Glass Ceiling

When Special Forces first were formed, there was no SF branch. Those officers who chose to remain with SF rarely attained a rank grater than field grade before retirement. Furthermore, there seemed to be a disproportionate percentage of Special Forces qualified officers selected by the Reduction –In-Force (RIF) boards. Only a very few officers with the 5G SF identifier became general officers during this time period.

The Special Forces Branch (for officers) was established in 1987 and the restructuring and growth as a result of the Goldwater-Nichols Act opened a few more opportunities for Special Forces officers to become general officers. Still, most opportunities ended at the rank of brigadier general. The exceptions were closely related to the "Direct Action" units along with the perception that it is career enhancing to be serving in "black" units doing "Direct Action" rather than in SF units doing unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense.

In the early years of Special Forces there was a clear understanding that if you stayed in SF units you would hit a glass ceiling at field grade level, provided you lasted that long. The perception today is that the ceiling has moved. The chances that you will be promoted beyond Major General as a Green Beret are slim. Here the defenders of the Army promotion system will point out the number of Special Forces generals in the inventory. That is not surprising for Special Forces constitute the largest force, by several orders of magnitude, in the SOF community.

But that is not the issue. The concern is -- are the Special Forces officers positioned to go beyond Major General and historically what has been the record? Currently, there is only one Special Forces qualified officer at the LTG level and none at the GEN level, even though the Nation is engaged in a long term worldwide unconventional fight (the Long War). Special Forces are the only Army Soldiers specifically selected and trained for unconventional warfare. Accordingly, conventional Army and Joint formations should have a high percentage of senior Special Forces general officers commanding these organizations. History will show that numerous conventional (non-SF) general officers have commanded Special Forces and SOF organizations; however, the reverse has not been true in the past and is not true today. Projections for the immediate future do not look promising.