Written by Dave Ahearn
SOTECH 2012 Volume: 10 Issue: 1 (February)
Special operations organizations—including warriors who executed another stunningly well-executed mission of danger and daring—won’t be whacked in President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget plan.
Obama, in the House chamber at the Capitol to present his State of the Union address, publicly praised Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta for the special ops rescue mission, saying, “Good job tonight.” In the gallery above them, SOCOM Commander Admiral Bill McRaven sat next to Michelle Obama.
Instead of cuts in special ops strength, the number of special operators will grow from about 64,000 to roughly 70,000 over three years in Obama’s budget plan. U.S. special operators rescued American Jessica Buchanan and Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted, who had been kidnapped in Somalia by pirates as the two were working in a campaign against mines. The swift, meticulous rescue mission burnished the already shining image of special ops, following the stellar SEALs mission to take out Osama bin Laden.
Even before Obama delivered his State of the Union address, he clearly indicated his strong support for special ops during a budget briefing at the Pentagon with Panetta and others. The president praised special operators, saying, “We’ve delivered justice to Osama bin Laden and we put that terrorist network on the path to defeat.” Similarly, Panetta praised special ops. In the fiscal 2013 defense budget plan, “We will protect our investments in special operations forces,” the secretary stated.
The strategic plan “makes important investments in emerging and proven capabilities like cyber and special operations,” General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
However, as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq draw down, special operators may shift to reflect a greater emphasis on other types of missions such as aiding partner nations.
Admiral James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explained how the new defense strategy paper that has informed the budget-cutting places a high value on the work that special ops units perform.
“We’ve invested a lot in our special operations forces over the last decade” during wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Winnefeld told journalists. Special ops organizations are “also very good at working with partners,” allied nations that join the United States in facing an enemy. “We are going to retain those folks,” Winnefeld said of budget plans for special ops. ♦
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