{"id":67525,"date":"2021-04-30T21:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T21:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/30\/as-counterterror-missions-fade-special-operations-finds-time-to-fix-its-own-problems\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:50:26","slug":"as-counterterror-missions-fade-special-operations-finds-time-to-fix-its-own-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/30\/as-counterterror-missions-fade-special-operations-finds-time-to-fix-its-own-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"As counterterror missions fade, special operations finds time to fix its own problems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sea change is coming to special operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 20 years of relentless combat operations, organizations are taking a hard look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/12\/15\/the-use-of-us-special-operation-forces-in-great-power-competition-imposing-costs-on-adversarial-gray-zone-operations\/\" target=_blank>their mission sets<\/a>, who is in the formations and how the job treats them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Special Operations Command has openly discussed its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/10\/02\/special-operations-forces-must-look-and-fight-differently-for-future-conflicts\/\" target=_blank>imminent shift from counter-terror to near-peer competition<\/a> in recent years, but at the same time, another major shift is underway in the military writ large: a new focus on attracting and retaining women in every career field, a renewed focus on preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment, and the first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/04\/09\/a-dod-definition-of-domestic-extremism-is-on-its-way\/\" target=_blank>department-wide efforts to crack down on extremism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI present our update to the American people with humility,\u201d Rear Adm. Hugh Howard, the head of Naval Special Warfare Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. \u201cHumility, sharpened in combat losses, mission failures and imperfection. Humility that drives our sense of urgency to learn, to evolve, to come back stronger and even more committed to the missions our nation asks of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Howard\u2019s testimony came the same day his command unveiled a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/04\/28\/navy-seals-to-shift-from-counterterrorism-to-global-threats\/\" target=_blank>new plan for structuring SEAL units<\/a>, decreasing the number of platoons and making those remaining larger, as well as an intensive new screening process designed to select for higher-quality leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are implementing innovative approaches to directly reach candidates that might not think of joining our team, and how our candidates solve their first problems in the Navy, alongside a diverse cohort to authentically build mutual understanding, empathy, and respect,\u201d Howard said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SEAL community has been under an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/03\/13\/spec-ops-in-trouble-mired-in-scandal-and-under-pentagon-review-what-will-it-take-to-clean-house\/\" target=_blank> intense spotlight<\/a> in recent years, as the war-crimes trial of retired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/04\/22\/what-motivated-fellow-seals-to-dime-out-eddie-gallagher\/\" target=_blank>Chief Special Warfare Operation Eddie Gallagher<\/a> dominated headlines, alongside scandals involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/07\/22\/internal-report-exposes-cocaine-abuse-lax-testing-inside-seal-team-10\/\" target=_blank>drugs<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/08\/21\/former-sailor-details-misconduct-by-seals-pulled-from-iraq\/\" target=_blank>sexual assault.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those incidents, as well as others involving Army Green Berets and Marine Raiders, prompted an internal SOCOM review that found leadership lacking in an organization obsessed with combat deployments above everything else, at times hamstrung by its own hubris.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/01\/28\/special-operations-has-an-entitlement-problem-heres-how-they-intend-to-fix-it\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1000w_q95-61.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Special operations has an entitlement problem. Here\u2019s how they intend to fix it.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Special operators are too obsessed with deploying, according to an internal review, and it&#039;s feeding misconduct.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each of the services\u2019 special operations commands is taking some time to assess the state of things 20 years into the Global War on Terror, as their troops prepare for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a lot of lessons learned, especially about how to select special operators and how to keep them both mentally and physically healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd we\u2019re looking at this from a tangential view, the entire career of a special operator, from initial baselining in our assessment and selection programs, also from a neurocognitive perspective, through 20 years-plus in service in special operations,\u201d Lt. Gen. Fran Beaudette, head of Army Special Operations Command, told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That includes not only tracking how troops fare in a special operations career overall, but how their experiences change them. Researchers and military leadership suspect that decades of training for combat, not to mention combat itself, can cause small injuries that pile up over time and change behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/12\/12\/could-mild-brain-injuries-be-affecting-good-order-and-discipline-the-pentagon-wants-to-find-out\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/marine-carl-gustaf.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Could mild brain injuries be affecting good order and discipline? The Pentagon wants to find out.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon is studying how blast exposure affects service members&#039; health.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preservation of the Force and Family, a SOCOM program that specifically focuses on those effects of serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe next ridge line to us looks like more research, more partnership with academia for comprehensive brain health,\u201d Beaudette said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, five years after the services lifted bans on women serving in some of the most direct-combat jobs, USASOC is looking at how to bring more of them in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo to that end, we instituted a \u2018Women in SOF \u2018survey,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had over 5000 respondents recently, over 1000 of whom were women. We are learning a tremendous amount about what we can do better to support them in their efforts in our formation. But in addition, in something that was particularly important to me, over 70 perfect of the total number of respondents would recommend a career in special operations for their daughters. So where we can remove barriers as they exist, where we can present what life in our formations looks like \u2015 we want you. You have an opportunity to serve and to flourish in our formations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/07\/09\/a-woman-became-a-green-beret-today-a-huge-milestone-for-the-army-and-the-military-but-she-isnt-the-first-female-to-earn-the-title\/\" target=_blank>One woman to date<\/a> has earned a Special Forces tab, while a small handful have served in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Most of the women in Army special operations either serve in Special Forces support roles or as part of civil affairs or psychological operations, units that sit under the USASOC umbrella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attracting more women to those jobs will include tackling some of the issues the military in general looks at when it comes to recruiting and retaining women, including co-locating dual-military couples, time to physically recover after child birth and the ability to continue to advance in a career while balancing parenting, often with a spouse who is also serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of the last six months listening very, very closely to our women\u2019s special operators, and we take a tremendous amount of pride in the contributions that they\u2019ve made for the nation,\u201d Beaudette said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those efforts are part of a larger SOCOM-wide plan to increase diversity and inclusion, in line with messaging from the services and the Defense Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/03\/31\/socom-is-committing-itself-to-attracting-more-women-and-people-of-color\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21084566506408.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">SOCOM is committing itself to attracting more women and people of color<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Special operations wants to diversify its ranks, but it will first have to figure out how to do that.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These initiatives come as the SOF community is recalibrating itself in general, hinting that perhaps its next act won\u2019t be dominated by back-to-back deployments to the detriment of everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once seen as a specialized kind of support to conventional forces, special operators were given countless responsibilities and resources throughout the Global War on Terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOver the last 20 years, in many ways, we have become a supported force,\u201d Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, told lawmakers. \u201cBut I think as we look towards the future, much of our value proposition will be as a supporting force to the broader joint force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The special operations community is giving itself a once-over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3301],"class_list":["post-67525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SJW3LX754ZEV7LKUTTSMK5S72M","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2021\/04\/30\/as-counterterror-missions-fade-special-operations-finds-time-to-fix-its-own-problems\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>As counterterror missions fade, special operations finds time to fix its own problems - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The special operations community is giving itself a once-over.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As counterterror missions fade, special operations finds time to fix its own problems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The special operations community is giving itself a once-over.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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