counterterrorism, counter weapons of mass destruction, and dealing with terrorist acts in the homeland AOR [area of responsibility]. We integrate with partner nation SOF forces. We provide specialized capabilities for civil support, and all while we mature the command. And those are our four lines of effort. So there will always be a role for a SOCNORTH. The work is there, and the work is becoming more important than we considered it in the past, because while we’ve been doing a great job fighting the “away game,” more and more we get indications that the adversaries are trying to bring it to our court. And we may have to play the home game as well.

What is it you want the public to know about your command and your people that we didn’t ask you about or that you think we ought to know and pass along to them?

The folks working at SOCNORTH are no different than any of the other folks serving in the DOD. They’re dedicated. They’re professional. They see a clear mission, and they move out to try to accomplish that mission. So whether it’s the folks making sure our facilities are secure, or that the new communications equipment works, or the planners toiling away on plans to defend the homeland in conjunction with NORTHCOM, they all contribute. And I think sometimes we sort of forget about that, and think that it’s just about those folks we put into “harm’s way.” Everyone is contributing.

Do you like your job, sir?

I do. I like it a lot!

This interview first appeared in The Year in Special Operations 2016-2017 Edition.