{"id":25155,"date":"2021-12-30T15:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T15:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/30\/army-sof-to-continue-work-in-pacific-eastern-europe-in-2022\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:26:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:26:37","slug":"army-sof-to-continue-work-in-pacific-eastern-europe-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2021\/12\/30\/army-sof-to-continue-work-in-pacific-eastern-europe-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Army SOF to continue work in Pacific, Eastern Europe in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even as tensions rise across the world, 2022 will find the Army\u2019s top troops at work in Eastern Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of their work in the Pacific is centered around preparing partner forces for potential conflict with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world learned in October that small numbers of Special Forces troops have been training Taiwan\u2019s security forces for more than a decade<\/a>, in addition to their other work across the region. The Army\u2019s 1st Special Forces Group also maintains a forward-deployed battalion on Okinawa, which is just over 400 miles away from Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur allies and partners here in the [Pacific] are in this conflict space [with China] right now,\u201d said Lt. Col. Erik Davis, the battalion\u2019s former commander, in a podcast. \u201cThey\u2019re having to assert their sovereignty and reassert their sovereignty as China pushes everywhere it can in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special operations planners in the Pacific are also looking at whether they can implement portions of the Resistance Operating Concept in 2022 and beyond. The ROC is a framework for building up the capacity of friendly countries to mount an effective civil and military resistance if they were to face invasion and occupation from a hostile great power. It incorporates Special Forces, psychological operations and civil affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\t