{"id":47101,"date":"2019-10-24T20:51:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T20:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/24\/jsoc-deputy-tapped-to-lead-division-level-1st-special-forces-command-during-modernization-period\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:51:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:51:50","slug":"jsoc-deputy-tapped-to-lead-division-level-1st-special-forces-command-during-modernization-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/10\/24\/jsoc-deputy-tapped-to-lead-division-level-1st-special-forces-command-during-modernization-period\/","title":{"rendered":"JSOC deputy tapped to lead division-level 1st Special Forces Command during modernization period"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The general serving as the number two for the secretive Joint Special Operations Command<\/a> will be moving to lead the Army\u2019s division-level 1st Special Forces Command, the service\u2019s chief of staff<\/a> announced Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maj. Gen. John W. Brennan Jr. will now have oversight of seven Special Forces groups<\/a>, two psychological operations groups, a civil affairs brigade and a sustainment brigade on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The command totals more than 22,000 personnel, with troops stationed and deployed in more than 70 countries, according to the overarching Army Special Operations Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brennan was only tapped to serve as JSOC\u2019s deputy commander, also located on Fort Bragg, in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to that, he served as deputy commanding general for operations at the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 2018, Brennan also led NATO\u2019s Resolute Support forces in eastern Afghanistan during a push against that country\u2019s Islamic State offshoot in Nangarhar province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brennan will be taking over the division-level command during a somewhat transformative period for the Army\u2019s Green Berets. Training for the coveted career field was revamped this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The departing leader of 1st Special Forces Command, Maj. Gen. E. John Deedrick Jr., told The Associated Press <\/a>that he wanted soldiers to come out of the grueling Special Forces Qualification Course with a better foundation of basic skills that can be sharpened at Group, rather than a \u201cSwiss Army knife that can do a little bit of everything but isn\u2019t real good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sentiment was echoed in an Army Special Operations Command strategy released in mid-October<\/a>. The document details how special operations soldiers must \u201cget back to the basics,\u201d which include comprehensive fitness, battlefield maneuvering, land navigation and weapons expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
ADVISOR PLATFORM LIGHTNING, Afghanistan (June 2, 2018) \u2013 Australian Army Lt. Col Simon Croft, Kabul Garrison Command-Advisor Team Operations Advisor, shakes hands with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Brennan, the Train, Advise, Assist Command-East commander, following a Tri-TAAC meeting June 2 at Advisor Platform Lightning to discuss ways the three commands can work together to help protect Kabul. The commanders and their staffs discussed ways to train, advise, and assist their Afghan National Defense Security Force partners to better secure key routes into Kabul. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Matt Fontaine, Task Force Southeast Public Affairs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also means decreasing soldiers\u2019 reliance on command and control systems that will inevitably be jammed or spoofed during a war with a peer adversary, and instead to increase focus on aspects of war like the information environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emerging focus on war with peer adversaries has also necessitated a shift in how the Army\u2019s special operations troops work abroad. Green Berets, many of whom joined the force during the Global War on Terror, are renewing their focus on training partner forces on the periphery of Russia and China<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile ARSOF must modernize to survive and thrive on the increasingly lethal multi-domain battlefields of Europe and Asia, we will remain engaged in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America \u2014 regions that provide access to adversary weakness and opportunity for strategic competition,\u201d the strategy document reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\t