March 28, 2025

Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center: Transformation and Modernization

FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA — The United States Army special operations forces (SOF) operate in a near continuous state of transformation and modernization. During the last two decades of conflicts in the Middle East and the wider world, these transformations happened at a rapid pace, often placing significant strain on force generators, such as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Now, the U.S. military is requiring its commands to dramatically change their tactics and training in anticipation of large-scale combat operations (LSCO) against peer and near-peer adversaries.

March 20, 2025

Operators Wanted: SORB Navigating the Recruiting Challenges Facing the Army

FORT BRAGG, NC — The Army is working to overcome recruitment and retention issues at a time when the nation is facing new geopolitical challenges. Those recruitment issues are many and come with consequences, including how the Army’s special operations forces recruit, select, train, and man units with important ongoing overseas missions and commitments. The Special Operations Recruiting Battalion (SORB) is currently assisting the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) with navigating this recruiting challenge. This article discusses the obstacles to recruiting, the SORB mission, and a growing initiative that will benefit the special operations community and the wider Army as we train and fight together to stay ready to protect the nation.

Nov. 25, 2024

Strategic Disruption: An Operational Framework for Irregular Warfare

FORT LIBERTY, NC — The effectiveness of special operations forces (SOF) in irregular warfare is hindered by the lack of a clear and structured operational-level framework tailored to irregular warfare, akin to what large-scale combat operations (LSCO) offers in conventional warfare. Whereas LSCO provides a systematic framework for planning and preparing for conventional warfare, the concept of irregular warfare lacks any such framework – irregular warfare lacks its LSCO, so to speak. The absence of this nested, operational-level concept has introduced ambiguity for Army special operations forces (ARSOF). The broader joint force community has led to varied interpretations and approaches to irregular warfare. This ambiguity complicates the understanding of irregular warfare and challenges planners to align their efforts effectively.

Nov. 15, 2024

The Three Pillars of Irregular Warfare Education

Irregular Warfare education is a holistic, iterative, and lifelong learning process that has a different set of key knowledges as base requirements at certain points in an Army special operations force (ARSOF) Soldier’s career. These key knowledges are represented by three pillars of Irregular Warfare education: institutional training and professional military education, personal self-study, and unit-level experiential learning. The process used to train and educate Soldiers about Irregular Warfare —in many regards—is not unlike other education development and learning models. What is different and unique is how this education is delivered and managed.

Oct. 24, 2024

Misconceptions about Irregular Warfare have Wasted U.S. Influence in the Sahel

SPECIAL WARFARE JOURNAL — The number of violent episodes in the Sahel region of Africa, centered around Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has quadrupled from 700 incidents in 2019 to over 2,800 incidents in 2022.