STATEMENT OF

LIEUTENANT GENERAL KENNETH TOVO, U.S. ARMY
COMMANDER
UNITED STATES ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

BEFORE THE

SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES SUBCOMMITTEE
APRIL 11, 2018

 Opening Remarks
Madam Chairwoman Ernst and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the
opportunity to highlight the phenomenal men and women of the Army Special Operations community
and the great work they do on behalf of the Nation, every day, around the world. USASOC provides
more than 51% of the Nation’s Special Operations Forces and consistently fills over 60 percent of all

U.S. SOF deployments worldwide. USASOC is made up of Special Forces, also known as Green
Berets, who are our premier practitioners of irregular warfare; Psychological Operations, who use
the power of influence to shape operational environments; Civil Affairs, who conduct civil
reconnaissance, mapping of human terrain, and conduct governance and counter governance
activities; Rangers, who specialize in direct action raids and joint forcible entry; and Army Special
Operations Forces (ARSOF) Aviators, who provide a SOF unique rotary wing and ISR capability.
USASOC has the mission to man, train, equip, educate, organize, sustain, and support all ARSOF.
I would also like to thank this Congress for its continued support of Special Operations Forces, the
Army, and DOD as a whole. Congress’s efforts to provide budgetary relief to DOD is greatly
appreciated down to the individual Soldier level. Your continued endorsement of critical USSOCOM
programs such as the Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF) are essential to the resilience and
readiness of ARSOF. Additionally, I would like to specifically thank the Senate Armed Services
Committee for its advocacy for SOF in the 2018 NDAA. The new authorities provided under Section
1202 of the 2018 NDAA gives SOF the irregular warfare tools and resources required to impede the
progress of near peer advances in the competitive space short of war.
You have asked me today to discuss what USASOC is doing to prepare ARSOF for both the current
and the emergent range of threats that our Nation faces. At a macro level, our Nation’s threats can be
categorized as countering violent extremist organizations (counter-VEO) and building readiness for near
peer adversaries. The counter-VEO fight has monopolized our global efforts for 16 plus years;

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 however, it is clear that competing nations such as Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea will continue to
challenge the current international security dynamic to seek greater regional influence.
Although the possibility of a near peer or peer conflict remains a persistent aspect of the future
environment, competing nations are challenging the stability of regions and U.S. interests through
indirect means in the competitive space between peace and conflict. Adversarial actions in the
competitive space will seek to achieve irreversible gains at the expense of U.S. interests, as competing
nations leverage asymmetric technologies, disenfranchised minority elements of populations, and
exploit weak governance. This changing character of war is being enabled by the hyper-connected
nature of the global environment, allowing hostile entities to influence vulnerable populations and hijack
local grievances in ways that threaten regional security. Threats to stability in the competitive spaces
will likely emerge more rapidly, requiring the U.S. to have immediately employable options to counter
the actions of competing nations. Ultimately, these challenges have driven, and will continue to drive,
the need for ARSOF’s unique capabilities and skills. USASOC is sustaining the current counter-VEO
fight, while building readiness for peer and near peer threats, by investing in three major efforts:
restoring balance to the force, investment in the intellectual space, and publishing strategic guidance
(USASOC 2035).

Effort I: Restoring Balance to the Force
Since 2015, USASOC has been on a path to reestablish a balance between time on deployment with
time at home station for our Soldiers. There were two purposes of restoring balance to the force. The
first purpose was improving the overall health of the force and the second was to provide additional time
for units to train on a broader range capabilities, to address the peer and near peer threats that our Nation
faces. On a daily basis ARSOF are operating in over 70 countries around the world, executing missions
in support of Geographic Combatant Commanders or other elements of the US Government. USASOC
forces have always been in high demand; however, during the last 16 plus years of combat, meeting

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 operational requirements surpassed our ability to maintain a sustainable resource model. USASOC’s
crucial weapon system is the specially selected and uniquely trained ARSOF Soldier. We must
carefully balance the demand for ARSOF to meet today’s requirements with the necessity to preserve
the health and welfare of our Soldiers, and by extension, their families. With USSOCOM’s assistance,
USASOC has implemented a sustainable resource model. USASOC is on glide path to achieve the
SECDEF’s directed 1:2 deployment to dwell ratio by the end of 2018. Additionally, we are using tools
such as Defense Ready to accurately track and manage the personnel tempo of our individual Soldiers,
which gives us a more accurate assessment of the demand that we have placed on our Soldiers and their
families.
Since implementing our efforts to restore balance to the force, we have seen positive returns on
investment in the health of the force. Although there has been recent scrutiny regarding the health of
ARSOF, in my view our force is healthy and getting healthier every day. Two positive trends that
USASOC has observed are a decrease in suicide rates and sexual assaults.
USASOC has observed a decrease in the number of suicides each year for the last three years, with a
total of five in 2017. Although one suicide is too many, this is an improvement compared to 16 in 2013.
I accredit this decrease in suicide to the benefits of the POTFF Program and a cultural change within our
units encouraging our Soldiers to seek help when they, or their families, are having emotional issues,
and emphasizing the duty for teammates to act on if they suspect issues.

