In 1986, the Congress called for the establishment of a joint service special operations capability under a single command. In April 1987, the Secretary of Defense established the Special Operations Command with the mission to provide trained and combat-ready special operations forces to DOD’s geographic combatant commands. Section 167(e) of Title 10, U.S. Code directs that the Commander of the Special Operations Command be responsible for and have the authority to conduct all affairs of such command related to special operations activities. Under this section, the Commander is also responsible for and has the authority to conduct certain functions relating to special operations activities whether or not they relate to the Special Operations Command, including: preparing and submitting to the Secretary of Defense program recommendations and budget proposals for special operations forces and for other forces assigned to the Special Operations Command; exercising authority, direction, and control over the expenditure of funds; training assigned forces; and monitoring the promotions, assignments, retention, training, and professional military education of special operations forces officers. In addition, Section 167 directs the Special Operations Command to be responsible for the following activities as they relate to special operations: (1) direct action, (2) strategic reconnaissance, (3) unconventional warfare, (4) foreign internal defense, (5) civil affairs, (6) psychological operations, (7) counterterrorism, (8) humanitarian assistance, (9) theater search and rescue, and (10) other activities such as may be specified by the President or the Secretary of Defense. Appendix II defines these activities assigned to the Special Operations Command. DOD has also assigned additional activities to the Special Operations Command. Over the past 3 years, DOD has expanded the role of the Special Operations Command to include responsibility for planning and leading the department’s efforts in the Global War on Terrorism. In addition to training, organizing, equipping, and deploying combat-ready special operations forces to the geographic combatant commanders, the Command has the mission to lead, plan, synchronize, and, as directed, execute global operations against terrorist networks. The specific responsibilities assigned to the Special Operations Command include: integrating DOD strategy, plans, intelligence priorities, and operations against terrorist networks designated by the Secretary of Defense; planning campaigns against designated terrorist networks; prioritizing and synchronizing theater security cooperation activities, deployments, and capabilities that support campaigns against designated terrorist networks in coordination with the geographic combatant commanders; exercising command and control of operations in support of selected campaigns, as directed; and providing military representation to U.S. national and international agencies for matters related to U.S. and multinational campaigns against designated terrorist networks, as directed by the Secretary of Defense. In addition, the National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism establishes the approach DOD will take in fulfilling its role within the larger national strategy for combating terrorism. The strategy provides guidance on the department’s military objectives and their relative priority in the allocation of resources. In addition, this strategy implements the designation of the Special Operations Command as the supported combatant command for planning, synchronizing, and, as directed, executing global operations against terrorist networks. The Special Operations Command has received considerable increases in funding to meet its expanded responsibilities in the Global War on Terrorism. Specifically, funding for the Command has increased from more than $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2001 to more than $6.4 billion in fiscal year 2005. In addition, the Command received more than $5 billion in supplemental funds from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005. During this time, funding for military personnel costs for the Special Operations Command increased by more than $800 million, representing a 53 percent increase. DOD plans further increases in funding for the Command. The President’s fiscal year 2007 budget request for the Special Operations Command is $8 billion, and the department plans additional increases for the Command through fiscal year 2011. The Special Operations Command is comprised of special operations forces from each of the military services. In fiscal year 2005, personnel authorizations for Army special operations forces military personnel totaled more than 30,000, the Air Force 11,501, the Navy 6,255, and the Marine Corps 79. Roughly one-third of special operations forces military personnel were in DOD’s reserve components, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force Reserve, and the Army and Air National Guard. Figure 1 provides a summary of DOD’s special operations forces military authorizations in the active component and reserve component. Special operations forces are organized into several types of units. For example, Army special operations forces are organized into Special Forces, Rangers, Aviation, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, and support units. Air Force special operations forces are organized into fixed and rotary wing aviation squadrons, special tactics squadrons, a combat aviation advisor squadron, and an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron. Naval Special Warfare forces include SEAL Teams and SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams and Special Boat Teams. When fully operational, Marine Corps special operations forces will include foreign military training units and marine special operations companies. Table 1 provides an overview and description of DOD’s special operations forces. Special operations forces personnel possess highly specialized skill sets including cultural and regional awareness. Duty in special operations is undertaken on a voluntary basis, and many personnel volunteering for special operations, particularly those in Army Special Forces and Air Force flight crews, have already served for some time in the military before becoming qualified for special operations forces. In order to become qualified, military personnel must complete a rigorous assessment, selection, and initial training process that, on average, takes between 12 and 24 months. This difficult training regime causes high attrition, and often over 70 percent who start special operations training do not finish. In general, servicemembers who are unable to complete the special operations training return to their previously held specialty or are retrained into another specialty, depending on the needs of their military service. The Special Operations Command’s Army, Air Force, and Navy service components have schools to train and develop special operations forces. For example: The U.S. Army Special Operations Command, located at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, operates the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. This school assesses, selects, and trains Special Forces soldiers, and trains civil affairs and psychological operations soldiers. In addition, the school provides advanced special operations training courses. The Air Force Special Operations Command, located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, has several subordinate training squadrons that provide initial and advanced training for Air Force rotary and fixed wing special operations pilots, special tactics personnel, combat aviation advisors, and unmanned aerial vehicle personnel. The Naval Special Warfare Command, located on the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, operates the Naval Special Warfare Center. This school trains SEAL candidates through the Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL course and the SEAL Qualification Course, and trains special warfare combatant crewmen through the Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen course. In addition, the school provides advanced special operations training courses. The Special Operations Command has not yet fully determined all of the personnel requirements needed to meet its expanded mission. While the Command has determined the number of special operations forces personnel who are needed to increase the number of its warfighter units, it has not completed analyses to determine (a) the number of headquarters staff needed to train and equip these additional warfighters or (b) the number of headquarters staff needed to plan and synchronize global actions against terrorist networks—a new mission for the Command. Although the Command’s analyses for these determinations were in progress at the time of our review, DOD has nonetheless planned to increase the number of positions for the Command’s headquarters, and has requested related funds beginning in fiscal year 2007. Several recent DOD studies have concluded that additional special operations forces warfighters are needed in order for the Special Operations Command to achieve the national military objectives in the Global War on Terrorism. A December 2002 report conducted by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict found that efforts should be made to expand the size of special operations forces and institute a more sustainable rotational base of forces, while realigning the force to meet current and future challenges. Furthermore, the February 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report stated that one of the key programmatic decisions the department proposes to launch in fiscal year 2007 is to increase special operations forces to defeat terrorist networks. The Special Operations Command has determined the number of special operations forces personnel needed to meet increases in its warfighter units. To determine the requirements for special operations forces warfighter units, the Command uses its Joint Mission Analysis process. Based on planning scenarios provided by DOD that special operations forces will be needed to support, the Command determines the minimum number of warfighters necessary to achieve its military objectives with the least amount of risk to mission success. This level of special operations forces is the baseline force used to measure risk, and is the starting point for developing a more attainable force based on fiscal constraints. Beginning in fiscal year 2002, DOD increased the number of positions for the Special Operations Command to augment the increase in the number of its warfighter units. Specifically, from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005, DOD increased the number of military positions for special operations forces by more than 5,000 positions, or about 12 percent. With these increases in military positions, the Special Operations Command has also increased the number of special operations forces units, including Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations units. DOD plans to further increase the number of military positions for the Command through fiscal year 2011, and the Command plans to increase other special operations forces units such as Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle and intelligence squadrons. The increase in military positions will also support the establishment of a Marine Corps component to the Special Operations Command, which was approved in October 2005.