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"Demise of SF"
Determining the Roles for General Purpose Forces (GPF) and Special Operations Forces
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OUR MILITARY MUST END ONEUPSMANSHIP!
When I teach martial arts, my main concern is teaching my students how to protect themselves from attack, rape,
kidnapping, or abuse, so consequently I teach very functional self-defense techniques, but I also believe
they should become “martial artists” and not just “partial artists.” So, in that regard, when teaching
aesthetic things such as kata (forms), I employ traditional forms which have been passed down from
generation-to-generation with very little change. This balance of martial arts instruction is a microcosm of
what also works in the real world.
For balance, we must have tradition in our lives, but we must also have a functional lifestyle. By that same
regard, but on an even much higher plain, so does our military. The US military is full of great, rich
tradition, but it is also the toughest most functional fighting force in the history of the world. That however
may soon end, if we continue to eat our own young, and then we will not suffer defeat from an external enemy,
but simply implode from within. What I propose transcends political parties, and it is neither conservative or
liberal, republican or democratic. It is simply common sense, practical, and pro-American.
Politicians talk smack, but few, if any, have the actual courage and fortitude to say out loud what many of us
will say privately, and what some of us think but do not verbalize. Right now our military tradition is far
outweighing the functionality of our armed forces, which costs us billions, but more importantly it makes our
military less efficient and consequently less powerful. By making the tough decisions to actually change, like so
many politicians like to talk about but never really do; we can make a more cohesive, less costly, and much more
functional fighting force than the world has ever seen, but without tossing our hallowed, rich, military
tradition out the window. We simply need to overcome our own fear of change. With an upcoming Presidential and
congressional election looming, I think it is time to present this very controversial but cost-saving and
efficiency-producing solution to our military, which may make some people angry at me, but hopefully it will make
some leaders think.
The general overview I suggest will shock and outrage some, but it is what will work. In the very broad look,
here is my proposal in a nutshell:
- 1. The US Army should be the one military fighting force that is in charge of and solely responsible for
fighting on land.
- 2. The US Navy should be the one military fighting force that is in charge of and solely responsible for
fighting on water.
- 3. The US Air Force should be the one military fighting force that is in charge of and solely
responsible for fighting in the air.
That is the simple general solution, but let me get into more specifics before loading your firearm, donning your
cammies, and looking for my house on Mapquest.
One of the main reasons I have been so proud that two of my sons followed my footsteps into the US Army Special
Forces (the Green Berets) was because I naively thought that our military leadership had actually grown by
lessons-learned from the Vietnam War, but we have not. We still make some errors in command.
We spend billions of dollars to train company grade officers (lieutenants and captains) and senior NCOs
(Sergeants) how to properly deploy and protect troops in battle and accomplish unit missions, and then in the
Global War On Terrorism, instead of trusting that small unit commander with “boots on the ground” and who knows
the situation, we have “Chairborne-Rangers” sitting in air-conditioned offices and briefing rooms in places like
MacDill AFB, the Pentagon, Qatar, Fort Bragg, Eglin AFB, and many higher headquarters all over the world
micro-managing the war. That has previously been proven time and again to be a surefire formula for disaster in
war, but nobody has the guts to tell flag officers, “Back off, General (or Admiral). Give a captain or a sergeant a
job, and then do NOT tell them how to do it, especially when they, or their men and women, are the ones risking
earning the Purple Heart (given for wounds or death), and they know the enemy situation on the ground.”
Now, with a Navy Admiral at the helm of the US Special Operations Command, the new big thing is MARSOC, the
Marine Special Operations Command. After 50 years of the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) learning more than
any other fighting force about how to successfully conduct Unconventional Warfare, they now want the Marines
to take over and do the same thing. This is after five decades of success by USA Special Forces, which has had
its operators (Green Berets) learn to speak virtually every language in the world, the customs of every
country, and of its indigenous citizens thereof. Befriending folks in remote villages all over the globe,
learning how to infiltrate behind enemy lines and interact, co-exist, and actually train and equip those
indigenous forces to fight their own battles, so United States troops do not have to be needlessly sacrificed
fighting for those countries, Green Berets have become synonymous with successful Unconventional Warfare. Now,
after 50 years of that great experience by the elite Special Forces, the US Marine Corps are being transformed
to try to duplicate what Special Forces has done so successfully for decades. How ridiculous, arrogant, and
short-sighted! I cannot believe the Pentagon has even allowed it to be a discussion let alone a reality.
