Role of special ops evolves over time. (Unconventional Warriors).

Special operation forces have been a part of the U.S. military since the colonial era.

The Army Rangers were first organized in 1756 by Maj. Robert Rogers, who recruited nine companies of American colonists to fight with the British during the French and Indian War. They were known as "Rogers' Rangers."

The Rangers became well known for their stealth techniques and methods of operation and Rogers is credited with having capitalized on them. He incorporated those tactics into the fighting doctrine of a permanently organized fighting force.

Throughout the French and Indian War, from 1754 to 1763, the Ranger doctrine was developed, expanded and codified. Rogers published a list of 28 common-sense rules, and a set of standing orders stressing operational readiness, security, and tactics.

On June 6, 1944, the Army Rangers were the first to land on the beaches of Normandy during one of the last major battles of World War II. It was from that conflict that the Army Rangers, a special force, earned their motto: "Rangers, lead the way."

The Air Force commandos, now known as the Special Tactics Teams, flew P-1 and P-47 fighters, as well as observation planes, cargo aircraft, and B-25 bombers during World War II. They performed supply, evacuation, escort, and liaison missions throughout the war, and also attacked bridges, railroad, barges, oil wells and troop positions by air.

After World War II, the role of the commandos continued to expand, and in 1968, the 1st Operations Wing of the U.S. Special Operation Forces was created. Its motto is "Any time ... Any place."

Intelligence Functions

U.S. special operations forces also became well known for working extensively with the Central Intelligence Agency during the Vietnam War.

By 1987, Congress decided to charter the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), with the mandate to prepare and maintain combat-ready special forces for operations in either peace or wartime. USSOCOM is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., but each of the services has special operations forces units located at other military installations. (see page 23)

Special operations personnel are required to possess a wide range of skills that are shaped by the requirements of their missions. They include foreign language skills, regional orientation, e specialized equipment and tactics, and an understanding of the political and social context of their mission.

Generally, special operators are older than their cohorts in the conventional services, said Robert Andrews, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations/low-intensity conflict (SO/LIC). One thing that sets them apart is that "they're all motivated by a desire to do well at that which is most difficult," he said during a Pentagon news briefing.

"They learn to work with people, learn to do area studies and a very detailed country study, and then when they get assigned an operational area, they do language training," said Col. Dave McCracken, from the Army Special Operations Command.

Units such as the Army's Green Berets often participate in operations to contain regional conflicts, strengthen government infrastructure and prevent local threats from developing into larger problems.

The special operator is defined in the Defense Department's "Joint Vision 2020" as "a warrior-diplomat who will influence, advise, train and interact with foreign forces and populations."

Special operations forces receive about 1.3 percent of the Defense Department budget and 1.3 percent of the manpower: about 45,000 members. They are deployed to approximately 144 countries.

One of the reasons why there are relatively few special operations forces is because it "rakes a long time to train these people," said Andrews. "To qualify a young man in some of the enlisted ranks will rake two years" and a special forces captain probably has seven or eight years under his belt, he said.

Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, former commander of USSOCOM, said that with special operation forces, "our past is prologue," to future operations. He reported that U.S. special operations forces were present in many of the regional conflicts and humanitarian operations of the past 10 years. These included Haiti's "Restore, Support and Uphold Democracy," Bosnia's "Joint Endeavor, Joint Guard, Deny Flight and Provide Promise," and Turkey and Northern Iraq's "Provide Comfort, Constant Vigil and Proven Force." They also participated in numerous other operations in the Persian Gulf, South America and Middle East.

Schoomaker said that as the Defense Department adapts to an environment of fewer "wars," and more "conflicts," special operations forces are more important than ever. He said that SOF are necessary to meet "distributed threats by asymmetric opponents.

"Humans are more important than hardware, and quality is better than quantity. Special operation forces cannot be mass produced and competent special operation forces cannot he created after crises occur, Schoomaker said.

Lt. Col. Thomas Adams, director of intelligence and special operations at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping Institute, in Carlisle, Penn., noted, "The bad news is that the future is already here. ... It's called 'complex contingencies'--a breakdown of internal authority, such that an international response is required to restore order an alleviate suffering."

The good news, he said, is that "special operation forces are already carrying out these missions and are doing a pretty good job. But the bottom line is that we can do even better."

Adams highlighted the versatile roles of SOF in Haiti's Operation Support Democracy in 1996. He said that special operations forces worked as liaisons with local military and police, provided coordination/support to conventional forces, conducted psychological operations, reorganized local jails, acted as 'de facto' local police, and provided repairs of water and electrical systems.

Non-State Threats

Transnational threats are no match for conventional forces, and that's why special forces must be brought in, said Col. William C. Duesbuty, deputy chief of the Army special operations division. Transnational threats result from the "diminished authority and capacity of governments beleaguered by population explosion and transmigration, domestic disorder, ethnic conflicts and failed state services," he said.

Duesbury also said that SOF need to be more prepared to tackle asymmetric attacks by "non-state" actors, such as terrorist organizations that use weapons of mass destruction and information warfare.

Other transnational threats include drug trafficking, organized crime, arms dealing and environmental damage.

In recent months, the U.S. special operations forces have played a key role in Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan. "The special operation forces dramatically increased the effectiveness of the air campaign, and on the ground, they turned the [local militias] Northern Alliance into a conquering army," Andrews said.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark characterized special operations forces as "force multipliers." Commandos on the ground, working alongside the opposition forces in Afghanistan helped to pinpoint targets for naval combat aircraft. The upshot, Clark said during a breakfast with reporters, is a "force multiplier effect."

The sensors on the ground, Clark said, "enabled the people on the ground to provide the right kind of information to the people in the cockpit. This has been a real good news story. The effects of it have been very positive."

RELATED ARTICLE: Special Operations Policy Shop Realigned

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld reorganized the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC) late in 2001. Some of the changes were a result of the change in priorities after the September 11 attacks.

In a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Rumsfeld said, "Since the attacks of September 11, we have engaged in an extensive review of our operations to determine if we are best organized and arranged to conduct a sustained campaign against terrorism. As a partial result of our efforts, it is becoming clear that we are likely to need reorganization in two principal areas: intelligence and homeland security," he wrote.

On an interim basis, Rumsfeld assigned the post of the assistant secretary of defense for SO/LIC to current Secretary of the Army Thomas White.

Rumsfeld also made White the Defense Department's executive agent for homeland security. White, said Rumsfeld, "has assumed the broad and growing responsibilities for coordinating our [Defense Department] activities with Homeland Security Director [Tom] Ridge."

White's appointment, however, is "clearly not a long-term solution to what we now see will be long-term responsibilities'

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of the Army, White served as vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, a subsidiary of Enron Corporation, which recently made headlines by its spectacular collapse and bankruptcy.

Rumsfeld did not need permission to assign White to the new posts, because he had already been through the Senate approval process to become secretary of the Army. Rumsfeld asked Levin to approve the establishment of two new undersecretary of defense posts--on for homeland security and one for intelligence.

When those undersecretary posts are established, White would probably give up he post as executive agent for homeland security, said Lt. Col. Rivers Johnson, a Defense department spokesman.

Rumsfeld referred to "the experience of the terrorism campaign to highlight a need to consolidate intelligence activities within the department."

Elizabeth G. Book