Fixing US Special Operations. Rational Actors Not Allowed

Abstract

The United States Special Operations Command was established as a result of a glaring US military weakness and with the rational consensus of all players. Several, less than sterling, US military operations in the 1980s, exposed glaring weaknesses in the individual and collective Special Operations Forces of all services--especially with interoperability. In addition, terrorism and military operations at the lowest end of the cenflict spectrum placed an ever- increasing premium on "Special Operations" type actions. With a consensus on the existence of a problem(s), surely a Rational Actor solution would emerge. The puzzling aspect from first glance, is that it took a Congressional Act to solve what certainly appears to be strictly military deficiencies. I will examine the Congressional "fix" to our Special Operations problems and the reactions from the key players--including all services. This approach should provide an insight into which model of decision-making is employed, as well as the effects of civilian control of the military.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA441771

Entities

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Green Berets
  • Law
  • Low Intensity Conflict
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Psychological Operations
  • Seal Teams
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Task Forces
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Test and Evaluation
  • Educational Psychology
  • Strategic Security Studies