Imperatives Flashcards
ARSOF Imperatives
- Understand the Operational Environment.
- Recognize Political Implications
- Facilitate Interorganizational Cooperation
- Engage the Threat Discriminately.
- Anticipate Long-Term Effects.
- Ensure Legitimacy and Trust
- Anticipate Psychological Effects and the Impact of Information
- Operate With and Through Others
- Develop Multiple Options
- Ensure Long-Term Engagement
- Provide Sufficient Intelligence
- Balance Security and Synchronization
Understand the Operational Environment.
SF cannot shape the operational environment without first gaining a clear understanding of the joint operations area, including civilian influence and enemy and friendly capabilities. SF applies the political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment, time operational variables to analyze the operational area. SF must identify the friendly and hostile decision-makers, their objectives and strategies, and the ways they interact. The conditions of conflict can change and SF must anticipate these changes in the operational environment and exploit fleeting opportunities.
Recognize Political Implications
Many SF operations are conducted to advance critical political objectives. SF must understand that its actions can have international consequences. Rules of engagement provide a framework that considers political implications. However, rules of engagement cannot anticipate every situation. SF must understand the intent of the rules of engagement and act accordingly, despite any military disadvantage that may result. The advancement of the political objective may take precedence over the military disadvantages
• Facilitate Interorganizational Cooperation
SF must actively and continuously coordinate its activities with all relevant parties (U.S. and foreign military and nonmilitary organizations) to ensure efficient use of all available resources and maintain unity of effort.
Engage the Threat Discriminately
SF discerns differences in the threats and engages each accordingly. A direct action solution for one threat may be inappropriate for another, especially if that threat could be bypassed or marginalized without loss or co-opted for great material or political advantage
Anticipate Long-Term Effects.
SF must consider the political, economic, informational, and military effects when faced with dilemmas because the solutions will have broad, far-reaching effects. SF must accept legal and political constraints to avoid strategic failure while achieving tactical success. SF must not jeopardize the success of national and GCC long-term objectives by the desire for immediate or short-term effects. SF policies, plans, and operations must be consistent with the national and theater priorities and objectives they support. Inconsistency can lead to a loss of legitimacy and credibility at the national level.
Ensure Legitimacy and Trust
Significant legal and policy considerations apply to many SF activities. Legitimacy is the most crucial factor in developing and maintaining internal and international support. The United States cannot sustain its assistance to a foreign power without this legitimacy. The concept of legitimacy is broader than the strict legal definition contained in international law. The concept also includes the moral and political legitimacy of a government or resistance organization. The people of the nation and the international community determine its legitimacy based on collective perception of the credibility of its cause and methods. SF, as a frequent choice as an early-entry force must ensure its actions and communications with the local populace and forces it is working with are consistent with stated U.S. policy. Consistency of message and action is critical to legitimacy and credibility. Without legitimacy and credibility, SF will not gain the support of foreign indigenous elements, the U.S. population, or the international community. SF legal advisors must review all sensitive aspects of SF mission planning and execution.
Anticipate Psychological Effects and the Impact of Information
All special operations have significant psychological effects that often are amplified by an increasingly pervasive electronic media environment and the growing influence of social media. SF must integrate MISO and public affairs into its activities, anticipating and countering threat information themes, as well as managing the second- and third-order effects of operations on a population.
Operate With and Through Others
The primary role of SF in multinational operations is to provide advice, train, and assist indigenous military and paramilitary forces. The supported non-U.S. forces then serve as force multipliers in the pursuit of mutual security objectives with minimum U.S. visibility, risk, and cost. SF also operates with and through indigenous government and civil society leaders to shape the operational environment. The long-term self-sufficiency of the HN militaries and civil authorities must assume primary authority and accept responsibility for the success or failure of the mission. All U.S. efforts must reinforce and enhance the effectiveness, legitimacy, and credibility of the supported foreign government or group.
Develop Multiple Options
ARSOF maintain their agility by developing a broad range of options and contingency plans to provide flexible national and regional options. Keys to operational flexibility include - Developing contingency plans that anticipate problems during critical events. Using a collaborative, deliberate, and interactive planning and rehearsal process; having the same people plan, rehearse, and execute the mission. These types of actions on the objective become a common point of departure, not inflexible blueprints.
Ensure Long-Term Engagement
SF recognizes the need for persistence, patience, and continuity of effort in addressing security issues abroad. When supporting a U.S. policy of enduring engagement, planners and those executing missions must work to ensure programs are sustainable (within the capabilities of the HN), consistent (properly timed to maintain continuity), and durable (sufficiently resourced).
Provide Sufficient Intelligence
Success for SF missions dictates that uncertainty associated with the threat and environment must be minimized through the application of intelligence operations and procedures. Because of the requirement for detailed intelligence, SF typically accesses theater and national systems to ensure that complete and predictive intelligence is applied. SF units also provide intelligence through area assessments, special reconnaissance, and post-operational debriefing of units. Human intelligence is often the only source that can satisfy critical intelligence requirements
Balance Security and Synchronization
Security concerns often dominate special operations, but over-compartmentalization can exclude key special operations forces, conventional forces, and indigenous personnel from the planning cycle. Insufficient security may compromise a mission. Excessive security may cause the mission to fail because of inadequate coordination. SF must constantly balance the two and resolve these conflicting demands on mission planning and execution
