Warfare versus Rules of Engagement

Two Special Forces operators are facing charges of premeditated murder in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Mr. Paul von Zielbauer, of the NY Times in the September 18th issue, has written a thorough piece detailing the predicament that these two men now face. The two men, CPT David Staffel and MSG Troy Anderson are members of the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) and were on a mission in Afghanistan to support our nation's efforts in the Global War on Terror.

Special Forces is a unique military unit composed of extremely unique men. It is not simply a matter of being what some have called an elite fighting force. Special Forces missions are highly sensitive, low profile and often dangerous. We operate far from friendly forces with often very little external support available to us. All of the men must be highly independent by nature and capable of making quick decisions based on the rules of land warfare and the rules of engagement (ROE) for each specific mission. Our missions require that the ROE be extremely clear and not open to interpretation. Theater commanders have a special operations cell (SOC)within their staff structure. The SOC insures that the ROE allow mission success and protect the force. The SOC is normally commanded by a Brigadier General. BG Frank H. Kearny III was the SOCCENT at the time of this incident.

According to Mr. Wapel, the attorney for CPT Staffel, this mission was a classic high value target interdiction mission. The ROE were crystal clear and the two men confirmed their target's identification prior to engagement. These team members did not covertly break contact after completing the mission. As with most of our missions, this specific action was a subset of the overall mission for the detachment. In order to limit the negative effects this action may have had on the local populace, the two men, with their Afghan counterparts, explained to the local populace why this action was taken.

Their target, Mr. Nawab Buntangyar, was a known enemy combatant in the detachment's area of responsibility. He was on a high value target list. Special Forces Alpha detachments (SFODA) are normally controlled by a Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bravo detachment. FOBs can be controlled by a Special Forces Operating Base (SFOB) or by the SOC in theater. Either way, SFODAs do not come up with their own targeting list. They provide intelligence to the FOB and the FOB forwards this information to the SFOB or SOC. The SFOB or SOC develop the target list. SFODAs don't develop their own missions. They receive their mission, develop a course of action to complete the mission, back brief their intent to higher headquarters and, only execute their ground actions after receiving the approval of higher headquarters.

BG Kearney was the commander of the SOCCENT at the time of this incident. His assignment to this position is alarming. Special Forces missions are often opaque in nature. Within the US Army, all special operations forces fall under the control of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). All Special Forces and Ranger units fall under this command structure. In my experience, it is extremely unusual for the commander of a theater SOC to not be Special Forces qualified. I searched the Internet for LTG Kearney's biography. I found it at http://www.special-operations-technology.com/. The following is a chronological list of his assignments:

1. 4th Infantry Division
2. 2nd Battalion (Ranger), 75th ID
3. 3rd Battalion (Ranger), 75th ID
4. 1st Battalion, 501st INF
5. Commander, 3rd Battalion (Ranger), 75th ID
6. Various Joint Commands
7. SOCCENT (March 2005)
8. Deputy Commander USASOC

He does not list attendance to the Special Forces Qualification Course or any of our other Special Forces specific schools. He also is not wearing a Special Forces tab in his photograph. This is extremely bothersome. It is not a matter of a "turf war" between Green Berets and Rangers. Ranger missions, though exceedingly dangerous and difficult, are not of the same nature as Special Forces missions. I fear that LTG (Recently promoted to 3 Star General) Kearney's apparent inexperience with Special Forces missions may have influenced his decision making process to charge these two men with premeditated murder.

As a former Special Forces operator with 21 years of experience, I have serious reservations with this case. Why was an apparently non-SF qualified general officer in charge of the SOCCENT? Why did he override the findings of justifiable homicide in April of 2007 by the US Army Criminal Investigative Division (CID)? Why was a paralegal (SFC Scott R. Haarer) and not a high ranking officer, the individual who signed the forms charging these two men with premeditated murder? According to this paralegal's own notarized statement for the defense, he would not have signed these charge accusations if he had known that CID had already cleared CPT Staffel and MSG Anderson.

Special Forces is an extremely tight knit community. An individual never truly leaves the force. It is a part of who you are until the day you die. It is difficult to believe that our own community may be feeding on itself. I would lead the charge condemning these two men's actions if they had abrogated the rules of land warfare or the ROE. Given the information available to us, I do not believe that they are guilty of anything more than completing their mission successfully.