Additionally, USASOC’s

sexual assault incident rate across ARSOF formations (recent assaults) is declining, while latent
reporting has increased. The increase in latent reporting reflects an increased trust in the Command and
the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program and a reduced
perception of a negative stigma associated with reporting sexual assaults.
A significant challenge to rebalancing the force is USASOC’s identified manning deficits. However,
in accordance with the POM 19-23 Program Decision Memorandum, USASOC will gain an additional
1585 manpower positions that will begin to address those manning deficits. In the 19-23 POM

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 USASOC will gain manpower positions for expanded functions in expeditionary Command and
Control, military intelligence, cyber, institutional training, and aviation. A primary example of the
importance of this growth will be realized within our 1st Special Forces Command (1st SFC). 1st SFC
was reorganized as a deployable division level headquarters capable of providing mission command to a
Joint Special Operations Task Force for contingency operations. 1st SFC executed their design purpose
by deploying to provide SOF mission command in Iraq and Syria 2016-2017. However, 1st SFC’s
identified manning shortages created significant strain on the command. 1st SFC’s programmed growth
in the POM 19-23 Program Decision Memorandum will provide an additional 272 (222 Military/ 50
Civilians).
A second example of the positive impact of USASOC’s approved growth is in our Military
Intelligence Soldiers. The programmed growth in military intelligence will expand USASOC’s organic
processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) capability (+396: 250 Military/146 Contractors),
which has been an enduring challenge for our formations. Our ability to internally conduct PED will
provide a more capable and efficient force to Combatant Commanders and increases our readiness for
peer and near peer threats in both armed conflict and the competitive space short of war.
The second purpose of restoring balance to the force was to allow units time to train on a broadened
range of capabilities to address the peer and near peer threats that our Nation faces. USASOC has been
able to refocus its training readiness efforts by reviewing and updating Mission Essential Task Lists
(METL) across ARSOF, and training those updated METLs during unit level training events, at multiple
exercises, and at the Army’s Combat Training Centers (CTC). USASOC’s review of its operational and
tactical METL has ensured that ARSOF Soldiers remain ready for counter-VEO missions globally and
also sustain readiness for peer and near peer threats in competition and conflict.
ARSOF is now a consistent participant in CTC rotations with conventional forces. CTC scenarios
challenge ARSOF and conventional forces to work together in complex threat environments that include
degraded communications, weapons of mass destruction threats, subterranean complexes, cyber threats,

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 and electronic warfare (EW) challenges that we would expect in a peer or near peer conflict. In the past
year, 1st Special Forces Command has executed 11 CTC rotations, USASOC’s multi-state irregular
warfare exercise Jade Helm ’17, and will execute their first, ARSOF 2-star Division-level Army War-

fighting Exercise 18-04 in this month; the 75th Ranger Regiment executed four CTC rotations, five
battalion level mission readiness exercises, and 14 realistic military training (RMT) exercises; and the
United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command’s 160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment executed five CTC rotations and seven RMTs.
ARSOF aviators are now conducting annual training in anti-access/ area denial (A2AD)
environments where adversaries possess robust EW capabilities that can identify and target our aircraft.
New tactics, techniques, and procedures for operating in an A2AD environment are being developed and
proliferated across the Department of Defense (DOD) by ARSOF Aviators in preparation for the
challenges of this threat environment. ARSOF Aviators are also completely nested with the Army’s
Future Vertical Lift initiatives to develop the next generation of helicopters and are incorporating the
lessons learned training in an A2AD environment to inform that process.
Our potential adversaries are well aware of the power of our ability to exercise mission command
through robust satellite communications; and consequently will seek to deny or disrupt this network.
USASOC Units are exercising lessons learned from our virtual wargaming and are training in
communications denied environments, preparing for the anticipated mission command challenges of this
environment. Additionally, we are re-investing in clandestine communications platforms to decrease
our digital footprint.
The proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, high-yield explosive weapons, and
the means by which they are delivered will pose an increased threat to U.S. interests and international
security in the future. The decreasing costs associated with WMD technology make these weapons a
lucrative option for both VEOs and peer/near peer adversaries. USASOC is investing heavily in our

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 chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and enhanced conventional weapons (CBRNE) counter
measures, ranging from Soldier protection systems to aircraft decontamination systems and training.
USASOC is also addressing the cyber threats that are now present on today’s multi-domain
battlefield, by establishing a tactical cyber course in 2017. The Special Operations Center of Excellence
(SOCoE) now provides tactical cyber training to both ARSOF and conventional forces (CF), with the
ability to train 600 personnel per year. ARSOF and CF Soldiers are training together and procuring the
requisite skills to monitor, in a non-attributional manner, their tactical level environment and decrease
their cyber footprint, enabling increased force protection and situational awareness when deployed.

