During the past decade, Australia’s special operations forces (SOF) became the ‘capability of choice’ for successive governments. Their ability to conduct highly sensitive military missions (including combat and non-combat operations), to operate in complex terrain and to do so at short notice, made them a very attractive military instrument in the context of ADF missions in the greater Middle East and elsewhere. As a result, they experienced unprecedented financial and institutional growth. However, unless there’s an unforeseen major conflict, for the ADF the next decade will most likely be characterised by a greater emphasis on regional defence engagement and a...
The Australian Army’s definition of special operations is very generic. Accordingly, special operations are:
… highly specialised and focused operations performed by specially selected, trained and prepared individuals and teams imbued with a creative mindset capable of producing solutions beyond conventional approaches … These activities are designed to achieve tailored operational, military and national strategic effects beyond those of conventional forces.⁴
While this definition stresses the importance of the human dimension of special operations (for example, the specific skill sets of special operations personnel to enable non-conventional military operations), it doesn’t say much else. A more comprehensive definition is provided...
Despite the winding down of operations and uncertainty about the future security environment, the special operations capability will remain relevant for Australian governments in a number of areas, although most likely in different ways and with new priorities. The trend observed over the past two decades of military operations shifting towards low to medium intensity operations in a diverse range of environments means that SOF will continue to be of great utility to Western governments, including Australia’s. They can also play a significant role in an emerging Australian strategy that places greater emphasis on regional defence engagement.
Wars are now...
Australia’s increase in special operations capability over the past decade reflected a similar trend in allied SOF. The US, in particular, significantly expanded its special operations capabilities. Further, the UK and Canada also improved their SOF capabilities. SOCOMD has a strong tradition of working with UK SOF, and Canada stood up an SOF command, providing some potential lessons for us to learn. Finally, closer ties with NATO’s new Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ) were established in the context of Afghanistan. It’s noteworthy that many allied SOF face challenges very similar to those faced by Australia’s special operations capability. After rapid increases...
While SOF are capable of acting independently in some circumstances, there are many situations in which they depend on other force elements for transport, intelligence fusion, communications connectivity (including for command and control), fire support and logistics. Operations in the Afghanistan theatre saw Australia’s SOF rely heavily on allied assets, particularly tactical aviation. This worked well enough, primarily because the US was in the lead in the operation and had a large number of assets in theatre. But that’s not guaranteed to be the case in all circumstances, especially in Australia’s near region, where our national interests are likely to...
Over the past decade, the Australian special operations capability has proven to be a major asset for the Australian Government. Looking to the future, we make the following recommendations.
Consolidate the SOF capability at existing levels. Because SOCOMD received significant resource investments over the past decade, particularly in proportion to the regular Army, there could be a temptation to cut back the special operations capability on the grounds that the post-Afghanistan period won’t require such a strong focus on unconventional military operations. However, SOCOMD is a very small organisational element within Defence and would be disrupted by even minor changes....