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U.S. Calls Special Warriors to Lead in Unconventional Fight
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

"Air Force special tactics airmen transformed the role of SOF by integrating every U.S. service's air power into the operation. Their unique ability to 'rack and stack' multiple types of aircraft with different procedures and different communications frequencies and to bring both precision and dumb ordnance 'danger close' and on target, proved critical ... to crushing Taliban resistance around key cities."

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
"Afghanistan wasn't a generals' war. It was a war waged by colonels and lieutenant colonels and won by small units that operated with autonomy in a highly fluid environment," said Marshall Billingslea, principal deputy assistant defense secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict.

He said the men and women who make up U.S. special operations forces are truly "one-of-a-kind" and cannot be stretched too far.

"SOF clearly are in the ascendancy as a military capability and as a military tool of the nation," he said. He spoke at the Fletcher Conference, a joint effort of the Marine Corps and the Institute of Foreign Policy Analysis.

Billingslea said that while the U.S. military has not had time to fully grasp all the lessons of Afghanistan, some are already clear.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan