June 29, 2026

Perspective from the Force: SOF Sustainment for Denied Area Operations in LSCO

Denied-area operations in large-scale combat operations (LSCO) require Green Berets to provide their own sustainment. For this article, the focus is only on food procurement, as the saying often attributed to Napoleon goes, “An army marches on its stomach.” In 20 years within the special operations community, I have never practiced or trained on sustainment operations during pre-mission training, especially for deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). We have always prioritized tactical training, and rightfully so. The GWOT Era rarely required sustainment training as we had staging bases throughout the area of operation.

Oct. 15, 2025

Perspectives: Realigning Joint Combined Exchange Training within the ARSOF Readiness Model

The Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program, a longstanding cornerstone of U.S. special operations forces (USSOF) training, has faced tensions between the force provider components and the theater special operations commands (TSOCs). Per U.S. Code Title 10, Section 322, the primary purpose of JCETs is to train special operations forces. While JCETs can supplement TSOC theater campaign plans, they are often used as a convenient solution to achieve objectives outside the scope of training authorities. Therefore, the current sourcing and execution of JCETs are misaligned with the Army special operations forces’ readiness model.