Semper Fidelis! The US Marine Corps, I personally believe, has not only the coolest-looking dress uniforms
of any of our armed forces, but also by far and away the very best esprit de corps. Marines have always been
hard-charging, fire-breathing, butt-kicking, mission-accomplishing warriors, who distinguished
themselves with a legacy of courage and honor in many wars at places like Tarawa, Bougainville, Iwo Jima, and
beachheads all over the west and east. Do not think I want to do away with the Marine Corps. However, I suggest
that we no longer attack on beaches with Navy ducks or other amphibious craft. That was in the distant past, and
this is now. So what is the solution? I think the US Marine Corps is the finest infantry force in the world,
but the US Navy, in my opinion, has zero business possessing their own army. The solution is very simple:
The US Marine Corps stays the same but simply becomes a branch of the US Army. However, MARSOC, I propose, would
be changed to what it actually should be for function: The only Special Operations mission the USMC should ever
have is Direct Action, such as Force Recon or Sniper teams, but not UW, unconventional warfare.
Yes, I said it and many, many of us have whispered it for years, because it is efficient and common sense.
So let’s say we have made the USMC part of the Army, now what happens to the US Army Rangers? That is simple: It
becomes a reinforcing direct action force for the US Army Special Forces, and the 1st Special Forces Operational
Detachment-Delta (Delta Force), which it is already doing effectively now. Ranger School can also specialize in
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) training and execution, which is what happened with the original
Roger’s Rangers. No units will have LRRP members who have not first earned a Ranger tab.
Okay, Swabbies, I know. To be fair, the army has to lose something, right? Well, it’s not going to actually lose
them, in my proposal, but just like the Navy, the US Army, US Navy, and US Marine Corps will turn over all of
its aircraft to the US Air Force. Well, in actuality, all helicopter pilots on naval ships and with the US Army,
including the USMC branch, will be part of and trained exclusively by the US Air Force, and then will be
attached to Army or Navy units. No more naval and marine aviators or army chopper jockeys. They will all be US Air
Force pilots, with both rotary and fixed wings. As mentioned earlier, the US Air Force will be in charge of
the skies and any craft that goes into them. Naval aircraft mechanics will still be responsible for
maintenance of craft and all flight deck operations, because they do operate on a ship. Likewise, helicopter
and fixed wing army mechanics will maintain aircraft on the ground unless a USAF airbase is within close
proximity, but all pilots and all aircraft will be USAF, attached to army and navy units.
So, now we might ask what about Navy Seals. Again, I believe that US Navy SEALs have indeed proven their worth
and have a legacy of valor. But like the Marines and Rangers, they should only be used for direct action
missions, but their missions should only be adjacent to or on the waterways of the world. They will still do the
shore-launched sabotage missions, submarine lockout, many underwater missions. Like now, they will be like UDT
(Underwater Demolition Teams) on steroids in a sense. The BUDS training qualification for SEALs should still be
there to challenge young sailors to the maximum. Navy SEALs however, in my opinion, have no business fighting
in the mountains of Afghanistan or sand-blown cities of Iraq, unless they are carrying out a mission on a seaport
or coastline. The US Army Special Forces and 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Delta Force) would
still use SCUBA and HALO-SCUBA infiltration methodology in lakes and rivers and on oceans only where a SEAL
mission would not be applicable. In other words, if it is a UW mission that should only be performed by USASF or
Delta Force, such as a hostage rescue on a cruise ship, then a SCUBA infiltration could be used where apropos.
Now, I have suggested taking from the Navy a bit herein, so what about adding to them? Fine, that is simple and
common sense. Since it is dealing with oceans, seas, and other large waterways, it will also be efficient, and
cost-effective for the US Coast Guard to become a branch of the US Navy. They are their own little Navy already,
but would become part of the real deal, but their mission will not change.
