The RAND Corporation has published an interesting report entitled Strategic Disruption by Special Operations Forces. This report answers two questions:

• What are the mechanisims through which disruption campaigns by military forces can enable friendly strategic outcomes short of war?
• What is the role for special operations forces in such campaigns?

The authors of the report have developed a new concept for strategic disruption by special operations forces. It involves proactive campaigns to delay, degrade, or deny an adversary’s ability to achieve core interests through its preferred strategies. The report outlines five unique pillars that can create the time, space, and opportunities needed for the U.S. to achieve strategic objectives. It uses historical cases to buttress the report’s findings.

Table of Contents:

• Chapter One. Introducing Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Two. Defining Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Three. The Value Proposition of SOF in Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Four. The Resist Pillar of Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Five. The Support Pillar of Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Six. The Influence Pillar of Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Seven. The Understand Pillar of Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Eight. The Target Pillar of Strategic Disruption
• Chapter Nine. Future Strategic Disruption in Cyberspace
• Chapter Ten. Findings and Implications for Future SOF
• Appendix A. List of Historical Strategic Disruption Campaigns

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Strategic Disruption by Special Operations Forces, RAND Corporation, November 2023, PDF, 109 pages. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1794-1.html

Photo by Sgt. Patrik Orcutt, DoD.

The U.S. Army has announced the new Army Arctic strategy. On March 16, 2021 it released a document entitled Regaining Arctic Dominance. The strategy outlines how the Army will generate, train, organize, and equip its forces to secure U.S. national interests and maintain regional stability. The Arctic region is gaining a lot of attention from several nations – to include Russia and China.

The Arctic is an important region that contains natural resources, key shipping lanes, is key to protecting the homeland, and is a platform for projecting global power. The region encompasses activities to include resource extraction, trade, shipping, scientific operations and expeditions, and national defense.

The Army needs to be able to project forces into the Arctic region so it can respond in competition, crisis, and / or conflict situations. The region is vast and is an area where air and naval travel is critical because of the harsh environment and logistical challenges.

The Arctic Region. There are eight nations that border on the Arctic region. These are the United States (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark (Greenland). The United States has strong defense relationships with six of the seven other Arctic nations. The diminishment of the Arctic sea ice has prompted many of these nations to take a renewed interest in the Arctic – especially with the increased human activity that the melting ice cap has allowed. With climate change access to rich natural resources has improved – especially for oil deposits, rare earth minerals, and fishing grounds. The two seasonal waterways, the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage, are experiencing increased navigation due to the receding polar ice pack. This is also raising the possibility of future sovereignty and shipping disputes among the countries bordering the Arctic Ocean.

Competition in the Arctic. In this era of great power competition the U.S. is being confronted by both Russia and China in many areas of the world – and this includes the Arctic region. The recent activities of Russia and China in the past several years in the Arctic have been increasingly concerning. Both nations are seeking to use military, diplomatic, and economic power to gain greater access to the region – at the expense of United States interests. A troubling concern is the effort by both nations to announce ever-increasing claims on northern territories and waterways. Equally troubling is the apparent attempts by both Russia and China to de-legitimize the sovereignty of territories and dis-establishing the ‘rules-based order’ currently in place.

Key Waterways. There have always been shipping lanes used for military and commercial vessels in this region. With climate change, the sea lanes in the Arctic are becoming open for longer periods of time and new sea lanes are becoming available. The waterways of the Arctic are important from an economic standpoint. China can significantly reduce travel time for shipping by using the Arctic instead of transiting the Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Suez Canal. From a military standpoint the United States and Russia can move naval ships between two primary theaters of engagement – the Indo-Pacific and Europe. This northern waterway route is becoming more important as an avenue for great power competition and aggression.

Russia. Russia is re-establishing some of its military capabilities and increasing its exploration for natural resources. It has increased its military presence to include conducting military exercises and establishing new military bases. It recently conducted a series of parachute jumps in the region with its special operations forces. Many national security observers believe that Russia maintains the largest military presence above the Arctic Circle. Russia has increased its attempts to constrain freedom of navigation (maritime traffic) and overflights of aircraft in violation of international law.

China. China is increasing its presence to ensure that it has access to key shipping lanes and natural resources. The use of the ‘northern shipping route’ ties into its ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. It also is attempting to inject itself into the ‘governing’ of the Arctic region; upsetting the current regime of ‘rules’ that currently govern the Arctic region. China is advancing its claim to the Arctic with the notion that it is a “Near Arctic State”. It currently is a member of the Arctic Council Observers States along with twelve other non-Arctic states. The Arctic Council, created in 1996, is the leading international forum for addressing issues relating to the Arctic. China has conducted a range of economic and research activities that are likely tied to strengthening the country’s military capabilities in the Arctic Ocean and region in the future. It is currently embarked on an effort to design and build a nuclear-powered science icebreaker.

Photo: Radar system at Thule Air Base, Greenland, one of several that scan the skies for foreign military rockets, missiles, and aircraft. Photo by JoAnne Castagna, U.S. Army.

Strategy Objectives. The Army has developed some objectives and plans that will allow it to ‘regain’ Arctic dominance:

• Establish a two-star headquarters with specifically trained and equipped combat brigades
• Improve material readiness of Arctic-capable units
• Improve individual and collective training in mountainous and high-altitude environments
• Improve quality of life for Soldiers, civilians, and families living and working in the Arctic region

In this new era of great power competition the United States has to be able to project power into the Arctic region. This power projection by the Air Force, Navy, and Armor will ensure that Russia and China do not interfere with navigation, sovereignty rights, or the ability of the US to defend the homeland or project power from the Arctic region. The US Army has an important role to play in this region. The Army’s new Arctic strategy will allow it to regain its ability to protect US interests in the region.

