![]() military's unique ability to deploy and sustain forces to some of the most difficult locations in the world mean special operations forces formations "provide unique access and placement that create options for our nation's leaders, and SOF is adept at creating dilemmas for our adversaries," he said. "It also has enhanced the resilience of our allies and partners to resist aggression." This "has produced an international SOF enterprise that provides us unique, firsthand understanding of the global operating environment," he told the senators. One way is to exploit the deep relationships special operators have forged with allies and partners over the last two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa and Asia. "While SOF's role in counterterrorism is widely understood and appreciated, my team and I work daily to ensure the value proposition of SOF in integrated deterrence and campaigning against strategic competitors is accounted for and incorporated into the department's processes." "We are transforming the SOF enterprise to achieve the goals of the NDS," he said. The assistant secretary stressed that special operations forces are not separate from the rest of the military, and they are pulling their weight in support of the National Defense Strategy. "Sitting before this committee last year, I testified we were at an inflection point in SOF's transformation to focus more on the pacing challenge of China and the acute threat posed by Russia, while maintaining enduring capabilities to counter violent extremist organizations, address Iran's destabilizing behavior and conduct no-fail crisis response around the globe," Maier said. Austin III calls a meeting of the service secretaries, he sits at the table, too. While Maier is an assistant secretary, Congress gave his position many of the authorities wielded by service secretaries regarding special operations forces - or SOF, as it is often called.ĭOD officials are all in on this aspect, and Maier noted that when the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Special Operations Command, and both men were upbeat in their appraisal of where the community is and how it will get to the next level.
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