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U.S. Forces Need To Be Warriors, Diplomats, Socom Chief Says

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By BILLY TOWNSEND | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

TAMPA - Flanked by counterparts from across the globe, America's top Special Forces commander today said the men and women under his command must perform as "warrior/diplomats" to successfully play their roles in neutralizing the transnational security threats facing America and its allies.

"[American special forces] woke up in about 65 countries of the world today," said Adm. Eric Olson, a Navy SEAL and head of the MacDill-based Special Operations Command. "We're doing exactly the types of activities that contribute to building cooperation [with other national militaries]."

They include small unit training, engineering projects and civil affairs work - the day-to-day work of building and strengthening of allies - that will help isolate insurgencies and terrorism and solidify "kinetic" battlefield combat victories.

"The kinetic end of our business is vital and necessary, but it's the non-kinetic that will be decisive," said Olson. "Kinetic actions buy time for the non-kinetic to have a chance to be decisive."

It was a message suited to the gathering where Olson delivered it: International Special Operations Forces Week, a sort of worldwide convention of the special operations community centered this year on Socom and Tampa. The event runs through Friday and includes dozens of countries.

This morning's panel included high-ranking special ops commanders from Poland, Colombia, South Korea and several other nations. They took questions at the convention center from a cadre of international security reporters.

In keeping with the diplomacy theme, Olson and the rest of the panel seemed determined to avoid making news in handling questions about a variety of security issues and flashpoints.

For instance, when asked why Russia, which is at a prickly point in U.S. relations, did not send a delegation to the conference, Olson said: "You'd have to ask the Russians." He then added that integrating former Soviet Republics into a cooperative network of Special Forces operations is a priority for Socom.

Despite their caution, Olson and the panel were asked, and gave answers, about:

Iran's role in combat and instability in Iraq: "I think it's clear we're facing exported capability…some lethal aid from across the Iranian border," Olson said. But he added, "We're uncertain of the nature of the threat."

That contrasted somewhat with an answer from Michael G. Vickers, the undersecretary of defense with responsibility for special operations and low intensity conflict. He cited the Quds force, a special operations branch within Iran's multi-pronged military structure, as "not playing a helpful role" in Iraq.

Some proponents of military confrontation with Iran have pointed to allegations that the Quds force is involved in arming and assisting Iraqi insurgents and militias.

The consequences of major special operations deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan: Olson said those deployments have forced reductions of special operations personnel in other parts of the world. And with that in mind, Olson said the military is working hard to expand its special operations numbers by as much as a third.

Socom's relationship with civilian and military intelligence agencies that also have counterterrorism missions: "We are not a member of the intelligence community," said Olson. "We are customers and consumers [of intelligence]." But within that arrangement, Olson said communication between the agencies and Socom was improving each year and that they are constant contact with each other.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tamptrib.com.

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