COVER
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES VISION

VISION STATEMENT 

Create strategic, asymmetric advantages for the Nation in integrated deterrence, 

crisis and conflict.

CORE VALUES 

Honor. Earn the trust of the Nation by doing what is right. 

Courage. Be steadfast in the face of physical and moral danger. 

Excellence. Commit to achieving the highest possible standards. 

Creativity. Seek innovative and novel solutions to the hardest, most complex problems. 

Respect. Treat our teammates and partners with the highest regard.

WHO WE ARE

• Innovative problem solvers tackling the most complex challenges and creating 

strategic impacts through special operations actions and activities.

• Cohesive and disciplined teams committed to our core values and the SOF Truths.

• Mission-ready today, preparing for the future, and inspired by our rich history.

• A community of dedicated and trusted SOF professionals -military, civilian, contractors, 

and our families.

WHAT WE DO

• Shape the environment to reduce risk, prevent crises, and set conditions for success in

competition and conflict.

• Respond swiftly to crises worldwide and accomplish high-risk, politically-sensitive missions 

with a low signature and small footprint.

• Cultivate strong relationships with our global network -allies, partners, joint, interagency, 

multinational, industry, and academia.

• Illuminate irregular threats, foster partners’ resilience, and create dilemmas 

for our adversaries.

• Care for the well-being of our SOF family -mentally, spiritually, and physically.

WHERE ARE WE GOING

• Balanced force employment and readiness for integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict.

• Sustainable counterterrorism to safeguard the Nation.

• Modernized formations, concepts, and capabilities leveraging emerging technologies.

• A resilient enterprise capable of conducting integrated all-domain special operations.

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While China is our number one pacing challenge, the United States continues to face numerous 

advanced and persistent threats globally, including the enduring threat posed by non-state actors. 
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES STRATEGY

Since 9/11, Special Operations Forces (SOF) primarily focused on countering terrorists, while our state 

adversaries sought to counter our capabilities and national interests. Now, the United States faces adversaries 

increasingly capable of counteracting our gains, threatening our Homeland, reducing our influence, and 

eroding our advantages globally. To protect and advance our national interests, SOF must adapt our 

formations, concepts, and capabilities, while strengthening our critical relationships with allies and partners. 

Throughout our history, SOF adapted to accomplish the most challenging missions, strengthened by our core 

values and the SOF Truths. Our foundation and greatest asset is our people - military members, civilians, 

contractors, and their families. Our people embrace the need for excellence and innovation across SOF. 

We are proud to lead this dedicated community of SOF professionals into a future marked by growing 

uncertainty and increased demand for the unique capabilities SOF provide the Nation.

The SOF Strategy provides a framework to guide our evolution from the world’s premier Counter Terrorism 

(CT) force into one optimally suited to support the Joint Force and the Nation as part of integrated deterrence. 

Across this spectrum, SOF will conduct sustainable, priority CT operations, while supporting integrated 

deterrence, and preparing for potential high-end conflict. As we face these new challenges, we are confident 

that the last 20 years have demonstrated our ability to adapt and strengthened our resolve as we continue to 

defend the Nation. 

SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES VISION STATEMENT

Create strategic, asymmetric advantages for the Nation in integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict.

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RICHARD D. CLARKE

General, U.S. Army

Commander

United States Special Operations Command

CHRISTOPHER P. MAIER

Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict
National and Department of Defense (DoD) 

guidance states the top strategic priority is to 

maintain a competitive advantage and deter an 

increasingly assertive People’s Republic of China. 

While China is our number one pacing challenge, 

the U.S. continues to face numerous advanced 

and persistent threats globally, including enduring 

threats posed by non-state actors and other states 

wishing to undermine U.S. influence, and the 

current international order. The SOF Strategy 

provides a framework to build and maintain a 

force that can compete with and prevail against 

any adversary. SOF has proven their capability 

as a premier CT force over the last two decades, 

and must sustain the capability. However, current 

and future threats demand SOF evolves into a 

force capable of creating strategic, asymmetric 

advantages for the nation as a key contributor of 

integrated deterrence.

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

A convergence of geopolitical, socioeconomic, 

and technological trends is exacerbating existing 

societal and ideological divisions. Confidence in 

government institutions is decreasing in response 

to a range of challenges, including the escalating 

climate change crisis, global pandemics, and other 

destabilizing events leading many populations 

to question the rules-based international order. 

