While acknowledging a common misperception that every NSW operation involved direct action, Pybus was quick to characterize Naval Special Warfare as “a direct action-oriented force.”
“We are small, relative to other components,” he said. “We have a combat legacy from early World War II in clearing beaches, harbors, and coastal reconnaissance with small numbers of men who were well conditioned for a tough environment and focused on what they had to do for the commanders. That’s our legacy.
“Our thought is that if you train for the toughest missions and for combat and direct action – and you get that right – then you can also teach others, engage in a mature and positive way with allies and partners, and you can fight,” he noted. “So we continue to focus on the direct action mindset, training, and equipping. But the fact of the matter is that we do a lot of foreign internal defense with partners and allies around the world. Afghanistan, like Iraq before it, gets the press. In fact, on a day to day basis somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of our deployed capability goes into Afghanistan.
U.S. Navy SEALs train with Special Boat Team (SBT) 12 on the proper techniques of how to board gas and oil platforms from a moving vessel. SEALs conduct these evolutions to hone their various maritime operations skills. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam Henderson
“In addition to Afghanistan, we are also providing forces in Asia, where we have been in the Philippines for 10 years, in Mindanao, with our Army Special Forces brothers, parts of Air Force Special Operations Command, and the Marines,” he added. “We are in Africa, working with partners there to develop security forces that can begin to police not just threats within their countries but threats that might manifest back into the United States. We are in Latin America in small numbers, while there continue to be problems there with drugs and criminal networks. And we have some other long-standing relationships that we maintain with sister special operations units. So we are around the world.
“I think you are likely to see Afghanistan stay at about the same level of effort over the next several years. But I think we will find innovative new ways to get additional forces out to the other theaters; doing mostly Foreign Internal Defense but also some crisis response activities. There’s just a lot going on in the world and we want to make a difference,” he said.
Pybus believes that the U.S. strategic shift toward the Asia-Pacific region will impact future NSW focus. Acknowledging his personal bias toward the region based on his previous tour as the theater special operations commander, he asserted, “there is a lot going on in that area.”
“For Naval Special Warfare there is a lot of water there, and some of it is contested,” he observed. “So increasingly there is a maritime focus and a lot of important activity there. And I want to make sure that we are providing the commander of Pacific Command with those maritime special operations forces that he may need, either in a contingency operation or to assist partners and allies, to a degree better than what we are doing today, because we just don’t have much capacity out there right now. But it is a place where, in the near term, we are going to try to provide more force, incrementally, through the theater special operations commander. So I understand the shift strategically. I agree with it, And, while we are limited as to what we can provide tomorrow, I think within the next two years you will see some increased presence of Naval Special Warfare into Asia.”
Pybus reviewed the role of NAVSPECWARCOM against a backdrop of overlapping historical anniversaries.
“Our ‘frogmen’ history dates back 70 years – to late ’41- early ’42. That’s 70 years as U.S. Navy frogmen; 50 years from the SEAL Teams being commissioned in January of 1962; and 25 years since Nunn-Cohen stood up U.S. Special Operations Command, with components to include the Navy component – Naval Special Warfare Command,” he began.
SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team (SDVT) 1 personnel surface to find their bearings during a certification exercise in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The exercises educate operators and divers on the techniques and procedures related to the delivery vehicle and its operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kristopher Kirsop
“Again, the headquarters serves as an instrument through which to resource the force with things ranging from individual equipment to both surface and sub-surface maritime platforms,” he said. “And we work closely with the SOCOM staff in that. In terms of training, the headquarters helps the Center to do a whole range of training – both basic [BUD/S – Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training] and advanced. And we make sure that the money that the nation is giving to naval special operations is spent wisely and efficiently to make the force as capable as possible.”
He asserted, “I think those are some of the important things that the headquarters does, thereby enabling the lower tier commanders to do their operational business – the real training and preparation for deployment – while the headquarters does things like making investment decisions for the longer term while also responding to urgent needs that might arise.
“Over the years of frogmen history up until Nunn-Cohen, our future was not assured,” he admitted. “The Navy came close to terminating the whole program at a couple different points, primarily post-Vietnam. So we have to make sure that we continue to be relevant; that we continue to be a force that can be counted on to be successful. And I think the headquarters plays a role there. We have great commanders and senior advisors who continue to improve the capabilities of the force. If they can do that and we can continue to take some burden away through things like resourcing, then I feel good about what we are providing.”