SOF play a vital role in combating and defeating global terrorism, by disrupting terrorist organizations and bringing their members and supporters to justice or by taking justice directly to them. The mission of USSOCOM is expanding to planning direct combat missions against terrorist organizations around the world and executing those missions as the supported Command, while maintaining the role of force provider and supporter to the Geographic Combatant Commanders. To meet this challenge, USSOCOM must

establish command and control infrastructures which complement the Geographic Combatant Commanders and invest in programs and systems improving SOF's speed, agility, precision, lethality, stealth, survivability, and sustainability. USSOCOM must also be forward-deployed for rapid response. The requirement to plan, synchronize, and execute operations on a global scale necessitate a globally capable SOF ready for full spectrum integrated

operations.

Full spectrum integrated SOF are the refinements that must occur to tailor SOF capabilities for the war on terrorism. These SOF capabilities will ensure greater operational agility, flexibility and mobility, sufficient global command and control, focused intelligence, signature reduction, and a collaborative planning environment that facilitates simultaneous multiechelon planning. Additionally, SOF capabilities must continue to address other national and military strategies, including homeland defense and forward deterrence, swiftly defeating the efforts of adversaries and decisively winning lesser contingencies.

All personnel of USSOCOM Active duty, Reserve Component and civilians, are engaged in this multi-front global war on terrorism (GWOT). The battlefield successes in this campaign have proven again and again the foresight of Congress in the creation of USSOCOM. Our organizational flexibility and streamlined acquisition and resourcing authorities continue to allow unequaled response to the needs of our operators. The capability of

conducting joint operations is enhanced by synchronizing SOF, which include Army Special Operations Aviation, Special Forces, Rangers, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations forces; Air Force Special Operations Aviators and Special Tactics Squadrons; and Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL), SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams, and Special Boat Teams.

The continuing action in Afghanistan is a great example of how joint warfighting has evolved from the Goldwater-Nichols legislation as a powerful and precise tool to support our Nation's vital interests. Daily Civil Affairs teams and other SOF continue to play an active role in Afghanistan to ensure we win the peace. Our activities in Operation Enduring Freedom have given the world a much clearer insight into the skills, dedication, and power across the spectrum of America's SOF, specifically as part of a larger joint and interagency team - each bringing their specific skills and capabilities to the team. The ability to win across the spectrum of military operations requires seamless joint teamwork and USSOCOM is privileged to team with the Services to create the best warfighting capability the world has seen.

Transformation

Our other opportunity is transformation. The hallmark of SOF is that they are always open to change and "out of the box" thinking. embodies our SOF core values integrity, courage, competence, and creativity. The success of change and transformation is the ability to maintain the goodness of the past, while taking calculated risks that promise competitive advantages on the battlefield for our future forces. We must change to ensure that we have maximized the ability of the human to think and problem solve, while taking advantage of the rapid pace of technology. Transformation is not about equipment, it is about a holistic approach producing sweeping advances for the individual, to the organization structure, to the appropriate application of technology to build the right capability at the right time to defeat any threat ensuring the safety of our

destination and there is no mark on the wall that will indicate we are

finished transforming.

While SOF activities remain constant, the context of how and the manner in which they are executed has changed significantly. Traditionally, SOF were employed as a force multiplier to wage war against other nation states. Traditional warfare focused on the destruction of large massed armies, navies and air forces. Supporting intelligence communities developed capabilities to locate and track these large enemy combat elements. In traditional conflicts, the main effort was expended on the physical destruction of the enemy's military capability during large battles. USSOCOM is transforming intelligence and interagency capabilities not to locate and destroy large enemy combat elements, but to locate and track individual terrorists across the globe and conduct small surgical operations with minimal risk to the employed force.

In addition to the war on terrorism, our forces are still committed to the Geographic Combatant Commander's theater security cooperation plans. These include the European Command (EUCOM) -led campaign in Bosnia and Kosovo, the Pacific Command's (PACOM) support to combating terrorism in the Philippines and exercises with our allies in the Republic of Korea, Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) narco-terrorism programs, providing crucial SOF for Central Command's (CENTCOM) combat operations including OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, as well as cooperative efforts with Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) and the newly established Northern Command (NORTHCOM).

STRATEGY

Our broad, yet unique, mission areas and capabilities allow us to make a number of important contributions to the National Security Strategy, especially in the War on Terrorism. Although SOF cannot address every crisis, we provide policymakers an expanded set of options for rapidly resolving strategic crises with relatively limited resources, fanfare, and

risk. Our ubiquitous presence as "Global Scouts" serves to assure our ur allies and friends of the United States' resolve. SOF's selective and integrated participation in support of Theater Security Cooperation Plans (TSCP) to include: Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET), Humanitarian Demining (HD), Humanitarian Assistance (HA), Narco-Terrorism (NT), and Foreign Internal Defense (FID) programs which provide tangible benefits in support of war on terrorism objectives and Geographic Combatant Command strategies while building rapport with our friends and allies.

The global presence of SOF and our unique capabilities dissuade potential adversaries by disrupting their planning, while providing the President and Secretary of Defense a wider array of options for dealing with potential adversaries. Forces organized, trained, and equipped to execute the SOF principal missions of combating terrorism and counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction also provide critical deterrence against adversaries that might contemplate producing or employing these weapons against the homeland or our friends and allies. SOF can deter threats and counter coercion through the deployment and employment of forces specially tailored to counter adversaries' capabilities through direct and surrogate

means.

By operating "in the seam" between peace and war, SOF can address transnational and asymmetric threats through direct military means or concerted action with conventional military forces or other government agencies. SOF help shape the pre-conflict environment, setting the conditions so they are favorable to U.S. objectives and provide a strategic economy of force in areas of the world left uncovered by the commitment of conventional forces to other priorities.

EXPANDED ROLE OF USSOCOM

While our Nation is at war, we realize this war is unlike any other ever fought. It is a war without formal declaration, concrete resolution,

nation state boundaries, and against adversaries willing and able to strike directly against our homeland or our citizens abroad. It is a potentially interminable war in which our adversaries are likely to use weapons designed to cause catastrophic injury to our citizens and our way of life.

The nexus of the Department of Defense's global war on terrorism effort is at USSOCOM. Our strategy encompasses the entire spectrum of special operations missions, capabilities and methods; then incorporates conventional capabilities, as necessary, for mission success. USSOCOM's nine legislated activities remain relevant in determining our missions and activities in the fight against terrorism. To accomplish this, USSOCOM is employing SOF simultaneously worldwide through focused deployments to priority regions in order to prepare the battlespace, both physically and psychologically, and set the conditions for global war on terrorism operations. As the situation develops and terrorist targets are located, operations are conducted to further identify and acquire the target, followed by combat operations. overall intent is to seize and maintain the initiative through constant pressure against known or suspected terrorist organizations and

infrastructure.

The

As USSOCOM's role expands, this will generate changes in our manpower, organizational structure, facilities, equipment, and special programs relating to the expanded responsibilities. As we assess the specific changes needed to meet these expanded operational requirements, we will continue to collaborate with the other Combatant Commands and inter-agency partners that have key information operations (10) supporting responsibilities in order to accomplish our changing mission in a responsible, coordinated manner.

COMMAND RELATIONSHIPS

Our headquarters organization and activities are changing dramatically to fight the war on terrorism. As the supported Commander for planning the Department's global war against terrorist organizations, USSOCOM will plan