SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES BRACING FOR ARCTIC MISSIONS.

• Author: Harper, Jon
• Position: COLD FRONT

For the past two decades, U.S. Special Operations Forces have deployed to some of the most dangerous and inhospitable places on the planet to combat terrorist networks. With the Pentagon increasingly focused on great power competition, they may soon find themselves spending more time in a region that presents a unique set of challenges--the Arctic.

In 2019, the Defense Department released its latest Arctic Strategy, which noted the important role for special operators.

"DoD's desired end-state for the Arctic is a secure and stable region in which U.S. national security interests are safeguarded, the U.S. homeland is defended, and nations work cooperatively to address shared challenges," the document said. "The agile and expeditionary nature of SOF, combined with established allied and partner relations and interoperability, provides DoD a ready capability to compete below the level of armed conflict in the Arctic region, and across the spectrum of SOF core activities."

Special operators have played a central role in the post-9/11 wars conducting direct assault missions, the most famous being the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But unless terrorist groups set up shop in the High North, SOF will play more of a supporting role in the Arctic using a wide range of skill sets, officials and analysts say.

U.S. Special Operations Forces include Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Special Tactics airmen and other elements.

"We do a lot of stuff, and frankly, the majority of what we are assigned in the SOF community are missions that are in support of the general purpose forces, who obviously in the Arctic will...be the biggest chunk of the American activity there," said Steve Bucci, a retired Special Forces officer and a defense analyst with the Heritage Foundation think tank. "Pretty much all of the missions we can do anywhere else, we can do in the Arctic;...we'll just do it in a lot colder environment with a lot more challenge to get it done."

Missions could include special reconnaissance, calling in fires against enemy forces, and training with foreign partners.

They may also entail what the military calls "unconventional warfare," a core capability of the Green Berets since their founding.

"If an adversary in the Arctic context, whether it be Russia or China, took over an area or was threatening an area that way, we could go and assist [allies] with unconventional warfare to help try and liberate" an area, Bucci said. "Or if they're threatening it...