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| Increase in Special Ops strength |
| 2004-02-17 |
| Some of the details on the plans to increase Special Ops strength. Note the timeframes - this isn’t a brief or temporary increase ... it reflects a real realignment. US special operations forces in all branches are receiving a boost in personnel, according to US military planners, who say that the unconventional enemy they face in Iraq must be met by strengthening the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). During the next three to four years the Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM) will add two Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) commando teams to the existing five; the US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) will form a new MH-47 Chinook battalion and receive a large increase in personnel; and the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) will increase personnel involved in directing airstrikes and co-ordinating with foreign forces. "The special operations community represents the future of fighting," said Frances Fragos Townsend, deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism. "We will use [them] more, not less, as we go into the future." The US has already budgeted for 5,000 additional USSOCOM personnel to be fielded by 2009 and will ask for more by 2011, said USASOC Chief of Staff Col Charles Cleveland. The extra troops will include more snipers and medics as well as additional support troops. Starting in 2008, USASOC plans to add 742 soldiers to the Operational Detachment Alphas (A Teams), 550 to the five active-duty special forces groups and 192 to the two Army National Guard groups. In the short term, before adding any additional soldiers, USASOC plans to shift its forces so that A Teams are available for operations rather than assisting in command and control, as is the case now. Col Cleveland, who commanded the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during operations in northern Iraq last year, said the hand-held unmanned air vehicles that his troops had were used up quickly and that USASOC is working towards expeditiously fielding more hand-held UAVs. check out my other post about tactical UAV use USASOC officials said the UAVs would be distributed primarily at the A Team level, though not all A Teams would get one. Some would also be fielded at the Operational Detachment B (company headquarters) and C (battalion headquarters) levels, and the three battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment will get them at the platoon level. The officials said the decision on which UAV to buy has not yet been made. The navy will form a new SEAL team in 2006 and another in 2008, said NAVSPECWARCOM Commander Rear Adm Burt Calland. AFSOC is also looking to add personnel, especially in special tactics teams - which call in airstrikes - and as combat aviation advisers, who teach combat commanders and foreign armies to plan air operations. Currently AFSOC can only support one out of 10 theatre command requests for combat aviation advisory troops, said Maj Gen John Dorris, mobilisation assistant to the commander of AFSOC. To rectify this, the command plans to bolster its force of 105 advisers to 310 and base some of them overseas in the next three to five years. hmmmmm Congress has allotted money to convert four C-130H Hercules tactical transport aircraft to the AC-130U gunship configuration to add to the 13-strong AFSOC fleet and for more MH-47 Chinooks for the army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (160th SOAR) to be fielded in 2006 or 2007. The army’s long-term aspiration is to add 36 MH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and 40 MH-47 Chinooks, Col Cleveland said. He added that the first phase of growth would be to field the Chinooks in company-sized strength to Europe and the Middle East and also base some in the US. USASOC also plans to standardise the number of aircraft in each company at 10 MH-60 Black Hawks, eight Chinooks and 14 MH-6 Little Birds. The 160th SOAR is forming a fourth battalion at Ft Lewis, Washington, to support USSOCOM forces on the Pacific coast. In the longer term, USSOCOM commanders are looking for further boosts in aircraft. "One of our immediate needs is an improved vertical-lift platform," Gen Dorris said. "Our MH-53 platforms are about 40 years old and are a challenge to maintain." He said the air force plans to replace the 34 MH-53 Super Stallion heavylift helicopters with 50 CV-22 tilt-rotor Ospreys. He also said AFSOC will face a shortage of air-to-air tankers in the next eight to 10 years. In the longer term, by about 2020, the air force is expected to have an entirely new fleet of stealthy aircraft to replace AFSOC’s C-130s, including a new tanker (JDW 29 October 2003). "The prediction is that the C-130 will no longer be survivable past about 2015," Gen Dorris said. |
| Posted by:rkb |
| #3 Unification will take place by growth occurring in the SOC budgets only. Look for purple dress uni's about 2018. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-2-17 10:01:15 PM |
| #2 Shhhhh....Not so loud. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-17 5:19:07 PM |
| #1 So the US has an increase in special forces around the same time as the J-Dams are replenished. Coincidence? Some say that does not excist. |
| Posted by: Evert Visser 2004-2-17 4:40:40 PM |