Special Operations International February 2016

The most widely distributed special operations magazine in the world

John A. WilcoxDirector, Communications Systems

and Chief Information OfficerU.S. Special Operations Command

Q&A With

Bringing SOF Tribes Togetherpage 13

Smarter Biometricspage 14

Conversations with SOF Command Surgeonspage 18

Sniper Gearpage 20

USSOCOM SBIRpage 24

NATO Special Operations Headquarterspage 25

InsIde ThIs Issue...

International Vector Maj. Gen. Navarro,

Commander, Comando Conjunto de Operaciones

Especiales, Colombia

February 2016 • Volume 14 • Issue 1

Features

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Bringing SOF TriBeS TOgeTherAlthough the international special operations community is very tribal, its members share a lot of the same characteristics and core values.By Stu Bradin

SmarTer idenTiFicaTiOnContinuing anti-terror operations around the globe, combined with mass movements of refugees and immigrants are requiring better tools for separating dangerous individuals from the crowd. Biometric and other identification tools must be faster, more accurate and more easily used in the field.By henry canaday

TacTical cOmBaT caSualTy careSpecial Operations International recently had the chance to discuss the state of tactical combat casualty care with Colonel Paul F. Martin, Air Force Special Operations Command deputy command surgeon; Colonel Shawn F. Kane. U.S. Army Special Operations Command command surgeon, and Captain Scott A. Cota, (U.S. Navy), U.S. Special Operations Command command surgeon·and Sergeant Major F.Y. Bowling, (U.S. Army) USSOCOM senior enlisted medical advisor.

PreciSiOn ShOOTingIn conflict scenarios that increasingly involve sniffing out small cells of bad actors congregating in urban areas, sniper activity has become an increasingly important part of the mission of special forces. In these situations, engaging the enemy often involves picking a target out in a crowd. By Peter Buxbaum

uSSOcOm lOOkS TO Small BuSineSSUSSOCOM seeks small businesses with strong research and development capabilities to pursue and commercialize technologies needed by SOF.

naTO SPecial OPeraTiOnS headquarTerSA conversation with Lieutenant General Brad Webb, NATO NSHQ commander. about SOF capabilities that stretch across NATO’s core tasks of cooperative security, crisis response and collective defense. By andrew drwiega

Special Operations International

2 BlackWaTch

28 ad index

table of ContentsDepartments

InternatIonal VeCtor...

Cover/Q&A withJohn A. Wilcox

Director Communications Systems and Chief Information Officer

U.S. Special Operations Command

February 2016 • Volume 14 Issue 1

Exclusive interview with:major general luis Fernando navarro JimenezEl Comando Conjunto de Operaciones Especiales (CCOES)(Joint Special Operations Command)Commander

onlIne eDItIon Bonus ContentcOlOmBian urBan cOunTer TerrOriSm grOuPSpecOps’ Jeff McKaughan was provided an exclusive briefing and live fire demonstration by Colombia’s AFEAU (La Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Urbanas) during a visit with CCOES. This photo coverage demonstrates some of the capabilities that the unit brings to the fight.

Visit www.SpecOps-dhp.com to see this exclusive online article.

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BlaCkWatCh Department

c-130J contracts includes mc-130J Variants

lockheed martin Corp., marietta, Ga., has been awarded a $1,060,940,036 definitization modifica-tion to contract Fa8625-14-C-6450 for C-130J multi-year production aircraft. They will provide 32 C-130J aircraft in the following configurations: 13 C-130J-30, five HC-130J, 11 mC-130J, two KC-130J and one u.s. Coast Guard HC-130J aircraft. Work will be performed at marietta, and is expected to be complete by april 30, 2020. Fiscal 2014 air Force and Navy aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $256,444,432; and fiscal 2015 air Force, Navy and Coast Guard aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $804,495,604 are being obligated at time of award.

In a separate award, lockheed martin has been awarded a $61,866,434 definitization modi-fication to contract Fa8625-11-C-6597 for C-130J fiscal 2013 and 2014 congressional-add produc-tion aircraft. They will provide 11 C-130J aircraft in the following configurations: one C-130J-30, three HC-130J, two mC-130J, three KC-130J and two u.s. Coast Guard HC-130J aircraft. Work will be performed at marietta, and is expected to be complete by January 31, 2018.

uSSOcOm contracts for new c-130J electronic Warfare Suite

bae systems has been selected by u.s. special operations Command (ussoCom) to develop a new electronic warfare system for the fleet of C-130J aircraft. The contract, worth more than $20 million, is the first phase of a multi-phase program to upgrade aircraft system survivability and the capability to detect, identify, locate, deny, degrade, disrupt and defeat threat systems in operational significant environments. The life cycle value of the contract is expected to exceed $400 million.

The rFCm system offers fully integrated, precision geo-location, and radio frequency coun-termeasure capabilities. The advanced system will significantly enhance the electronic threat protection capability of the C-130J, increasing the aircraft’s ability to detect and defeat both surface

and airborne threats in signal-dense and highly contested environments.

“This award is a significant milestone as it not only builds on our strong electronic warfare legacy, but also extends our proven electronic warfare capability to a large platform aircraft,” said brian Walters, vice president and general manager of electronic Combat solutions at bae systems. “our all-digital rFCm system will ensure the mission-critical C-130J fleet remains capable and protected in the harshest environments.”

Designed to be integrated into both the mC-130J Commando II and the aC-130J Ghostrider aircraft, the rFCm system will support the varied and critical missions of special operation forces. These missions include the use of C-130Js for armed over-watch and refueling of helicopters in denied territories, and for close air support and interdiction missions in the most sensitive and hostile of territories.

Soft Body armor Technologies

ussoCom has a long-term goal to develop soft body armor technologies to meet special operations forces mission requirements. The intent is to accelerate the delivery of these inno-vative capabilities to the soF warfighter. Prior studies and analysis have determined a number of technical challenges exist for soF equipment that require improvements for missions into

the future. Those challenges are: 1) trade space between weight, protection, and mobility; 2) cost; and 3) armor system component integration.

To this end, ussoCom has issued a broad agency announcement.

ussoCom is interested in determining the weight tradespace for two levels of ballistic protection against the 124-grain 9x19 mm full metal jacket (FmJ) threat projectile: (1) at a velocity of 1,500 feet per second (ft/s) and (2) at a velocity of 1,300 ft/s. ussoCom is interested in protection against fragmentation threats with both requirements.

In addition, ussoCom is interested in any V0 and/or V50 ballistic data generated for any of the above protection levels against the 86-grain 7.62x25 mm FmJ Tokarev steel jacket lead core (sJlC) projectile at 1,600-1,650 ft/s., but this is not a threshold requirement at this time.

aFSOc’s 25th anniversary year

air Force special operations Command is mid-way through their 25th anniversary year, designated the year of the air Commando. This campaign highlights past and present accom-plishments while never forgetting that people are our greatest asset,” according to aFsoC.

“our nation expects that we have the people and capabilities needed to quickly address our most threatening adversaries,” said lieutenant

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BUILT TO SURVIVE

General brad Heithold, aFsoC commander. “That expectation hasn’t changed over the years.”

Throughout their history, air Commandos have consistently met that challenge. since the command’s creation, aFsoC airmen have deployed to more than 40 countries around the world in support of combatant commanders.

In addition to military conflicts, aFsoC has supported numerous major humanitarian assis-tance campaigns, such as operation unified response after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, operation Tomodachi after the 2011 earthquake in Japan, operation Damayan after the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines and thousands were evacuated by aFsoC aircraft following Hurricane Katrina.

“many of aFsoCs successes can be attrib-uted to having the right people with the right training, the right equipment, the right support and the will to use it,” said Herb mason, aFsoC historian.

since standing up as an air Force major command in 1990, aFsoC’s air Commandos have earned six air Force Cross medals, more than 30 silver star medals and more than 260 bronze star medals with valor.

as the air component of u.s. special operations Command, aFsoC ensures they have the people and the capabilities to address the nation’s conflicts, wherever they may be. by training smarter and harder, aFsoC stands ready to conduct special operations anytime, anyplace.

“Whether it’s pursuing and developing a balanced force, improving aircraft reliability and maintainability, or taking care of our people, air Commandos have displayed an unwavering ability to adapt and execute the missions presented to them,” said Heithold.

modernizing the force is imperative to remain relevant on the future battlefield. Heithold’s vision is to install a high-energy laser and tactical off-board sensors to the aC-130 gunship by the end of the decade. While the laser offers offensive and defensive capabilities, the off-board sensor system launches a drone out of a common launch tube, allowing the gunship to see below the clouds. These technologies ensure aFsoC’s success in future missions and improve the survivability of airmen and mission partners.

In addition to new technologies, new personnel changes are on the aFsoC horizon. While women have fortified the ranks of aFsoC throughout history, secretary of Defense ash Carter recently opened all military positions to women, including special tactics career fields.

“We have and will continue to create an environment that is fair and equitable for all who have the courage and fortitude to serve the nation as members of the special operations community,” said Heithold.

From the beginning through today, aFsoC airmen have shown dedication to continuous improvement, rigorous and realistic training, and mitigating risks; keeping aFsoC at the tip of the spear. as air Commando heritage demands, aFsoC warriors are bound to get the mission done, or find a way where none exists.

indian, u.S. Special Forces to Train Together for First Time Since 2012

The Indian express newspaper reported that Indian and u.s. special Forces will train together at Joint base lewis-mcChord, Wash., in January 2016. The last known joint training was in 2012.

a 40-member team of Indian army special Forces will take part the last two weeks of January.

uSaJFkSWcS Seeks Business & economic development Training Program

The u.s. army special operations Command, on behalf of the u.s. army John F. Kennedy special Warfare Center and school, was performing market research for a potential business and economic development training program. The initial training concept was derived from the “business on the Front lines” curriculum, in cooperation with the university of Notre Dame. The final training model will be expanded to meet the unique needs of the u.s. army Civil

affairs and army special operations Forces (arsoF) personnel. a previous request for infor-mation (rFI) was posted to the Federal business opportunities website on November 3, 2014, resulting in the identification of additional inter-ested universities. based on this response, a decision was made to develop a competi-tive solicitation which would incorporate the concepts determined most essential to arsoF training.

The purpose of this sources sought is to obtain current information from Department of education accredited academic institutions that have the ability to meet the unique requirements of a military-focused program. The accredited institution would provide all personnel, equip-ment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision and non-personal services necessary to perform business and economic problem-solving instruction as required.

The primary purpose of the course and seminar would be to increase civil affairs soldiers’ understanding of business and economics, and prepare them to properly frame economic problem sets and apply business principles in order to develop innovative and sustainable solutions in support of governance and develop-ment while deployed.

The secondary objective of the potential training would be the establishment of a greater involvement with, and presence of, civil affairs within the larger academic and international community that will increase operational rele-vancy and situational awareness.

Brigadier General Vincent K. Becklund, military assistant to the commander, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Special Operations Head-quarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium, has been assigned as the deputy director, operations, Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia.

