SOF Truths

[Armymedic]

SOF Truths (or Consequences)

- Humans are more important than Hardware.
- Quality is better than Quantity.
- Special Operations Forces cannot be mass produced.
- Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be created after emergencies occur.

 

[Greymatters]

Hmmm... I was interested in the title, but I (and probably others) am not sure where you want to go with this one.  Are you looking for more truths?

 

[Greymatters]

No, SMMT is just listing the "Truths about SOF", why though indeed? Just to spark discussion?

Well if thats the case, then I agree with #1, 2, and 3, but disagree with #4.  Most competent SOF forces are created after they were first needed, usually in response to the realization that existing capabilities arent enough, and will be needed again in the future...

 

[Michael OLeary]

Well if thats the case, then I agree with #1, 2, and 3, but disagree with #4.  Most competent SOF forces are created after they were first needed, usually in response to the realization that existing capabilities arent enough, and will be needed again in the future...

I believe the inference being made is:

Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be created after emergencies occur in time to repond to those emergencies.

 

[Greymatters]

Now it is... 

 

[HItorMiss]

I'm not getting it, the saying is found on Posters ok so whats the big deal?

 

[The_Falcon]

I first saw it (or something similar) in Tom Clancy's non-fiction book on the US Army Special Forces.

 

[Rhibwolf]

The are just that: SOF Truths.  They are used by many SOF units, and yes, they can be found in literature, posters, etc. If you are looking for a question from these truths, here is one:
Although use of the term SOF is a relatively recent thing, SOF itself is not. 
I recently read a book called From Troy to Entebbe: Special Operations in Ancient and Modern Times.
Question: Could you take the 4 SOF truths and apply them in any of the preceeding centuries?  I.e. were the truths as valid to the Trojans, or Spartans, etc, as they are to modern SOF units?

 

[Dark Chivalry]

Could it not be suggested however, that SOF are a response to a change in warfare?

Take for example, a trebuchet, or the Roman phalanx.  The trebuchet was a response to enemies building walls too high and thick for archers to shoot over, or with any effectiveness.  The phalanx was built around the idea that having lines of soldiers run at each other with swords and shields was not quite as effective as long spears to keep enemies at a distance, but still within your killing range.

SOF could be interpreted as new ideas, as war changes in nature.  Automatic weapons and trenches weren't always the norm, just as airborne regiments weren't either.  Some ideas don't work, others do, and the regular force adopts the most successful methods.

Could SOF be thought of as the practical application of R&D?  The RF represents what war is, SO represents what war will become, perhaps?

 

[Blakey]

It may helpful to read the whole article. 

Captain Dick Couch, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)
Proceedings, January 2005

If Special Operations Forces—like this U.S. Navy SEAL advancing on a suspected al Qaeda/Taliban location in Afghanistan—are to remain the lead in the war on terror and win, the Department of Defense must address three issues: retention, command and control, and intelligence collection.

Special Operations Forces. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has tapped this organization to take the lead in the war on terror. It appears certain they will remain in the middle of this fight in the years to come. But who are these guys? What can they do, and are they being used in this war to best advantage? Can they run bin Laden and al Zarqawi to ground and protect us from another 11 September-style strike?

When most Americans think of Special Operations Forces (SOF), they see men with blackened faces silently gliding in by parachute at night or emerging from a dark body of water, steely eyed and ready to strike. While our SOF warriors have all this derring-do and more and are being pressed forward to the front line in this current conflict, they are one of the least understood components of our armed forces.

More here

 

[Greymatters]

Good article even if a bit old...

 

[Towards_the_gap]

SOF Myths would be much more interesting......

 

[Haggis]

SOF Myths would be much more interesting......

Like these?

 

[Towards_the_gap]

Errm no was thinking more along the lines of...


This

Or more specifically

 

[Greymatters]

Its certainly a lot funnier to read - kudos to the writer...

 

[Zeptorem]

Its certainly a lot funnier to read - kudos to the writer...

Heh...

Being a pretty old special forces group, it's funny hearing the kind of attitude Brits have toward them whenever I go visit family in england. They're like the SEALs in the US, or Chuck Norris on the Internet. Exaggerated worship all around.

'Course, none of those guys have anything on the Department of Energy's Office of Secure Transportation. These are what SEALs want to be when they grow up; real 120% CAPSLOCK ALL THE TIME HELL YEAH HARDCORE kind of guys. They have to be—it's their job to guard nuclear weapons and reactor fuel. I saw them through a bit of chain link fence when in the States. I was looking at the Columbia Generating Station in Washington State (anything nuclear's a bit of a hobby and interest of mine, so I stopped to take a look at it), and saw the plainclothes manbeasts with HK21s and Colt Commandos standing around looking badass (PROTIP: These guys get a bit antsy if you gawk at their gear too long).

Apparently they need a college degree minimum, a master's preferred, top secret clearance, amazing physical shape, perfect uncorrected 20/20 vision... just to be considered, and they do some pretty intense training.

And nobody knows about them; that's how good they are.

 

[Michael OLeary]

And nobody knows about them; that's how good they are.

And like every other secret organization, they're readily found on Wikipedia.

Office of Secure Transportation

 

[Zeptorem]

And like every other secret organization, they're readily found on Wikipedia.

Office of Secure Transportation

My point is not that they're completely unknown or "secret" in any way, but that they're overshadowed by more heavily-depicted and "famous" organizations, like the FBI, or SAS, or Delta, or whatever.