Finally, to go into even more detail, the primary unit in the US Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) is the ODA,
or 12-man Operational Detachment-A, often called “A-Teams.” It is commanded by a Captain, with a Warrant
Officer as Executive Officer, or second-in-command, who come from SF NCOs who attend Warrant Officer school. This
is good in that the XO has experience as a team non-com; however it hurts the US Army Special Forces
significantly. One of the reasons I left the army as a young Captain was because my entire commissioned time as
a Special Forces-qualified Infantry officer was spent serving in 4 Special Forces Groups, including the 5th
Group in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. I used to write suggestions and pass them up the chain of command and one
suggestion, which many others wrote as well, was to make a new branch of the army called the Unconventional
Warfare branch or Special Forces branch. Then it could attract young officers, like I was, who loved and
believed in the role of Special Forces with a deep and abiding passion and could develop an entire career in
that elite unit. In those days, with 4 SF Groups under my belt, my career was essentially ruined. I had become a
“guerilla leader” in the minds of the brass; “too unconventional” was the term often used. Like in my day,
and still to this day, conventional military commanders do not understand the US Army Special Forces, or there is
professional jealousy, or both. We were and are the soldiers who were and are taught and encouraged to think
outside the box and color outside the lines. When you get right down to brass tacks, conventional generals and
admirals cannot easily control such men, so they want to destroy and develop something else that they can control.
Brilliant! The same type of thinking had lines of British soldiers marching to drums towards our independent-minded
fledgling continental army, which they killed by the thousands until we started thinking outside the box and
actually won the Revolutionary War by shooting from ambush, firing from behind rocks and trees, and using hit
and run tactics. The British commanders simply wanted to keep marching, halting, aiming, and firing on command.
That, the protection of God, and our American fighting spirit were the primary reasons that the British sailed
home, heads- hanging, and we became the United States of America.
A few years after I left the army, somebody actually thought and acted outside the bounds of
military-thinking, and the branch like some of my contemporaries and superiors and I had proposed, the
Unconventional Warfare Branch, was indeed created, but unfortunately we still have not learned, and it is now
only a stop-off point for many young career captains. No longer are First Lieutenants ODA XO’s (Executive
Officers) and Second Lieutenants ODA XO’s in-training. The USA Special Forces does not have 2nd or 1st
Lieutenants anymore, none. You must be a captain to even try to qualify for Special Forces, but then after
qualifying many captains try to do just one tour on an ODA. Not wanting to get stuck in staff jobs, they move on
to other units such as the Rangers or airborne infantry outfits so they can still command troops and see action.
Most of the good lieutenants who want to go to SF when they are promoted are simply kept with the conventional
units where they have served. Worse yet, many young qualified men, like my sons, have no desire to go to
Officers Candidate School (OCS) and become officers, because they cannot even get into Special Forces until
they reach Captain, if they are even then allowed to go to Selection (SF qualification).
SF Warrant Officers can only become Chief Warrant Officers and can only make more money, but they can never
become Captains or higher. They can never command ODA’s or go on to become majors, colonels, and so on. Utilizing
the same theory as the SF warrant program, I strongly suggest changing the process, and experienced Special
Forces NCOs can apply for a direct commission to First Lieutenant if they are a Sergeant First Class(SFC E7) or
higher, and they become an ODA XO, eventually making captain and becoming an ODA commander. Additionally,
experienced Special Forces Staff Sergeants (SSG E6) can apply to become second lieutenants. Or already
commissioned second lieutenants can go through Special Forces qualification and continuous training like I did,
to get them ready to become an A-team XO and eventually CO. This gives young leaders actual incentive. Higher pay
is not an incentive to them; Having an opportunity to advance and take on greater challenge is. This will
attract many more young officers to make a career out of Special Forces and not pursue command time in other
units. It will also, like the current Warrant Officer program, afford Special Forces NCOs who wish greater
advancement but actually keep being promoted to higher rank. Upon direct commission, the new officer will attend
a short UW branch officers course. Current Special Forces Warrant Officers can also apply for commission to
lieutenant and will be given priority.
At a higher command level, when I was in Special Forces, one problem was that senior SF officers had to deal with
being the lowest rank there in command structure in theater during war. For example the head Green Beret in
Vietnam, the 5th Special Forces Group commander, in charge of all A-Camps, special projects, and B and C team
headquarters all over Vietnam was only a full colonel, while affiliated military divisions were being commanded
by brigadier and major generals. I could not believe that still has not changed after all these years. I suggest
that Special Forces Group command structure should change the TO and E (Tables of Organization and Equipment) so
that Group commanding officers will be brigadier generals. Since a Special Forces battalion is much
different than a conventional battalion, SF battalion commanders, under my proposal, will be full colonels,
unlike the rank of lieutenant colonel now.
We are most definitely winning the Global War on Terrorism, and “the surge” has positively shown it is
working much better than ever expected. We have the finest and toughest fighting force in the world, but the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also shown us our weak areas where we can and should significantly improve. If
US military command truly wants to improve, and if congress truly wants to cut costs, I hope someone will
actually read this editorial and give it some thought. These are suggestions, not cast in concrete, but written
in pencil so they can be revised and improved upon.
