HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

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also top priorities. During his tenure, the command submitted fully-supported budgets based on SOF mission requirements. General Stiner also succeeded in convincing the Secretary of Defense to designate Psychological Operations (PSYOP) and Civil Affairs (CA) as SOF. During Stiner’s tenure, USSOCOM supported a number of operations worldwide, most notably DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, PROVIDE COM- FORT, PROVIDE RELIEF, and RESTORE HOPE. SOF OPTEMPO, accordingly, rose 35 percent during this time. On 20 May 1993, General Wayne A. Downing became the third CINCSOC. He brought unique qualifications to the position, having previously been a director of the USSOCOM Washington Office and commander of both the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The main challenges of his tenure were to continue the revitalization of SOF and to prepare the SOF community for the twenty-first century. To these ends, General Downing streamlined the acquisition of SOF-specific equipment, increased the command’s focus on its “customers,” and realigned SOF budget requirements with the reduced Defense Department budgets. He instituted changes in how resources were allocated for the future that resulted in a strategic planning process that promised to put the command’s budget to best use. During his watch, the SOF OPTEMPO again increased. SOF participated in Operations UNOSOM II (Somalia), SUPPORT and UPHOLD DEMOC- RACY (Haiti), and JOINT ENDEAVOR (Bosnia- Herzegovina), as well as many smaller contingencies and deployments. During his 21 months as CINCSOC, General Henry H. Shelton successfully guided the command through a time of extraordinary worldwide demand for SOF support, and a time of constrained resources. From 1992-1997, the USSO- COM budget shrank by more than six percent in constant 1997 dollars. At the same time, the number of SOF operations (OPTEMPO) increased by more than 51 percent and personnel deployments increased 127 percent. In 1996 alone, SOF were deployed to a total of 142 countries, and engaged in 120 counterdrug (CD) missions, 12 demining training missions, and 204 Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercises, among other activities. Under General Shelton, SOF’s largest operational commitment was to Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR/JOINT GUARD, the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. In addition, special operators assisted in noncombatant evacuations (NEOs) from crises in Liberia (Operation ASSURED RESPONSE), Sierra Leone (Operation NOBLE OBELISK), and Albania (Operation SILVER WAKE). As a way to improve the deployment process, the command developed “force module packages” that pre-configured what forces and operating supplies would be needed for a variety of missions, cutting back on preparation time while still offering the correct force mix. Due to intense mission taskings, several SOF personnel specialties were labeled “low density/high demand assets.” Concerned about General Wayne A. Downing, USCINCSOC 1993-1996 9 General Henry H. Shelton, USCINCSOC 1996-1997
the impact on its people, the command carefully reviewed requests for these personnel and tracked their rate of deployment to prevent overuse. On 5 November 1997, General Peter J. Schoomaker assumed command of USSOCOM, and like General Downing, he brought a wealth of experience in special operations. In addition to commanding SOF tactical units, he served as commander of both JSOC and USASOC. Like his predecessors, he faced unique challenges as the command prepared for the twenty-first century. General Schoomaker’s top priority was to prepare the SOF community for change in order to remain relevant to national security requirements. To that end, he initiated or accelerated numerous projects, to include the headquarters reorganization; planning, programming and acquisition enhancements; and integrating the components into one resourcing and acquisition team. During his tenure, SOF participated in the transition from JOINT GUARD to JOINT FORGE in Bosnia-Herzegovina, DESERT THUNDER in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (to thwart Saddam Hussein’s attempt to restrict United Nations (UN) inspectors’ freedom of movement), and numerous contingencies and peacetime engagements. SOF also played crucial roles in ALLIED FORCE, the operation that forced Serbian forces out of Kosovo, and JOINT GUARDIAN, which enforced the Kosovo peace agreement. General Charles R. Holland assumed command of USSOCOM on 27 October 2000, having served as the vice commander of United States Air Force (USAF) in Europe. As Commander USSOCOM, he anticipated “staying the course,” to implement changes made by previous commanders and to continue SOF’s key roles in operations around the world. He emphasized that SOF had to address the seams and friction points with the services that had caused operational difficulties. For example, he instructed Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) to continue working with the Air Force to resolve differences observed in the Air War over Serbia. But, 9/11 would completely reorder both USSOCOM and General Holland’s priorities. “On September 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars— but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war—but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks— but never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day—and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.” President George W. Bush 20 September 2001 Following the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11, President Bush told the nation that “every necessary weapon of war” would be used to disrupt and defeat the global terror network. He cautioned that this war would entail a lengthy General Peter J. Schoomaker USCINCSOC 1997-2000 10 General Charles R. Holland, USCINCSOC 2000-2003
