U.S. Special Operations Command
The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is headquartered at Tampa, Florida. According to its former chief, Robert Andrews, SOCOM is "a small outfit." The American Forces press release for Andrews' December 12, 2001 news briefing noted "The unified command's 45,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen represent only 1.3 percent of the military's total personnel. Their mission includes special reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and direct action missions." SOCOM's 2005 budget was reported as $6.6 billion. [1]
An April 2003 Washington Post story gave 49,000 as the number of total SOCOM personnel, although "at least three quarters are in support functions, or psychological operations and civil affairs." Fewer than 10,000 SOCOM members are actual combat forces. The Post also alluded to recruitment problems, given the high standards for SOCOM members. "Special Operations does not even have on hand soldiers qualified to fill the positions it already has, let alone the new ones it is being given, a Pentagon official said. The Army is supposed to man a total of 270 Special Forces A-teams, with 12 troops each, but currently can only fill 225, he said." [2]
Andrews, a Special Forces captain in Vietnam, said SOCOM's members are different than those in the regular services - "generally older and more rigorously trained." He said, "When you talk to them, you'll find that they're all motivated by a desire to do well at that which is most difficult." [3]
Examples of SOCOM activities include the EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft, and other "airborne broadcasting studios," which "air two five-hour radio programs a day over Afghanistan. U.S. aircraft dropped over 10 million leaflets produced by the 4th Psychological Operations Group of Fort Bragg, N.C." [4]
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Rumsfeld and SOCOM
In April 2003, shortly before President George W. Bush declared "major combat operations" over in Iraq, the Washington Post reported that the apparently easy victory over Saddam Hussein had strengthened Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's ability "to reshape the U.S. military along the lines he has talked about since taking office, 'transforming' it into a more agile and precise force built not around firepower but around information, and willing to take risks to succeed."
Rumsfeld's transformation primarily involved "pushing the Special Operations Command from the sideshow niche it long has occupied to center stage in the 'global war on terrorism' and other U.S. military operations. After the Iraq war, which featured one of the biggest missions ever for Special Operations forces, that command 'is going to be the flavor of the month,' said one defense official." [5]
The Washington Post story continued, "Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the commander in the war, 'wouldn't have used Special Operations like he did in Iraq if Rumsfeld hadn't pushed him,' said Robert Andrews, who was the top Pentagon official overseeing the Special Operations Command until the middle of last year.
"The Iraq war was one of the biggest Special Operations missions ever, with a thousand Delta Force members and Rangers in the west and another thousand Special Forces troops in the north and south. In almost every aspect, the missions broke new ground: Some units 'staged' into Iraq through former Soviet bloc member Bulgaria. In northern Iraq, conventional Army paratroopers and tank units were put under the command of a Special Operations general. In the south, meanwhile, some Special Operations troops were put under the command of regular Army generals."
The Post story also mentioned that Rumsfeld was in the process of picking a new SOCOM chief. The leading contestants listed were the Air Force's Norton A. Schwartz, the Army's Bryan D. Brown, and the Marines' Emil R. Bedard, although Rumsfeld "is considering some younger two-star generals who have played prominent roles on the front lines over the last two years."
Advertising Psy-Ops
In what SOCOM spokesperson Capt. Kenneth Hoffman called "market research," it was reported in December 2004 that SOCOM was trying "to determine what commercial firms might add to its psychological operations or psy-ops." Of particular interest were advertising agencies who could produce "slick multilingual audio, video, print and Web packages to support [SOCOM's] global psychological war against terrorism." [6]
Hoffman defined psy-ops as "providing truthful information to foreign audiences in support of U.S. national security objectives." He gave the example of "SOCom's Superman comic book that illustrated the dangers of minefields to the children in Bosnia and Kosovo." Hoffman stressed that any advertising or other psy-ops campaign would be for foreign audiences. "By law, psychological operations cannot produce products directed toward U.S. citizens," he told the St. Petersburg Times. Such efforts, he said, are totally separate from public affairs, which is "geared to informing the U.S. public." [7]
Former SOCOM head during the first Gulf War Retired Army Gen. Carl W. Stiner said that "his command's psy-op unit relied on in-house experts at Fort Bragg." But Stiner supported SOCOM's seeking help from private businesses. "This war on terrorism is unlike any we've ever fought before," he said. "And right now, you might say we're losing to Al-Jazeera." [8]
Related SourceWatch Resources
External Links
- Kris Hundley, "Wanted: Ad agency to aid global battle on terrorism," St. Petersburg Times, December 8, 2004.
- Thomas E. Ricks, "Rumsfeld stands tall after Iraq victory", The Washington Post, April 20, 2003 (Cache file).
- Renae Merle, "Pentagon Funds Diplomacy Effort: Contracts Aim to Improve Foreign Opinion of United States", Washington Post, June 11, 2005.
- William M. Arkin, "New Rules for War on Terrorism," Early Warning Blog / Washington Post, October 5, 2005.
- Lila Rajiva, "No News is Bad News: A Short History of RADIO FREE IRAQ", Dissident Voice, December 12, 2005.
