{"id":24890,"date":"2019-10-15T17:24:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T17:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/15\/us-spec-ops-secrets-could-fall-into-hands-of-russians-and-syrians-in-pullout\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:34:52","slug":"us-spec-ops-secrets-could-fall-into-hands-of-russians-and-syrians-in-pullout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/15\/us-spec-ops-secrets-could-fall-into-hands-of-russians-and-syrians-in-pullout\/","title":{"rendered":"US special operations secrets could fall into hands of Russians and Syrians in pullout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For nearly five years American commandos have served beside Kurdish-led forces as they battled ISIS militants across northern Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now abandoned by their U.S. partners<\/a>, Kurdish fighters in Syria are embracing Russia and Syrian regime forces for help to thwart a Turkish incursion raging across northeastern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new partnership for the Kurdish fighters may be an intelligence bonanza for Russia and Syria as U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have spent years working alongside American commandos gauging tactics, techniques, procedures, equipment, intelligence gathering and even potentially names of operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDF claim the coalition also helped build and train an anti-ISIS commando force<\/a> known as Yekineyen Anti-terror, or YAT. The group, often seen decked out in U.S. night vision, weapons and sensitive optics, is tasked with hunting down ISIS sleeper cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former U.S. military intelligence operator, who spent years working with special operations forces, told Military Times that the potential spillover of sensitive tradecraft or information by the SDF was \u201csuper problematic,” but also a symptom of the lack of a genuine strategy in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In this Sept. 21, 2019, photo, released by the U.S. Army, a U.S. soldier oversees members of the Syrian Democratic Forces as they demolish a Kurdish fighters’ fortification and raise a Tal Abyad Military Council flag over the outpost as part of the so-called “safe zone” near the Turkish border. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Goedl via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A former U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the SDF wouldn\u2019t have \u201cformal\u201d intelligence to share, \u201cbut they\u2019ll have inside knowledge on some individuals, operating procedures or response times for aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. troops have oft described their partner force as competent and loyal, but SDF forces could be coerced into sharing information with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey may be coerced. I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll [SDF] enjoy it, but they may be in survival mode and will need to cut deals with bad actors,\u201d the former defense official said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the issue isn\u2019t any more alarming than when special operations forces deployed to Africa a few decades ago were confronted with changing loyalties of partner forces on the continent, the former military intelligence official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to ask ourselves: \u2018Should we be committing forces to work with a partner nation force without a genuine functional strategy in an area?\u2019\u201d the intelligence official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout a real national strategy for the region we are going to continue to struggle with issues like changing loyalties and exposing our SOF [special operations forces] and conventional forces that partner with other forces to compromise with our near-peer adversaries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retired Marine Maj. Fred Galvin, a former recon and Raider commander who served in Afghanistan, told Military Times that it was \u201ccritical\u201d for special operators to safeguard personally identifiable information as well as tactics, techniques and procedures used on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCompromise of this information places SOF at great risk and removes their focus on the mission if they know the enemy can target their family at home,\u201d Galvin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, special operations forces may work with partner forces using fake names, especially if there is an insider threat, Galvin explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSOF has tried to mitigate it, they always do \u2014 it\u2019s just that we\u2019ve never had a force completely defect to an opposition like this before,\u201d the former defense official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SDF\u2019s loyalties shifted dramatically Sunday as the Pentagon announced it was removing the remaining U.S. forces out of northern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\t