Page 1 and 2: HISTORY 6th Edition
Page 3 and 4: 1968 - The future home of U.S. Stri
Page 5 and 6: General James J. Lindsay accepting
Page 7 and 8: Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA) Senator Wil
Page 9: USSOCOM Commanders There have been
Page 13 and 14: Mission and Organization USSOCOM’
Page 15 and 16: Logistics (SOAL). Finally, the Chie
Page 17 and 18: During the review process for the 2
Page 19 and 20: HQ USSOCOM Organization Chart 2006
Page 21 and 22: greatly improved the command’s ab
Page 23 and 24: (7) JMISC continued to provide PSYO
Page 25 and 26: USSOCOM’s MFP-11. By FY 2006, the
Page 27 and 28: forming its acquisition functions a
Page 29 and 30: nature were key goals in addition t
Page 31 and 32: COMMANDER’S TOP PRIORITIES FOR FY
Page 33 and 34: President George W. Bush signed the
Page 35 and 36: Iran Ajr, caught laying mines, was
Page 37 and 38: The invasion of Panama, known as Op
Page 39 and 40: Capturing Torrijos/Tocumen was cruc
Page 41 and 42: ful seizure of the Torrijos/Tocumen
Page 43 and 44: second pass, one pilot saw movement
Page 45 and 46: Harbor by having SEALs place demoli
Page 47 and 48: BLACK elements returned to Albrook
Page 49 and 50: Noriega’s Surrender: After his ap
Page 51 and 52: joint training with NSWTG small boa
Page 53 and 54: Special Tactics Teams train during
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Page 57 and 58: SCUD hunting patrol in western Iraq
Page 59 and 60: In January 1981, the FMLN (Farabund
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HOPE. On 12 January 1993, a Special
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missions into Mogadishu, all of whi
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Haiti had endured unremitting polit
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of Haiti. These themes stressed nat
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In the early 1990s, rival ethnic st
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what they had done for JOINT ENDEAV
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Kosovo Operation ALLIED FORCE NATO
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Peace Operations and Crisis Respons
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In conjunction with the UN, the Org
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Special Forces soldiers train Niger
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Operation SILVER ANVIL Noncombatant
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second patrol coastal vessel, USS F
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Operation FIRM RESPONSE, ESAT vehic
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In Phase II, the relief phase, CA s
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No other international donor has ma
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flooded and damaged areas, signific
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government, so the “lead agency
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Objective Rhino, a desert landing s
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ather than target coordinates into
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would prove adequate to both assaul
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100 Despite what, in retrospect, ma
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coalition forces continued to searc
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the valley. Takur Ghar was a perfec
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inside the helicopter and began tre
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not designed to form a JSOTF. DAGGE
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Special Forces began training the A
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During 2003, however, Afghanistan s
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east of the city of Khowst. While b
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Operation RED WINGS LT Michael P. M
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their combat operations in southern
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Force (SOTF) 71 was CJSOTF’s batt
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Civil Affairs (CA) augmentation. Th
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line demarcating the KAZ, SOF and P
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TEXACO) and metering and manifold s
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accordance with his importance, Sad
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Saddam’s regime, terrorists, and
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with Iraqi police units. SOF have c
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increasing security in Iraq. The ER
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“extra-judicial killings” condu
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Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Trans-Sa
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Training in Yemen In December 2005,
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esulting operation known as Balikat
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that template, SOCPAC deployed one
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CTJTF..Counterterrorist Joint Task
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Command, Central SOCEUR....Special
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AQIZ: 134, 135 Al Qaim: 127, 136 Al
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Guatemala: 75 H Haditha: 127, 129 H
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47, 48 Northern Alliance: 91, 92, 9
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United Arab Emirates: 73, 118, 119,
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HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command

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