Theater Special Operations Commands Realignment

Abstract

On 11 February 2013, the Secretary of Defense assigned all Special Operations Forces (SOF) worldwide to U. S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), shifting combatant command authority (COCOM) to USSOCOM. This change was undertaken with the full coordination and concurrence of all Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCC), Military Services, and Defense Support Agencies, and approved with the Secretary of Defense's signing of the Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) Global Force Management Implementation Guidance. Operational Control (OPCON) of SOF is retained by GCCs. A key element of the change in command relationships is the realignment of the Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOC) to USSOCOM. On 19 April 2013, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) issued Commander, USSOCOM a Planning Order to draft a campaign plan for providing U.S. SOF capability to the GCCs for employment in support of GCC requirements. The resulting Global SOF Campaign Plan describes how USSOCOM aligns, postures, deploys and sustains SOF in support of GCC operational requirements. This Global SOF Campaign Plan describes how a robust, regionally aligned, agile, and networked SOF capability can rapidly and persistently address regional contingencies and threats to stability, as well as achieve GCC objectives and theater end states. TSOCs, as subordinate unified commands of USSOCOM and under OPCON of GCCs, are the regional operational hubs of the Global SOF Network (GSN). TSOCs perform continuous Command and Control (C2) of special operations in support of GCC steady-state requirements and national objectives. As a deployable operational headquarters, TSOCs will play an essential role in accomplishing GCC Theater Campaign Plan (TCP) objectives as well as National objectives.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA607289

Entities

People

  • Ken D. Teske
  • Michael D. Tisdel
  • William C. Fleser

Organizations

  • United States Special Operations Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combatant Commanders
  • Command And Control
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Guidance
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Situational Awareness
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Steady State
  • Task Forces
  • Training
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Special Operations Command

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control