U.S. adversaries are opportunists regularly using 

misinformation, disinformation, and subversion 

to sow division, erode existing international 

norms, and promote authoritarian governance 

as an alternative system. Their investments in 

military capabilities aim to counter our warfighting 

advantages, and limit our ability to secure strategic 

national interests. 

China is currently the only nation capable of 

combining its economic, diplomatic, military, 

and technological power to rival the U.S. and 

destabilize the international system that has 

advanced our interests for 75 years. China 

aims to promote its own authoritarian model 

of government, coerce regional states to accept 

its expansive claims, and undermine our global 

influence and interests, while strengthening its 

economic power and military capability.

Russia continues to provoke instability and sow 

division among the U.S. and its allies and partners, 

seizing opportunities to bolster autocratic regimes 

and gain political, economic, or military benefits. 

Russia demonstrates determination to use its 

The SOF Strategy provides a framework to guide our evolution from the world’s premier counterterrorism 

force into one optimally suited to support the Joint Force in integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict.

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INTRODUCTION
considerable resources and capabilities to enhance 

its global influence, challenge our interests, and 

disrupt globally.

Furthermore, advanced and persistent threats 

continue to emanate from Iran, the Democratic 

People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), 

Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs), and 

other organized or semi-organized entities. Iran 

and North Korea seek advanced technologies and 

capabilities, threaten our allies and partners, and 

challenge regional stability. VEOs and terrorist 

entities remain an active and persistent threat to 

the Homeland, our citizens, and vital national 

interests worldwide. Larger transnational extremist 

organizations, such as the Islamic State, benefit 

from coherent ideology, strong organizational 

structures, and the ability to exploit ungoverned 

or under-governed territories growing in regions 

such as North Africa. Local insurgencies, sectarian 

conflicts, and criminal organizations also threaten 

stability, and can create conditions that help 

conceal VEO threats to U.S. interests at home 

and abroad. 

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Figure 1. Strategy Framework

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Strategy Framework. Founded on the SOF Vision, the SOF Strategy establishes a 10-year framework of 

strategic aims (ends), strategic efforts (ways), and resources (means) to create strategic and asymmetric 

advantages for the nation in integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict, as illustrated in Figure 1 below.

We are modernizing and innovating for the future, and updating our organizational structures 

and processes for improved performance and affordability.
STRATEGIC AIMS (ENDS) 

In accordance with national and DoD strategic 

guidance, SOF must accomplish the following 

to effectively support and enable the Joint Force, 

interagency partners, and international partners 

and allies:

u	Conduct operations, activities, and 

investments (e.g., force employment, 

Continental U.S. (CONUS)-based Operational 

Support, exercises, information operations) to 

support priority missions in critical locations 

as part of integrated deterrence, to reduce 

strategic risk, and to facilitate integration with 

conventional forces during high-end conflict.

u	Modernize SOF concepts, capabilities, 

and doctrine to maximize unique value to 

integrated deterrence. 

u	Broaden readiness to ensure SOF is 

prepared to execute critical missions such as 

crisis response, priority CT, and Countering 

Weapons of Mass Destruction; leverage 

irregular warfare (IW) capabilities in 

deterrence campaigns; and support the Joint 

Force in high-end conflict.

u	Enhance relationships with allies and 

partners, DoD, the Joint Force, the interagency 

and intelligence community, and external 

partners to increase global understanding, 

bolster deterrence, and create opportunities for 

shared successes.

u	Strengthen the SOF community (active 

and reserve military, civilians, contractors, 

and families), and increase our resilience 

through focused recruiting and retention of 

our workforce; the promotion of diversity 

and inclusion; protecting and caring for our 

families; and striving to maintain the best 

talent, knowledge, skills, and abilities to 

enable SOF to innovate, compete, and win.

STRATEGIC EFFORTS (WAYS) 

The SOF enterprise exercises a range of 

responsibilities to include: operational employment, 

Joint Force support to organizational readiness, 

and institutional development. Accordingly, the 

SOF Strategy adopts a comprehensive approach 

seeking to achieve strategic aims by taking prudent 

and decisive action in the following strategic 

efforts, organized into five categories: Compete 

and Win for the Nation; Innovate for Future 

Threats; Preserve and Grow Readiness; Advance 

Partnerships; and Strengthen our Force and Family.

