Thread: 5th Flash
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Old 11-25-2015, 13:27   #10
Flagg
Area Commander
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 1,423
Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Sergeant View Post
I'm not sure about politics, I'd be betting money is the issue.

Some SOF units have a blank check for a budget and many have a huge budget, ten times that of Special Forces.

I'm thinking Special Forces is attempting more "fame" for more money.

Next time you go to the store, any store ask the clerk if they have heard of the Navy SEALS? Then ask if they have heard of "Special Forces". The answers will amuse you.
From an outsider's standpoint, it must be a tough one.

SF has a hard and well earned reputation for shaping/influencing/armed diplomat stuff(amongst many other things).

I'm sure there's plenty of efforts that go on behind the scenes to influence and shape those who hold the chequebooks.

But it seems like SF are a bit hamstrung by the necessary "Quiet Professional" institutional/cultural DNA when it comes to influencing the influencers(public perceptions) of the influential(those with the funding chequebooks).

I guess you can't always have your cake and eat it to.

By influencing the influencers of the influential could result in damage to that quiet professional culture and operations thru excessive media/public interest.

I guess for the same reasons why you will not see CIA operations and paramilitary slices trying to shape public perceptions for further funding, the juice would not be worth the squeeze.

It must be incredibly frustrating.

An organisation that is custom built as well as flexible/customisable to best deal with the current "long game".

But largely overshadowed in public, therefor elected, mindshare by other units that provide more visual, "short game" sound and video bytes.

Fighting against the tide of human nature and necessary cultural/operational limitations on publically selling capability.

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I did post somewhere here before, wondering if your community will start to take a stronger stance on protecting your brand and intellectual property.

There's a lot of value there yet untapped.

As an aspiring applicant to a Stanford executive education program(and their well regarded alumni community efforts) I'm noticing the potential the SF alumni community has(and I'm sure some or much of it is already being leveraged beyond the SFA chapters) for operating in a parallel space in the civvie world, especially since there seems to be a long(if broken at times, I'm thinking that American U research office back in the day?) history of association between SF and some well regarded schools and programs.
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