Votel Discusses Special Operations Challenges

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2015 – The “hyper connectivity” of the world today complicates an already complex set of global security issues, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command said today at a security forum in Colorado.

Army Gen. Joseph L. Votel told Fox News correspondent Catherine Herridge that the problems of Russia, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and state and non-state actors is made more complex because of the speed and ubiquity of communications.

The general spoke at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado this morning.

The Socom commander said Russia’s use of hybrid warfare in Crimea and eastern Ukraine must be countered. Russia’s use of conventional and non-conventional forces and the use of military and non-military governmental capabilities present problems beyond a simple military solution, the general said.

“They are using information operations, they are using their own military capabilities and they are using ethnic Russian populations in some of these countries as surrogates,” he said.

All this, the general said, helps “perpetrate this idea of coercion and pressure on neighbors along their periphery to meet their particular objectives.”

Russia’s objective, Votel said, is to create a situation where NATO cannot thrive. Russian President Vladimir Putin sees the North Atlantic Alliance as a threat, Votel said, and the Russian leader “is attempting to create these frozen conflicts and situations that are difficult to resolve along their border and in doing that stalemate a lot of things.”

Hybrid warfare is unconventional warfare and that’s in U.S. Special Operations Command’s wheelhouse, the general said. The command is working with NATO allies and partners to develop their capabilities, he said.

Focusing on ISIL

But most of Socom’s resources are focused on the Middle East and Central Asia, the general said, noting that focus now is on ISIL.

ISIL is a terrorist group with ambitions to be the new Caliphate, Votel said. The first Caliphate extended from Spain, through North Africa and across to India.

The group is “looking for opportunities where there is ungoverned spaces and vulnerable populations, and they are taking advantage of that,” he said.

When pressure is applied in one spot, ISIL moves to another, the general said.

“I don’t know if they have a plan, as such,” he said, “but what they are trying to do is re-establish that Caliphate by looking for opportunities they can exploit.”

Votel said the fight against ISIL and groups like it will require a long-term commitment. He cited Colombia and its 50-year fight against terrorism.

“I don’t believe there’s any one strategy that we are going to apply that is immediately going to change this,” the general said. “It’s going to take a long-term approach, understanding what is happening, making smart decisions and continuing to apply pressure -- whether that is military pressure, diplomatic pressure, economic pressure, informational pressure against violent extremists.”

Marine Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of three Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They died Aug. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.  These Marines were assigned to 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Killed were:

Capt. Matthew P. Manoukian, 29, of Los Altos Hills, Calif.,

Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Jeschke, 31, of Herndon, Va., and

Staff Sgt. Sky R. Mote, 27, of El Dorado, Calif.

This incident is under investigation.

For additional information on these Marines, news media representatives may contact Marine Corps Special Operations Command public affairs office at 910-440-0770.

Wisconsin Guard Soldiers return from special operations mission in Afghanistan

Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs

Three of the four Wisconsin Army National Guard female Soldiers who worked alongside Army Special Forces troops in Afghanistan returned to Wisconsin Thursday night (March 15). 

Senior Wisconsin National Guard leaders met 1st Lt. April Nelson, Westby, at the La Crosse Municipal Airport; Master Sgt. Karen Dumke, Waupun, at the Dane County Regional Airport; and Sgt. Kristen Elegeert, De Pere, at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay. Sgt. Sonia Buchanan of Cottage Grove is speaking at the Special Operations Command Academic Week in Orlando, Fla., this week and will return to Wisconsin after she completes the demobilization process.

The four female Soldiers graduated the inaugural Cultural Support Training Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. last July, where they learned the basic capabilities to interact and communicate with Afghan women and children - a task deemed locally as culturally inappropriate for traditional Army special operations forces. Nelson, Dumke, Buchanan and Elegeert were among 240 females who signed up for the program. Only 106 were selected for assessment, and 59 of those attended the Cultural Support Team training.

"I'm not surprised we had the number that we had apply and, overall, succeed," said Brig. Gen. Mark Anderson, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. "The Soldiers that we have in our command are of that caliber."

Nelson, who worked with the 3rd Special Forces Group Cultural Support Team, said it felt great to be back in an environment where she does not have to worry where she steps or who might be following her.

"What I got out of this experience is how to be selfless, how to react quickly and how to work well with people in a very male-dominated environment," Nelson said. "It changed my outlook on Special Forces, and the military overall."

Elegeert was the last person to exit the plane, carrying a knapsack on her back and a big smile on her face, when she arrived in Green Bay following a weather delay in Detroit. She shared deployment stories with family, friends and Wisconsin National Guard members - including Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin.