The men in Special Forces are all unique however, we do have some commonalities:

1. Duty, Honor and, Loyalty to Country
2. Duty, Honor and, Loyalty to the Force
3. Duty, Honor and, Loyalty to the Mission
4. Duty, Honor and, Loyalty to our Teammates

We are now involved in an extremely difficult form of warfare. There are many buzzwords and acronyms being used to describe the modern battlefield. One can call it asymmetrical or opaque, it doesn't much matter. Our Special Forces operators only need three things to successfully complete their assigned missions:

1. Clarity of Mission
2. Clarity of the Rules of Engagement
3. Commander's Intent Two Levels Higher

The American populace is relatively unaware of the plight these two men face. Hopefully, some of us will become aware of it and demand that LTG Kearny explain his actions. Force protection also includes force morale. In Special Forces, we do not have the latitude in time to wonder if our own command is going to go on a witch hunt for no apparent reason. My thoughts go out to these two men and their families.

De Oppresso Liber

Adieu To A Best Friend

In the fast paced world of today, it is all too easy to lose sight of the things that are truly important in life. We tend to become absorbed in the turmoil swirling around us and fail to notice the simple beauty of life. Those in search of a best friend have never experienced the limitless friendship of a loyal hunting dog. My family has been lucky enough to have spent the past 12 years in the presence of such a friend.

We got our little bundle of brown fur with over sized feet and an otter like tail over a decade ago. The Lion King was all the rage at the time, so for luck, we named her Nala in honor of the young female lion cub from this film. As with all Labradors, Nala's primary concern was food, followed closely by extended periods of romping. She quickly became a valued member of our home. Her cheerfulness was infectious. By 4 months she had mastered the art of fishing for brook trout in the fast moving creeks of the Colorado Rockies. We didn't catch many fish. I think they didn't appreciate her jumping into the water trying to catch them in her mouth before I had even wet my line. Her eagerness to catch fish paid off by the age of two. Once while jump shooting ducks on the South Platte River between Eleven Mile and Antero Reservoirs, much to my chagrin, I turned around to see her crossing the river with a large Kokanee in her mouth. The spawn was on and fish were everywhere. I reminded her that she was fishing in a barbless hook fly area and told her that she had to release the fish unharmed. Unperturbed, she did as told and ended up retrieving a limit of greenheads on that cold autumn day.

All great hunting dogs teach their handlers more than the handlers teach their canine charges. Once a handler teaches a dog to come, sit, stay, heel, follow voice and whistle commands, and not jump the gun, he is ready for the dog to instruct him on the most efficient ways to make game. So it was with Nala. She regularly reminded me of Homo sapiens deficiencies as a bird hunter. More than once, I was sure that she had lost her mind as she worked quail or pheasant cover that she, not I, had selected. After all, I knew where the birds were. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to apologize to a set of piercing canine eyes for missing birds while at the same time trying to shuck your expended shells from your breech? I'll go to my grave believing that I actually saw her shaking her head in disgust at my shotgunning skills as she trotted off to work the next bit of cover. More than I care to admit, she retrieved birds that I didn't even see fall. We hunted Gambels and Scaled quail for an entire season in West Texas one year. I scolded her the first couple of times that she refused to leave the area that the birds had flown towards after I had shot. However, after having brought unseen downed game to hand on more than one occasion, I learned to keep my opinions to myself.

As with all Labradors, Nala lived for waterfowl hunting. Her exploits in the marshes could fill a large book. I'll never understand just how she knew birds were inbound but, she could be sound asleep at my side and suddenly wake up and watch the skies over the decoys. I quickly learned that this was my cue to get ready for action. She also learned, on the rare occasion that I was awake while she was dozing, to listen for my gun safety to be clicked off. I will miss her gently pulling my hat off by the bill, her body warmth, and goofy Lab nibbles in a cold duck blind.

Hunting was only a portion of Nala's life. She was central to our home. My wife was her closest friend. Being girls, they related well. They watched TV together, did chores, and played. Nala's toy container would be the envy of many a child. I think she enjoyed pulling them all out and spreading them around the house and then kicking back and watching my wife pick them all up. Our cats adored her. Ebenezer, our youngest cat, dared to steal food while Nala ate from her bowl. Nala never complained. Sometimes she growled at the cats but they didn't believe her. In fact, they usually sniffed her face while she was growling at them.

Unfortunately, life is a circle and Nala's has been completed. Tomorrow she will venture forth to a new hunting covert where the gamebirds are plentiful, hold tight, and the gunner she is working with never misses. Cancer has destroyed her present form. To say that I will miss her is an understatement. Hunt 'em up, girl!

De Oppresso Liber