The Special Forces Identity Crisis and Rethinking All of Special Operations

Retired Lt. Col. Greg Banner

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Several articles and rebuttals—written by retired Col. Edward Croot, retired Sgt. Maj. David Shell, and others—talk about an Army Special Forces (SF) “identity crisis,” or confusion and morale problems among that force. While a lot of valid comments have been made, there have only been some passing comments about the “elephant in the room” and what is really the main problem. That issue comes from the emergence of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and its component units which have monopolized many parts of U.S. special operations missions to the detriment of the remaining Special Operations Forces (SOF), primarily SF. This is, however, not just an SF issue as it impacts other forces and in fact has resulted in a less organized and less capable SOF as a whole. In addressing the topic, there is the hope that changes could benefit the entire force and our national capabilities.