{"title":"SOF Utilization in Contemporary Competitive Spaces","authors":"Major Craig A. Thompson","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1813367","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1813367","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Russia’s resurgent military power, its willingness to utilize force, and its assertive foreign policy in Moscow’s perceived sphere of influence has quickly become a major U.S. security concern. Calculated and proactive efforts by U.S. SOF in Russia’s near abroad, those missions which focus on bolstering societal resiliency, deterrence, and resistance capabilities, will deny Moscow uncontested access to these geopolitical territories in its near abroad and immediately impose cost on Russia. To be effective in these complex goals, U.S. SOF must utilize a more expansive and holistic view of Russian military history and strategy, as well as a macro whole of government approach to contest malign influences. Additionally, more resilient allies who are willing and aptly trained, outfitted, and supported are necessary to blunt Moscow’s hybrid influence and resist a Russian occupation if necessary. These collective efforts will guarantee Moscow no quick or inexpensive victory and immediately allow the U.S. and her allies to compete with and impose cost on Russia.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131351741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Strategic Utility of Turkish Special Operations Forces from the Seljuks to the Republic of Turkey","authors":"Cihan Aydiner, H. Bilgin","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1820815","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1820815","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This research examines the employment, organization, equipment, and missions of Turkish special operation forces (SOF) under four main periods in Turkish history: first, the Seljuk period and border security forces called “margraves;” second, the Akıncılar, an extension of the margraves, who appeared during the Ottoman period; third, local irregular Arab and Bedouin troops serving in the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912); and fourth, the Kuva-yi Milliye who participated in the Turkish War of Independence, engaging in guerilla warfare against the Allied and Italian Forces. I conclude by describing the similarities among these groups and the relevance of their history to today’s SOF.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"68 3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116204769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"JAGER: Europe’s First Special Operations Forces, History, Organizations, Arms & Equipment for the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s Elite Light Infantry to 1866","authors":"Tom Searle","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1814538","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1814538","url":null,"abstract":"For readers of this journal it is important to note that the first subtitle is not accurate. The authors make no effort to prove the Jager units serving the Austrian Habsburgs were the first specia...","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125478972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Population-Centric Turn in Special Operations: A Possible Way Ahead for SOF Informed by a Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of State-Building Interventions","authors":"Funs Titulaer, Martijn Kitzen","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1735042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1735042","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Post-Cold War liberal state-building interventions are characterized by a convergence of operational approaches rooted in counterinsurgency, state building and peace operations. A cross-disciplinary analysis of these operational approaches reveals a holistic framework consisting of initial, provisional, and durable control. Connecting this framework to the results found in case studies on liberal state-building interventions, it becomes clear that there are conceptual conflicts. Conceptual conflicts which have real-world consequences when it turns out that the requirements for initial, provisional, and durable control are difficult to reconcile in areas of operations. Such real-world consequences can be mitigated by having a thorough understanding of the societal context. Because the acquiring of understanding with regard to possible (near-future) intervention area’s is often hazardous and requires a specific skillset, Special Operations Forces (SOF) might be the entity most suitable for these kinds of activities. For this to happen, SOF will have to reorient and reorganize itself. This entails that it will have to partially shed the baggage it has collected during the last three decades.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114599121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of: After the Wars: International Lessons from the U.S. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan","authors":"Nathan W. Toronto","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1735045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1735045","url":null,"abstract":"After the Wars contains a treasure trove of lessons from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and should be high on the reading list of anyone concerned with the changing character of warfare in the t...","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115900192","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Emergence of Russian Private Military Companies: A New Tool of Clandestine Warfare","authors":"T. Bukkvoll, Å. Østensen","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1740528","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1740528","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In recent years, the Russian private security and military company (PMSC) industry has evolved to serve the needs of both business clients as well as governments. Thus far, the ties between the Kremlin and the Russian PMSC industry are ambiguous and seem to vary across the different companies. What seems clear though, is that the Kremlin is experimenting with the utility of these companies and that the use of PMSCs is on the rise. Private security and military companies are neither explicitly legal nor illegal in Russia, a status that may serve Russian authorities well in situations where attribution and attention is unwanted. While the exact shape and role of the Russian PMSC industry may not be carved out fully, Russia is now home to a small, but potent, PMSC industry that can be mobilized to inflict harm on the country’s enemies.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128367748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The First U.S. Joint Special Operation, Circa 1805","authors":"Gregory Georgevitch","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1735044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1735044","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The United States Ship USS Philadelphia’s three hundred and seven United States (U.S.) Crewmen and Officers were captured by a foreign power off the coast of North Africa in 1803. The recovery of the frigate and the rescue of the U.S. Crewmen and Officers is perhaps the first joint special operation conducted by the United States of America.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134009793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"OSS Operations in Occupied Yugoslavia: Enduring Principles","authors":"Mark T. Riccardi, J. Dolan, Robert W. Redding","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1735043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1735043","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This case study describes the unconventional warfare techniques used by Allied special operations forces during their campaign against Axis occupiers of Yugoslavia from 1943 to 1945. The Yugoslavia campaign was destined to be among the first in a series of twentieth-century unconventional warfare efforts, culminating in the campaign conducted by the United States and United Kingdom covert and special operators. This region of the Balkans was extremely active with occupying German, Italian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, and various client government militaries pitted against largely unconventional forces to include Soviet backed partisans under Tito and loyalist Chetniks backed by Allied Forces. The planning considerations, preparation, and precise military actions conducted during this conflict continue to reemerge in contemporary discussions on special operations theory. The experiences of the past continue to enable successes in the evolution of modern special operations forces that began with the formation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS and employment of special operations forces in Yugoslavia during World War II.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"376 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124072092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert W. Redding, Anna Beier-Pedrazzi, G. Salvia, S. Mitchell, J. George
{"title":"War in the Falklands: Case Studies in British Special Operations","authors":"Robert W. Redding, Anna Beier-Pedrazzi, G. Salvia, S. Mitchell, J. George","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1731267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1731267","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores the aspects of British special operations as conducted during the Falklands War in 1982 within the context of Spulak’s theory of special operations. Specifically, it provides an evaluation of three engagements that were conducted by British special operations forces in order to confirm or refute the five characteristics of special operations as per this theory. While variances can be found and are described here, Spulak’s theory of special operations can generally be seen as present in British special operations during this conflict.","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122241409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"1070A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and Cold War Struggle in Poland","authors":"M. Grzegorzewski","doi":"10.1080/23296151.2020.1739486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23296151.2020.1739486","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":276818,"journal":{"name":"Special Operations Journal","volume":"93 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122848308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}