Quantifying the critical human resource, he pointed to 56,177 active duty, 7,402 reserve and guard component, and 6,623 civilian personnel who plan, enable, and conduct the entire range of special operations activities.
A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier attached to Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan provides rear security as an Afghan Commando assault force raids a compound of interest during an operation in the Alingar district, Laghman province, Afghanistan, Feb. 18, 2018. As always, people remain USSOCOM’s most important asset. U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY SGT. CONNOR MENDEZ
Thomas reiterated that this human element is USSOCOM’s “most precious asset,” adding, “My most sacred responsibility is to take care of our people. To do that, we must continue to build resiliency and provide the best possible care for our service members and their families.”
At the time of the posture statement, Thomas identified USSOCOM sustainment of a deployed force of approximately 8,300 personnel across 90 countries. Quantifying the operational tempo and personnel tempo, he stated, “The latest calculations from across special operations show that the vast majority of currently deployed special operations personnel are adhering to the Secretary of Defense directed goal of 1:2 deployment to dwell (D2D) for active forces and 1:5 for reserve forces.
“Currently 12 percent of deployed special operations forces have a D2D of less than 1:2, and 3 percent of the force is currently deployed below 1:1,” he said. “This represents a significant improvement over the last 10 years, but we still have further to go. The SOF component commanders are working to bring the entire force into compliance with the directed D2D goal.”
Along with the D2D criteria, Thomas identified the importance of several additional people-focused efforts, ranging from the Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF) program to ongoing efforts to reduce the rate of suicides within the force, families, and contractor teammates.
“USSOCOM has made tremendous progress reducing suicides,” he said, “but I’ll be blunt: We must do better. I’m working with the services and leading academics to refine the suicide prevention strategies, and we are addressing the underlying cognitive processes that lead to suicides. I am pleased to tell you over the past five years suicides have declined by 70 percent. I attribute this success to leaders at every level embracing behavioral health and care as being equally important as physical fitness. We are trending in the right direction, but remain keenly focused on suicide reduction.”
He added, “In conjunction with the POTFF effort, I am greatly appreciative of Congress’s support by authorizing USSOCOM to have its Warrior Care Program; peer to the service programs, it is often heralded as the gold standard. When the resilience of our warriors and their families is severely challenged due to wounds, injury, or illness, our Warrior Care Program provides advocacy and care coordination through the recovery and rehabilitation process. The primary objective is to retain our highly skilled people and return them to their units. With the highest retention rate of any of the service programs, the Warrior Care Program ensures that USSOCOM is able to best capitalize on the immense investment of time and resources applied to your SOF, enhancing readiness.”
“My most sacred responsibility is to take care of our people. To do that, we must continue to build resiliency and provide the best possible care for our service members and their families.”
Elaborating on force readiness, Thomas continued, “Readiness extends to ensuring special operations teammates operate in a safe and healthy military culture. Leaders across USSOCOM are committed to advancing a climate where sexist behaviors, sexual harassment, and sexual assault are not tolerated, condoned, or ignored. Commanders empower their people to take appropriate action to protect each other from sexual assault. It harms the force and prevents us from being the best.”
He pointed to the results of a related command survey, noting, “I am pleased to report that USSOCOM is improving across many key areas, according to the survey. The data indicates that SOF continues to trend below the incident rates of the services when compared to the DOD, and we are seeing an increase in SOF using behavioral health services. The survey also showed broad consensus that SOF leaders hold personnel accountable who exhibit problematic behavior and demonstrate poor judgment. USSOCOM is a transparent and accountable command and I am encouraged that SOF people value the accountability, integrity, and honor deep within the core of the force.”
Early in the posture statement testimony, Thomas offered one thought that serves as a key “bottom line” summation of USSOCOM’s continuing contributions to the nation: “Constituting approximately 2 percent of the Department of Defense (DOD) budget and 3 percent of manpower, I believe your special operations forces continue to provide exceptional return on investment.”
This article was originally published in the 2018-2019 edition of Special Operations Outlook.