Lieutenant General Derick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi, former commander of South African Special Forces, with more than 35 years of national and international military experience, has been selected to

lead United Nations’ troops serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Colonel David Zini has been selected to lead a new Israeli infantry brigade dedicated entirely to special operations. An inauguration ceremony for the brigade was held on December 27, 2015.

people


THELAND & AIRLAND

SOLUTION

D E F E N C E & S E C U R I T Y I N T E R N A T I O N A L E X H I B I T I O N

www.eurosatory.com

John A. Wilcox, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director, Communications Systems, and Chief Information Officer, U.S. Special Opera-tions Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. He is responsible for developing USSOCOM’s information technology strategy as well as executing the com-mand’s command, control, communications and computer systems acquisi-tion program. Mr. Wilcox is also responsible for operating and maintaining USSOCOM’s global network providing support to more than 56,000 special operations personnel.

After enlisting in the Army in 1982, Mr. Wilcox attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1983. He served as a field artillery instructor, signal officer and Director for USSOCOM’s C4 Systems. His commands include a signal battalion, a mission support squadron within in the Office of Military Support in Washington, D.C., and a signal brigade in Southwest Asia. He completed his active-duty career as the senior Army adviser for the State of Minnesota, retiring in 2009 with more than 27 years of service.

His major awards and honors include Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster.

q: What is the guiding purpose behind the SOF information environ-ment (Sie) Strategic Plan? Why now (does this plan replace an existing plan) and what are the goals that will serve the warfighter?

a: The soF Information environment includes ussoCom’s information technol-ogy network supporting the command’s need for command and control, universal situational awareness, collaboration, decision-making, and synchro-nization at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels.

The sIe strategic Plan establishes a shared strategic vision for C4 requirements, capability development, resource allocation processes, and will determine the plans and policies required for the acquisition, operation, and governance of the sIe. The plan’s goals and objectives are measured to achieve C4 unity of effort and enable soF Priorities. The sIe strategic Plan is the first consolidated, widely-staffed vision document for the sIe, vice a col-lection of stand-alone requirements. The current plan encompasses the entire soF enterprise to not only include our service Components, but our Theater special operations Commands as well, based on the 2013 decision by the secretary of Defense assigning command of the TsoCs to ussoCom.

q: how mature is the Sie Strategic Plan and how does it relate to re-sourcing at hq uSSOcOm?

a: Historically, we’ve executed our C4 programs of record based on separate capability production documents that adhere to published sIe enterprise archi-tectures. With technology changes, direction from the Department of Defense (i.e. Joint Information environment), and budget restraints, we developed the sIe strategic Plan to coordinate efforts, track our progress, and move the enterprise in the right direction. We’re consolidating networks, collapsing disparate domains, and updating the CPDs to reflect current/future capabili-ties. Consolidating our intent in a common, easily-digestible document helps the soF C4 community gain momentum in a common vector. The sIe strategic Plan is a feeder document to the sIe roadmap, which informs the soF stra-tegic Planning Process (sPP). The sIe strategic Plan aligns C4 programmatics with the stated soF C4 vision.

q: What issues does the Sie Strategic Plan cover and how they will be addressed?

a: We developed five goals for the sIe strategic Plan to address: 1) Provide protected worldwide, distributed soF communications networks capable of supporting real-time command and control and information services to all soF; 2) enable continuous connectivity of the soF operator to the sIe and trusted information stores; 3) establish network and information service interoperability with interagency and coalition cyber commons; 4) Define governance and policy for the sIe; document requirements; program budget and resource capabilities; facilitate guidance and priorities for Peo-C4; 5) recruit, develop, and care for our C4 professionals to maintain talent, enhance knowledge, and retain staff.

The execution of the sIe strategic Plan will be monitored via 28 objectives and 58 tasks across 75 activities on a recurring basis supported by artifacts to measure success.

q: how much of the current architecture can be used as is or modi-fied to fit the vision for the Sie in 2020. conversely how much of the Strategic Plan envisions incorporating new elements and buying new

John A. Wilcoxdirector, communications Systems

and chief information Officeru.S. Special Operations command

Q&A


equipment? (do you see this as a cOTS-driven acquisition project?)

a: The majority of the equipment that composes the sIe already enables the sIe strategic Plan, and is seen more as an improvement of our current direction. The bulk of the infrastructure will be simi-lar, yet the end user devices will show the most change from today. Wireless and remote access infrastructure will drive the most significant change from today’s sIe architecture.

We do not anticipate large buys of new equip-ment all at once, but rather a phasing of technical refresh cycles towards new mobile equipment.

q: Within the Sie Strategic Plan there is an im-age labeled “Strategic View of the SOF informa-tion environment.” at the top level are the external organizations that SOF interfaces with. can you talk about how those exchanges take place today and how they will evolve under the new strategy?

a: The sIe is the soF contribution to the Joint Information environment. ussoCom looks forward to incorporating the Joint regional security stacks construct to interface inside the Department of Defense.

The sIe also interacts with Defense Intelligence Information environ-ment for intelligence sharing. and international partner engagement occurs on a mix of bilateral networks, all Partners access Network, and battlefield Information Collection and exploitation systems extended Program.

The current relationships with JIe, DI2e, and mission Partner environment will not fundamentally change as the sIe matures, but the data availability to the soF end-user will improve. The introduction of soFNeT (a soF-wide, single domain) will increase data availability and accessibility across the enterprise. soFNeT also provides soF a global single sign-on and one global environment built from the tactical up through the garrison.

q: you’ve mentioned that by 2020 you expect 85 percent of the SOF force will connect to the Sie using a mobile device. how much of an increase is that from today and can you talk about how the devices are used today?

a: Today approximately 10 percent of soF is connected via mobile devices, predominately unclassified smart phones.

The goal of the sIe strategic Plan is to equip 85 percent of the force with mobile devices, to include smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. with the focus being operational use of mobility, not just executive communications. The latest increase in mobile connectivity has been in the secret realm, where the governmental solutions have opened new opportunities for soF.

by 2020, soF operators will carry the same device from the little league field to the battlefield, continuously connected, with access to trusted infor-mation needed to execute our soF core activities.

q: is there a vision for what you need a mobile device to look like and do in 2020?

a: multi-function devices, processing multiple roles (personal, unclassified, secret, etc.) would be ideal to eliminate carrying several, distinct devices, but I think get-ting to a single device will be an iterative process. a device that incorporates data at rest security, token authentication, and segregation of roles without bulky or clumsy interfaces or equipment would go a long way to meet user requirements.

another critical feature is the ability to automatically connect to the best commercial and/or military service provider (i.e. 3G, 4G, lTe, WiFi, etc.) to foster constant connectivity to the sIe.

and lastly, incorporation of an application-based ecosystem so rapid change can occur as our operations and requirements evolve.

q: With the concept of more devices and more connectivity, there come more points of intrusion and compromise. how are you approaching the cyber security threat and how it will impact the Sie?

a: expanding the always-connected user base brings with it an increased threat vector. The trade-off is how much risk we can assume in the name of situational awareness and mission effectiveness.

a key component of our sIe 2020 vision will incorporate robust remote access authentication of known devices coupled closely with device access standards to ensure basic hygiene of the devices is maintained. beyond traditional security posture the sIe will be incorporating pro-active technolo-gies as opposed to only reactive signature based technologies as part of our defensive cyber posture.

We cannot allow fear of heightened cyber-attacks to keep us from pro-viding the soF operator the information they require.

q: how will your ability to share information—and receive information—from partner nations through tools such as aPan and other existing capabilities be enhanced?

a: We will provide strategic options through an enabled and empowered global network of partners that are integrated at every level—increasing transparency, collaboration, synchronization and achieving exceptional cul-tural, regional and global understanding. Information sharing frameworks like mission Partner environment increase soF effectiveness, for u.s. soF and our international soF partners.

soFNeT helps ensure the mission Partner environment is widely available and accessible across the sIe as coalition collaboration networks are better integrated into the JIe framework.

soFNeT will be fielded across the entire soF enterprise by the end of Fy16.

q: What is the strategy to attract the best and the brightest iT and c4 minds to your table and keep them there?

a: First of all, ussoCom is blessed with a fascinating mission and a culture where everyone is a contributor and part of the operational team. on the

www.SPECOPS-dhp.com SPECOPS 14.1 | 7

contract side of the equation, soF IT enterprise Contract vendors have hired some top-tier talent to operate and defend the sIe.

We will be letting the follow-on contract, sITeC II, in Fy16. For our government C4 team, we have been working to maximize

the number of special duty assignments for military billets in the soF C4 enterprise so we can be selective about our team. For government civilian positions, we are trying to convert a limited number of positions to devel-opmental positions and foster young, fresh talent to join our fold. While the DoD personnel system is not as agile as commercial IT counterparts can be, we are maximizing the tools we have available to recruit and retain the best available C4 talent.

q: now that the Sie Strategic Plan has been approved, what are the immediate—next 12 months—steps?

a: The newly approved sIe strategic Plan will foster momentum via a multi-prong approach: marketing, measurement, and agility. Now that the soF enterprise has reviewed and concurred with the plan, it is time to socialize the plan and help soF C4 organizations implement it locally.

To help me get the word out about the sIe strategic Plan, I have tasked my strategic Planning branch to take the plan on the road to each theater special operations command and service component for awareness and local application. once the soF C4 enterprise is well aware of the plan, I will track specific activities of the plan to measure progress on each of the five goals.

Finally, the sIe strategic Plan will be a living document to be adapted and updated as the global environment dictates.

q: any closing thoughts?

a: We have the privilege of serving with some of the nation’s most talented and dedicated IT professionals, in a command with the authority to chart its own course, supporting critical global operations. by achieving the sIe 2020 strategic Plan goals, we will build a persistent, resilient, and secure informa-tion enterprise further enabling soF’s impact around the world.

SiTec ii on october 20, 2015 ussoCom issued a source sought docu-

ment saying that it had evaluated General service administration’s (Gsa) GWaC alliant, alliant small business, VeTs and sTars II for sITeC II requirements and found that these contract vehicles are suitable for all sITeC II contract requirements. Therefore, all sITeC II requirements will be acquired through Gsa ebuy on alliant, alli-ant small business, VeTs or sTars II.

The sITeC II solicitation via GWaC alliant will be delayed, with award of sITeC II anticipated on 1 april 2017. To bring all current sITeC requirements into alignment in anticipation of sITeC II, the government will issue a 12-month extensions to the existing sITeC enterprise Network contract and Distributed Computing contract.

The Global SOF Symposium brings together U.S. and international SOF leaders to discuss the importance of interoperability. Join us for this unique event boasting a truly global agenda. Speakers include:• Admiral (Ret) William H. McRaven, Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command• Brigadier General Dag Baehr, Command General, German Special Operations Forces Command, KSK• Peter Bergen, National Security Analyst, CNN• General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, NATO• Ellen Lord, Chief Executive Officer, Textron Systems

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During a two-day visit with CCOES SpecOps’ Jeff McKaughan had the chance to sit with Major General Navarro and trace the development of its special operations capabilities and its role in Colombia’s national security.

q: colombia has made great progress in dealing with internal terrorist organiza-tions—and has done so with an integrated and collaborative approach. Tell me about the role of special operations in this ap-proach.

navarro: In Colombia, our security forces—in-cluding the National Police—were very well-organized and skilled, and that included our special forces. However, operations were con-ducted in an independent manner that usually accomplished the tactical objectives but did not necessarily accomplish what was neces-sary to achieve national strategic objectives.

