Adapting Across the Spectrum of Conflict. The Role of Naval Special Warfare

Abstract

Since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the Nation has realized a new enemy, one that has no borders, hides among the innocent, moves quickly, and is tied to no law of war or to any law, for that matter. Because of this, the enemy is hard to predict and is difficult to find. The window of opportunity to strike him is small and comes with little warning. He is hard to engage with our conventional weapons because he surrounds himself with innocents. He is smart, calculating, has planned for the long war, yet adapts quickly to counter any success we have. Any response to this new enemy must be quick, nimble, adaptive, and precise. It must also be persistent. We must engage not only the enemy but also the environment and human terrain in which the enemy takes refuge. The U.S. Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command of the U.S. Special Operations Command has changed to move faster and more precisely against this new enemy. There are no longer operations and intelligence; instead, we face "intelligence-operations" or "operations-intelligence." Additionally, there is no single organization that can defeat this enemy; it requires joint intelligence operations at a level that surpasses anything we have done previously. It requires the interagency community working side by side developing and executing common strategies and synchronizing all efforts. It requires the application of many elements of national and coalition power against the enemy. Speed of action was an immediate requirement and remains an enduring quest. In the 8 years since 9/11, NSW has done what it does best: more successful combat missions have been conducted, across a broader range of operational environments, than at any time in its storied history. We have achieved this success because we have remained true to our core.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA515140

Entities

People

  • Edward G. Winters

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Combat Support
  • Command And Control
  • Enemy Personnel
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Maritime Security
  • Military Science
  • Naval Personnel
  • Security
  • Spectra
  • Students
  • Terrorists
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.