Having known some of the great SF soldiers over the years, what is it about SF soldiers that make them disavow the word “impossible”?

I think we have all the faith and confidence that our SF soldiers can do the mission. Honestly, when you tell me that [something] is impossible, I look at the capabilities of a Special Forces A-Team and I know it’s possible, I know it’s doable.

Ten years ago, we had 49 days that defined the phrase “catastrophic success” for America and the world. What’s the next generation of SF soldiers going to do to keep creating these successes and these amazing opportunities for America that often conventional forces just can’t do?

I am convinced that 10 years from now we will still be picking the right guys. When you go visit these guys [deployed SF soldiers], especially if you do battlefield circulation and you get out into combat and you see these guys, they are so impressive. They truly understand the human dynamics of warfare. I think a lot of times that really differentiates [the value] between a Special Forces A-Team and a general-purpose force unit in the field. The guy that understands the people, understands the influences in his areas, has a tremendous appreciation of intelligence, is pretty darned good at building capability.

I’ve been to Afghanistan a number of times, commanded [SOF forces there] five times, and I approved all the CONOPS for our SF guys. I never once approved a unilateral U.S. Army Special Forces mission. It was always with the host-nation forces, and building capability, and we are truly about that. We are about building Afghan national security forces. We hold these guys to a combat model and [that] is: You make an assessment, you train them to a standard, you deploy them in combat, you come back, and you identify weaknesses and you train to fix them – a constant cycle of making them better. I told Gen. [Stanley] McChrystal, when I was working for him in Afghanistan, that when you visit a Special Forces A-Team, ask them where their partner force is. Then ask the team sergeant what the weaknesses are of that particular unit, and make them show you their training schedule so you know they are getting trained to standard. If he can’t do that then he is wrong.

In addition to the fine soldiers you have, the nation has been blessed with some amazing leaders that have come out of the SF community. Right now, special warfare officers are the people you want out front doing all the heavy lifting, not just in SOCOM but also out in front of the rest of the forces. Do you still see the “bench” down there at the SFG commander level who will be able to continue this trend of trustworthy, capable, innovative, and dangerous leaders?

I do. I absolutely do because I’ve seen most of the battalion leaders in combat, and most of their companies go through combat. But I’ll tell you about the [leader] selection which even starts with the captains. [Every year,] we assess and we look at [some] 500 records, we send invitations to about 350 people to come try out. We only need about 150 captains a year, [and] last year we only picked 107, so we are very picky, and we can pick the best of the best. I tell you the Special Warfare School is doing an absolutely phenomenal job.

Your new SF soldiers are computer savvy, they are more fluent in languages than their predecessors, and they are coming from a wider variety of places. What do you see the SF soldiers 10 years from now being like when they talk about the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s visit?

I think, first of all, your point is well taken on [today’s SF] soldier – he is younger, he’s more adaptable to change, and I think he’s more innovative. He’s more technically savvy then we were 10 years ago. What is he going to look like in 10 years? I am telling you that 10 years from now, I am absolutely confident that the Special Forces will be in as good of a shape, if not better.

What is it that you would like to say about this anniversary and what it means to you and your command today?

I would say that in 1961, a young, very visionary president called upon the Army Green Berets to help stop the spread of global communism. Forty years later, the leadership of our great nation turned to those same Green Berets, asked them for an answer, and then a response to the attacks of 9/11 and the growing spectre of global terrorism. They went to the same guys.

This article was first published in The Year in Special Operations: 2012-2013 Edition.