It was apparent that certain capabilities needed to be formulated that would allow us to meet those national objectives. However, to do so would require changes to the structure of our organizations. We needed to better integrate the communication and cooperation of our intelligence agencies, police and military services. It was important to stop operating in such an uncoordinated manner and implement a concept of joint and interagency cooperation which up to this point was in its infancy in the way we approached both internal and external conflicts.

In 2009, we formed CCoes (el Comando Conjunto de operaciones especiales)—Joint special operations Command—which quickly began to show strong results in terms of inte-grating the intelligence, command and control and cooperation of our various agencies.

q: What were some examples of those re-sults?

navarro: our national objectives were the neutralization elimination of high value targets (HVTs) of the FarC (revolutionary armed Forces of Colombia) and elN (National liberation army), as well as the degradation of their organizational structures.

our improved intelligence gathering and training led to better-executed missions against these bandits.

For example, operation Fenix in 2008 led to the elimination of raúl reyes, the FarC’s second-in-command.

operation sodoma targeted Jorge briceño suárez, also known as mono Jojoy, in a raid about 120 miles south of bogota. mono Jojoy symbolized the terrorist nature of FarC. In 2011, operation odiseo was another successful operation that resulted in the elimination of alfonso Cano, FarC’s leader at the time.

other operations were successful in rescu-ing a number of military and police hostages, and one very well-known operation, operation

International VectorMajor General Luis Fernando Navarro, Commander, Comando Conjunto de Operaciones Especiales (CCOES)

An Exclusive Special Operations International Q&A with


Jaque that rescued three hostages from North america and a high profile Colombia presiden-tial candidate, Ingrid betancourt, who had been held for more than six years.

operation armagedon was a large attack against FarC targeting mid-level commanders. The success of this mission was so great that it created a strategic imbalance in the FarC organization.

It is clear that Colombian special Forces have been instrumental in the achieving of the national policy objectives given the particular joint capabilities of the security forces.

For me, the biggest lessons learned are that in order to accomplish our strategic national objectives, it is critical that we fully integrate our intelligence capabilities and have a seamless flow of information and coopera-tion between our security forces. This union of effort is fundamental for our success within Colombia and in working with those partner nations that are allied with us.

It is important that we have a standard-ization of doctrine, training, equipment and organization. This uniformity generates a coordinated command and control system that allows for joint and inter-agency planning of strategy and tactics.

also, this standardization is important as it allows us to employ sophisticated technologies we have to conduct operations in whatever part of the country as necessary. It allows us to be innovative with our training, organization, doctrine and command control; it allows us to be well-organized and efficient in accomplish-ing the national objectives as directed.

q: The type of militants and bandits you have been fighting since the mid-1960s is different from the more recent iSiS and al qaeda threats—as displayed by the Paris attacks and the radisson hotel attack in mali. What are colombian special forces do-ing to be prepared for threats in this com-plex world?

navarro: We developed our capabilities to meet the threats as we perceived them in our country. However, we did not stop there. The advancement made in intelligence gathering and special operations techniques to combat the FarC and elN have proven equally useful against narco-trafficking and illegal mining.

The Colombian government became cognizant and understood our successes and rewarded our combined agencies with a budget that allowed us to maintain and sus-tain these newly developed capabilities. The government has continued to provide strong

budgetary support so we can continue to grow our capabilities.

events like those in Paris and mali have only reinforced our resolve to continuously enhance our capabilities and capacity to meet any threat that we or our partners are faced with.

at the most recent united Nations meeting, our president, President Juan manuel santos pledged that we would continue to maintain our special operations capabilities and that our knowledge and experience would be available to the world.

We must continue to be alert and I am confident that we can conduct successful op-erations in in every environment and confront any challenge that we are faced with.

q: how do you go about equipping your warfighters and making sure they have the most current technologies?

navarro: The Colombian government has provided us with very clear directives as to what the military forces should be capable of accomplishing now and what they should look

like in the future.The commanding general of the military

forces has restructured the mission of the military and realigned certain aspects of the organization to be in line with those govern-ment directives. Part of that is that while we are prepared for today, we must plan for tomorrow and formulate our development and growth to match our strategic objectives.

special operations Command—CCoes—will continue to have an important role within the military structure of Colombia and our capabilities will be able to anticipate threats and prevent them from being executed. We will

Major General Luis Fernando Navarro Jimenez attained the rank of captain in 1989, promoted to major in 1994 and colonel in 2004.

Some of his courses completed in country and abroad include: Lancero (first level of Colombian army special operations training), Jefe de Salto (Jump Master), Campaign Communi-cations, Comando phases I and II, Es-tado Mayor (Chief of Staff), Profesion-al en Ciencias Militares (Professional in Military Sciences), Especializacion en Seguridad y Defensa (Security and Defense Specialization), Altos Estu-dios Militares Escuela Superior de Guerra (Advanced Studies at the War College), and Magister en Defensa y Seguridad (Master in Defense and Security).

The advancement made in intelligence gathering and

special operations techniques to combat the FARC and ELN have proven equally useful

against narco-trafficking and illegal mining.


also be prepared to provide a swift and lethal response when action is necessary.

Colombia regularly conducts a strategic review committee that evaluates and provides revisions of the current environment to match what we have, with what we need now and in the future.

our odyssey soldier, or soldier of the fu-ture, is currently equipped with the latest tech-nology; he is well-trained with that equipment and knows how to employ it. We cannot let our soldiers fall behind in technology and equip-ment. It is our commitment that the odyssey soldier will continue to be well-equipped and superbly proficient with his individual weapon, his ballistic protection equipment, his night vi-sion and operations gear, his communications equipment and his other personal gear that allows him to survive in any environment.

mobility for us does not mean just helicop-ters; it also means close air support and the ability to operate easily in riverine areas with amphibious capabilities.

We understand the challenges that we face, but believe that with detailed planning we will produce excellent results.

q: considering your mission and the re-quirements for your forces across all of

colombia, is your force the right size? do you think it needs to be larger, or for that matter even smaller to be able to meet all of the tasks you are assigned?

navarro: I believe that at this moment our force is the correct size. The size of CCoes has been established through our detailed planning and development process. The force size of our special operations matches our investment plans particularly in regards to equipping and training the force.

accepting that the force size is well-matched to our needs today, we should always take into account the evolving security risks and compare those to our security require-ments and capabilities to ensure we have the ability to deploy forces in response to the threats anywhere within Colombia or other locations we may be asked to go.

For now, based on the current threat climate we are at the size we need and that can be sustained by our production and budget plans, as directed by the ministry of Defense.

q: in the briefing by lieutenant colonel af-ricano (ccOeS J3 – director of Operations) before we sat down, he spoke specifically about the individual soldier within special

operations and the need to find and assim-ilate the “best human talent” available to be part of special operations. how do you go about finding and recruiting that best human talent?

navarro: In Colombia we have soldiers all across the country that are combat veterans and experienced in a wide range of combat skills. our obvious task is finding from within this talent pool, those individuals that meet the characteristics we have established for special operators.

To do this, we have created a group of talent hunters—officers, NCos and enlisted soldiers who know exactly what it takes to become a special operations warfighter. The profile that this group works takes into ac-count the special operations mission and the values of the institution.

The time it takes to identify a soldier that has the experience and the will to become a special operations soldier is well-worth the investment as we have found those individuals assimilate much better into our organization.

These men are physically fit with great endurance and are emotionally stable which is crucial when they are asked to operate in small teams in harsh conditions.

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This is how we find and incorporate the best human talent within CCoes.

q: let’s stay with training for a minute and discuss how you go about training-up a special operations warfighter to the level required?

navarro: We have soldiers coming to us from all over the country. While they have all met the minimum requirement to join special forces, in reality they all have different levels of skills and capabilities. It is our fundamental and first responsibility to bring everyone up to a specific standard and baseline. We put the officers, NCos and enlisted men through a rigorous program to ensure they each have the same level of proficiency and knowledge in basic skills of infantry operations During Phase II of training; we begin the more specialized aspects of training for special operations and the skill sets that drive each special operations mission.

some of these specific skills include explo-sive handling and demolition, infiltration which can include high altitude low opening airborne skills, satellite communications, and combat medicine to name a few.

Colombia is a country with diverse geogra-phy and climate regions; therefore it is impor-tant that we train for operations in a multitude of environments including urban operations, high altitude/mountainous regions, desert climates and jungle/dense forest operations.

once trained in all of the mission core specialties and for the various environments within Colombia, it is equally important that we continually retrain and assess the individual skills in order to sustain those competencies.

q: do you use a mix a live fire, simulator and simulations to accomplish training re-quirements?

navarro: one of the lines of action has come out of our strategic and innovation review committee is that we should work more with simulation training. We currently utilize simulation for some urban combat and hostage rescue scenarios.

We have done several studies and analysis of what is available in the market as far as simulation technology and simulators that could be incorporated into our training regimen.

We make great use of war games and we do use simulation software in training mission planning. We do much of this before moving to a live fire exercise so we can maximize the training scenario.

even though we rely heavily on live fire training, I am proud to say that we have had zero incidents during these exercises in the past three years.

q: how important are international and regional partnerships to colombia in gen-eral—and ccOeS in particular—in sharing experiences that will ultimately improve skills and capabilities?

navarro: It is the policy of the national govern-ment that we strengthen our international relations in many areas.

The united states is our primary ally and our focus there is on military relations. Through this alliance we have made great strides and advancements in the construct of special operations.

We are currently involved in a trilateral agreement with the united states and Peru and we are moving towards making this ar-rangement permanent.

We are also working with other regional partners, like Chile and uruguay in south america and we are developing relationships in Central america as well.

It is our philosophy to provide services and assistance where we can. If we have the opportunity to share with our friends the lessons we have learned that could help them avoid the path we have experienced, then we will do so. our government’s national policy is to forge these relationships with friendly nations and make our forces and our experi-ences available to them.

q: Thank you for the tour, the briefing and your time this morning. is there anything you would like to add about colombia spe-cial operations forces and capabilities?

navarro: Thank you. Colombian special operations are fundamental to achieve and advance the country’s strategic national objectives and the policies of the government as they relate to security and national defense.

The interagency cooperation that has been established is imperative to Colombia in meeting its internal and external goals. The exchange of experiences with ally and friendly nations is key to accomplishing our mission and it makes the path we travel much easier to transit with fewer obstacles.

It is also our national objective that if we can help in the national security of other na-tions, our government has made it clear that we will do so everywhere possible.

... it is important that we train for operations

in a multitude of environments including urban operations, high altitude/mountainous

regions, desert climates and jungle/dense forest

operations.


www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

While in Colombia, Special Operations Interna-tional’s CEO and managing director Jeff McKaughan was invited out to one of Comando de Operaciones Especiales’ (CCOES) training facilities, used exten-sively by the Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbanas (AFEAU), Colombia’s elite urban counter-terrorism unit. The demonstration highlighted several of the operational skills that AFEAU is known for: close quarter combat, long range target acquisition and urban combat. Crisis response is the fourth primary capability of AFEAU and gives the unit the ability to quickly respond for most time-sensitive crisis situations including ter-rorist attacks, hijackings and hostage taking.

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Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbanas, Colombia’s elite urban counter-terrorism unit, on constant alert.

