Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1467328
strong actor, acting as a stronger ally, with a deep pocket. The Americans managed to neutralize Al-Qaeda in Iraq and establish tribe mili- tias, fighting the fundamentalists (the so-called Sunni Awakening). In Afghanistan, local, highly potent armed forces were established. However, as the Americans left Iraq in late 2011, the situation became so dire after 2 years, due to the ISIS offensive, that another armed intervention became a must. The situation in Af- ghanistan is similar - results of limitations of the US support for the local forces are clearly visible. It turned out that military support can be effective, provided that it is continuous, not temporary. These conditions, defined by the fight against an unconventional, non-state actor also had an impact on the transformation of SOF - when during the long-term operations the individual units rotated their task groups on site. In the case of the USSOCOM - with the SOF component having a significant size, as opposed to other states - not only was the structure expanded quantitatively, but also when it comes to the set of available capabilities. In particular, special re- con units grew in size. Separate elements tasked solely with reconnaissance were also being established - such as the British SRR - Special Reconnaissance Reg- iment. When fighting the guerilla, conventional intelligence-gathering platforms are not always useful, for reasons that are quite obvious. The increases in scale and tempo of operations, and an increased role of direct action also translated into a greater necessity to use kinetically-enabled forces - these components were also being reinforced. The new reality is referred to as the „Great Power Competition" (between the Unit- ed States of America, Russia, and China). It also entails a new set of challenges and problems. A hybrid or conventional conflict that openly involves the superpowers (or prox- ies - smaller states or guerilla), is an entirely different theater. When the US SOF got involved in Syria, they faced an unpleasant surprise, as the Russian EW inter- rupted communications and spoofed the GPS signal. General Raymond Thomas, USSOCOM Commander, in 2018 directly stated that Syria is the most adverse EW www.fragoutmag.com