Special Operations Forces and Partnerships with Foreign Forces
By LTC Tim Ball
In 2020, I published a report for FPRI that looked at special operations forces (SOF) and their role in “great power competition,” or GPC, which was then the military’s hottest buzzword. The concept was captured in the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS). I argued that while conventional military forces became hyper-focused on large scale combat operations, special operations forces were already deployed globally, training and working with partner forces.
It’s through these partnerships that the U.S. military truly conducts day-to-day competition with its adversaries, denying them access and influence wherever possible. Special Operations Forces are most often associated with direct action - operators fast roping from helicopters, kicking down doors, and either rescuing hostages or eliminating terrorist threats. Through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, SOF were often critiqued for focusing too much on direct action missions.
This has led to the questioning of SOF's utility outside of declared war zones, during periods of competition that fall short of armed conflict. In reality, this is where SOF is often most useful. Through their continued partnerships with foreign forces, SOF remain on the leading edge of helping to advance American interests and deter adversaries.
The term “great power competition” has been replaced with the emergence of the Biden Administration’s focus on integrated deterrence, a term utilized nearly 30 times in the 2022 National Defense Strategy. While the 2018 NDS specifically cited strengthening alliances as part of its strategic approach, the 2022 NDS went even further in emphasizing the importance of working with Allies and partners within the integrated deterrence approach. For special operations forces, this is simply affirmation of a mission they have conducted without interruption since their modern-day founding following World War II: partnering with foreign military forces to further advance American interests around the world. Nowhere is the long-term commitment to this mission better illustrated than the current war in Ukraine.
After Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) quietly sent teams into Ukraine to start partnering with Ukrainian special operations forces. Up until the 2022 Russian invasion, these Green Berets trained daily with their Ukrainian partners, and helped them professionalize their special operations forces. This included the establishment of Ukrainian special operations qualification course, which helped assess and select individuals for service in Ukrainian SOF units.
While briefly interrupted by the withdrawal of American personnel from Ukraine prior to the 2022 invasion, Green Berets have continued their work, establishing training sites in friendly NATO countries. Writing for Defense One, Sam Skove provided unique insight into the ongoing partnership between American and Ukrainian SOF. The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), the U.S. Army Special Forces Group responsible for the European area of operations, is training hundreds of Ukrainians each month in a variety of combat skills, ranging from basic shooting to advanced operation and integration with unmanned aerial vehicles. All these skills are brought back to the front lines of the war, increasing both the lethality and the survivability of Ukrainian SOF units.
The American-Ukrainian SOF partnership is a case study being written in real time and shows the benefits of a long-term investment in a partner force. The work done by 10th Group from 2014-2022 helped prepare Ukrainian SOF units to withstand the initial onslaught from the Russian invasion. The continued partnership since the invasion is helping the Americans learn valuable lessons from the front, relayed to them from their Ukrainian partners. Former 10th Group commander Colonel Luke VanAntwerp described it to Defense One’s Sam Skove, saying, “it [the training] was 50/50. You teach us, and we teach you.”
The partnership between Ukrainian and American SOF units is just one part of a broader strategy being executed by the United States. By investing in Ukraine’s defense, policy makers in Washington are helping to ensure the continued degradation (and potential defeat) of Russian combat forces. At the same time, valuable lessons learned are being captured to better prepare American forces in the event of a conventional-style conflict in the near future.
All of this demonstrates the outsized impact small units of SOF can have on national strategic objectives. Continued partnerships with committed investment from the United States are vital for the success of strategies like integrated deterrence. Units like 10th Special Forces Group continue to show in Ukraine why SOF are often the best choice to execute these long-term partnerships.
LTC Tim Ball is a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, currently serving as the Professor of Military Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The views here do not represent those of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or any part of the U.S. government.