A WARRIOR ELITE FOR THE DIRTY JOBS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706970013-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: January 13, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STnT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RD
TIME
ON t kG __l_CQ___ -13 January 1986
Nation
i
Warrior Elote
Dirty Jobs
the
For
'
s growing Special Forces seek a role
America
I n military jargon they are called "low-
intensity conflicts." More commonly
they are known as "dirty little wars."
By any name they are the kinds of bat-
tles most likely to be fought by U.S. troops
in a precarious nuclear age: rescuing hos-
tages from terrorism, fighting guerrillas or
teaching allies how to fight them, protect-
ing disparate American interests in a va-
riety of regions.
These unorthodox struggles require a
special type of soldier: bold and resource-
ful, often trained in the black arts of
stealth and sabotage, suitable for an elite
unit that can vanish into alien territory or
strike anywhere with speed and surprise.
Recent events have underscored the need
for such mobile, small-scale fighting units.
As Americans abroad have become in-
creasingly vulnerable to terrorist attacks
like the Christmas-week atrocities in
Rome and Vienna, Washington has rec-
ognized more than ever the utility of a
quick and certain response. At the same
time. the Reagan Administration has
placed increased emphasis on a "new
globalism" designed to assert U.S. inter-
ests abroad by providing covert and overt
assistance to rebels fighting Soviet-
backed regimes around the world.
Deciding just how the U.S. should go
about organizing and deploying such Spe-
cial Forces has provoked a fierce debate in
the corridors of the Pentagon and in secret
congressional hearings over the past few
months. When he went West for New
Year's, President Reagan took with him a
secret report from the Holloway Commis-
sion, a White House task force set up six
months ago to explore new ways of fighting
terrorism. Next week the debate will spill
into the open, as Secretary of State George
Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Wein-
berger join more than 100 experts to discuss
the future of low-intensity conflict at a sym-
posium at Fort McNair in Washington.
Every U.S. President since John F.
Kennedy has preferred, whenever possi-
ble, to use the scalpel of a Special Forces
operation rather than the blunter tools of
conventional warfare. The Reagan Ad-
ministration has given top priority to
building up Special Forces, increasing
their budget from $441 million in 1982 to
$1.2 billion this year, and the number of
troops from 11,000 to nearly 15,000. At the
very least, the Administration has rescued
special operations from the post-Viet
Nam era of neglect, which was so igno-
miniously exposed in the wreckage of De-
sert One during the failed Iranian hostage
rescue mission of 1980.
The military command, however, has
been a good deal less enthusiastic about
this new breed of warrior. Special Forces
are often regarded by the brass as unwor-
thy of precious defense dollars and a bit too
independent to boot. Disclosures last No-
vember that members of the supersecret
Delta Force had been charged with skim-
ming covert intelligence funds only
_het tene enta on sus ions that the
Special Forces are a bunch o freebooters.
Shrugged retired Army Brigadier General
Donald Blackburn, an expert on uncon-
ventional warfare: "Special Forces have
always been the bastards of the Army -
Partly as a result of this attitude. Amen-
ca's Special Forces are still woefully unpre-
pared for the challenges they could face
Though it is far more likely that the U.S
would use its handful of quick-reaction
shock troops rather than any of its 17 acti'e
Army divisions or 13 Navy carrier battle
groups, special operations still receive less
than I