thedrifter
01-17-06, 12:32 PM
Spec ops mission grows as terror war continues
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
SAN DIEGO - With the military's global hunt for terrorists heading into its fifth year, the continuing demand for trained commandos and the Pentagon's call to expand special operations forces are the latest pressures for the "snake-eater" community.
Of the nearly 51,000 members of U.S. Special Operations Command, about 7,000 were deployed and operating overseas, the No. 2 commando told a defense industry audience here Jan. 11.
"There's been much demand for our capabilities, more than we can meet," said Vice Adm. Eric Olson, Special Operations Command deputy commander and an experienced Navy SEAL.
"Some special operators conducted more combat missions this week than a pre-9/11 operator could have realistically anticipated over his entire career," Olson said in an address to the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association and U.S. Naval Institute. "Last night, they ran several missions to find high-value targets who didn't want to be found. They captured many and had to kill a few more. They did this mostly by working their own intelligence and developing their own targets."
Special operations teams are covering the gamut of warfare, from direct-action missions to hunt and seize terrorists to de-mining and providing medical care to indigenous people, often operating away from U.S. military forces and often "constantly at risk," Olson said. "They are making a difference way beyond their relatively small numbers, and many of the coalition's key successes today have special operations fingerprints all over it," he said. "They are the lens, in many cases, by which America is seen."
More change is on the way for the commando community, which includes Navy SEALs and special warfare combatant craft units, Army Special Forces - including civil affairs teams - and Air Force Special Operations units and tactical forward air controllers.
Marines are entering the community in greater, and organized, numbers, starting this year with the establishment of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command under Special Operations Command.
That's a change, as Corps leaders had opted not to join the command when it was created. "We were, in a sense, born three-quarters joint, a situation which we just recently remedied," Olson said.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, who will command the first "MarSOC" forces, said the ethos of spec ops forces mirror those of Marines. "The difference is the level of training and equipment," Hejlik told a panel later that day.
The Marine "commandos" will be part of a new 2,600-member MarSOC force. They will take on special reconnaissance, direct action, foreign internal defense training, unconventional warfare and other missions, he said.
"We are not looking to be a redundant force," Hejlik said. "We are looking to be a complementary force. There is certainly room for MarSOC to compete."
By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer
SAN DIEGO - With the military's global hunt for terrorists heading into its fifth year, the continuing demand for trained commandos and the Pentagon's call to expand special operations forces are the latest pressures for the "snake-eater" community.
Of the nearly 51,000 members of U.S. Special Operations Command, about 7,000 were deployed and operating overseas, the No. 2 commando told a defense industry audience here Jan. 11.
"There's been much demand for our capabilities, more than we can meet," said Vice Adm. Eric Olson, Special Operations Command deputy commander and an experienced Navy SEAL.
"Some special operators conducted more combat missions this week than a pre-9/11 operator could have realistically anticipated over his entire career," Olson said in an address to the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association and U.S. Naval Institute. "Last night, they ran several missions to find high-value targets who didn't want to be found. They captured many and had to kill a few more. They did this mostly by working their own intelligence and developing their own targets."
Special operations teams are covering the gamut of warfare, from direct-action missions to hunt and seize terrorists to de-mining and providing medical care to indigenous people, often operating away from U.S. military forces and often "constantly at risk," Olson said. "They are making a difference way beyond their relatively small numbers, and many of the coalition's key successes today have special operations fingerprints all over it," he said. "They are the lens, in many cases, by which America is seen."
More change is on the way for the commando community, which includes Navy SEALs and special warfare combatant craft units, Army Special Forces - including civil affairs teams - and Air Force Special Operations units and tactical forward air controllers.
Marines are entering the community in greater, and organized, numbers, starting this year with the establishment of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command under Special Operations Command.
That's a change, as Corps leaders had opted not to join the command when it was created. "We were, in a sense, born three-quarters joint, a situation which we just recently remedied," Olson said.
Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, who will command the first "MarSOC" forces, said the ethos of spec ops forces mirror those of Marines. "The difference is the level of training and equipment," Hejlik told a panel later that day.
The Marine "commandos" will be part of a new 2,600-member MarSOC force. They will take on special reconnaissance, direct action, foreign internal defense training, unconventional warfare and other missions, he said.
"We are not looking to be a redundant force," Hejlik said. "We are looking to be a complementary force. There is certainly room for MarSOC to compete."