Like the rest of the war fighting commands within the Department of Defense, USASFC has had a long, difficult, and costly dozen years since 9/11. Nowhere has this been more evident than the stresses and strains placed upon SFC families. ARSOF 2022 lays out a number of initiatives, both near and long-term, that SFC intends to implement to better support their families both during and after deployments. Would you please describe some of these, and how you personally feel these families should be supported?

Family programs in the Army are comprehensive, with over 150 different programs available. Without duplicating programs, the Special Forces command seeks to initiate new and inventive ways to meet families’ needs at the lowest unit level possible. Each unit is encouraged to engage with families in quarterly events to strengthen esprit de corps and resiliency throughout the deployment cycle. It is up to each unit to decide what works best and meets the interests of the families. These initiatives range from a “kids Q-course” [a reference to the Special Forces Qualification Course nicknamed the “Q” course] to deployed spouse “Thrive On” weekly socials, to annual holiday events, each unit through its Family Readiness Group creates fun ways to educate and help families cope.

Our Gold Star family program is far ahead of similar programs in other units in the Army. We have regular communication with the primary next of kin of Gold Star soldiers near installations, keeping them apprised of event happening in the area and hands-on mentoring. The command’s spouses host a biannual surviving spouse lunch and annually support the higher command’s Memorial Day ceremony.

Our Gold Star family program is far ahead of similar programs in other units in the Army. We have regular communication with the primary next of kin of Gold Star soldiers near installations, keeping them apprised of event happening in the area and hands-on mentoring. The command’s spouses host a biannual surviving spouse lunch and annually support the higher command’s Memorial Day ceremony. Building community and private organization relationships will help to relieve stress on families as we together leverage resources to support them.

Our Family Readiness Programs have met and exceeded the goals set by ARSOF 2022 in prioritizing key facets of family readiness, keeping initiatives at the lowest level and using innovation. The creation of the Preservation of the Force and Family task force continues developing innovative methods and programs to support all aspects of our families’ needs. From single soldiers to families and civilians throughout the command, the resiliency and readiness of our families is paramount to the continued success of our force.

 

There have been rave reviews about the new garrison and training facilities that 7th SFG moved into several years ago at Hurlburt Field.What do you think of this new home base configuration, and what do you need to do to upgrade the existing SFG garrison and training facilities around the world to the standard set by those presently occupied by the 7^th SFG?

The new 7th Group facilities are based upon a standardized design concept developed for the construction of all our future special forces group facilities. Special Forces Command developed the new facility designs in 2009 to accommodate new growth, adapt to reorganization, and align facility function to future operational needs. All future construction of special forces group facilities will follow these standard designs and look similar to the 7th SFG facilities. The planning and construction of new facilities for the other groups is already in progress, but must occur in accordance with the required planning, programming, budgeting, and execution (PPBE) process used to perform all military construction. Each SF group is at various stages within that process.

At this time I don’t anticipate the draw down will negatively impact our SF ANG forces. The regiment anticipates an increase in the current support capabilities in both of our ANG Special Forces Groups.

 

Something between 25 percent and 30 percent of your command is composed of Army National Guard (ANG) units and personnel. Given the current Department of Defense plans for drawing down the ANG, are you at all concerned about the future of the 19th and 20th SFGs? And what exactly are your plans for those ANG SFGs?

At this time I don’t anticipate the draw down will negatively impact our SF ANG forces. The regiment anticipates an increase in the current support capabilities in both of our ANG Special Forces Groups.

In future planning, both ANG groups are still actively supporting current initiatives around the world. In addition, the regiment continues to look for areas and missions where the 19th and 20th Special Forces Groups can support, as we continue to assess emerging requirements.

Battalion level deployments for our ANG forces and active components remain unlikely, which is also true for our active component groups. The emerging global SOF requirements will open additional opportunities and requirements to increase ANG SF utilization.

 

Is there anything I failed to ask you or that you would like to add?

The development of ARSOF 2022 has led our thinking into how we operate, train and support each theater of operations with special operations forces. Through this process and evaluation we identified several areas where we could eliminate redundancies within the subordinate commands of USASOC to provide a more focused, qualified element to fit the needs of the consumer, in our case the theater special operations commands or joint forces commands. This element, or headquarters, we are calling the Special Warfare Command. This command combines the elements of Special Forces, civil affairs, military information support operations, and the sustainment command for these units under one headquarters. This headquarters will be capable of deploying a validated, scalable special operations command element to support any TSOC or Joint Force commander requirement, while simultaneously providing supervision of training, readiness and support for these Army special operations units.

The creation of the Special Warfare Command puts the training and readiness oversight of Special Forces, civil affairs, military information support operations and the sustainment element for these forces under the command of a major general. This eliminates the redundancy created at USASOC in training and support between all these elements and combines the staff into one headquarters, capable of addressing emergent special warfare requirements in order to better support our customer. The staffs at each unit worked tirelessly over the last three months to come to a resolution that meets the requirements expressed by each command and eliminates unnecessary processes. The end result is the Special Warfare Command, deliberately planned with the intent to better serve the special warfare needs of the nation.

Portions of this interview previously appeared in The Year in Special Operations: 2014-2015 Edition.