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AFEAU

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A variety of weapons were on display showcasing AFEAU’s long range target acquisition and sniper capabilities. The sniper and spotter that were in position during the brief-ing were statue-like in their stillness throughout the entire presentation. Another sniper team, located about 400 meters away took aim and eliminated the target in the window as their part of the demonstration.

www.SPECOPS-dhp.com SPECOPS 14.1 | 12c

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An army can last 100 days without battleBut cannot last one day

without training.

AFEAU personnel pointed out that they “use small, highly trained special forces using special purpose weapons, munitions and demolitions to recover specified personnel, equipment or material. We use speed, surprise and violence of action to succeed.”

Bonus Content

although the international special opera-tions community is very tribal, its members share a lot of the same characteristics and core values. most modern special operations forces are drawn from the experience of british soF organizations formed during World War II. That DNa has been spread throughout the world, creating a like culture, ethos and mentality.

If you look at the current operating environment you will see soF and its enablers (to include intelligence, explosive ordinance disposal, aviation, information operations and cyber) all working in the same space—call it hy-brid, unconventional, asymmetric or just plain bizarre. Today’s operating environment is obvi-ously very different than World War II or the Cold War. Historically, multinational soF come together during annual training exercises, but many are meeting for the first time on the battlefield. There they are trying to learn about each other, build a trusting relationship and then interoperate in one of the most complex battlespaces in the history of mankind. This is not a recipe for success, and it something that the Global soF Foundation (GsF) is going to change.

The GsF is the only professional soF association, and it is global. although only 20 months old, the organization has gained a lot of momentum with over 40 corporate partners and over 950 individuals from 43 countries. The mission is two-fold: (1) ensure soF resourcing and (2) bring the soF community together. The GsF accomplishes the first part of the mission

through publications, newsletters, meetings with decision- and policy-makers, writing op-eds, etc. It is advocating for international interoperability and the establishment joint soF commands in countries. The GsF accomplishes the second part of the mission through events (both substantive and networking), the online member directory, and the website and social media outlets. It also spearheads the “soF for life” program to help former soF as they tran-sition from active duty to civilian employment.

In 2015 the GsF hosted the first Global soF symposium in st. Pete beach, Fla., and 350 people attended from 24 nations. The Global soF symposium is unique because it’s like a Davos, aspen summit and TeD Talk combined. The agenda is truly international; you won’t find a slate of speakers dominated by americans.

The 2016 Global soF symposium is being held February 23-25, 2016 at the Innisbrook resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. an estimated 500 people from 35 nations will attend. The theme this year is “achieving soF Interoperability,” and it will have a very diverse audience of people from governments, military, global soF, aca-demia, think tanks, media, industry and people interested in global security issues.

Visit the symposium website at www.glo-balsofsymposium.org and see the full agenda.

The 2016 Global soF symposium will host concurrent panels on Fighting at Night and media in the Hybrid environment, as well as Coalition and Partner Intelligence and Informa-tion sharing and Hybrid Warfare and Future

operations. The symposium also has great keynote speakers and incredible receptions that will allow participants to meet and build lasting relationships.

This year the GsF will award lifetime achievement awards to admiral (ret) William H. mcraven and General sir adrian brad-shaw, deputy commander of supreme allied Command europe for their role in helping establish the NaTo soF Coordination Center (NsCC) and enabling the rapid expansion and enabling of soF in support of operations in afghanistan. In a short period of time they were able to get NaTo soF to support the establishment of the NsCC that has now grown into a three-star soF headquarters providing NaTo with needed training and interoperability. additionally, they were instrumental in growing NaTo soF pres-ence in afghanistan from 350 people to over 2,200 and enabling them with intelligence to drastically increase their operational output in support of the International security as-sistance Force.

The 2016 Global soF symposium is not like any other professional event you will attend, and it is a start to institutionalizing events to bring global soF together on a regular basis. Please go to the website at www.globalsofsymposium.org and register today to join this unique experience.

Stu Bradin is the president and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation.

global SOF Foundation’s

finishing touches on its annual global meeting.

By STu Bradin


Continuing anti-terror operations around the globe, combined with mass movements of refugees and immigrants are requiring better tools for separating dangerous individuals from the crowd. biometric and other identification tools must be faster, more accurate and more easily used in the field—where needs are most intense—and be able to reach back securely to matching databases. all the u.s.’s ground services are seeking better biometric capabilities, in largely similar directions.

The army’s immediate goal is to make existing deployed biometric systems programs of record, noted spokesperson major olivia Nunn. It will seek funding to update the matching algorithms used for face, fingerprint and iris recognition.

The army also seeks better cyber security for biometric databases. Further, it wants to add voice identification and DNa to its systems. Nunn said the army would like faster and more accurate match-ing for on-the-spot identification. “as technology improves, we will deploy handheld collection devices with more storage and faster computing to maxi-mize forward collection and matching capability.”

The army’s future strategy thus includes advanced multimodal capabilities for fingerprint, iris and face that integrate behavioral characteristics,

such as gait and speaking voices, with biometrics. and it wants tools that are platform-agnostic, small, interoperable and use smart technologies.

The army plans to use stand-off and non-cooperative biometrics too. “advances in gait and motion identification algorithms will enable sensors to automatically track multiple individuals,” Nunn said.

sarah swift, team lead of the marines’ Identity Dominance system (IDs-mC), wants to improve all biometric tools by decreasing errors in detection, acquisition and matching. The marines are now most con-

cerned with accuracy in facial matching. “although the marine Corps has been collecting biometrics such as face, iris and fingerprints for quite some time, facial recognition remains an area that has not reached nearly the same level of accuracy as the other modalities,” she said.

In the future, the Corps will seek to capture and match audio, or voices, in IDs-mC’s Increment 2. To support this effort, the Defense biometrics enterprise is expanding voice storage and develop-ing enterprisewide standards. marines want audio systems that capture and match voices according to Defense standards.

“DNa processing times and accuracy are also important,” swift noted. but rapid DNa collection is Sarah Swift

By henry canadaySPecOPS cOrreSPOndenT


not part of IDs-mC; it is under another marine program, the expeditionary Forensic exploita-tion Capability.

The Corps wants to reduce the size and weight of handheld biometric devices, including device peripherals. It would like fully-integrated commercial-off-the-shelf (CoTs) products that enhance performance, ruggedness and usability for marines in combat, while reducing combat load and logistic requirements. “Integrating face and fingerprint technologies with modern smartphone technology is a prime example,” swift said. but CoTs solutions must meet qual-ity and certification requirements and operate in austere environments.

In storing and transmitting biometric data, there are challenges in volume, transmission security and matching time. marines do identity-matching locally with watch lists on their devic-es. These watch lists require significant storage and can slow down processing and matching. Increasing storage capacity, developing faster matching algorithms and speeding processing, all in smaller devices, would improve local identity matching.

In the future, the marines seek to move away from onboard watch lists and do identity matching with a remote authoritative database, while sharing data across battlespaces in near real time. For these purposes, they must overcome challenges in transmitting and receiving information securely across networks with an enterprisewide, cross-do-main solution that seamlessly flows data between operational networks and identity repositories.

marine Corps system Command has issued its request for informa-tion for IDs(2). Depending on maturity of technology, a request for propos-als may be released in Fiscal 2017 or 2018.

u.s. special operations Command continually searches industry for biometric technologies that collect and provide faster responses for bio-metric data to its operators, and do this as far forward and as economi-cally as possible. ussoCom spokesman lieutenant Commander matt allen said desirable improvements range from improved sensor technologies to lighter and smaller devices and more advanced scientific capabilities deployable at forward locations.

“a good example is Northrop Grumman’s biosled multimodal biometric collection device, currently replacing Crossmatch seek II,” allen noted. biosled, based on an android smartphone, collects the same fingerprint, iris and facial biometric information as seek II, but is significantly smaller, lighter, cheaper and more intuitive. ussoCom’s biometric identity kits now cost 30 percent less with the CoTs biosled. In the future, ussoCom seeks to exploit smartphone communication to rapidly support operators with timely and accurate biometric data.

ussoCom also has a major interest in DNa. “Commercially available, rapid, relatively portable DNa profiling technologies allow us to reduce DNa response times from weeks to hours,” allen said. The command is doing field evaluations of several such devices and learning about both rapid DNa capabilities and their logistic challenges. allen said Nirvana for DNa would be to use it the same way fingerprints are used, collecting DNa widely and then rapidly reaching back for responses from authorita-tive databases.

ussoCom is interested in other biometric approaches to the extent technology and support systems justify confident and

widespread use. “Voice, behavior signatures, no-touch or touchless biometric collection and collection-at-a-distance are all areas of inter-est,” allen said.

The soF command is also interested in using local commercial networks, including cellular systems, for transmission of biometric data. It would like data-compression tools certified for use with

In the field, biometric systems need to be smaller and weigh less, be fully-integrated so they are more useable and rugged. U.S. Marine Corps photo.

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authoritative databases. and it seeks greater ability to push multiple biometric watch lists forward to operators in areas where com-munication is denied.

ussoCom’s science and technology activ-ities, broad area announcements, rFIs and a technical industry liaison office help identify relevant commercial capabilities. The sensi-tive site exploitation (sse) program assesses biometric technologies about every two years. sse sets up limited user assessments, putting the most promising equipment into the hands of operators for feedback helping to determine which will be considered.

Industry has been working to improve biometrics in many of the areas sought by the services. some enhancements are already available, while others soon will be. speed, accuracy and compactness have been the consistent themes of research.

Conventional DNa labs in the field require up to five instruments, scientists to operate and a day from sample to profile. Integenx’s rapid DNa systems reduce all these require-ments, explained marketing manager Kevin bebak. His firm’s rapidHIT is one unit, can be used by non-expert staff, weighs 180 pounds and generates seven DNa profiles in two hours. It can deal with a range of materials and environmental contaminants commonly found in the field.

The compact rapidHIT ID device is 55 pounds, generates one profile at a time and works with fresh, high-quality samples such as cheek swabs. It takes 90 minutes per run.

bebak said Integenx has the only rapid DNa system on the market that has demonstrated compliance with FbI requirements by upload-ing to the Combined DNa Index system. and rapidHIT is the first rapid DNa system accepted in a u.s. court.

Database matching after a profile is generated can be done with an onboard database or transmitted to a central database. single-source profiles from robust samples can be transmitted in ten-kilobyte files and database matching is straightforward, taking only seconds.

mixtures and profiles from low-input samples require experts to review several megabytes of data. For example, DNa taken from a cigarette smoked by several people requires more expertise and time to interpret than cheek swabs.

DNa profiles are the only biometric that can spot kinship relations, which are sometimes criteria for accepting refugees or identifying human traffickers.

but speed is critical here too. one security force used rapidHIT to investigate an incident in which a would-be bomber accidentally detonated a bomb and himself. blood samples processed on rapidHIT generated a DNa profile within hours, which quickly found a match in the database. security officials identified the bomber’s family and associates the same day, rather than in the two weeks required for conventional DNa profiling.

Integrated biometrics makes a fingerprinting tool that easily inte-grates with CoTs personal devices such as smartphones, tablets or PCs, explained David Gerulski, vice president of sales and marketing.

