CSBA in the News

Special Operations chief Adm. William McRaven has been on a mission this past year to humanize the soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines under his command, taking great pains to emphasize their training and advising roles and never failing to mention his operators tend to be older, college educated and have families.

The next Quadrennial Defense Review offers an opportunity for reshaping US special operations forces to address a wider range of issues, including weapons of mass destruction proliferation and anti-access, area-denial challenges, according to a new Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments report.

The Pentagon says the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration could leave the U.S. with a military that is simply unprepared for the most challenging combat missions. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told Congress in April that the military is eating its seed corn/…/

In future years, U.S. Special Operations Forces must utilize next generation technologies and strategic partnerships to counter the threats posed by extremist groups, weapons of mass destruction proliferation and Anti-Access/Area-Denial challenges.

The future of Special Operations Forces may look less like Zero Dark Thirty and more like Lawrence of Arabia or Rudyard Kipling’s Kim – with just a dash of 007. It’s a future that builds on the last ten years of raids and advisor missions, then adds solo operators in foreign lands, proxy wars with nuclear-armed rogue states, and stealth aircraft infiltrating commando teams to sabotage high-tech defenses.

It seems everyone these days is clawing for a bigger piece of the Pentagon’s shrinking budget pie and special operations forces (SOF) are elbowing their way to the trough.