FORT LIBERTY, N.C. (AP) — Forced to do more with less and learn from the war in UkraineWE special operations commanders Countries are trying to find a way to add more high-tech experts to their teams while reducing their overall forces by about 5,000 troops over the next five years.
The conflicting pressures are forcing a broader restructuring of commando teams, which are often deployed for high-risk counterterrorism missions and other sensitive operations around the world. The planned changes are influenced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and in particular by the lessons it draws from it.
The U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which is bearing the brunt of the personnel reductions, is considering increasing the size of its force. Green beret teams – typically around 12 members – to draw on people with more specialized and technical capabilities. One possibility would be the addition of computer software experts who could reprogram drones or other technical equipment on the fly.
But similar changes could ripple across the military services.
“A detachment of 12 people could be reinforced,” said Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. He said an Air Force pilot, Navy ship pilot, cryptologist or cyber expert may be needed as battlefields become more challenging and increasingly technological.
He said in an interview that the United States was “learning a lot from the experience in Ukraine,” including from special operations forces working in the country. The United States has no troops on the ground.
The bulk of the reductions stem from the military’s decision to reduce the size of its forces by about 24,000 troops and restructure its troops as the United States shifts away from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. focus more on large-scale combat operations. The army also struggled to meet recruitment objectives and had to reduce the overall size of his force.
Army Special Operations Commandwhich Fenton said absorbs about 4,000 job cuts ordered over the past year and a half, is looking to recruit people with high-tech skills.
“I think one of the questions is how well can you teach a Green Beret when some of these specialties are extremely technical,” said Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, deputy commander of the Fort Liberty command in North Carolina. “You can teach a person how to operate a drone. But then saying I want to have a software engineer program for this drone is something different.
Cuts to the Army’s special operations forces have sparked some opposition in Congress, including at recent hearings on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers highlighted the impact at Fort Liberty. Fenton also spoke candidly at the hearings about the growing demand for special operations forces.
He said U.S. regional commanders around the world always want more and that reducing forces means “we will be able to meet less than what they demand.” And I think we owe the Secretary of Defense our assessment as we move forward.
For years during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of special operations forces and support personnel increased, especially since they were often dispersed to small, isolated bases where they needed to additional security and other logistical assistance. Today, Pentagon leaders say the numbers could go down a bit.
Fenton said the department ordered a reduction of about 2,000 people in special operations about a year and a half ago, including about 750 in the Army. That was followed this year by a cut of 3,000 Army special operations positions. The reductions must be spread over five years.
“The actual reduction in the Army total is almost 4,000, and the remaining 1,000 will come from the Joint Force, SEALs, Marine Raiders and other Army units,” Fenton said.
For Roberson, the question is where to reduce his military troops. “Do cups have a way of crystallizing your focus and your vision of what is important to me? What is the future? What do I really need,” he said during an interview in his Fort Liberty office.
He and other Army leaders have said a significant percentage of the Special Forces reductions are to positions that are already open and therefore will not affect existing personnel. Roberson estimates that at least 30% of the cuts relate to these vacant jobs.
For further reductions, he said he is looking for layoffs, including among trainers and instructors. Army leaders also said psychological operations and civil affairs, both part of Army command, would face reductions.
“At the end of 20 years of war, it’s always a good time to look back and say: OK, what did I have when this started? What have I learned? What did I do, what was important to me? » said Roberson.
And even if not all teams are boosted in size, he said the Army must be able to quickly bolster them with specialists. In some cases, a mission may only need a few technical assistance members, and in other cases it may require six or seven, he explained.
More broadly, as its forces absorb reductions, their training must also be modified or increased to include more technology, robotics or signals intelligence sensors and information, Roberson added. Right now, he said, his troops are experimenting with different options at the National Training Center in California and on the ground in Iraq and Syria.
Adaptability is key, he said, and “we have to figure out how we’re going to get the most out of it.”
News Source : apnews.com
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