Integrated’s light-emitting sensor (les) film requires no light and just a quick rub of fingers to capture prints.

les was devel-oped for military use in the field. In af-ghanistan, u.s. forces had used prism-based optical scanners to take prints of ten fingers. The scanner was the size of a shoebox and weighed 10 pounds. add two extra batteries, and weight was substantial for moving troops. and optical scanning required light underneath, not always ideal at night in sniper-infested territory.

les does not use a lighted image of fingerprints. It uses a platen and film on which a very small amount of electricity excites phospho-rus to capture fingerprint images with the metal oxide silicon (Cmos) sensor used in digital cameras. The newest version in march 2016 will capture ten fingerprints while weighing just over a pound and runs off power provided by a cell phone. older les models include the sherlock and Watson mini and are also very small and light.

There are other les advantages. Conventional optical scanning requires putting oil on the hands to be fingerprinted, then cleaning off the oil for the next person. les requires no oil or wiping clean. Dusty environments create challenges for optical techniques, but not for les. and optical tools need a dark room and no sunlight, hard to achieve in airports or deserts. les works in any light or dark conditions.

Systems that do identity-matching locally with watch lists on their devices require significant storage and can slow down processing and matching. Increasing storage capacity, developing faster matching algorithms and speeding processing, all in smaller devices, would improve local identity matching. U.S. Marine Corps photo.

The MorphoIDent hand held device. MorphoTrak photo.


les devices only capture fingerprints. They are integrated into other tools that send print files back to databases for storage or matching to determine identities. les technology has been integrated into about two dozen handheld devices in the past two years. and many firms can do the matching quickly.

according to Integrated, only it makes its pat-ented les technology now, and les results meet requirements for putting in FbI databases. The FbI requires resolution of 500 pixels per inch, which les substantially exceeds. The new version will take 10 prints in 10 seconds or less and is easy to train operators to use.

morphoIDent is an advanced handheld finger-print matching device offered by morphoTrak, a subsidiary of morpho. “It is smaller than a modern smartphone,” stressed scott swann, senior director for innovation. along with morphoIDent, morphoTrak offers a suite of applications, morpho imobile (mims), that provide soft-ware support for fingerprint and facial recognition. The firm is also conducting research in advancing other biometrics such as tattoo and voice recognition.

In late 2015, morpho launched a new multi-biometric mobile handheld device, morphorapID 2. The device uses an FbI-certified fingerprint sensor and can capture flat prints of all 10 fingers. Facial capture and recognition is done with a CoTs camera embedded in the device. If matching is not done against an onboard database, biomet-ric data can be transmitted for matching with remote databases of prints, irises and faces.

morphoTrak also makes back-end biometric identification systems and provides these to 30 u.s. state governments. swann said this matching technology is known for accuracy, high speed and support of workflow automation.

For the military, swann thinks morpho’s mims applications should be interesting, as they support finger, face and latent print capture on smart-phones. Captured latent prints from a standard smartphone are scaled by the mims application to a suitable size and can be submitted for search in an authoritative automated fingerprint identification system.

The mims software would allow soldiers to avoid carrying any other device or equipment

beyond the smartphone or tablet they use to acquire images. mims currently acquires and searches for fingerprints and faces, and morphoTrak is researching iris and voice capabilities.

“We have state-of-the-art multi-biometric acquisition and matching technologies,” swann said. “but we can also help in harsh conditions, covertly and from standoff distances. We are leaders in contactless, no-touch devices.”

For the future, morphoTrak is refining the ability to achieve facial recognition from images of lesser quality. It is also working on video surveillance tools that can spot movements, persons and especially suspected persons quickly, without staff spending a lot of time reviewing video. morphoTrak’s video analytic research focuses on two paths, one for real-time surveillance and the other for post-event investigations.

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Scott Swann


q: What are the biggest challenges facing tactical combat casualty care?

uSSOcOm/cota and Bowling: survival on the battlefield has been clearly shown to be most affected by the first responder/first provider. of the battlefield deaths that occur, our analysis demonstrates that most of those casualties die before they reach definitive care. studies have also shown that full implementation of tactical combat casualty care can lead to near zero preventable combat deaths. It is imperative that our servicemembers are highly proficient in tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) and that it be considered the minimum standard in the Department of Defense.

one challenge that this minimum standard presents is committing resources to develop joint training venues that optimize the education of our personnel to a high level of proficiency. another challenge is to engage the individual learner to the level where optimal learning takes place in the shortest period of time.

This brings to mind the biggest issue with learning to be proficient in TCCC, that in order to reach optimal learning and proficiency there has to be a balance of simulation and realism that imprints the learned informa-tion for rapid retrieval. This training methodology has to be tailored to the level of the learner’s proficiency and provide consistent outcomes that are acceptable to all who train in TCCC. We have not been able to identify a pure simulation method that achieves that outcome.

uSaSOc/kane: I think one of our biggest challenges is not resting on our laurels!! We need to continue to

make advancements and improvements in TCCC and not wait for the next big conflict to

be the reason behind why we make more improvements. The

management of non-compressible hemorrhage prior to surgical intervention has improved a lot, but this is the area where we need to continue to focus our efforts.

We also need to continue to refine our forward surgi-cal elements and make them more agile and adaptable. across all the services there is a need for small, mobile flexible teams that can provide damage control resuscita-tion in remote areas close to the point of injury. We also need to improve our ability to rapidly evacuate casualties from austere areas to higher levels of care and need to consider things like autonomous medevac platforms.

aFSOc/martin: one of the primary challenges for TCCC is to ensure the lessons we learn on the battlefield are incorporated in our training. our challenge is to pass our knowledge to the next generation of warfighters who lack deployment experience. We also need to find new and innovative ways to anticipate the medical needs of the ever changing kinetic weaponry and tactics.

The research for hemorrhage control methodologies is still a focal point for our research and development de-partments. Products used are showing improvements in patient outcomes. Joint planners are developing concepts to place smaller more capable medical teams farther forward. These efforts will get definitive care to the warf-ighter sooner in non-developed theaters and in scenarios where our enemy may deny communication.

q: is there enough effort put into cross training each service SOF component to make sure that there is one level and standard of care?

uSSOcOm/cota and Bowling: The results of the the-aterwide surveys entitled “saving lives on the battlefield and saving lives on the battlefield II” illustrated that the TCCC guidelines are not being uniformly taught and implemented to all deploying physicians, officers, enlisted line leaders and deploying personnel as recommended by the Defense Health board. This is not just a soF-specific issue, but a DoD-wide issue and especially where general purpose forces provide medical support to soF missions. soF does a very good job of standardizing the training of its combat medic/corpsman/medical techni-cian to a standard of proficiency, but lacks the dedicated resources to provide adequate simulation and training to meet the goal of training all attached medical units no matter their level of expertise. Joint and interoperable training opportunities are becoming more frequent in soF, as well as inter-service training events, but the service

registering the pulse of special operations medicine and in particular combat casualty care.

Special Operations In-ternational recently had the chance to discuss the state of tactical combat casualty care with Colonel Paul F. Martin, Air Force Special Operations Command deputy command surgeon; Colonel Shawn F. Kane. U.S. Army Special Operations Command command surgeon; and Cap-tain Scott A. Cota, (U.S. Navy), U.S. Special Operations Com-mand command surgeon·and Sergeant Major F.Y. Bowling, (U.S. Army) USSOCOM senior enlisted medical advisor.

18 | SPECOPS 14.1 www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

culture influences anticipated expertise and has aligned some capability to sit within a specific soF component.

I really look at the collective soF medical en-terprise above the invaluable, unmatched combat medic as a collective health system that provides a world class standard of combat casualty care.

There is also an increased effort to col-laborate with non-soF, general purpose medical support to increase familiarity and understanding of the requirements for soF medical support. This last example exemplifies the 5th soF truth that, “most soF missions require non-soF support.”

The forthcoming standardized TCCC cur-riculum will also assist in this, but we still have some work to do to get to one standard that is equivalent to the interoperability provided by the combat medic/corpsman/medical technician.

uSaSOc/kane: We are constantly trying to work on this, but it is very hard to do. each service has very different views of the role of medicine on soF missions and the medical training requirements for its servicemembers. This will always lead to issues with having one standard of care across soCom.

In usasoC, the special operations combat medic is the baseline interoperable standard and we build on that with our special Forces medical sergeants (18Ds), civil affairs medics, the special operations aviation regiment flight medics and ranger regiment medics.

The best thing we do to maximize interoper-ability is bring soCom medics back to the Joint special operations medical Training Center every two years for the medical sustainment course. This provides the medics with the opportunity to learn the latest updates, lessons learned and the cross talk with other soF medics.

aFSOc/martin: every effort is put into ensuring our medics have the best and most current medi-cal training available.

a new plan was put into action where our Tactical operations medical simulator lab man-ages a platform that standardizes TCCC training. This year they obtained a site validation from the National association of emergency medical Training. This plan allowed us to provide continu-ing education hours for license recertification. It also created a foundation for a standard level of care to match what is provided within the other components of soCom.

It is a challenge that different service medi-cal providers have different skill sets. an aero-space medicine technician is not a corpsman and a corpsman is not a medical specialist.

However, the differences in their skills are critical to the unique environments in which

each operates. The opportunity for interoperabil-ity and crosstalk often comes from inter-service training events such as attending Joint special operations medical Training Center and soCom exercises. The integration of these differing skill sets helps us manage a greater span of environments than we would otherwise be able to manage.

q: What technologies would you like to see added or enhanced to improve prolonged field care capabilities?

aFSOc/martin: Future technologies and re-search need to improve how we care for injured at each point enroute back to definitive care in CoNus. our vision is to develop better protocols and equipment to allow extended patient hold times and to manage care during extended transport times. These extended times are movement out of remote areas.

This includes things like resuscitative surgi-cal care in the air that we would have never attempted prior to 9/11.

uSSOcOm/cota and Bowling: For the near term the priorities would be to leverage technol-ogy to accelerate hemorrhage control, refine resuscitation strategies, and optimize physiolog-ic adaptation all aimed at maximizing outcomes and resources.

also I would like to see technology to invigo-rate rapid screening for safe point of injury fresh whole blood transfusions. For the mid-term, in-vestigate closed loop resuscitation technologies to see the impact during prolonged field care as well as en-route care situations. Find non-inva-sive neuro-modulation methods and hands free technology that could reduce the cognitive load, accelerate learning and reduce decision making time required by the provider.

In addition, find solutions to autonomous support for joint medical logistics, tactical real time bio-surveillance, validated multiagency medical intelligence, and preventive medicine in the form of mobile or fixed platforms. These would assist in filling many gaps. For the far fu-ture, automated clinical decision making support, smart adaptable litters, physiologic scanners, implantable metabolic controls and rapid tissue regeneration are intriguing ideas, which would help our providers who find themselves in future austere environments with minimal resources.

uSaSOc/kane: The first thing we need to do to improve our prolonged field care capabilities is to continue to master the basics! If we don’t do the basics of TCCC well then we will never be able to improve other needed medical skills.