Compete and Win for the Nation. SOF is 

committed to meeting current demands, competing 

globally, setting conditions, and integrating with 

the Joint Force. SOF employ trained, ready, and 

certified forces to support campaigns, meet specific 

operational and operational planning objectives, 

and forward posture, while retaining Deploy for 

Purpose forces to provide flexibility and agility 

in support of emerging requirements. CONUSbased operational support enhances our flexibility 

by providing key support capabilities for our 

forward forces. SOF also provide key enabling 

support to Joint Force and partnered operations by 

providing unique SOF capabilities — often with 

our allies and partners — to illuminate and counter 

threats by imposing costs and creating dilemmas 

for adversaries. 

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USSOCOM is steadfast in improving efficiency, costs, and transparancy in business 

administration, auditability, and capability development.
u	Current Counterterrorism Demands. 

SOF’s immediate operational priority is to 

disrupt VEO’s from attacking the U.S., its 

citizens, and vital national interests. This 

persistent threat requires an agile and 

sustainable approach focusing on countering 

violent extremists capable of conducting 

external operations, and leverages burdensharing partnerships to achieve objectives 

within an acceptable level of risk. 

u	Integrated Deterrence, Crisis, and 

Conflict. SOF employment as a part of statelevel integrated deterrence, while executing 

priority CT missions requires a balanced 

approach. SOF will pursue agreements, 

partnerships, and operations — such as 

increased foreign internal defense, security 

force assistance, and counter-threat finance — 

to illuminate and counter adversary activities 

and interests. 

u	Enablers. SOF will increasingly integrate 

and synchronize into our operations nonlethal and other enabling capabilities, which 

will become increasingly critical for mission 

accomplishment. As an example, capabilities 

such as the Joint Military Information Support 

Operations Web Operations Center can 

generate trans-regional effects in support of 

SOF operations worldwide. Electromagnetic 

Warfare capabilities provide increased access 

and flexible targeting options at reduced costs. 

SOF will also employ expanded information 

and cyberspace operations, enabled by space 

capabilities, to exert influence, gain advantage, 

and deter adversaries.

Innovate for Future Threats. Just as SOF adapted 

to become the world’s premier CT force, we 

will refocus our efforts on current and emerging 

threats to support integrated deterrence, respond 

to crisis, and prevail in conflict. As the pace of 

our operations reaches more sustainable levels, we 

are entering a critical time to increase investments 

in innovation. Over the next 10 years, we will 

modernize SOF, pioneer dynamic and unorthodox 

approaches (including the full toolkit associated 

with irregular warfare), leverage emerging 

technologies to mitigate adversarial activities 

by China, and create asymmetric advantages 

for current and future conflict. 

u	Concepts, Capabilities, and Doctrine 

Development. SOF will develop, advance, 

and validate SOF operating concepts that 

support the Joint Warfighting Concept (JWC), 

supporting concepts, and mission-level 

concepts through war games, aggressive 

innovation, experimentation and assessment, 

and operational experience. To ensure 

rapid fielding of new capabilities, SOF will 

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Over the next ten years, we will modernize SOF, pioneer dynamic and unorthodox approaches (including 

the full toolkit associated with irregular warfare), leverage emerging technologies to compete effectively 

with China, and create asymmetric advantages in today’s competition and any future conflict.
streamline and update processes and procedures 

to develop, test, acquire, and field capabilities 

that are innovative, interoperable, reliable, 

and timely in increasingly contested domains. 

SOF will prioritize investments in data 

management, artificial intelligence (AI), AIenabling technologies, and quantum computing 

as the force continues to lead in fielding new 

technologies and concepts required to compete 

effectively. Additionally, SOF will capture 

these developments in joint special operations 

doctrine, and integrate them into SOF 

leadership development opportunities, training, 

and education.

u	Force Development, Force Design, 

and Modernization. SOF will prioritize 

modernization efforts to encompass a holistic 

future force design and experimentation 

process that integrates the elements of 

doctrine, organizations, training, materiel, 

leader development and education, personnel, 

facilities, and policy. The goal is to develop 

highly capable and modernized SOF that is 

employable against multiple problem sets, in 

all domains, and as part of an integrated Joint 

Force during crisis, conflict, and integrated 

deterrence efforts. SOF force development, 

design, and modernization will remain a fluid 

process and continue to adapt as national 

strategic guidance evolves, operating concepts 

are tested and refined, emerging technologies 

mature and are integrated, and the operating 

environment changes.

u	Process Reform. The effective 

management of our Nation’s resources requires 

that we continuously improve our efficiency, 

reduce costs where appropriate, and increase 

transparency in administering resources, 

auditability, and capability development. 

