Special Operations.Com

AFJI Special Operations-related articles

Note: All articles are reproduced here by written permission of Armed Forces Journal International.  Do not reproduce.

Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.

Deep Underground Tunnels
Counterproliferation Mission Takes SOF Commandos Into Tough New Environments

US Special Operations Command's newest and highest-priority mission is counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The mission entails thwarting the acquisition or use of nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) weapons-using clandestine, intrusive means-by either terrorist groups or rogue nations (May AFJI).

Drawing on specialties that include counterterrorism and "behind-the-lines" special reconnaissance and direct-action strikes, US Special Operations Forces (SOF) are now training to recover sensitive NBC materials in the hands of terrorist groups, to slip undetected into rogue countries to gain evidence of a secret WMD development program, to sabotage such a program, and to detect, disarm, disable, or seize WMD. Referring to WMD proliferation among rogue nations, the US Special Operations Forces 1996 Posture Statement notes, "SOF can be effective early in the weapon acquisition cycle to monitor, deter, or delay the cycle, as well as later to deter, prevent, or protect against weapon use."

Components of US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), while they wait for other DoD and US government organizations to develop new lightweight WMD detection and neutralization equipment and draw on existing NBC protective gear, have conducted training exercises to practice gaining access to WMD. Army General Wayne Downing, then SOCOM's commander-in-chief (CinC), stated in August 1995 that the command had conducted five "major exercises" featuring operations against WMD in the preceding nine months. And Army General Henry Shelton, SOCOM's current CinC, told AFJI in February, "We do, in fact, conduct [WMD counterproliferation] exercises."

Asked if SOCOM required additional specialized force structure for the counterproliferation (CP) mission, Shelton said, "We are not developing any new force structure to deal with WMD. We've got some resident capabilities right now that, with very little growth, can do the mission. The capability to deal with terrorism is already resident, and so that's just an additional mission. It requires more resources, but not necessarily growth in our organizations in any large numbers."

WHO'LL DO THE MISSION?

Which particular SOF components would carry out the CP mission, especially if it entailed destroying stocks of WMD or production facilities located in a so-called rogue country? Shelton's statement about SOCOM's resident counterterrorist capabilities, while he couldn't confirm it due to classification restrictions, referred to the elite Special Mission Units of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Ft. Bragg, NC, including Army Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team Six commandos. Army Special Forces teams, which specialize in clandestine reconnaissance missions deep inside enemy territory (Dec AFJI), could potentially be used to obtain intelligence about NBC development facilities inside rogue countries such as Iraq. But it's clear that JSOC's units have taken on the lion's share of the CP mission.

In a 13 February presentation to industry at the American Defense Preparedness Association's Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium in Washington, DC, Army Maj. Gen. Michael Canavan, JSOC's commander, made some revealing comments about JSOC's CP role and technology needs. He initially noted, "We've taken on this mission full-up. We've put a lot of effort into this."

Among JSOC's "Illustrative Planning Scenarios" that he listed on a viewgraph were the following: CP, DUGS Penetration; CP, Interdiction of Sensitive Materials On The Sea; and Domestic WMD Support. "DUGS" stands for Deep Underground Shelters, a reference to the fact that WMD development facilities are located underground in some rogue countries. "That has special requirements in itself, ranging from how to get into the facility to how you can operate in that kind of environment," General Shelton recently told the Fayetteville Observer-Times. Among the technology needs cited by Canavan at the symposium were: WMD-Detection, Location, and Rendering Safe; DUGS-Alternate Technologies for Obtaining Functional Kills by SOF; and Standoff Chemical/Biological Agent Detection.

Asked by AFJI if JSOC was getting the technology systems it needed for the CP mission, Canavan replied: "Right now we're as good as our equipment. I think we have about a 60 percent solution out there...our biggest challenge is getting into these deep underground shelters. Once you get in that environment, you run into real problems in terms of seeing, in terms of communication, in terms of breathing. [We] also [need] some [additional capabilities] in detection, [but] we're pretty good there." [Our biggest challenge is] navigating through some of these tunnels."

He elaborated, "If you go out to the National Test Site in Nevada where we train, [the tunnels are] 3,000 meters long. And if the tunnel's full of dust...you can't see. [Even though] we have a two-million candlelight flare, [in one instance] we didn't see the door until we were six inches from it. That's the environment we work in. The airbreathers are good for about 2 1/2 hours and then we have to bring them all out and do it again. So those are our biggest challenges-breathing, seeing, communicating. That's where we need things-lightweight things.

"As far as operations on the surface go [against WMD targets above ground], we get great support out of the National Labs of DoE [the Department of Energy] in terms of training our DoD members in how to deal in the nuclear area. Over time...they have miniaturized everything that we need-[they've made it manportable, so we can get it to where it's needed]-across the beach [from] the water, or we can jump it in [by parachute], fly it in, or walk it in."

Armed Forces Journal INTERNATIONAL
8201 Greensboro Drive
Suite 611
McLean, VA 22102
phone: 703.848.0490
email us: wwwafji@afji.com
If you want to request a subscription, renew your existing subscription, or notify us of an address change, please email us at circ@afji.com