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Q&A: Brigadier General Edward M. Reeder Jr.
Written by Jeff McKaughan
SOTECH 2010 Volume: 8 Issue: 1 (February)
Coordinating Resources for Special
Operations Forces Across the Theater
Brigadier General
Edward M. Reeder Jr.
Commander
Combined Forces Special Operations
Component Command - Afghanistan
After graduation from high school in Boone, N.C., Reeder attended Appalachian State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and was commissioned as an officer of Infantry.
Reeder began his Army career in Europe as a rifle platoon leader, executive officer and adjutant in the 1st Infantry Division (Forward), U.S. Army Europe, Germany. Then, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course followed by the prestigious and challenging Special Forces Qualification Course. Later, he studied Spanish at the Defense Language Institute in Presidio of Monterrey, Calif.
Immediately following his graduation he was assigned and served for three years as the detachment commander, B Company, 3d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Davis, Panama, with duty at United States Military Group, El Salvador, and Operation Just Cause, Panama. Upon completion of his Panama duties he was hand-selected to be the aide-de-camp to the commanding general, United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Reeder’s next assignments were operational and joint assignments, serving first as an Army ground operations planner with the Joint Special Operations Command, United Special Operations Command, at Fort Bragg, then another command position as the commander, B Company, and later as the operations officer for 3d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne), at Fort Bragg.
After completing the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he was assigned as the regional counterdrug desk officer, U.S. Southern Command, Quarry Heights, Panama and later served as the chief of plans, Joint Interagency Task Force South.
From July 1998 to May 2001, he served as the operations officer, executive officer, and then as the deputy commander, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg.
He later commanded the 2d Battalion, 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne) during Operation Enduring Freedom for more than two years in Afghanistan, followed by a return to the States as the assistant chief of staff for operations at the U.S. Army Special Forces Command.
For another two plus years, Reeder served with distinction as the commander of 7th Special Forces Group and as the commander, Combined Joint Special Operation Task Force- Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. Prior to assuming command as the commander, Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, he was the executive officer to the commander of United States Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
Q: Can you tell me the organizational genesis of Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command Afghanistan?
A: Based on the significant role of special operations forces in the Afghanistan theater, senior leadership recognized the need for a single organization to provide continuity of effort and knowledge, as well as coordination of SOF’s strategic and operational effects. As special operations forces became more dependent upon the services for support— transportation, logistics, ISR, etc., it became evident that there needed to be a single organization to coordinate resources for special operations forces across the theater. The U.S. footprint in Afghanistan is larger now, as is the SOF footprint.
SOF enhancement to the overall force is through enablers and synchronization. There is also a SOF international security assistance forces piece that works under a separate mandate from the OEF mandate, and there will need to be a continuity of effort among the entire SOF community working in Afghanistan.
Q: Would you explain the CFSOCC-A mission?
A: The mission of CFSOCC-A is to support and enable the mission of special operations forces in Afghanistan in order to enhance our partnered Afghan force’s ability to provide security and stability to their country, supporting the objectives of U.S. forces in Afghanistan with the unique range and depth of SOF capabilities.
Q: Can you explain the plan CFSOCC-A has to accomplish the new mission?
A: CFSOCC-A does not have a new mission, it has a new focus. The organization is working to look across the various activities of SOF and our partners within the area of responsibility to coordinate and synchronize those efforts, in order to create the conditions on the ground so that the people of Afghanistan can rebuild their country without exploitation, fear and intimidation. Our mission is to make SOF efforts, in concert with our various coalition and Afghan partners, more effective in reaching the long term goals of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Q: What is the impact of the current OPTEMPO on your operations and how do you see the OPTEMPO being in the near future?
A: Part of the reason CFSOCC-A was established was to provide continuity of effort as special operations forces deploy and redeploy from the AOR as part of the current rotational plan. The cycle of deployments over the past few years and focus within the CENTCOM AOR has caused a loss of some of the regional expertise that SOF relied on to be so effective in its various missions over the years.
Some of the recent announcements by senior military leadership indicate increased recognition of the importance of the SOF role in the conflict we currently face and the impact SOF will have in determining our success. Given that higher demand in theater, and given that we need to invest in developing the language and cultural expertise where we are currently in greatest demand, I do not see any reduction in the near term of our current OPTEMPO.
Q: What are your major challenges with the U.S. SOF and the unique challenges with dealing with NATO SOF units in Afghanistan?
A: What some may call challenges, I see as opportunities, and one of the greatest is that U.S. SOF and NATO SOF are assigned here under different mandates with different provisions and goals. By enabling and focusing on what each organization brings to the fight, in concert with our partnered Afghan forces, we are in a much better position to create the conditions on the ground that will allow for the long term peace and stability of Afghanistan and the region.
Q: Is there anything you would like to add?
A: Afghanistan has been in a state of conflict or turmoil for most of the past generation. I believe the people of this country want and deserve a secure and stable country so they can turn their attention to rebuilding a peaceful and prosperous nation. The people of this country have been exploited by the Taliban and other groups who want to use Afghanistan as a staging ground to spread instability and threaten the region.
In partnership with the elected government of Afghanistan and the National Police and Army under their control, U.S. and coalition SOF are providing the training and assistance they need in order to remove the threats and intimidation of those who seek to push Afghanistan back into chaos. ♦