U.S. Army Special Operations Force Not Expected To Grow Beyond 2017 - Defense News: "While demand for its elite soldiers is climbing, the U.S. Army does not plan to increase the size of its special operations force (SOF) more than already planned, according to a top commander.
'I'm not particularly interested in growing Army special operations forces any bigger than it is today,' said Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commanding general of U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Army special operations forces are expected to finish their currently planned growth by 2017 and at that point, 'we'll be pretty well postured,' Mulholland said.
Related Topics
Americas
This is partly because growing Army SOF force structure comes at the expense of the larger Army, the three-star told a Sept. 21 conference hosted by the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement.
'I don't think you'll see SOF growth across the force, not just in the Army,' Mulholland said.
If there is growth, it will be in providing more 'enabling capabilities,' such as communications, intelligence, medical and logistics personnel, he said. However, it is possible that Army Special Operations Command will rely on the larger Army to provide more of these capabilities, rather than growing and maintaining the extra resources itself, Mulholland said. His soldiers need engineers, not necessarily SOF-specific ones."