Given anticipated budget reductions, our 

budget proposals will reflect deliberate 

efforts to find efficiencies in our processes 

and procedures, socialized with the military 

services. We will seek divestiture opportunities 

across the enterprise with emphasis on legacy 

equipment, platforms designed solely for 

permissive environments, and capabilities that 

conventional forces can provide in lieu of SOF. 

We will implement and establish new forums 

to enhance synchronization, foster better 

communications, and streamline bureaucratic 

processes to ensure SOF is employing every 

dollar to maximum effect.

Preserve and Grow Readiness. In the next 10 

years, operational and strategic requirements 

will challenge SOF readiness. SOF will evaluate 

readiness by how the force supports longer-term, 

strategic efforts such as the JWC to ensure that we 

provide forces capable of immediate deployment, 

and forward postured for integrated deterrence, 

crisis, and conflict.

SOF’s relationship with interagency partners and the intelligence community is critical to building 

a deep and nuanced understanding of strategic competition.

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u	Global SOF Posture. SOF will 

continuously refine global forces, footprints, 

deployments, and agreements to yield an ideal 

alignment between SOF’s dynamic capabilities 

and national strategic objectives. Through the 

disciplined employment of SOF capabilities 

and robust relationships, SOF will strengthen 

the U.S. posture to enhance deterrence and 

better posture the nation’s response to emerging 

threats.

u	Individual Selection, Training, and 

Education. Readiness begins with our 

people, and the SOF enterprise will create 

opportunities to optimize and enable them. 

Through our selection, assessment, hiring, 

training, equipping, and education programs, 

we will build teams of military, civilians, 

contractors, and interns that are expertly 

prepared for current and future challenges, 

threats, and missions. SOF will leverage 

the continuum of service 

options to develop and 

access critical talent across 

the active and reserve 

components. Finally, SOF will continue to 

invest in workforce education developing and 

fostering critical thinking and skills for success 

in dynamic and often ambiguous environments.

u	Collective Training and Exercises. 

Collective training and exercises are the 

primary methods in which SOF prepare and 

train for joint and combined operations, 

supporting global campaign and operational 

plans. SOF will continue to build relationships 

and show collective strength through increased 

training and exercises with both conventional 

forces and other partners in all domains, as 

well as in austere conditions to strengthen and 

demonstrate our combined capabilities.

u	Force Management. SOF will discipline 

our force employment and allocation processes 

to ensure readiness for current operational 

requirements while preparing for an evolving, 

complex environment. SOF will sustain 

the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) directed 

minimum of 1:2 deployment-to-dwell/1:4 

mobilization-to-dwell ratio for the SOF 

enterprise, and strive to achieve SecDef 

planning objective of 1:3 deployment-todwell/1:5 mobilization-to-dwell. 

The country and our families expect our special operations professionals to continue 

leading the way, wherever and whenever needed.

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Advance Partnerships. Formal and mutually 

beneficial relationships are essential to mission 

success. These relationships — many exercised 

through an extensive liaison officer (LNO) 

program — enable SOF access, placement, 

and influence with partners across DoD, 

interagency, and globally. Contemporary 

and future efforts to enhance national interest 

will occur through diplomatic, economic, and 

informational instruments of national power, 

necessitating support to broader and more varied 

networks. Successful partnerships require 

dedication, commitment, and time to build trust 

— we will develop, strengthen, and sustain these 

relationships.

u	Allies and Partners. As strategic guidance 

directs DoD to bolster networks of willing and 

capable allies and partners, SOF is critical in 

growing and sustaining those relationships 

with both partner SOF elements, and other 

entities within a partner nation. SOF’s security 

cooperation activities and engagements will 

support DoD, Combatant Command, and 

interagency priorities to establish access 

and placement, gain influence, 

increase interoperability, foster 

resilience, and build partner 

capacity. SOF will 

prioritize the integration of willing allies and 

partners into training and education, bilateral 

and multilateral exercises, exchange programs, 

capability building programs, and combined 

operations to increase deterrence capacity, 

and ensure interoperability between allies and 

partners. 

u	DoD and Conventional Elements of the 

Joint Force. SOF relies on strong partnerships 

with DoD agencies and activities, as well as 

Conventional Force teammates in the Joint 

Force to build shared understanding of the 

strategic environment, develop options for 

emerging threats, and integrate capabilities 

and operations, activities, and investments 

to achieve objectives. SOF will integrate 

modernization and futures efforts with the 

Services, advising and advocating for the best 

use and integration of SOF to share mutually 

beneficial advances, eliminate duplication of 

effort, and enhance interoperability. 

u	The Interagency and Intelligence 

Community. SOF’s relationship with 

interagency partners and the 

intelligence community 

is critical to building 

a deep and nuanced 

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understanding of the strategic landscape. 

