SOCPAC
JOINT/COMBINED TRAINING WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS The SOCPAC Model BY ANDREW WHITE collaboration between special operations forces q International (SOF) has never been stronger as commanders seek to extend levels in interoperability and cooperation with partner-nation forces around the world as well as their own force-multiplying effects. In the contemporary operating environment, it is not unusual to witness the conduct of joint training exercises featuring dozens of SOF components drawn from across the international SOF community. Examples include U.S. Africa Command’s annual Exercise Flintlock which, between Feb. 18 and March 1, saw a total of 18 NATO/ Non-NATO entity and North/West African SOF components coming together in Burkina Faso and Mauritania, with a focus on countering violent extremist organizations (VEOs). Tasked with organizing similar partnerships across the IndoPacific Area of Responsibility (AOR) is another U.S. Theater Special Operations Command (TSOC) – Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC) – whose remit is to support the Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) across one of the most densely populated and culturally, socially, economically, and geopolitically diverse regions in the world. As the commander of the USINDOPACOM, U.S. Navy Adm. Phil Davidson explained in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on March 7, 2019, in Singapore, the Geographic Combatant Command continues to employ a “whole of government” approach to address a series of challenges across the region in order to “enhance our partnerships with all countries – big and small.” According to USINDOPACOM figures, the AOR features a total of 36 state actors that are home to more than 50 percent of the world’s total population. With some 3,000 languages spoken across the region, the Indo-Pacific is described as a “vital driver” to the global economy that is supported by major international shipping lanes and some of the largest ports in the world. Additionally, the Indo-Pacific AOR features 14 time zones covering 12 hours of the day, as well as encompassing 53 percent of the world’s surface area, much of which is maritime. Furthermore,
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Special Operations Outlook
SOCPAC sources highlighted to Special Operations Outlook diverse challenges associated with extensive island chains. As an example, service officials described how the Philippines is home to 7,641 islands. Highlighting more than 70 years as a “largely peaceful” region, Davidson explained to IISS how such success had been achieved by the “willingness and commitment of free nations to work together in the rules-based international order, and the credibility of the combat power of USINDOPACOM, working alongside the militaries of allies and partners.” “We can use greater interoperability and information-sharing to ensure we collectively uphold the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he urged, before stressing how he had witnessed precisely this type of concept prior to his address to the IISS with the opening of the Information Fusion Center and Regional Humanitarian Coordination Cell in Singapore. “There I saw the collaborative contributions of 18 countries, including the People’s Republic of China, in addressing maritime security and responding to potential humanitarian crisis response,” Davidson said.
Order of Battle A Sub-Unified Command Component of the U.S. Special Operations Command, headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, SOCPAC’s commanding general is U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan Braga. SOCPAC retains access to: USAF 353rd Special Operations Group USA 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) USN Naval Special Warfare Unit 1 USMC elements of MARSOC 1st Raider Battalion