"She looked at me and said she wanted to volunteer for the next cultural support team rotation in the fall," said Col. Julie Gerety of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, who also greeted Elegeert at Green Bay.

Anderson expressed his pride in the four Soldiers for their accomplishments.

"There's always a sense of relief when they get home," Anderson said. "The family is relieved, and I share the same feelings knowing their significant accomplishments from this mission."

Pentagon: No Enemy Involvement in Djibouti Air Force Crash

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – Four Air Force special operators were killed Feb. 18 when their single-engine U-28 aircraft crashed in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

“This is obviously a tragic incident,” Little said about the accident, which occurred at the Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City. Camp Lemonnier, located nearby, is the main base of operations for U.S. Africa Command in the Horn of Africa.

The airmen had been conducting a surveillance and reconnaissance mission, Little said. “There is absolutely no indication of any kind of enemy involvement in the downing of the plane,” he added.

Little said the Air Force mission was in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, which includes operations in Afghanistan, the Philippines, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. The special operators -- all were from Hurlburt Field, an Air Force installation in Okaloosa County, Fla. -- were:

-- Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo., assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron.

-- Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Ga., and 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Ore., both assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron.

-- Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md., assigned to the 25th Intelligence Squadron.

Little said a dignified transfer ceremony took place at the Dover Air Force Base military mortuary in Delaware early this morning “for our returning fallen heroes who were involved in this crash.”

A safety board investigation has been initiated to determine the cause of the incident, according to a statement on the Africa Command website. The accident occurred at about 8 p.m. local time, the statement said, and U.S. military personnel were dispatched to the scene.

“We need to understand precisely what happened in this tragic incident,” Little said.

U.S., African Forces Mitigate Terror Group’s Impact

By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2012 – U.S. special operations forces are helping four Central African nations reduce the size and lethality of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a group that has terrorized the region for 25 years, U.S. officials said today.

Navy Rear Adm. Brian L. Losey, commander of Special Operations Command Africa, said in a conference call with reporters that the LRA is down to about 200 core fighters. Karly Wycoff, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, also participated in the call.

While still under the direction of its leader, Joseph Kony, the admiral said, the group is kept on the run in the remote, shared border region of South Sudan, Uganda, Central Africa Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- an area about the size of California.

President Barack Obama ordered about 100 special operations forces to deploy to Central Africa in October to train and augment the capabilities of the African militaries in the region.

The U.S. effort to help the four-nation partnership counter the LRA is a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy that has included training, funding, airlift, logistics, communications and intelligence support -- specifically, fusing intelligence and support to operations, Losey and Wycoff said.

“With our support, these four military forces continue to make progress in reducing the LRA’s numbers and keep them from regrouping,” Wycoff said.

U.S. forces also are working closely with the State Department, the United Nations, the African Union and nongovernmental organizations to provide humanitarian relief in the region, Wycoff said.

“The military is only one part of a broader strategy,” Wycoff said. A large part of the strategy is to entice LRA members to defect and safely return home, with the help of government and aid organizations, he said, and to publicize those defections.

“One of the sad realities of this situation is that many of the perpetrators of these [LRA] atrocities were victims themselves, abducted in their childhood and forced to fight,” he said.

Wycoff likened Kony and his followers to a cult that has kidnapped and murdered civilians for two decades, causing an estimated 455,000 people to be displaced or to live as refugees. The LRA is not known to be involved in any money-making criminal enterprise, he said, but survives off foraging and pillaging of villages.

The LRA is implicated in 278 attacks and at least 300 abductions last year, which decreased at the end of the year, they said.

“Now they are only a small percentage of their former strength,” Losey said. But the fact that the LRA is operating at all, even at reduced strength, is terrifying to people in the region, he added.

Losey said the removal of Kony is one of the chief objectives in a broader mission to enable the four partner nations to be fully capable to counter the LRA. Though there is no timeline for the U.S. mission, he added, it also is not open-ended.

“We want to make very clear that we are supporting, and not leading, this effort,” he said.

The fact that the four African nations came together for the effort to defeat the LRA is an achievement, Losey said.

“This operation is at its core what U.S. Africa Command is all about,” he said. “In the long run, it is the Africans who are best suited to address” their regional security challenges.

Air Force Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of four airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.  They died February 18 when their U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Killed were:

Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo.  He was assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Ga.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Ore.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md.  He was assigned to the 25th Intelligence Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

For more information media may contact the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing public affairs office at 850-884-8100.

Statement by Secretary Panetta on Hostage Rescue Operation in Somalia

Last night U.S. Special Operations Forces conducted, by order of the President of the United States, a successful mission in Somalia to rescue two individuals taken hostage on October 25, 2011. Ms. Jessica Buchanan, an American citizen employed by the Danish Demining Group, and her Danish colleague, Mr. Poul Thisted, were kidnapped at gunpoint by criminal suspects near Galcayo, Somalia.

