Q&A: Brigadier General Patrick M. Higgins
PARTNERSHIP BUILDER:
Furthering International Relations with the
Newest Special Operations Command
Brigadier General Patrick M. Higgins
Commander
Special Operations Command Africa
Furthering International Relations with the
Newest Special Operations Command
Brigadier General Patrick M. Higgins
Commander
Special Operations Command Africa
Brigadier General Patrick M. Higgins was born on August 23, 1958 in New York City. Following graduation from Hofstra University in 1980 he was commissioned in the infantry.
Higgins served as a platoon leader in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment at Camp Hovey, South Korea. Following this assignment, he served as executive officer and company commander in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. Additionally, while assigned to the 82nd, he served as the 2nd Brigade S-3 Air, and Assistant S-3. After attendance at the Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course, and the Special Forces Qualification Course, he was assigned as detachment commander, ODAs 573, 574, 584 and battalion S-4 for 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Higgins then served as an assignments officer in Special Forces Branch at PERSCOM in Washington, D.C. Next, he commanded Company B, and then served as Battalion XO in 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Ky. Following this assignment, he served as an action officer in the Special Operations Division of the Operations Directorate, The Joint Staff, in the Pentagon. In his next assignment he commanded 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Fort Campbell. Following battalion command, he served as the Special Forces Branch Chief at PERSCOM in Washington, D.C. After attendance at the U.S. Army War College, he assumed duties as the operations officer for U.S. Special Operations Command, Central (Airborne), at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., where he participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Higgins next commanded the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, where he participated in Operation Enduring Freedom. Following group command he was assigned to the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (Airborne).
Higgins’ awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with V device and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with 5th Oak Leaf Cluster, the Joint Staff Identification Badge, the second award of the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Special Forces Tab, the Ranger Tab, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Military Freefall Parachutist’s Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and several awards of foreign parachutist badges.
Brigadier General Higgins was interviewed by SOTECH Editor Jeff McKaughan
Q: Good morning General Higgins. Could we start with a status of the command today?
A: We are standing up Special Operations Command Africa [SOCAFRICA] to be the theater SOC for U.S. Africa Command [AFRICOM] at Kelley Barracks, which is located near Stuttgart-Moehringen, Germany. The Kelley Barracks site makes great use of existing facilities that have housed U.S. military administrative offices and headquarters staff for decades.
Historically, Special Operations Command Europe has been responsible for theater security cooperation events in the Africa portion of the European Command [EUCOM] area of responsibility. Most of the JCET training in recent years has taken place in the Trans- Saharan region of Africa.
With the stand up of AFRICOM and SOCAFRICA, these mission sets will transfer over. SOCAFRICA will gain responsibility for a large number of JCET missions, and we will assume responsibility for the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara [JSOTF-TS], which is currently part of Special Operations Command Europe [SOCEUR]. Additionally, we will be responsible for providing command and control over the Special Operations Command and Control Element- Horn of Africa [SOCCE-HOA]. The SOCCE is located at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti and is currently, under the command and control of Special Operations Command Central [SOCCENT].
Q: When are you expected to be operational and what will Special Operations Command Africa look like when you get there?
A: On March 31, 2008, SOCAFRICA declared initial operating capability. This change brought us from staff directorate status to an actual unit—a special operations command operating under SOCEUR, and gave me command authority over the SOCAFRICA component.
We expect to achieve full operational capability on March 31, 2009. SOCAFRICA will serve as the Theater Special Operations Command [TSOC] under AFRICOM. In this capacity, SOCAFRICA becomes a sub-unified command, a component command and a special operations advisor to General William “Kip” Ward. Command and control of SOCCE HOA and JSOTF-TS will also transfer to SOCAFRICA at that time. The goal of the command is to seamlessly ensure continuity of the missions. The key to success in functioning as a TSOC is first establishing base operations support—both physical and human infrastructure.
SOCAFRICA’s priorities mirror and support AFRICOM goals: to build the team, do no harm, add value and enable African solutions to African problems. Our SOF command and control will be a meld of geographical and functional mission requirements, responsible for a wide range of missions. We will have JSOTF-TS and SOCCE-HOA, which are already robust ongoing special operations missions. Therefore SOCAFRICA will be well postured to support AFRICOM’s mission on the African continent.
Q: Being the first commander of a Special Operations Command Africa, what are some of the challenges of standing up a new command?
A: Building an effective team that will include different agencies of the U.S. government and international partners, taking over missions and relationships from three different commands— EUCOM, CENTCOM and PACOM—adding value to existing programs and identifying appropriate new partnerships and programs are all significant challenges. We have a staff of dedicated and talented people who believe in AFRICOM’s mission and, I believe, an innovative approach and organization to meet these challenges.
Q: Africa Command has been touted as a truly joint and interagency command that will have strong relationships between DoD offices as well as other non-DoD governmental offices. Do you see the role of Special Operations Command Africa to be the same as the SOCs within the other unified commands?
