SOCOM procurement mantra: lighter, cheaper, quicker.

• Author: I. Erwin, Sandra

In the cagey world of U.S. special operations weapons and technology, no idea is too ridiculous or too good to be true.

"My goal is to simplify the process so anybody with an idea can help SOCOM," says James F. Geurts, acquisition executive for U.S. Special Operations Command.

One of the axioms known as "SOF truths" is that humans are more important than hardware, and that the best equipment in the world cannot compensate for a lack of the right people. Culture aside, special operations forces are known for creative and unconventional use of technology. And as missions get tougher, SOCOM is feeling pressure to step up its innovation game, Geurts tells National Defense.

"I continue to see an exponential acceleration of requirements in almost every dimension," says Geurts, who oversees about 600 researchers, engineers, procurement and contracting officers.

SOF commanders always are on the lookout for equipment that is low maintenance and easy to carry around in warzones, and of late they have become especially interested in miniaturized spy gear and data-mining software that they can easily operate and maintain in the field.

Special Operations Command--with about 70,000 active duty, National Guard and reserve personnel from all services and an $ 11 billion annual budget--is viewed as a "strategic asset" and is poised to take an even bigger role in counterterrorism and other security challenges, analysts predict. When President Obama took office in 2009, SOCOM had about 56,000 personnel and a base budget of about $6 billion. SOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw points out that most of the personnel growth that occurred during the Obama presidency had been programmed during the George W. Bush administration.

"SOF have shouldered a heavy burden, suffering a high number of casualties over the last eight years and maintaining a high operational tempo that has increasingly strained special operators and their families," says analyst Jonathan Schroden, of CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization in Arlington, Virginia. He believes President Trump is inheriting an "increasingly complex security environment and a trendline of increased reliance on SOF."

SOCOM's equipment buyers have their work cut out for them, says Geurts. "We have a high operational tempo, forces engaged in a wide variety of activities, from training and advising, to full combat, exercising and building relationships," he adds. "I see us operating in multiple continents and...