Special Forces in Great Power Competition

Speaker(s): Watling, J. (Royal United Services Institute (RUSI))

Date: 16 March 2022

Speaker Session Summary

SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Jack Watling (Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)) as part of its SMA General Speaker Series.

Special operations forces (SOF) have historically been at the center of US military actions, especially at the beginning of a military operation. The importance of SOF to US military operations is not decreasing as the US shifts from counterterrorism to primarily focusing on great power competition; however, their role is changing as combat is changing. Dr. Watling warned against reverting back to Cold War era processes and doctrine because those practices have already been used and identified by adversaries. It is important for SOF to be unpredictable, innovative, and blend into their working environment. For SOF, blending into their working environment is becoming increasingly difficult because of technology advancements including social media and face recognition technology that make it harder for an operator to work covertly.

As roles for SOF expand, it will be important for them to become more technically diverse. This includes becoming more comfortable using technology and operating in an increasingly digital world. However, Dr. Watling added that there will always be a role for traditional SOF who rely heavily on their physical fitness and arms capabilities. Also, as SOF operations are evolving, smaller teams are becoming strategically favorable. Russian Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie (GRU) and Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation (FSO) members have been uncovered working in pairs. This is because it is easier to stay covert in small groups and the operations they conduct are riskier. An increased risk means that if these groups are discovered, then they will likely be lost. As SOF operations become more complex, it will be important for policy makers to identify the most important initiatives so that those receive the most financing.

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