A: SOCAFRICA’s organization will be different from traditional Joint Special Operations headquarters that feature J-1 through J-9 type staff directorates. We do not envision that SOF units will be assigned to the command per se, so to succeed we must plan to fully integrate interagency and partner nation capabilities into the planning and execution of operations. We will support, facilitate and/or leverage existing civilian and military capabilities and actors in the AFRICOM area of responsibility.
The primary focus of the command will be on SOF missions that develop African partner capacity and provide assistance often in support of other agencies or entities—and support theater security cooperation objectives. This means executing missions by, with, through, or in support of U.S. government departments and agencies, partner nations and other organizations as an integrated theater strategy.
The goal is to promote regional stability, combat terrorism, and advance U.S. strategic objectives in the AFRICOM AOR. The key thing will be to take an approach that takes into account existing African Union security constructs and initiatives and enhance their capacity to address regional security challenges such as humanitarian assistance, crisis response, maritime law enforcement, counter narcotics, counter terrorism and countering human trafficking.
Q: Although early in the process, have you had the chance to meet with any of your African counterparts. Do you foresee holding an African special operations conference at anytime?
A: As the SOCAFRICA commander, I have already traveled to the African continent and met with many African military and civilian leaders. As our manning and capabilities grow, I don’t see why we could not host an African special operations conference. I believe it is critical for, not only the commanding general, but others in the command to meet with our special operations counterparts. For example, members of the command have attended civil-military operations courses in Ghana and Nigeria to interact with counterparts. These types of interactions build the foundation for strong partnerships vital to mission success.
Q: What are some of the equipment and technological issues that are faced in Africa when working particular mission, like foreign internal defense for example?
A: SOCAFRICA’s primary role is to help train partner militaries to address security issues within their borders, and to work regionally to address transnational threats. This training is a traditional mission for special operations units, requiring like equipment and technology. We will need equipment that will be able to withstand unforgiving terrain and conditions. This includes equipment in support of medical humanitarian mission. We are particularly interested in the types of technologies that enhance our capability to do missions like MEDCAPs in remote regions of the continent.
Q: Following that what can be done to improve the equipment and level of capabilities of friendly nations and what an U.S. defense suppliers do to assist?
A: Some of the countries are well-equipped, others are not. We are always on the look out for new technology that will help to accomplish our SOF mission. Equipment must work not only in the extreme environment I mentioned above, but must have interoperability. This means not only working with joint U.S. forces, but our coalition members, so one of the things we are particularly keen on are C4I technologies that enable interoperability with our counterparts while at the same time accounting for foreign disclosure restrictions.
Q: Will you have representation from all of the service special ops components within the command and will any particular service SOF component be represented in larger numbers than the others?
A: All U.S. special operations forces will be present within SOCAFRICA. The numbers are representative of the ratios of SOF components within the services. We have a balanced mix of personnel from all the forces. The key leadership positions will come from all of the services. The reserve components are also represented within the command.
Q: How best can Special Operations Command Africa contribute to or assist the African Standby Forces in achieving its near term goals?
A: Special operations forces support much of the U.S. government activity on the continent, specializing in working with foreign military forces. AFRICOM will continue ongoing U.S. military support of the African Standby Force, when requested, with a collaborative goal of increasing security and stability on the continent.
We will develop and improve African standby forces so the Africans themselves can build capacity to secure their nations, and the continent. Because SOF is an economy of force effort by its very nature, we think a little will go a long way.
A perfect example of this is the type of training being done by SOCCENT’s efforts in Manda Bay, Kenya, which with minimal manning and a relatively small budget has done a tremendous job over the last several years establishing a credible maritime security and law enforcement capability within the Kenyan Navy.
Q: Of our key allies, France and the U.K. have a strong training and support presence in Africa. Have you been working with any of our coalition partners on cooperative planning, possible training exercises and regional meeting and briefs?
A: In standing up AFRICOM the United States has consulted extensively with African governments, the African Union and others. We plan to continue these consultations and to work closely with African governments, regional organizations, and the international community. Over time, in collaboration with U.S. government interagency, partner nations and other organizations, Special Operations Command Africa will assist and enable our African partners to address problems in the local, regional and continental levels.
The objective is a self-sustaining Africa that is a stable, secure, and economically viable environment incompatible with violent extremist groups or ideology.
Overall, AFRICOM does not expand the U.S. Defense Department’s mission so much as it gains more efficiency and effectiveness from existing U.S. resources. These existing programs and activities take place in consultation with the host nation partners in Africa. I like to think of the SOC as a transformer. There is already a good bit of voltage flowing through the wires, but plugging us in as a transformer will increase the energy level.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: Special Operations Command Africa will have the same professionalism and high standards expected of our predecessors in the SOF community. We are looking forward to fully establishing the command and working closely with our partner nations to achieve common goals and objectives in the region.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our future. ♦