In my opinion we need to make sure our med-ics have the practical knowledge and experiences required to critically think in a prolonged care environment. medicine is complex and challenging enough, then when you consider doing medicine in the situations our medics will be in it’s even crazier. The first thing we need to enhance and improve is their clinical skills and reasoning.

after that, anything we can do to enhance their diagnostic skills with point of care testing, point of care imaging and the ability to monitor patients and share all that information with a geographically separate provider.

q: What have been the biggest medical les-sons learned from the past 12 months?

uSaSOc/kane: From my standpoint I would say the need to relearn, refocus on our ability to hold onto and care for a patient longer than we have grown accustomed to in the recent oIF/oeF conflicts. This is where the grass roots prolonged field care initiative has really helped us out. The concept of holding onto a patient in an austere environment for a prolonged period of time is not new—as a matter of fact it’s something soF medicine has focused on since our inception.

The recent conflicts in mature theaters have made this less of issue but as we move onto the future fight the ability to potentially hold onto pa-tients longer will be vital, possibly mission critical. so relearning the ways to train what has always been a tenant of soF medicine is one of the big-gest lessons learned in the past year.

aFSOc/martin: To maintain clinical currency/proficiency with the reduction in total number of battlefield casualties, we have entered into part-nerships with civilian trauma centers to offer our providers the right level of case load to maintain proficiencies.

In order to rapidly deploy/employ medical ca-pabilities further forward in all environments, we have reconfigured several of our medical teams and equipment packages to provide a more agile and smaller footprint.

uSSOcOm/cota and Bowling: The biggest medical lessons learned in the past 12 months are the same ones that are learned every 12 months. being good at the basics saves lives in combat. The test of time continues to prove relatively simple technologies like tourniquets, fresh whole blood transfusion, and individual basic lifesaving training will probably always be necessary on the battlefield.

Persistent reviews focused on helping train and execute these tasks quickly and effectively will most likely have the greatest impact.


In conflict scenarios that increasingly involve sniffing out small cells of bad actors congregating in urban areas, sniper activity has become an increasingly important part of the mission of special forces. In these situations, engaging the enemy often involves picking a target out in a crowd.

The weapons required for today’s snipers must be more accurate than their predecessors, in order to hit the right target and to avoid making mistakes. To that end enhancements have been made to the snipers’ arsenal in recent years, and more are planned. For example, united states special operations Command will be seeking a sniper rifle that provides greater accuracy at longer distances and that fires rounds with greater lethality, not only against personnel, but against materiel.

The latest sniper rifles are often modular in design, allowing snipers to switch out different features depending on the mission and personal preferences. ussoCom’s precision sniper rifle will be the first modular rifle to be fielded by the u.s. military and will enable shooters to swap out calibers.

“The major innovation for sniper weapons has been the move towards modular platforms that give the operator the ability to change calibers on the same chassis based on the mission profile,” said lieutenant Commander matt allen, a ussoCom spokesperson. “The major innovation for ammunition in the last couple of years is the advent of the high precision low collateral damage bullet which improves accuracy at extended range while minimizing the possibility of collateral damage. The recent innovations have been developed to fulfill the precision sniper rifle requirements for both ussoCom and the u.s. army.”

“The missions expected from snipers on today’s battlefield is diverse,” said Gilad Z., an Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) marketing manager, who wouldn’t give his last name because of his active status with the Israel Defense Forces reserves. “They range from open field ranges to close-quarters battle in built-up areas. snipers have a short window of opportunity to take their shot so it must be accurate and lethal enough to neutralize the target.”

Two types of anti-personnel rifles have been increasingly the subject of development in recent years: long range rifles, with ranges of over 1,000 meters and firing rounds up to .50 caliber, and medium range weapons, with ranges of 800 to 1,000 meters rifles firing 7.62 mm ammunition.

“The heavier bullet and higher velocity reduces the effects of ex-ternal factors such as wind, gives a flatter trajectory and increases the terminal effect, especially penetration,” said shane Healy, operational marketing manager for infantry weapons at FN Herstal. “These rifles are bolt-action designs, due to the very low dispersion required. They are designed to carry out the primary missions of true snipers as per the doctrine of western armies since World War II.”

The medium-range rifles are increasingly semi-automatic in de-sign, allowing fast follow-up shots to engage multiple targets or to re-engage a fleeing or moving target that is missed due to short en-gagement time. “These are designed for sniper support or designat-ed marksman rifle roles, or for sniping as per the russian doctrine during and after World War II,” said Healy. “The anti-materiel role that requires explosive, incendiary and/or armor piercing effects will tend to be .50 caliber in order to have the required target effect.”

By PeTer BuxBaumSPecOPS cOrreSPOndenT


The increasing modularity of today’s sniper weapons allow easy caliber changes by the operator as well as other items to be placed on the weapon to improve its mission suitability. This reflects “the move from traditional monolithic stocks to chassis designs,” noted Ja-son mann, director of combat and precision weapons at FN america, llC. “This permits the operator to add accessories in order to improve mission performance.”

The newer medium-range sniper weaponry also have the advantage of reduced weight and size. Traditional, long-range sniper rifles were purposely designed for maximum accuracy and shootability. “However, these features result in a comparatively heavy, long and cumbersome rifle compared to modern battle rifles,” said mann, “but their accuracy and performance outweighs any ergonomic and handling penalties.”

ussoCom has had a requirement for a number of years to acquire a precision sniper rifle, consisting of a reliable, accurate, long-range sniper rifle, with a suppressor and an enhanced round of ammuni-tion. The Psr will be replacing the bolt-action m24, which has been in service since the 1980s, and the xm2010, both of which were acquired under contract with the remington arms Company.

“We have ceased use of the remington contract and we will re-solicit for a modular multi-caliber sniper rifle system,” said lieutenant Colonel robert bockholt, a ussoCom spokesperson. “The capability is for a modular rifle which can provide precision engagement out to ranges of 1,500 meters. The Psr capability is the first of its kind modular sniper rifle that would allow for a multi-caliber capability within the same basic platform.”

“The DoD has not previously fielded a modular sniper weapon sys-tem,” noted allen. “The Psr combines the capabilities of three or more

separately fielded sniper weapons to meet mission requirements. This will reduce the training burden on the operator and decrease costs, logistics and maintenance required to keep sniper systems operating. The new ammunition is better suited to meet mission requirements for improved accuracy and minimizing the possibility of collateral damage.”

The current crop of sniper rifles, besides being lighter and more compact than traditional bolt-action rifles, can also be equipped with sound suppressors as well as back up iron sights. “The result,” said mann, “is a weapon that is hybridized between traditional bolt-action rifles and traditional battle rifles. This hybridization allows the opera-tor to fire accurately at longer ranges using precision ammunition built to be compliant with NaTo ammunition design specifications. specialized bolt action sniper rifles may or may not use NaTo compli-ant ammunition but cartridges that are optimized for long range precision performance. users are receiving a more compact, shorter, lighter and accurate version of a traditional battle rifle.”

still, there are tradeoffs that the shooter must accept with the features that have been built into the new sniper rifles. The best performance, if that is defined by maximum accuracy, is still achieved with the older bolt-action rifles. The newer, modular rifles cater to re-quirements for reliability, ergonomics, rapid follow-up shots, compact size and the ability to engage within a range of ammunition.

IWI last year launched its Dan .338 bolt action sniper rifle, a weapons developed in cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces. The Dan .338 is the first of IWI’s new family of bolt-action sniper rifles. until the advent of the Dan, IWI produced only semi-automatic sniper weapons.

SPECOPS 14.1 | 21 www.SPECOPS-dhp.com

IWI claims its new family of sniper rifles uses delivers “excep-tional accuracy” for distances of up to 1,500 meters, while it also invested considerable effort in making the bolt-action sniper rifle ergonomic. “The Dan is lightweight,” said Gilad. “It weighs 5.9 kilo-grams and is accurate and easy to shoot. It enables a perfect fit to the sniper’s body, including an adjustable, foldable handle, and ad-justable cheek rest and trigger. The rifle incorporates an upgraded Picattiny rail which allows the mounting of a variety of accessories, including telescopes and night vision devices.” a clip-on sight and a suppressor are available as optional features.

“The development of the Dan bolt action rifle reflects a growing demand on the modern battlefield to deliver accuracy and increased first-hit capability,” added Gilad. “The main advantage of the weapon is its interchangeable barrel and its two-stage adjustable trigger.”

There is growing demand for sniper rifles with ranges of 1,200 meters and beyond, according to Gilad. “This weapon came to fulfill a requirement to deliver a lethal and accurate shot at up to 1,500 meters,” he said.

IWI also equips its weapons with electronic accessories, al-lowing shooters and maintainers to gauge the use of the weapon and time its maintenance, much like drivers use information from an automobile dashboard. “users can access information like how many rounds have been fired,” said Gilad. “This makes it easier to schedule maintenance and ordering of spare parts.”

The FN sCar family of weapons, including the FN Csr-20, have been built to meet the requirements for modern sniper weapon with modularity and semi-automatic firing action. “an infantry soldier

armed with an FN Csr-20 can transition from an overwatch posi-tion using the range capability of the weapon system, to an as-

saulter role in an urban environment with no equipment changes,” said mann. “The smaller, light weight form factor is easily managed in these tighter confined spaces typical of urban assaults.”

“The FN sCar was designed for a full power cartridge,” added Healy. “It was designed to accuracy requirements for special forces that were more demanding than specifications for a standard gen-eral service rifle.”

The FN sCar was designed to take optical sights, and its open architecture allows it to be modified for greater accuracy without making production more complex and therefore slower and more costly. “Its low weight allows the precision rifle to remain compara-tively light even with the added weight inherent in a precision rifle,” said Healy. “The precision rifle versions retain the far better than average reliability of the assault rifle. The resulting weapon gives accuracy which is sufficient to engage targets up to the capability limits of the 7.62 mm cartridge, while being a reliable, ergonomic, lightweight semi-automatic rifle.”

meprolight is an Israeli company that produces rifle sights designed specifically for the sniper niche. “snipers typically use 7.62 mm to .50 caliber rifles and it is important that the sights are able to sustain the recoil of those rifles,” said benny Kokia, the compa-ny’s marketing and sales director. “We use special shock absorbers on our products that substantially reduce the g-force from the rifle recoil on the sights. We recently registered a patent on our internal shock absorber.”

The meprolight Noa is most suitable to sniper rifles, according to Kokia. It is an uncooled thermal sight which can provide up to 7x

As sniper weapons have evolved,

so too have the ammunition used

for long range strikes. Ruag

Ammotec photo.

FN CSR-20. FN Herstal photo.

The desire to continually improve weapon and optics range and accuracy along with the ammunition to match those capabilities is always driving innovation. U.S. DoD photo.


magnification and absorb the recoil from rifles firing a .50 caliber round.

“The Noa also includes a built-in ballistic computer that can be set to 10 different ballistic and five different sniper profiles so it can serve more than one sniper per unit,” said Kokia. “It also answers the need of snipers to use more than one caliber bullet. The shooter inputs the data into the sight which eliminates the need to use a sepa-rate PDa. Noa also includes a scatterscreen feature which allows the spotter to see exactly the same optical picture the sniper is looking at. That makes it easier to target because the spotter and the sniper can talk the same language and see the same picture.”

To be prepared for every scenario, snipers require rounds with high penetra-tion power on hard targets such as ballistic glass, engine blocks, and body and light vehicle armor. ruag ammotec enhances the tactical advantage of military units in anti-material missions with two new products.

