Most of us won't ever know how hard the country's Special Operations Forces have it, since elite troops largely work in the shadows. So when their commander, Adm. Eric Olson, says that they're "fraying around the edges," it's a big deal. Only the demand for special operators will likely increase as general-purpose U.S. troops leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
Demand for elite forces -- who do everything from hunting terrorists to training partner forces -- has skyrocketed since 9/11, outstripping the big budget and manpower increases that Congress has authorized in the past decade. Overseas deployments have quadrupled. "We are doing more with more," Olson told a conference in Washington yesterday, "but the more we're doing it with doesn't match the more we've been asked to do."
Special operations forces are spending as much time deployed as they spend at home -- typically a big no-no for planners -- even as the Special Operations Command has overseen a growth in elite battalions. About 12,000 of them are currently deployed, out of a force of 60,000.
Perhaps most ominously, mid-career officers are starting to leave, especially as 9/11 recedes in the national memory. Olson estimates that 60 percent of current special operations forces joined after the terrorist attacks. Their departure risks leaving the military without its next generation of experienced leaders.
"They were inspired by the events of 9/11, they’ve served their country, and now, eight or 10 years later, they are satisfied with what they did and feel like they were part of something important," Olson said. But what seems good for eight or 10 years maybe doesn’t seem as good looking ahead to 18 or 20 years."
There are a variety of mitigating measures that the force is taking, like providing better wounded and veteran care, and presenting them with more "predictable" schedules, Olson said.
But it's the demand that's really the issue. And that's not likely to drop, even as the shooting wars die down. Special operations forces are training Pakistani forces in counterinsurgency. The influential Center for a New American Security recently called for them to take the lead in a residual Afghanistan war after 2014. And the expansion of al-Qaeda networks in Somalia and Yemen addsanother mission to the elite troops' busy schedule. The era of big U.S. land wars might be on its way out, but that only puts more pressure on special forces to fill the security gaps.
On March 1, Olson will head to the Hill to defend his command's next budget request. It'll be an opportunity for lawmakers to figure out how to get special forces' money and missions in sync. Same goes for when Olson leaves: his tenure atop Special Operations Command is set to expire this year. His successor will have to deal with a tired force that's going to be asked to do a lot more in the coming years.
Photo: Special Operations Command
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