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Photo: High Altitude Lowe Opening (HALO) parachute jump during winter warfare training in Sweden, February 2018. Photo by Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).

Maps. Central Intelligence Agency.

References:

“Army Announces release of Arctic Strategy”, U.S. Army Pubic Affairs, March 16, 2021

Regaining Arctic Dominance: The U.S. Army in the Arctic
Headquarters, Department of the Army, January 19, 2021, PDF, 54 pages.

Report to Congress: Department of Defense Arctic Strategy, Department of Defense, June 2019, PDF, 19 pages.

Arctic Strategy, Department of the Air Force, July 2020, PDF, 20 pages.

Arctic Strategic Outlook, United States Coast Guard, April 2019, PDF, 48 pages.

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, Congressional Research Service, CRS R41153, February 2021, PDF, 140 Pages.

The Joint Special Operations University has released a new report that explores the use of special operations forces Civil Affairs as a key element for competing below the level of armed conflict. “Great Power Competition” will likely see Civil Affairs assume a more prominent role as the United States and its competitors (Russia, China, and a few others) seek broader influence across the Global South.

In this JSOU report Major Travis Clemens provides an overview of how Civil Affairs can contribute in new and highly valuable ways in the great power competition. For the past two decades the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has dramatically increased its capability to conduct kinetic counterterrorism (CT), counterinsurgency (COIN), and countering threat networks. However this new era of great power competition will see USSOCOM utilize its vast experience with populations-centric missions and influence-oriented capabilities.

A return to great power competition (GPC) has changed how the Department of Defense intends to employ its military forces in the coming years. U.S. military forces must be prepared for a major general war involving planes, ships, and tanks. However, the DoD has recognized that it must also perpetually seek political and military advantage below the level of armed conflict. Its activities for shaping the environment for advantage must be aligned with (and oftentimes in support of) interagency, intergovernmental, multilateral, and corporate partners.

SOF CA has, for the past two decades, focused on stability operations and counterinsurgency. SOF CA will need to widen its range of potential operations in this new era of GPC. The report outlines four principal roles for SOF CA:

• Initial Entry
• Reconnaissance
• Engage and Influence
• Support to Resistance (STR)

Contents of the report:

• Chapter 1. Operational Art and CA Doctrine for Great Power Competition
• Chapter 2. Special Operations CA
• Chapter 3. The PRC
• Chapter 4. Russian Federation
• Conclusion
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Endnotes

This report details how SOF CA can help the U.S. military as it faces its adversaries in the many aspects of international competition. It also provides an ‘consolidated’ explanation of the role that SOF CA plays within great power competition. In the conclusion the author offers recommendations for changes needed in doctrine, organization, training, and equipment to further develop the capabilities of SOF CA in great power competition.

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The author, Major Travis Clemens, is an active duty civil affairs officer in the U.S. Army. He holds a master’s degree in defense analysis with a specialization on special operations and irregular warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from California Polytechnic State University. Clemens has multiple SOF and conventional force deployments. During his career he has worked with Naval Special Warfare, U.S. Army Special Forces, and Marine Special Operations units and teams.

Special Operations Forces Civil Affairs in Great Power Competition, by Travis Clemens, JSOU Report 20-4, Joint Special Operations University, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 2020, PDF, 126 pages.
https://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=56753304

A video produced by U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School explains “Great Power Competition” (GPC) and Army Special Operations Forces’ (ARSOF) role in support of the National Defense Strategy.

Colonel Bryan Groves and Major Steve Ferenzi from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) G-5 Strategic Planning Division discuss how ARSOF’s strategy is designed to support the vision of the U.S. Army as well as the strategic guidance of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

In the video explanations are provided for what great power competition is and lays out the terms used when discussing GPC. The 2018 National Defense Strategy set the conditions for a shifting of focus from counterinsurgency and counterterrorism to competition with Russia and China. In this new strategy the military is a supporting effort in GPC. The video details how the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) will support the efforts of the U.S. government and the Department of Defense in GPC.

The implications of this shift to GPC for ARSOF are significant. However, it does not mean that ARSOF will cease engaging in irregular warfare (IW). The core missions of ARSOF remain valid. JCETs with partner nation forces will continue. Working with interagency partners conducting counter narcotic operations will not go away. The expertise that ARSOF brings to IW – such as competencies in the human domain (language, culture, etc.) are still important in GPC.

ARSOF provides low-risk, high-impact options across the spectrum of GPC. USASOC units contribute deterrence and compellence options for the US government using low visibility and discreet methods. These options help to influence and shape behavior, provide options other than the use of tanks, ships, and nukes, build resilience and the capacity to resist aggression in partner-nation in populations (think Baltic States), and much more.

ARSOF augments and complements the conventional force options in GPC. In addition, the use of irrregular warfare by ARSOF provides the U.S. government and Department of Defense a set of options that in many cases is cheaper and less escalatory than conventional options.

The video provides a great explanation of great power competition. It also helps the viewer to understand the role of PSYOP, Ranger, Civil Affairs, Special Forces, and other ARSOF units in employing irregular warfare in an era of great power competition.

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Knowledge Wins – Great Power Competition. This video presented by the U.S. Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School is Part I of three parts. Published on August 21, 2020, 21-minutes long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfjAuUkcg_s