SOF will invest heavily in our interagency 

partnerships to support non-military elements 

of integrated deterrence. SOF will nest with 

and support diplomatic efforts as they lead 

and guide national-level objectives, and will 

collaborate with the intelligence community to 

pool our combined capabilities and increase our 

collective operational effectiveness.

u	External Mission Partners. SOF 

requirements call for creative approaches to 

address complicated and complex problems, 

and our partnerships outside of traditional 

military sectors expand our diversity of thought 

and increase our operational effectiveness. 

Working with external mission partners — 

international organizations, non-government 

organizations, private and public sector entities, 

industry, academia, law enforcement agencies, 

and indigenous populations and institutions — 

helps SOF approach challenges in innovative 

and holistic manners staying abreast of 

emerging trends. 

Strengthen Our Force and Family. SOF will 

continue to uphold high standards of conduct 

and performance for all SOF professionals. To 

strengthen the workforce and the human capital 

enterprise requires the full spectrum of talent 

offered by the rich diversity of our nation to 

compete globally. 

u	Talent Management. In full partnership 

with the Services, SOF focused recruiting, 

assessing, training, and continuing education 

ensures the enterprise strive to attract and 

retain the most highly developed workforce 

within DoD with a focus on language, 

regional expertise, and cultural knowledge. 

SOF will use lessons learned from the 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 such as telework 

and virtual collaboration as both hiring 

and retention incentives for the workforce. 

With a commitment to lifelong learning, 

ethical behavior, leader accountability, and 

professional development, we will develop and 

enact programs across the active and reserve 

components ensuring talent management spans 

our personnel’s entire careers.

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This is today’s fight, and the SOF capabilities we have nurtured over the past 30 years

are essential to successfully competing – and winning – 

in today’s unconventional and irregular battlespaces.
u	Preservation of the Force and Family 

(POTFF). The health and safety of our 

military members, civilian employees, and 

their families remains a top leadership priority. 

Capitalizing on our successful POTFF Program, 

we will leverage Service, community, and SOF 

resources to protect our long-term investment 

in our people. We will continue to support 

programs focused on physical, psychological, 

cognitive, social and family, and spiritual wellbeing to improve human performance, bolster 

resilience, lengthen careers, and assist in getting 

those who are injured or otherwise struggling 

back into the fold.

u	Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives 

and Programs. Bias, prejudice, and 

discrimination directly obstruct national goals 

and advancements. SOF’s Diversity and 

Inclusion Strategic Plan provides a roadmap to 

increase diversity within SOF formations and 

ensures every work environment is inclusive 

fostering the unique strengths of teammates 

to grow for the shared mission. SOF will 

harness the contributions of all backgrounds 

by increasing the diversity of ethnicities, races, 

beliefs, perspectives, and experiences in our 

formation to meet the complex challenges 

facing the nation. SOF will reinforce efforts 

to seek a diverse and inclusive workforce 

that meets standards through enhanced hiring 

practices, training, and education. Ensuring 

the SOF enterprise attracts, selects, and retains 

a full array of talents valuing each member of 

the team makes SOF more flexible, creative, 

and effective. As such, SOF is committed 

to improving and sustaining our diversity 

and inclusion efforts across the entire SOF 

enterprise. 

u	Accountable Leadership. SOF will 

continue a long-term institutional approach to 

develop SOF leaders and uphold integrity by 

correcting lapses in leadership, accountability, 

and discipline identified in the Commander 

USSOCOM’s 2019 Comprehensive Review. 

SOF will decisively implement these 

recommendations to ensure the community has 

active and engaged leaders at all levels who 

are fully accountable for force governance, 

leadership development, command climate, 

sustainable tempo, and behavior consistent 

with SOF values.

Who We Are...

Cohesive and disciplined teams committed to our core values and the SOF Truths.

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KEY RESOURCES (MEANS). The SOF 

enterprise will leverage every resource at our 

disposal to achieve the strategic aims outlined 

above. The enterprise will harness SOF critical 

enablers, equipment, basing and infrastructure, 

access and placement, funding, authorities, 

influence, and exquisite SOF capabilities to 

achieve the SOF Vision and maximize value to 

the nation. The annual USSOCOM Capabilities 

and Programming Guidance will provide the 

specific directions and priorities for executing the 

budget in alignment with Commander, USSOCOM 

(CDRUSSOCOM) priorities, guidance, and 

intent. Additionally, SOF has a responsibility 

for managing relationships and influence across 

allies and partners. There are also additional 

key organizations that have specific enumerated 

responsibilities for successful execution 

of this strategy. 

