While the author does make some valid points regarding the DA vs UW mindset focus, I disagree with the overall message and tone of the article. I fear his article is already behind the power curve, as GEN Cleveland and ARSOF 2022 have begun the shift and we are already beginning to see the sea change. Here are the main issues/disagreements I have:
For someone who has not (apparently) spent any time on an ODA or in the Regiment in any capacity, Mr. Schoen (not sure of his rank) has no problem painting the entire Regiment with a very broad brush. Specifically, that we have all become a group of uneducated gorillas with no language skills, who can only pull triggers and kick in doors, and have not done a lick of any kind of Special Warfare since 9/11. I personally know several people (and I am sure there are many others on this board) who participated in OEF-P, VSO, and the Afghan Commando missions. While not UW, those missions were FID and COIN centric, which do tend to test language, cross cultural skills, and the non-kinetic realm. And before anyone dogs me for questioning someones opinion because they are non-SOF, or an academic, or whatever, if you are going to write an article
specifically about the culture, mindset and capabilities of an organization, you'd better have first hand knowledge and experience if you expect to be taken seriously.
Speaking of personal experience, I find the authors choices of quotes from “author’s conversation” (vii), “author’s observation”(x), and “author’s colleagues in the SOF community” (xvii), to be cherry picked and one sided. While I have no doubt that the author heard these quotes from SF soldiers, I do not believe they are representative of the current attitude amongst the Regiment. Everyone knows at least one guy who talks like that (I know I do), and while it does not make him a bad SF soldier, it does not reflect the mindset of the rest of the team. While Mr. Schoen freely quotes from SF soldiers, I believe he has forgotten (or never heard) one of the older adages that I was first taught: “We are here to work ourselves out of a job.”
Which brings me to my next issue: Not having known LTC (Ret) Schwalm or read his book, I can almost
guarantee his quote about “an armed version of the Peace Corps….we are killers” is taken
waaay out of context. Putting aside the easy “SF soldiers are trained as soldiers first” argument, last time I checked, UW was “activities to enable a resistance or insurgency to
coerce, disrupt or overthrow a government or occupying power”, which, by definition will require killing at least a few people. Going back to the whole “work ourselves out of a job” mantra, I don’t want to be the first one through the palace gates, so yeah, I’m going to train somebody else to breach that gate and pull that trigger.
Regarding his quotes on language, his information and stats are out of date (studies from 2003 and 2010). I am receiving constant pressure for everyone to get their 120 hours of language yearly, and I think the new 1st SFC(A)(P) policy of needing a current 1/1 score to attend schools is a good idea. As far as the whole DLPT vs OPI debate, the DLPT is a test designed for DoD linguists. I’d much rather have a guy who can score a 1+/1+ on the OPI rather than a 2+/2+ on the DLPT. Why? Because I need someone who can tell my host nation/resistance force to keep their weapon on safe instead of telling me “what attitude was the news article trying to convey about the new government policy?”.
As far as his opinion on the OSW and the 4th BNs, I will simply say that they are not the only ones focused or capable of conducting UW. The Regiment as a whole is most definitely focused on UW. Executing UW is a team effort, no single organization/section can claim to own it. (Especially the SEALs. They need to keep their flippers out of UW.
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In closing, I agree with Mr. Schoen’s basic premise, that over the past decade and a half of war, USASOC and the Regiment have shifted focus from UW. However, I fear we disagree to what extent. I will say I think GEN Cleveland has done an incredible job re-focusing not just the Regiment on UW, but also USASOC as a whole in order to support it. From Group down to the ODA, we are constantly being told to “return to our roots”, and asked “how does this improve your Special Warfare skills?”. Will we see changes overnight? No, but from my perspective we are headed down the right path.
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