Retooling Special Forces Officers for the 21st Century

Abstract

Lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan has demonstrated to the Department of Defense the importance of foreign language proficiency and cultural understanding. Across the services these competencies are now reflected in the curriculums of their training and educational institutions for officers, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted personnel. Prior to this there were few military occupations where language proficiency and cultural understanding were requirements. Only one of those few, Special Forces, has since their inception been developed, organized, and trained to operate in remote areas working with indigenous populations-speaking the language and understanding the culture. When Special Forces competencies are measured against statements made by the Special Operations Commander there is a wide divergence in current capability versus stated objectives. The reason for this is not complicated. There is insufficient time to develop these competencies within the current personnel management system.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 25, 2010
Accession Number
ADA602998

Entities

People

  • J. J. Floyd

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Personnel
  • Department Of Defense
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Foreign Languages
  • Governments
  • Green Berets
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Officer Personnel
  • Personnel Management
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Students
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Strategic Security Studies