Implications of the Security Cooperation Office Transition in Afghanistan for Special Operations Force: An Abbreviated Report of the Study's Primary Findings
Abstract
This report is an abbreviated version of a longer-form report that, for national security reasons, is not available to the general public. This abbreviated report focuses on the long-form report's key findings and implications for Afghanistan. These findings were drawn from examinations of six historical case studies in which the mission of special operations forces (SOF) in country transitioned over time to some level of inclusion in the U.S. embassy's Security Cooperation Office (SCO). The cases of Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uganda, and Yemen are covered, and the interactions and relationships between SOF organizations and personnel and the U.S. country team in each embassy are analyzed. Drawing on existing literature and extensive interviews with mission stakeholders, the report characterizes how U.S. SOF transitions in each of these nations have affected SOF's ability to conduct ongoing missions and derives lessons learned for SOF when transitioning to a SCO in general and for NATO Special Operations Component CommandAfghanistan/Special Operations Joint TaskForce-Afghanistan to transition to a SCO in Afghanistan in particular. A full explanation of the methodology applied for case study selection, as well as adopted interview protocols, are provided in the long form version of this report.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1085099
Entities
People
- Ben Connable
- Jason H. Campbell
- Jonah Blank
- Larry Hanauer
- Linda Robinson
- Raphael S. Cohen
- Richard Girven
- Sean Mann
- William Young
Organizations
- RAND Corporation