HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command
HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command
HQ$History - United States Special Operations Command
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make a promise, we<br />
deliver.” With SOF<br />
in high demand,<br />
Holland directed<br />
USSOCOM to<br />
secure approval for<br />
transferring some<br />
missions (like training<br />
the Georgian<br />
armed forces) to<br />
conventional forces.<br />
USSOCOM reoriented<br />
its priorities<br />
and efforts to focus<br />
on the GWOT. The<br />
command created a<br />
joint interagency<br />
collaboration center,<br />
MH-53 flying near the World Trade Center site on 11 September 2001.<br />
a counterterrorism<br />
campaign, unlike any previous war. Indeed, a planning group, and supported the counterterrorism<br />
sea change would occur because the 9/11 terrorist<br />
attacks forced a reevaluation of U.S. national<br />
military strategy, with a focus on combatting<br />
missions and activities of the other uni-<br />
fied commands.<br />
In 2003, General Holland provided SOF for<br />
terrorism worldwide. This reevaluation would Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF), the largest<br />
lead to the greatest changes in USSOCOM’s SOF deployment since the Vietnam War.<br />
mission and force structure since its inception.<br />
On the battlefields and by other means around<br />
the world, SOF countered terrorism and took on<br />
even greater relevance, becoming the cornerstone<br />
of the U.S. military response to terrorism.<br />
Immediately after 9/11, General Holland and<br />
USSOCOM provided SOF to the geographic<br />
During his three years as <strong>Command</strong>er (CDR)<br />
USSOCOM, General Holland presided over SOF<br />
taking on a much larger role in U.S. defense<br />
planning, operations, and FID than it had in<br />
2000. The Joint <strong>Special</strong> <strong>Operations</strong> Task Force-<br />
Philippines (JSOTF-P) countered the al Qaedaaffiliated<br />
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) by training<br />
combatant commands (GCCs) in the fight with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).<br />
against terrorism, especially <strong>Special</strong> <strong>Operations</strong> SOF assisted in the overthrow of the Taliban<br />
<strong>Command</strong>, Central (SOCCENT) and U.S. government in Afghanistan and played a prominent<br />
Central <strong>Command</strong> (USCENTCOM) for<br />
role in OIF. Thus, USSOCOM during<br />
Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) in General Holland’s tenure made significant contributions<br />
Afghanistan. Support to <strong>Special</strong> <strong>Operations</strong><br />
to the GWOT and set the stage for sig-<br />
<strong>Command</strong>, Pacific (SOCPAC) and U.S. Pacific<br />
<strong>Command</strong> (USPACOM) soon followed as SOF<br />
provided assistance in the form of foreign internal<br />
defense (FID)—training Filipino forces and<br />
providing civil and medical assistance.<br />
nificant new authorities that would give USSO-<br />
COM the lead for planning in the war on terrorism.<br />
After having served as Deputy <strong>Command</strong>er<br />
for a year, General Brown assumed command of<br />
General Holland cited the SOF successes in USSOCOM on 2 September 2003. During his<br />
OEF to illustrate the quality of SOF personnel.<br />
For example, he recognized the crucial role SOF<br />
had in the overthrow of the Taliban government<br />
by affirming that “our people make a difference.”<br />
He also noted that the GCCs had requested<br />
tenure, USSOCOM continued to focus its priorities<br />
and resources on prosecuting the GWOT,<br />
and the command secured approval of new<br />
authorities and missions that would fundamentally<br />
alter how it addressed worldwide terrorism.<br />
more SOF because of their professionalism and<br />
General Brown pushed the command to<br />
specialized skills, and he concluded, “When we shed missions that conventional forces could<br />
11