Pentagon: Special Ops Must Be More Lethal, Effective, Efficient

By Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

The special operations enterprise must become more lethal, effective and efficient, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict said today.

Mark E. Mitchell kicked off the National Defense Industrial Association’s 29th annual SOLIC Symposium here, saying the community is at an inflection point.

“I think [Defense] Secretary [James N.] Mattis has thrown down the gauntlet in the National Defense Strategy, challenging not only the department, but our industry partners to find technological solutions that support [U.S. Special Operations Command’s] missions, including counterproliferation and counternetwork,” he said.

Times have changed, Mitchell said. After spending the better part of the last two decades concentrating on the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions, he explained, there is a return of great power confrontation. “The threat from terrorists is not going to go away, but we think we’ve become pretty adept at limiting the threat from the terrorist organizations,” he said.

Combating the terrorists will require constant attention, but the special operations enterprise “is going to have to rediscover and reinvent ourselves to deal with these near-peer competitors,” Mitchell said.

Advantage No Longer Assured

Mitchell, who entered the Army in 1987, said that during his whole career the U.S. military always enjoyed dominance over any foe or potential foe. “We’ve always enjoyed significant technological advantages over the enemy,” he said. “But we can no longer assume that we will enjoy this advantage, especially in the new competition with other great powers.”