The new .50 browning armor Piercing Incendiary sx (aPI) was designed to hit, mark and penetrate a target. “The hardened steel core resists deformation even when striking armor,” noted Dr. Peter spatz, head of development and technology at ruag. “It provides maximum penetration power of 13 mm steel at 900 meters and 22 mm steel at 500 meters.”

by using a projectile with a titanium tip, the incendiary effect is generated by a completely insensitive material. When the projectile hits a target with high speed, it makes a clearly visible bright flash. The energy transfer converts it into brightly glowing sparks, provid-ing an incendiary marking, but there are no incendiary chemicals and it is not subject to the restrictive packaging, handling and transportation. “The aPI round enhances the visibility of the impact so the sniper or spotter can better detect the impact and make quick follow-up corrections,” said spatz. “aPI can also serve to mark the target and thus enable troops to see the enemy target.”

many international armed forces currently rely on the .338 lm swiss P armor Piercing round. ruag has developed a new bullet construction with new materials to enhance the penetration power of the round without compromising accuracy. “The new bullet penetrates a 13 mm steel plate at 600 meters or level IV body armor at 500 meters,” said spatz. “because the core stays intact during penetration, it transfers extremely effective residual energy to hard targets.”

Nammo has developed a new generation of propellant and cartridge case for its sniper ammunition. “There has always been a requirement for temperature stable propellants and proper func-tioning of the weapons,” said Kim Helge Dahl, program director at Nammo. “both the propellant and the cartridge case are key com-ponents in achieving this. The next generation propellant ensures better performance across the temperature range, all the way up to 71˚C [160˚F]. This takes the factor of temperature correction off the shooters mind, allowing him to focus more on other things, thus increasing the probability of hit. The match grade cartridge case will ensure a more smooth load/eject cycle.”

The future of sniper ammunition could take the form of a guided round such as the exaCTo, or extreme accuracy Tasked ordnance, a project sponsored by the Defense advanced research Projects agency (DarPa). “The program’s objective was to prove a precision sniper system firing a .50 caliber projectile could be command guid-ed to a target via a laser optical link,” said Jarrod Krull, communica-tions manager at orbital aTK armament systems. “The concept was to divert the round to a stationary or moving target, thus creating improved accuracy at extreme ranges.”

“exaCTo has demonstrated what was once thought impos-sible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target,” said Jerome Dunn, DarPa program manager, in a statement. “This live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle showed that exaCTo is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds. Fitting exaCTo’s guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size is a major break-through and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers.”

Teledyne was the prime contractor and provided fire control on the project while orbital aTK provided the guided projectile. The con-cept was proven in tests that ended in april 2015. The project was terminated by DarPa without any takers among the armed services but the concept could be reactivated at some point in the future.

The snipers of the future may also be able to benefit from improvements in material science and manufacturing processes that are being undertaken today. “The benefit to the end user will be a more compact and lighter sniper rifle that is able to extract the maximum performance of the projectile,” said mann. “There are tech-nologies are being evaluated to improve the shootability of the rifle that enables the user to more accurately and quickly fire the first round in a precision manner. other technologies are being examined that will increase the overall service life of the product.”

meanwhile, ussoCom is developing an optimized anti-materiel round for ranges out to 1,500 meters for the Psr, according to allen. once the final precision sniper rifle system goes into full production, ussoCom plans on acquiring around 1,000 of the Psrs.

Taking a break during advanced designated marksmanship training with the 188th Security Forces Squadron. U.S. DoD photo


ussoCom seeks small businesses with strong research and develop-ment capabilities to pursue and commercialize technologies needed by soF. The ussoCom program executive officers submitted the topics to the ussoCom sbIr program manager as topics that may transition to an ac-quisition program of record or concept of operation. In turn, the ussoCom sbIr Pm submitted the topics for the DoD 16.1 small business Innovative research solicitation.

alTernaTiVe Or redundanT glOBal POSiTiOning SySTem naVigaTiOn

The objective is to develop either an alternate means or a redundant Global Positioning system (GPs) capability for soF aircraft to acquire and maintain accurate timing, position and navigation

some of the issues with the current GPs include blind spots as well as spoofing and jamming of the GPs signal. additionally, many GPs satellites are outside of their designed lifetime and are likely to become less reliable in the future. Finally, it is uncertain whether current budget cuts will allow the funding needed to launch new GPs satellites. an innovative and inexpensive means to acquire position, navigation and timing are required to ensure operational missions can continue without a GPs signal. Inertial systems in some of the soF platforms provide a redundancy to GPs but they suffer from integration drift caused by small errors in the measure-ment of acceleration and angular velocity.

enVirOnmenTally STaBle POrTaBle POinT OF care BlOOd analyzer

The objective is to develop an environmentally stable (temperature, humidity) portable (handheld) point of care blood analyzer device capable of conducting standard blood chemistry analysis to improve diagnostic capabilities and clinical outcomes particularly with respect to prolonged field care.

soF medical providers require a handheld point of care blood analyzer device, capable of providing real-time, lab-quality results within minutes. results of rapid point of care blood analysis accelerate clinical decision-making, and are invaluable as we focus more on prolonged field care. Current commercially available off the shelf devices are cartridge-based systems where either diagnostic, calibration or quality control test car-tridges require refrigeration, thereby making the devices unsuitable for soF medics. The devices and/or cartridges are highly sensitive to environmen-tal factors like temperature and humidity and, therefore, are not suitable in austere locations where soF operate.

nexT generaTiOn idenTiTy managemenT TechnOlOgieS/TOOlS

The objective is to develop/demonstrate next generation high perfor-mance, scalable identity management technologies and toolsets to provide automated, smart analysis tools to enable rapid, concise understanding of adversaries knowledge of ussoCom operators and assets.

recent headlines highlight that technologies (such as: advanced internet, social media, cloud-based, data search/aggregation, crowd-sourcing, deep/dark Web, publicly available information, etc.) can be used by nefarious forces with rapid, global and asynchronous effects. Consequently,

ussoCom has a critical requirement to safeguard the identity information of soF and their assets from exploitation. exploitation can be prevented through innovative technology that employs: education, policies, processes and a combination of technical systems that create, define, govern, and synchronize identity ownership and utilization. In order for ussoCom to stay ahead of adversaries leveraging easily obtainable tools, the next generation identity management system shall be an integrated suite of scalable, high performance technologies and automated analysis tools to:

• search, collect, filter and analyze diverse structured and unstructured data.

• search, collect, filter and analyze native language data.• search, collect, filter and analyze imagery and video.• assess and manage risks.• Improve search and analysis efficiency/effectiveness, and reduce

data sources costs.• reduce data duplication, improve entity resolution, and enrich

data quality/accuracy.• Provide global/regional data collection and analysis.• Provide full spectrum attribution management.

OPTically TranSParenT TaPered reSiSTiVe FilmS

The objective is to develop an innovative film/process that provides a tapered resistive layer across the film while remaining transparent in the visual and near infrared (NIr) optical bands for use in radio frequency applications.

Naval special Warfare needs a tapered resistive layer that remains transparent in the Visual and NIr bands for use in optically transparent structures of glass and/or polycarbonates. The performance goal for visual light transmission level is 85 percent. The resistive layers shall provide a continuous taper from 1 ohm/square to 377 ohms/square across a 6-inch surface span for basic marine x and s band radar frequencies. This layer shall be compliant with manufacturing techniques and processes used in other visual transparent structures (e.g. windows). resistive layers and/or constituent materials exposed to weather shall be marinized against heavy rain and sea spray and ruggedized to withstand vibration and mechanical shock caused by wave slams, sustained while the craft is operating at 40 knots in 4 foot combined seas depending on where and how the system is mounted on the craft.

Wide BandWidTh high Frequency digiTal radiO

The objective is to provide reliable, two-way, man-portable, low visibil-ity, no intermediate infrastructure, surface-to-surface data communications within a 500 kilometer-diameter circle, delivering at least a 200 kilobits/second user data rate.

Near-Vertical Incident skywave (NVIs) is a variant of High Frequency (HF) {HF = 3 megahertz – 30 megahertz} communications that uses radio wave reflection from the ionosphere to link two or more radios on the ground within a several hundred kilometer distance from each other. However, tra-ditional NVIs communications, based on a single, narrowband channel, are notoriously unreliable due to rapidly-changing ionosphere conditions and the many sources of HF interference. Furthermore, the size and orientation of broadband HF antennas make covert NVIs systems difficult.

USSOCOM Looks to Small Business


Despite his special forces background, lieutenant General brad Webb is no stranger to being in the media spotlight. In fact it is hard to recall a more important image than that taken in one of the White House situa-tion rooms at 4.06 p.m. on may 1, 2011.

The photo, shot by White House photog-rapher Pete souza, captured the tension and the drama of the mission that represented the culmination of a decade-long hunt for osama bin laden.

With President barack obama on Webb’s right and current presidential nominee Hil-ary Clinton sitting to his left, surrounded by members of the national security team, the group followed ‘live’ as operation Neptune spear unfolded. The u.s. Naval special Warfare Development Group—seal Team six—was selected to prosecute the raid to the kill osama bin laden. The importance of mission success, given the wealth of intelligence that had led to this deliberate action into Pakistan, cannot be understated. The tension is visible.

yet Webb’s most vivid memory of that day was of being “being in the zone.” as he explained, “you hear people talk about this in sports...when time seems to slow down, everything is really focused and instead of being nervous, you are perfectly calm. I recall looking around the room at some point when the entire leadership team of our nation [the united states] was in the room and thinking,

‘I should be freaking out right now.’ but, I was perfectly calm [and] concentrating on the task at hand.”

leading naTO’S SOF caPaBiliTy

since that day in 2011 Webb has taken his understanding of special forces to a new international level. His current responsibilities require a strategic perspective combined with an understanding and ability to work in coali-tion with the forces from other nations that fall under his command at the North atlantic Treaty organization’s (NaTo) special opera-tions Headquarters (NsHQ). This command is formed under a memorandum of understand-ing but is frameworked and led by the united states.

“We are under the daily operational com-mand of supreme allied Commander europe (saCeur) and serve as the de facto allied Joint special operations Command, although it is important to point out we are not part of the NaTo command structure and are not NaTo common funded. so in a sense we are a hybrid transformational entity within the alliance,” explained Webb.

as the soF domain commander, Webb works alongside his NaTo counterparts in allied air Command and allied maritime Com-mand. “I am responsible for everything with regard to soF in NaTo from the tactical to the

strategic level and I am saCeur’s senior advi-sor on soF in the alliance. We are responsible for ensuring that saCeur and NaTo have at their disposal effective, efficient and coherent soF capabilities that complement those of the air, maritime and land domain.”

The provision of soF capabilities stretch-es across NaTo’s core tasks of cooperative security, crisis response and collective de-fense. The responsibility of communicating to political-military decision makers how these forces can be applied in any given situation is also part of the command mission.

naTO SOF STrucTure

NsHQ comprises around 200 personnel from 26 NaTo nations as well as the NaTo partner nations of sweden, Finland and aus-tria. The structure has recently been changed as Webb explained, “up until this summer we have maintained a support division, training and readiness division, and an operations division; all three of which were led by colo-nels. In the summer of 2015, we refined our organizational structure by adding a plans and policy division, again led by a colonel. In september of 2014 after the NaTo summit in Wales, uK, we recognized we really needed to move towards operationalizing soF in a NaTo context, and hence we made adjustments to our organizational structure to be more

an exclusive conversation with lieutenant general Brad Webb, naTO nShq commander.By andreW drWiega, SPecOPS cOrreSPOndenT


effective and efficient, and to place a greater emphasis into plans and operations.”

