JANUARY 20, 2025 – The American military has an asymmetrical advantage over any possible adversary with its special operations community, and the processes are in place to keep that advantage going well into the future, said Chris Maier, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.
Maier spoke last week and addressed the changes in irregular warfare that special operators are making. He steps down as the community’s civilian leader on Monday.
During the actions following the 9/11 attacks, special operators were often the lead military organization, Maier said. These men and women were the face of counterterrorism and took the battle to those who attacked America.
While there is still a counterterrorism mission for the force, it is also transitioning to its role on countering China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Special operations, by its very nature, is in many countries around the world and operates at the personal level with military leaders of those countries. That alone is an advantage to the United States, Maier said. These forces understand the conditions on the ground, he said. They know the people involved and the strengths and weaknesses of the forces involved. Their reports can make all the difference for people making decisions at higher echelons.
He said this applies not only to a counterterrorism operation in, say, East Africa, but also in great power competition with China or Russia.
Special operators are now also more and more involved with cyber and space domains. The Chinese and Russians are looking for areas “where they can pick off the strength of our partnerships that we’ve built over years,” Maier said. Special operators know how the domains fit together, their positions in those domains and how to work the structures in those areas of expertise.
While DOD is a big part of the National Security Strategy, it is not the only agency in it, nor, often, the most important aspect of the strategy. “We have a major role to play, but it must be viewed as part of the whole-of-government strategy,” Maier said.
As the strategy turns to China and Russia, special operations forces have changed from being the ‘supported’ element to being the ‘supporting’ element, Maier said. There are obviously aspects of the national competition that do not entail the military at all — economic aspects, law enforcement polices, diplomatic moves and more. China operates in these areas and more, and irregular warfare is one of the arrows in the quiver.
Special operators are working hand-in-glove with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to deter China and prevent the nation from making a miscalculation. They are also working with NATO allies and others to counter Russia.
Maier said this must become a trademark of special operations — they must work closely with allies and partners. They must capitalize on the contacts they have forged in the past to bring alliances into the future.
Maier said the U.S. special operations force is the most capable in the world. Moving forward, they must work more closely with experts within DOD on space and cyber capabilities.
“We have that reach-back now, but must develop it more,” he added.
Special operations must also work outside the department to bring in the expertise inherent in other parts of the U.S. government, he said. This could entail everything from tapping experts in the Department of Agriculture to weather forecasters to hydrologists and more.
Special operators also must be bridges to compadres in allied and partner nations. “Special operators have this in their DNA,” Maier said. “We’ve done that since the forces stood up, and now we are getting back to it again.”
By Jim Garamone, DOD News