Ms. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted have been transported to a safe location where we will evaluate their health and make arrangements for them to return home.

This successful hostage rescue, undertaken in a hostile environment, is a testament to the superb skills of courageous service members who risked their lives to save others.  I applaud their efforts, and I am pleased that Ms. Buchanan and Mr. Thisted were not harmed during the operation.  This mission demonstrates our military's commitment to the safety of our fellow citizens wherever they may be around the world.

I am grateful to report that there was no loss of life or injuries to our personnel.

I express my deepest gratitude to all the military and civilian men and women who supported this operation.  This was a team effort and required close coordination, especially between the Department of Defense and our colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  They are heroes and continue to inspire all of us by their bravery and service to our nation.

Army General to Lead Chinook Crash Investigation

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2011 – Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt will conduct the investigation of the crash of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan that killed 38 U.S. and Afghan service members, U.S. Central Command officials announced today.

Colt, deputy commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, will begin his duties immediately. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, the Central Command commander, appointed Colt.

Officials in Afghanistan believe a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade shot down the Chinook as it brought 25 Navy and Air Force special operations personnel to an Aug. 6 firefight in eastern Afghanistan’s Wardak province. It was the deadliest single incident in the decade-long war in the country.

Central Command officials would not discuss the parameters or scope of Colt’s investigation.

Before arriving at Fort Campbell, Ky., Colt served as commander of the Joint Unmanned Aircraft Center of Excellence in Indian Springs Airfield, Nev. Colt is an Army aviator who served with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and both 101st Airborne Division aviation brigades.

Gates: ‘Perfect Fusion’ Made bin Laden Raid Succeed

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 – The May 1 raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was “a perfect fusion of intelligence collection, intelligence analysis and military operations,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in an interview aired last night on the CBS program “60 Minutes.”

But the secretary acknowledged some anxious moments as the situation unfolded.

“I was very concerned, frankly,” he told CBS correspondent Katie Couric. “I had real reservations about the intelligence. My worry was the level of uncertainty about whether bin Laden was even in the compound. But there wasn’t any direct evidence that he was there. It was all circumstantial, but it was the best information that we had since probably 2001.”

Though the intelligence was imperfect, Gates said, the national security team was on board with President Barack Obama’s decision to launch the operation. “I think everybody agreed that we needed to act, and act pretty promptly,” he said.

Gates -- who has worked for eight presidents in a public life that will culminate with his June 30 retirement -- expressed admiration for the courage of the president’s decision.

“This is one of the most courageous calls, decisions, that I think I’ve ever seen a president make,” he said. “For all of the concerns that I’ve just been talking about -- the uncertainty of the intelligence, the consequences of it going bad, to risk the lives of the Americans involved -- it was a very gutsy call.”

Gates said that while it’s too early to tell whether bin Laden’s death will affect the rate at which the United States will be able to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, it could help the process of reconciliation in the war-torn country.

“If we keep the military pressure on and continue to hold what we seized over the last year and expand the security envelope,” he said, “a change in the relationship between al-Qaida and the Taliban could, in fact, this fall or winter, create the circumstances where a reconciliation process could go forward.”

Meanwhile, he added, progress is happening and work remains to be done to ensure Afghanistan doesn’t return to being a safe haven for terrorists.

“I would say that we are getting the upper hand,” he said. “We have over the last 18 months put in place for the first time the resources necessary to ensure that this threat does not rebuild, does not re-emerge, once we’re gone. I think we could be in a position by the end of this year where we have turned the corner in Afghanistan.”

Gates also reflected on his tenure as defense secretary, which began in December 2006 during President George W. Bush’s administration, telling Couric it “absolutely” has been the toughest job he’s ever had.

“We have been at war in two places every single day I’ve been secretary of defense, and I’ve been secretary of defense longer than World War II lasted, longer than the Civil War lasted,” he said. “So it’s been tough.”

Leading a department that is organized to plan for war, but not to fight a war, has proven to be an especially difficult challenge, Gates said. “And so everything that I wanted to do to try and help the men and women in the field, I’ve had to do outside the normal Pentagon bureaucracy,” he added, “and I have had to be directly involved on a week-to-week basis to make sure that it got done. That’s been very frustrating.”

As U.S. casualties mounted from roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gates accelerated production and deployment of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles that have been credited with saving lives.

