Special Operations Forces and Foreign Internal Defense: An Effective Counterterrorism Method

Abstract

Special Operations Forces (SOF) can be expected to maintain the current commitment levels in both Iraq and Afghanistan; however, Senior US military and SOF leadership must recognize the difficulty of balancing short-term goals and long-term solutions in the War on Terrorism. In a war of such long duration, SOF can provide the nation with many more strategic and operational options than just special reconnaissance and direct action missions in support of the JTF commander during combat operations. This paper argues that uniformly coordinated Foreign Internal Defense (FID) activities, undertaken by United States SOF, is the appropriate method for achieving long-term results in the War on Terrorism. The utility of presistent SOF activities with allies is described using recent cas study examples, strategic level CT capstone documents, and current FID doctrine.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 14, 2005
Accession Number
ADA464349

Entities

People

  • Otto K. Liller

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Affairs
  • Combat Operations
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of State
  • Governments
  • Interagency Coordination
  • International Organizations
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Terrorism
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Systems Analysis and Design