The problem with my proposal and what faces us, is two-fold: will professional jealousy, Pentagon politics,
and competition between military branches eventually destroy us from within, or will we become smarter than
that and learn it is also okay to shoot from behind trees and rocks, use hit and run tactics, and even let some of
our elite troops color outside the lines.? The second question is: Aside from General Petraeus, do we still
have any flag officers with the guts to think and act against the grain, or have so many of our senior leaders
only developed the courage to speak out against their own chain of command on national politics because of a
promised political position after retirement, then wonder why their own troops will not even follow them to the
mess hall let alone to hell and back?
To me, a true warrior is willing to grow and innovate. The American fighting spirit and initiative that created
Roger’s Rangers, defeated a much stronger, more highly-trained, and much larger army and navy that could
only think and act the way it had previously performed . . . for centuries. It was not just our fighting spirit
and valor, but by actually thinking and acting outside convention, that we became the United States of America
and not South Canada, a proud but subservient British possession.
Don Bendell
"Demise of SF"
Gentlemen, with great despair I continue to read about the conceptual if not all to real demise of SF in the
future. The recent article featured in Military.com clearly shows that the senior leadership of the U.S. Army
as well as USSOCOM have already begun the surgical procedure. How did we get here you might ask? Well to tell
you the truth this is actually a self inflicted wound! We did this to ourselves, as usual. We “hired on” senior
officers and NCO’s who truly weren’t SF, they truly didn’t believe in SF, and were essentially the “wolves in
sheeps clothing” from the Ranger Bns, JSOC and the regular Army who were all to happy to sign on to the “good
deal of the day” back in the early 80’s when the promise of rapid promotion and being in the “happening crowd”
was opened up to them following the slaughterhouse of post Vietnam. Who did we pull in to be our commanders and
command sergeants majors? We all know, they were the shining stars from OUTSIDE SF! Since then we have continued
to do it with the all too heralded fiasco which held out the shingle “the quiet professional”. These same senior
officers must have loved that mantra, not only was SF becoming more conventional all the time, but they were
also duped into believing that keeping their mouths shut about what they were doing and how well they were doing
it was a hallmark of professionalism. The truth is that while we were all keeping our mouths shut, the regular
army was trumpeting at the tops of their lungs, and hanging medals on all their soldiers, while we did what?
I shall tell you what, we did absolutely nothing for our soldiers, we always said, “it’s no big deal, we are
just doing our jobs”, and we already know “we are better than the average regular soldier” and more and more
bullshit like that. After all of our deployments did we take care of our ODA’s, of course not, “we aren’t in
this for the money or medals”, well guess what, the regular army is! So we year after year came home to Green
Ramp, and other places in the middle of the night, greeted by nothing more than chilly darkness and the U.S.
Customs Service, and the monthly piss test, doing total baggage dumps to show what we did and didn’t have,
because everyone knows SF cannot be trusted! During Just Cause in Panama, I personally was proud to have
contributed no less than 6 urine specimens in 8 months, and I was in the BN staff, now please! Did we hang
anything on our soldiers breasts for doing great things? Of course not, because we always thought we were
above that. Panama is a classic example of this, the 3/7th came home months later after all rest, after the
parades, after the awards ceremonies, and “snuck back into Ft. Bragg in the middle of the night”. Why did we
do this to ourselves, why did we cut our own throats so we could expire into history? The answer is easy,
because we were stupid and arrogant enough to allow it to happen. Our Cdr(s) thought it a mark of pride NOT
to award anything to their men, the Bn that truly laid the groundwork for the removal of the Noriega regime
came home virtually unheralded and unnoticed by anyone except our families! This self inflicted wound is why
our NCO’s and Officers went to promotion boards with ARCOMS while their peers from the Rangers and 82d Airborne
went to those same boards displaying Bronze Stars with valor devices and OER’s that actually said great things,
not the “ho-hum” bullshit we were used to writing about ourselves. We practiced the lowest form of
professionalism stupidity given the system we existed in, in our arrogance about believing we were so great,
we wrote our OER/NCOER’s with the sense of “in our own special way, we are just doing special business as usual”.
This is how it has all come to pass, we are victims of our own stupidity and arrogance. So please do not sit
confused and wonder how this has all happened SF, look into the mirror you shave in and admit that all our OWN
officers did this to us! We were so “above all that” and in the process we have kicked our proud legacy to the
proverbial curb! JB in MT