SECRETARIAT FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS 

(SSO). The SSO, under the leadership of the 

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special 

Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/

LIC), directly serves SecDef by providing enduring 

civilian oversight of the SOF enterprise for training, 

equipping, and organization. SSO staff is a partner 

with HQ USSOCOM in defining and pursuing SOF 

objectives. SSO increases SOF’s voice within the 

Joint Force and across DoD.

Irregular Warfare Technical Support 

Directorate (IWTSD). The IWTSD, under the 

leadership of ASD SO/LIC, directly serves SecDef 

by identifying and developing capabilities for 

DoD to conduct IW against all adversaries, and 

delivers those capabilities to DoD components 

and interagency partners through rapid research 

and development, advanced studies and technical 

innovation, and provision of support to U.S. 

military operations. 

HQ USSOCOM. Implementation of this strategy 

relies on integrated and coordinated efforts and 

oversight from the USSOCOM staff directorates. 

The staff will enable success by providing the 

relevant concepts, doctrine, plans, funding, 

and capabilities; and gauge progress through 

assessments, wargames, experiments, and exercises. 

SOF Service Component Commands. SOF 

Service Component Commands provide the critical 

linkage to the Armed Services for recruiting, 

training, educating, equipping, and retaining 

personnel, and provide key enabling capabilities 

across all joint functions. They remain close to 

their parent Services to integrate concepts and 

capabilities development.

Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). 

JSOC prepares assigned, attached, and 

augmentation forces, and when directed, conducts 

special operations against threats to protect the 

Homeland and U.S. interests abroad. 

 Theater Special Operations Commands 

(TSOCs). TSOCs, under the operational control 

of Geographic Combatant Commands, provide 

the majority of SOF’s access and placement, 

and exercise many of SOF’s authorities abroad. 

Through the establishment of forward elements 

such as special operations cells-forward, SOF 

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This is today’s fight, and the SOF capabilities we have nurtured over the past 30 years

are essential to successfully competing – and winning – 

in today’s unconventional and irregular battlespaces.
Our Special Operations community has distinguished itself through 

countless acts of heroism and selflessness over almost two decades.

That legacy of service and sacrifice continues.

liaison elements, joint special operations 

task forces, or special operations joint task 

forces, TSOCs have the capability to fulfill all 

requirements of operations, campaigns, and 

contingencies. 

RISK

As part of a periodic assessment, ASD(SO/

LIC) and CDRUSSOCOM will consider potential 

hazards, determine risk levels, and make 

adjustments to ensure a viable and acceptable 

balance of resources to achieve strategic aims. 

Select potential hazards to the successful execution 

of this strategy include:

u	Loss of access, placement, or influence in 

critical areas of operation or with key allies, 

partners, or organizations

u	Budgetary shortfalls that directly affect 

development or advancement of critical 

capabilities

u	Degradation of agreements and 

relationships with critical partners that impact 

our shared strategic awareness and operational 

effectiveness

u	Insufficient investment in force 

development and design not yielding necessary 

SOF capabilities.

u	Authority shortfalls/gaps limiting SOF’s 

ability to support national security interests

u	Force structure/posture that is insufficient or 

misaligned in achieving SOF’s strategic aims

u	Loss of trust in SOF by decision makers 

and the American people to manage resources, 

prepare the environment, or execute priority 

missions ethically in politically sensitive 

environments

IMPLEMENTATION

In consultation with Office of the ASD(SO/

LIC), implementation of the SOF Strategy will 

occur through USSOCOM’s integrated processes, 

systems, and products, informed by capstone 

documents such as the SOF Operating Concept 

2040, SOF Modernization Strategy, the USSOCOM 

Commander’s Guidance, the USSOCOM 

Capabilities and Programming Guidance, the 

USSOCOM Force Planning Guidance, and a 

forthcoming update to the Campaign Plan for 

Global Special Operations. 

CONCLUSION

Just as our adversaries adapt to and shape 

the strategic environment, SOF will continue to 

evolve in order to fulfill the vision of creating 

strategic, asymmetric advantages for the nation 

in integrated deterrence, crisis, and conflict. 

Guided by SOF core values — honor, courage, 

excellence, creativity, and respect — 

 — this strategy establishes the path to 

achieve that vision. 

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NOTES: