Building Special Operations Partnerships in Afghanistan and Beyond: Challenges and Best Practices from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Colombia

Abstract

Building the capacity of Afghan special operations forces (SOF) is a key goal of the United States and its coalition partners. In February and March of 2013, RAND analysts conducted extensive battlefield circulations in Afghanistan and visited multiple training sites for Afghan SOF. The mentors at these sites hailed from a variety of International Security Assistance Force contributing nations, including the United States, Lithuania, Romania, Australia, Norway, and the United Kingdom. This report summarizes key partnering practices across these international partners and presents findings from SOF partnership case studies in Iraq and Colombia. The goal is to identify best practices for SOF partnership that can benefit the development of the Afghan special operations capability. These best practices also have broader applicability for special operations partnerships beyond Afghanistan.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA621221

Entities

People

  • Austin Long
  • Christopher M. Schnaubelt
  • Peter Chalk
  • S. R. Zimmerman
  • Todd C. Helmus

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Best Practices
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Green Berets
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Lessons Learned
  • Medical Evacuation
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Seal Teams
  • Terrorists
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.