{"id":48201,"date":"2025-05-06T15:55:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:24:21","slug":"hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TAMPA, Fla. \u2013 The secretary of defense championed special operations forces as a key leader in the Pentagon\u2019s priorities of maintaining high standards and meeting threats with asymmetric <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/02\/10\/socom-wants-new-helmet-goggle-mount-and-oxygen-generating-device\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2025\/02\/10\/socom-wants-new-helmet-goggle-mount-and-oxygen-generating-device\/\">tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2024\/11\/27\/socom-must-improve-high-risk-training-oversight-report-says\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2024\/11\/27\/socom-must-improve-high-risk-training-oversight-report-says\/\">Special Operations <\/a>have never been more important in our country,\u201d Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the annual Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Force Week in Tampa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth noted that over the past three years SOF-specific missions have risen by 200%. And over the past six months, SOF units have killed 500 enemy combatants and captured another 600 in operations throughout the globe, Hegseth said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That increase was coupled with a 35% surge in deterrence support that has been requested of SOF units and Special Operations Command.<\/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\/2024\/11\/27\/socom-must-improve-high-risk-training-oversight-report-says\/\" 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\/parachutists.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 must improve high-risk training oversight, report says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Parachute and combat dive training incidents account for the bulk of special operations training mishaps.<\/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\">The head of that command, Gen. Bryan Fenton, echoed his boss\u2019 comments, stressing the asymmetrical nature of what the force does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re the scalpel, but if the time comes we can bring the hammer,\u201d Fenton said. \u201cWe\u2019re tailor-made for this era &#8230; where asymmetry matters more than it ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those advantages will wither, however, without the right technology \u2014 part of the pitch for this conference connecting industry entities with special operations planners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can\u2019t and we won\u2019t fight today\u2019s opponents at yesterday\u2019s pace,\u201d Hegseth said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means rapid adaptation and evolving capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense secretary called rapid fielding, innovation and feedback critical for SOF success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fenton noted that adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist organizations are \u201cfusing\u201d their efforts to work collaboratively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four-star said that with the increase in missions also comes more challenges as an ever-growing portion of the areas in which they operate are contested by adversary systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fenton pointed to Sonic Spear, an exercise conducted in April that merged communications, virtual constructions and live training. The exercise tested SOCOM\u2019s ability to host and synchronize all the way from the seabed to low-Earth orbit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts analyzed how SOCOM contributes to the joint force\u2019s ability to sense and strike targets across various spectrums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSonic Spear 25 is our first go at this,\u201d Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan, SOCOM vice commander, <a href=\"https:\/\/defensescoop.com\/2025\/02\/27\/socom-sonic-spear-exercise-inform-sof-multi-domain-task-force\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/defensescoop.com\/2025\/02\/27\/socom-sonic-spear-exercise-inform-sof-multi-domain-task-force\/\">told Defense Scoop<\/a> at a National Defense Industrial Association event in February. \u201cLet\u2019s push our autonomous investments, some other investments we\u2019re making. &#8230; What do our forward forces need to be able to control ourselves, control our robots and then link in with the joint force?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aim now is to create an O-6 level multidomain special operation task force. The Army has created similar units known as Multi-Domain Task Forces, two for the Pacific theater and one designated for Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Real world scenarios, meanwhile, are showing the need for change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we\u2019ve learned anything from our partners in Ukraine, you innovate in minutes, days and weeks, not years and decades,\u201d Fenton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":109756,"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":30,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[14,154,30],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3481],"class_list":["post-48201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-land","category-sofic","category-smr"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CMFPSO2HIJCHPD6VWE6EYT73OM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/","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>Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.\" \/>\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=\"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd South\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd South\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 470,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Land\",\n\t                \"SOF Week\",\n\t                \"Special Multimedia Reports\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/06\\\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Special Multimedia Reports\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/smr\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"smr\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats - Defense News","description":"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats","og_description":"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00","author":"Todd South","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd South","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats","datePublished":"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/"},"wordCount":470,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg","articleSection":["Land","SOF Week","Special Multimedia Reports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/","name":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-06T15:55:26+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T16:24:21+00:00","description":"There has been a 200% increase in SOF missions over the past three years, the defense secretary said.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/2025\/05\/06\/hegseth-champions-special-operations-as-the-force-for-todays-threats\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Special Multimedia Reports","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/","ad_zone":"smr"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today\u2019s threats"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hegseth.jpg_62329b.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48204,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48201\/revisions\/48204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48201"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=48201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}