“My attitude was, ‘If you’re in a war, and kids’ lives are at stake, you’re all in,’” he said. “You do whatever is necessary to protect them and help them accomplish their mission. And if you’ve got this stuff left over at the end, then so be it. You also have left over a lot of living kids.”

The secretary also worked to ensure wounded service members in Afghanistan made it from the battlefield to a hospital in less than an hour, a period that statistics showed would yield the best survival rate.

“The medical bureaucrats told me that in Afghanistan two hours was OK. … I said, you know, if I’m a soldier and I’ve been shot, I want to have the same expectation that I did when I was deployed in Iraq, that I’m going to get picked up in an hour,” he said. “So now, the average rescue time in Afghanistan is about 40 minutes.”

Bringing the defense department budget under control is another challenge Gates discussed in the interview.

“The budget of the Pentagon almost doubled during the last decade, but our capabilities didn’t particularly expand,” he said. “A lot of that money went into infrastructure and overhead and, frankly, I think a culture that had an open checkbook. And so that’s what we had to change.”

His highest priority, Gates said, has been to get the nation’s warfighters whatever they need to complete their mission and come home safely.

“I said kind of all along that I think of them as my own sons and daughters,” he said. “It’s because I send them. I’m the guy that signs the piece of paper that sends them here. I’m the guy that signs the condolence letters. I’m the guy that visits them in the hospitals. It’s very emotional for me. They are the best.”

Gates told Couric that before he sends condolence letters to the families of service members killed in action, he learns as much as he can about the fallen warriors.

“I swore I would never let any of them become a statistic for me,” he said. “So with each condolence letter that I write, I get a packet of hometown news accounts of that individual, as well as a picture. And I get to read what their coaches and their parents and their brothers and their sisters say about them. So I feel like I know them.

“In some ways it makes the job harder,” he added, “but I want the parents or the wives or spouses to know that I care about every single one of them.”

Couric’s interview with Gates continues on “The CBS Evening News” tonight.

(Editor's note: This article replaces an AFPS article posted May 15 on Secretary Gates' "60 Minutes" interview. This article is more comprehensive than the original, which also contained an inaccurate quotation, and has been removed from Defense.gov.)

Gates: Bin Laden Intel Required Prompt Action

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2011 – While acknowledging concerns about intelligence leading up to the May 1 raid that killed 9/11-attack mastermind and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called President Barack Obama’s decision to move forward “gutsy.”

“I was very concerned,” Gates said in an interview that aired tonight on the CBS program "60 Minutes." “Frankly, I had real reservations about the intelligence.”

Gates told CBS correspondent Katie Couric he worried that bin Laden was not even in the compound and that American lives were at risk, noting the intelligence was circumstantial.

Still, the secretary said, it likely was the best lead the Defense Department and White House had on bin Laden’s whereabouts in a decade. “I think everybody agreed that we needed to act, and act promptly,” he said of Obama’s national security team.

Gates praised Obama’s decision to move forward with the operation despite the lack of certainty in the intelligence, calling the results a game-changer in the war in Afghanistan.

“This is one of the most courageous calls, decisions, that I think I’ve ever seen a president make,” said Gates, who has served eight presidents in his public life. “For all of the concerns I just talked about -- the uncertainty, the intelligence, the consequences of it going bad, the risk, the lives of Americans involved -- it was a very gutsy call.”

Although it’s still too early to tell whether bin Laden’s death will affect troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, Gates said, “I think we could be in a position by the end of this year where we have turned the corner in Afghanistan and more troops could come home.”

Gates explained that the militant Taliban could reconcile with the Afghan government by year’s end, and the past 18 months of progress could ensure that neither the Taliban nor al-Qaida re-emerges as a threat in Afghanistan.

The war in Afghanistan is only part of Gates’ historical tenure as defense secretary. When he retires later this summer, he noted, will have overseen wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at some of the most promising and doubtful periods of each war. And through it all, he said, his highest priority was to ensure the safety of troops by making sure they had what they needed to accomplish their mission.

“If you’re in a war, and kids’ lives are at stake, you do whatever is necessary to protect them and help them accomplish their mission,” Gates said, explaining his decision to spend more than $40 billion on the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle designed specifically to protect occupants from roadside bombs. The MRAP, he noted, has saved thousands of lives.

“I think of [troops] as my own sons and daughters,” he said. “I’m the guy that signs the piece of paper that sends them. I’m the guy that signs the condolence letters. I’m the guy that visits them in the hospital.

“It’s very emotional for me,” he continued. “They are the best. I want the parents, the wives, the spouses to know that I care about every single one of them.”

(Editor's note: This version corrects an inaccurate quotation contained in a previously posted version, in which the word "outrageous" was inadvertently used in place of "courageous.")