Special Ops Mission in High Demand

Army Special Operations forces number only 23,000 soldiers in all, and Green Beret “A Teams” are in high demand. Because of deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, Special Operations commanders have been able to meet barely half the requests from regional military headquarters outside the Middle East According to The New York Time's report on Tuesday.

“The nation does not want another Afghanistan,” said Lt. Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, head of the Army Special Operations Command. “So, how do we prevent conflict? Army Special Operations forces can be out there looking at instability, and looking at how to build capabilities.”

General Cleveland said he envisioned preparing his soldiers for two broad missions. “When I am at war, I have to campaign to win,” he said. “When I am not at war, I am campaigning to either shape the environment or I am campaigning to prevent war.” Although the large conventional military is out of Iraq and is leaving Afghanistan, Special Operations forces will remain “in an era of persistent operations,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Last month in a virtual town hall meeting, the Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, Admiral William McRaven candidly answered questions about the role of these units.

"The president has given us a number for the end of 2013, then we'll have a group of NATO soldiers, around 15,000. Near the end of 2014, a decision has not been made yet as the size of the force left," said Admiral William McRaven. "Within the next several months the President will make a decision about what that number ought to be."

In McRaven's opinion:

"There will be a need in 2014 for us in the special operations community to continue in the counter terrorism role - to advise, train and assist the Afghans."

The leader said that USASOC is doing a magnificent job building the Afghan local police. The Afghan local police force is up to 19,000 and growing to the goal of 45,000. The Afghan special forces and commandos are also being built through the U.S. partnership. According to the Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, there will always be a role for the USASOC soldier through the end of 2014 in the advisory role.

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