What is Special Ops? -- Part II

I still act, and look the same
What you see ain't nothin' new
--I Was Country, When Country Wasn't Cool,
George Jones

Stray dogs that live on the highway
walk on three legs
'Cause they learn too slow to get the message
--Ballad for a Soldier, Leon Russel
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In yesterday's What is Special Ops?, Ranger suggested that with the conversion of Special Operation Forces into a dedicated branch of the armed forces, a new monster was created, taking SF into previously unchartered territory for that organization.

Today Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) are paths to the 4-Star billets, and this has compromised the nature of the beast. SOF/SF today is a special branch that cooperates with or facilitates operations that are political in nature, posing high risks but promising career payoffs. The CIA template has been placed over the SOF, therby creating a Special ops Army within the conventional force structure. Since the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a military unit which morphed into the CIA, there has been a schism in the ranks of the National Command Authority. It is undecided whether the SOF is a CIA or a military function.

SF of the RVN variety was formed to alleviate the CIA's weakness is paramilitary operations. When the SF became the CIA's tool, they also became the read-headed stepchild of the Department of Defense. When Delta under Beckwith folded in the Iranian desert, SF was once again carrying the CIA on their military backs. Today in our endless wars, SF is supposedly back in the fold of the DoD; however, the assassination of Osama bin Laden reveals the lie.

The decision should be made to demilitarize the SOF and place them under the CIA, or to militarize the CIA, giving them the military functions of SOF. The SOF must be a tool of the theatre commander and a dedicated asset, or it will remain the plaything of politicos and will not garner the respect of either the military or the intelligence worlds.

The recent postings of Panetta and Petraeus exemplify my assertions. The CIA and the DoD are becoming interchangeable entities, and have cross-fertilized to the point that neither agency has a clearly-defined mission delineating whether they are military or paramilitary. Regardless of the wiring diagrams, these organizations lack cohesive organizational legitimacy due to the haziness of their loyalties.

Stanley McChrystal's career is an example of the problem. In the SF of old, McChrystal would never have achieved a rank above 0-6 (Colonel). He was rude, crude, and a chip off the old Charlie Beckwith block. However, today he achieved promotion beyond anything dreamed of in the old pre-tab SF days. His conduct, as seen in his collusion in the Pat Tillman coverup, places McChrystal firmly in the position of fence-rider -- part military, part CIA.

The SOCOM/JSOC nexus has not defined the parameters of the SOF beast, and the latter will continue to be a loose cannon on the deck of a foundering ship.