In 2016 the command will aim to increase soF-to-soF collaboration with non-NaTo na-tions by leveraging NaTo cooperative security mechanisms such as the mediterranean Dialogue and the Defence Capacity building initiative. It will look to build upon recent achievements.

“This cooperative security aspect for NsHQ and allied Joint special operations is one of the new responsibilities of the plans and policy division,” said Webb. “Cooperative security is one of NaTo’s three core tasks and it makes sense that allied Joint special operations have a coherent approach to the

soF aspect of this NaTo core task. We are working in coordination with allied Joint Force Command brunssum and allied Joint Force Command Naples who have responsibility for orchestrating these activities. We also are working closely with allied maritime Com-mand because of many of the partnerships around the mediterranean sea.”

Webb also perceived an increase in activi-ty alongside NaTo’s maritime operation active endeavour in the mediterranean operating in support of allied maritime Command that is in relatively nascent stage of development but will likely develop during the course of 2016.

“We also are responsible for the NaTo re-sponse Force special operations Component

Command in 2017 which means we have a significant level of preparation, exercises and certification during 2016,” he added. “In order for NaTo special operations Headquarters to take this on, we will receive staff augmenta-tion from different NaTo member nation soF to round out our organic capability.”

Virtually all NaTo nations (26 of 28) have a soF capability. additionally there are other soF capabilities in NaTo partner organiza-tions including Partnership for Peace, the mediterranean Dialogue and Partners across the Globe.

according to Webb there has been a trend for additional soF commands to be formed over the last few years in such countries as Poland, spain, Norway, sweden, Denmark and in Italy. The latter added an army special operations Command on top of the existent Joint special operations Command in rome. “so I would say this reflects an increasing awareness of the relative utility of soF as well as a recognition that we are increasingly relevant against the hybrid, irregular, gray-area contemporary challenges we increas-ingly face,” concluded Webb.

cOmmOn challengeS

There is, according to Webb, a com-mon perception that soF can have access to whatever it needs, particularly high-end equipment. but NaTo is constrained by the resources of member states and one of the challenges has been in the supply and avail-ability of soF-specific air support.

Webb calls air power a “critical enabler for special operations” in that “strategic, operational and tactical mobility; fire support; medical evacuation; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance are massively important for special operations. Projecting soF in a precise and responsive manner across the world is critically dependent upon air power.”

“For the last decade we have continued to see a significant shortfall in soF-specific air assets which as you can imagine ad-versely effects soF operational tempo and associated soF effects in support of the joint force commander,” said Webb. “This is some-times misconstrued as everyone pursuing very high end platforms, and while some na-tions do maintain very high end soF-specific air platforms, it is much more than that.”

Webb pointed to the teamwork relation-ship that all joint forces like to establish for good operational understanding. “It is about habitual relationships with aircrews, soF and supporting air personnel planning closely

An Italian paratrooper, assigned to the Italian

Special Operations Command, NSHQ, takes

target practice at the Training Support Center

Benelux 25-meter range to maintain

combat readiness for the Deployable Special Operations Component

Command Core, in Chièvres, Belgium. U.S.

Army photo.


together, and it is about soF air crews having a soF mind-set that meshes with that of the soF ground and maritime operators,” he said. Vital soF related skills include precision navi-gation, day and night infiltration and exfiltra-tion proficiency. “We are constantly working to refine those requirements within the NaTo defense planning process to create the ap-propriate demand signal to allied nations. The bottom line is that soF-specific air is a critical enabler for the conduct of NaTo special operations and we continue to close the gap between requirements and actual available capabilities provided by the respective NaTo nations,” he continued.

He acknowledged the financial con-straints on the NaTo nations. “We can’t have everything we may need in the near term, but we are building out the requirements, creat-ing the demand signal and developing soF specific aviation within NaTo in a deliberate manner,” he explained.

“Demonstrating this unique requirement to senior leadership is also an important facet of the development of these capabili-ties so that they are well understood,” he explained. “We had a CV-22 at the NaTo Wales summit in september 2014 as part of a cer-emony unveiling our NaTo special operations Headquarters’ special operations Component Command to the chiefs of defense and minis-ters of defense. The CV-22s from the 352nd in the united Kingdom have been all over europe on exercises and they are a mainstay of the u.s. special operations Command europe capability.”

another challenge within the NaTo soF structure is in command, control, communica-tions, computers and intelligence (C4I), and the integration of that up the chain of com-mand. “This has been a challenge because a nation has to be able to snap into a multi-national environment to share information and communicate,” explained Webb, adding that the “respective national systems are not agile enough to do that and maintain national information assurance. We have built our mul-tinational soF network at the NaTo level with nations plugging into it, but it is understand-ably challenging for smaller allied nations to provide their own organic capability that allows them to plug in other nations.”

This difficulty extends to bringing to-gether multinational soF staff to conduct C4I for full spectrum special operations, where a common doctrine, staff procedures and common tactics, techniques and procedures would be ideal. “We have been working on this interoperability/commonality for years

with the courses we teach at our NaTo special operations school,” said Webb. “IsaF soF in afghanistan and then later the NaTo special operations Component Command – afghanistan also served to develop these collective NaTo multinational capabilities, but as you can imagine some of the skills are per-ishable, particularly with personnel turnover. I would tell you that some of what this NaTo soF community built over the years in terms of a collaborative platform in afghanistan really enabled many of the same european soF actors coming together in support of the coalition of the willing in Iraq or for instance where soF are operating under a european union mandate in africa.”

JOinT SOF Training

With an international focus firmly on working in coalition, there is a requirement for soF forces to train together for such deployments.

“For years now we have emphasized the critical importance of allied Joint special operations being able to conduct military assistance alongside the other principal NaTo soF tasks of special reconnaissance and direct action,” explained Webb.

In afghanistan “some of the most capable afghan ministry of Interior specialized forces were trained by NaTo special operations under IsaF soF.” Webb added that “soF from several nations remain there under the NaTo special operations Component Com-mand – afghanistan conducting security force assistance.”

In terms of the wider picture, Webb revealed that many NaTo allied soF, under national direction, are training, advising and assisting local forces around the world under a variety of mandates.” additionally, “in some cases soF are also starting to work in sup-port of NaTo cooperative security providing training, advice and assistance to NaTo part-ner nations in order to enable their interoper-ability with NaTo.”

In terms of recognized soF training within europe, one of the main centers is the NaTo special operations school at Chievres air base, belgium, which conducts 24 courses. It is a purpose-built facility where soF specific courses on professional development, com-mand and control, aviation, intelligence and exploitation, medical, and support related subjects are conducted.

“although oriented primarily to the opera-tional and strategic level, some of the tactical

lieutenant General marshall b. “brad” Webb is the commander of NaTo special operations Headquarters in mons, belgium. NsHQ is the primary point of development, coordination and direction for all NaTo special operations-related activities, in order to optimize employment of special operations forces. Webb is responsible for provid-ing an operational command capability when directed by the supreme allied Commander europe.

Webb graduated from the u.s. air Force academy in 1984. He is a command pilot with more than 3,700 flying hours, including 117 combat hours in afghanistan, Iraq and bosnia. He has commanded the 20th special operations squadron, the 352nd special operations Group, the 1st special operations Wing, the 23rd air Force and special operations Command europe. His staff assignments include duty at Headquarters air Force special operations Command, at the Joint special operations Com-mand, and in office of the secretary of Defense.

He is rated as a command pilot and aircraft he has flown comprise: uH-1H/N, mH-53H/J/m, CV-22b, mC-130H Combat Talon II, mC-130P Combat shadow.

We can’t have everything we may need in the near term, but we

are building out the requirements, creating the demand signal, and developing SOF specific

aviation within NATO in a deliberate manner.


courses stem from operational gaps identified during IsaF soF, explained Webb. “We have approximately 1,000 students annually and have trained nearly 6,000 from 33 nations over the last several years,” he said. “This has had an immeasurable effect on building a more effective, efficient and coherent soF community that is interoperable because of NaTo standardization, doctrine and pro-cedures. We continue to see far reaching effects in a variety of areas beyond europe where soF operate effectively outside of a NaTo context multilaterally in africa and the middle east.”

In addition to this a number of nations have their own niche training facilities that are offered to other soF forces on a bilateral or multilateral basis. “The NsHQ hosts a vir-tual forum to coordinate and connect national soF with those training opportunities,” said Webb. “Where before this was largely ‘per-sonality driven’ and lost when knowledgeable individuals rotated to other posts, the NsHQ resource ensures that the connection to the variety of training sources is consistent.”

changing TechnOlOgy

as technology continually changes there is a constant challenge not only to employ the latest developments, but also understand its benefits to the overall strategy. These in-clude C4I, identity management and all source intelligence.

“We work to stay abreast of these chang-es and have the ability to leverage a variety of nations to ensure what is being seen and done in the field is brought into the curriculum on a fairly continuous basis,” said Webb.

With medical treatment being one of the core skills of soF personnel, not only in treating military casualties but also in terms of the wider hearts and minds benefit, Webb

said that they have “a very sophisticated medical simulation laboratory that we use to develop soF-specific medical personnel. That advanced technological simulation is not limited to the casualty apparatus but includes video feedback, virtual simulation, and a variety of synthetic simulation to bring the operational environment to the classroom in a very realistic manner.”

FuTure requiremenTS

New soF equipment should ideally provide greater agility and effectiveness, although Webb re-emphasized that success nearly always is a result of the quality of people who do the job. “It is the people not the gadgets that ultimately enable soF to do what they do. Technology is important but history is replete with examples of low and no tech adversaries proving to be very adept.”

There is a challenge inherent in serving both national and coalition requirements. “The u.s. National military strategy describes

one of our national military objectives as strengthening our global network of allies and partners and seeks to advance globally integrated operations,” Webb explained.

In order to achieve that, he said, “we are going to see the increased need for the ability to toggle seamlessly between multinational collaborative technologies for communicating, sharing information, situational awareness and secure national means. you will need to be able to pop in and out of those two realms in an effortless manner on the fly. Further on that point, I see it as having to do so with an added layer of complexity among multina-tional soF, law enforcement and intelligence professionals in exactly the same manner. There is no way around it, the threat is too dynamic and there is no separation between distant conflict zones and homeland security. separating those into neat categories to allow them to be addressed by the appropri-ate agencies and institutions is not a 21st century paradigm that relates to the contem-porary threat we are facing.”

Battelle – National Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3www.battelle.org

Boeing/Insitu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4www.insitu.com

Creative Tent International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11www.creativetent.us

Deployed Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15www.deployedresources.com

L-3 GCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2www.l-3com.com

SECUREX West Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17www.securexwestafrica.com

Global SOF Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8www.globalsofsymposium.org

SOFEX 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3www.sofexjordan.com

aDVertIsers InDex

Romanian SOF attack targets during a fire and movement exercise. U.S. DoD photo.


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Special Operations International February 2016