How do your plans for MARSOC reflect that – and perhaps differ from your predecessors?
MARSOC is building off concepts established by its previous commanders. Our core capabilities are not changing, but we’re refining what they will mean as we shift toward regionalization and a focus on the littorals. What MARSOC is beginning to do now is fill in the details and operationalize those concepts.
For example, we are beginning to look very closely at the Pacific to develop recommendations on where we might be best postured there, what level of collaboration we should have with Naval Special Warfare [NSW] and with Marine forces in that theater, and what maritime capabilities we should bring to provide the Geographic COCOMs [GCCs] and TSOCs [Theater Special Operations Commands] the capability they need from their SOF Marines.
In the 1990s, the Corps had a concept of putting SOF on ships, with the MEU [Marine Expeditionary Unit]. The problem we had was with movement. Now, with the V-22 [Osprey] out there, we can look at “just-in-time” SOF to provide that capability with the MAGTF [Marine Air-Ground Task Force] and for the TSOCs and GCCs.
Given your SOF background, what do you see MARSOC bringing to the table that is unique?
As [SOCOM commander] Adm. [William H.] McRaven has said, what makes MARSOC unique is we are Marines. We all came through the same entry point, through the Marine Corps – different occupational specialties and backgrounds, but we all are Globe and Anchor. That is the common thread we will never lose.
We also bring a deep maritime heritage to the SOF community, which has not been real evident in Afghanistan, but as you look to the pivotal view in the Pacific and the littorals around the world, you will see increasing demand for and reliance on the SOF component. Our naval colleagues have been doing that for a long time, of course, but we have been having lengthy conversations with the SEALs on how we can complement each other without being duplicative and provide a deep capability to the TSOCs and COCOMs.
Where does MARSOC now stand with respect to moving toward its 2016 goal of 48 teams in 12 companies?
Our build is on track, but there is risk with shortfalls in qualified Corpsmen, which we will work through. I am confident that, by 2016, MARSOC will be able to provide each of our three aligned TSOCs – SOCPAC [Pacific], SOCCENT [Central], and SOCAF [Africa] – with a fully enabled Marine Special Operations Company [MSOC] on a persistent basis, be capable of sourcing a SOTF [Special Operations Task Force]-level headquarters to each for crisis response, and surge additional MSOCs when contingencies emerge.
MARSOC is still growing toward our right force to outfit three Marine Special Operations Battalions [MSOBs], 12 MSOCs, and 48 Marine Special Operations Teams [MSOTs], and we continue to meet the challenge of concurrently building the force and deploying the force. We are on track with our CSO [Critical Skills Operator] build and are working hard with the Marine Corps to align our CS [combat support] and CSS [combat services support] enabler build to maximize capability and answer operational requirements.
What impact do you see the uncertainties of future budgets – and especially sequestration – having on MARSOC?
Growth of MARSOC is still planned through FY 16 and there are no indications that sequestration will affect this planned growth; however, MARSOC is fully prepared to adjust to the fiscal environment as directed and needed. We plan to continue to be good stewards with our resources and provide the best capability we can for a small investment, continually analyzing what is the right force based on today’s and tomorrow’s environments.
One of the fundamental truths of special operations is you cannot produce SOF overnight to respond to a crisis. It takes years. One of MARSOC’s strengths is that we bring a Marine Corps ethos to SOF. Part of that ethos is the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the service that provides most bang for the dollar. Though we are not immune to the impacts of reduced spending, we will work with SOCOM and the Marine Corps to ensure that we preserve operational capability to the extent possible.
What is your concept of “leaning forward” for MARSOC?
For us, leaning forward is making sure we are looking ahead of today, providing the right training and resources for our operators to deploy and the capabilities the TSOCs and COCOMs require. That may be language and culture, equipment, or building relationships with particular units OCONUS [outside the continental United States], so when we do have to go somewhere, we’ve already prepared the environment. They count on us to look beyond not just the next horizon, but the horizon after that, proving we are agile and responsive enough to be able to change this organization to do that. It’s a mindset, but a mindset geared for action.
We expect future demands on our Marines will change qualitatively, so we are developing intellectually and organizationally flexible units that allow us to rapidly retool to address developing situations. Our inherent enabling capabilities make us very agile, so we can rapidly task organize and adapt according to evolving mission requirements.
What do you see in the command’s future for sea-based/maritime SOF?
On one side of the pendulum is MARSOC SOF going back on the boat; the other side is a liaison. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. Whatever decisions we reach, we will turn that into a concept we actually execute within the next year or so to make sure what we decided will work.
We will maintain that persistent, agile capability in key theaters with fully enabled MSOCs, capable of both partner nation engagement and crisis response. Those forces will be OPCON [operational control] to the TSOCs and ready to conduct distributed engagements with partner nations, aimed toward conflict prevention and with the capability to quickly aggregate for other actions as directed.