Effort II: Investment in the Intellectual Space
Four years ago USASOC identified the need to address gaps in the development of new concepts and
capabilities in order to maintain a competitive edge over our Nation’s adversaries. In 2014, USASOC
created the G9 “Futures” Directorate through an internal reorganization to fill this void in the
intellectual space. USASOC’s human capital investment in the G9 was an acknowledgement of the
criticality of understanding what the implications are of the current and future operating environment,
and what would be an appropriate ARSOF solution, particularly against peer and near peer competitors.
SILENT QUEST (SQ) is USASOC’s virtual wargame experiment led by the USASOC G9. SQ
assesses the concepts, capabilities, and capacities required to meet strategic and operational challenges
ARSOF can expect to encounter in the current and future operational environment. SQ identifies
existing ARSOF doctrine and capabilities that require updating through USASOC's Strategic Planning
Process. The SQ wargame scenario utilizes a Special Operations-Centric Campaign supporting a
Theater Special Operations Command, characterized by its multi-year, small-footprint, scalable design,
nesting ARSOF operations with Conventional Force, Joint, Multinational, and Interagency unified
actions set against peer and near peer competitors.

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 The G9 also leads USASOC’s efforts in Army and Joint senior leader forums. Beginning with the
Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare forum in March of 2015, these USASOC sponsored forums
have explored ARSOF’s response to the changing character of warfare and are designed to broaden
strategic options for our National leaders. Our most recent Senior Leader Forum addressed MultiDomain Maneuver. Multi-Domain Maneuver is the Army’s concept of Joint Force employment of the
physical, cognitive, and virtual aspects of maneuver at all levels, in and through all domains, across the
operational framework, through time, and across the range of modern warfare challenges to maintain a
competitive edge over our Nation’s adversaries. The forum set conditions for further institutional
exploration of Operational / Strategic maneuver and campaigns to prevent, deter, and / or defeat
adversary strategies below the level of armed conflict.
The USASOC G9 is currently developing the ARSOF Operating Concept for 2035 and Beyond. The
ARSOF OC addresses the challenge:
In a constrained future environment of peer, near-peer, and non-state competitors, with
technologically advanced threats, ubiquitous surveillance, AI-enabled battle networks, an
accelerating pace of change, globally scaled and interconnected information, and the
increasing relevance of people and populations in competition and conflict, how does
ARSOF gain and maintain an enduring competitive advantage over our Nation’s
adversaries?
It is our goal, through our investment in the intellectual space, for ARSOF to employ empowered
Soldiers and integrated units capable of delivering ARSOF Combined Arms across the range of modern
warfare challenges, as it leverages adaptive and innovative institutional capabilities to provide the joint
force an enduring competitive edge over our Nation’s adversaries. That edge comes from a synergy
arising from campaigns and operations that combine the abilities of conventional forces and special
operations forces to maneuver against our Nation’s challengers.

Effort III: Publishing Strategic Guidance (USASOC 2035)

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 In 2017 USASOC published its strategic guidance to ARSOF, USASOC 2035. USASOC 2035
provides guidance for the further development of ARSOF institutional and operational capabilities
needed to counter threats across the spectrum of conflict, especially in the competitive spaces between
peace and overt war. USASOC 2035 incorporates the previous USASOC Commander’s initiatives that
are still in progress and builds upon those capabilities already established. USASOC 2035 presents
objectives for developing future capabilities that will move ARSOF from the force of today to the force
of tomorrow.
In USASOC 2035 we define ARSOF’s strategic value to the Nation through four complementary
capabilities — the Pillars of ARSOF Capability: an Indigenous Approach, Precision Targeting
Operations, Developing Understanding and Wielding Influence, and Crisis Response. ARSOF are
employed throughout the operational spectrum and across all campaign phases, including interagencyor Coalition led campaigns and operations. Together, the Pillars of ARSOF Capability provide options
to shape or prevent outcomes in support of our national interests. These capabilities, coupled with
tailorable mission command nodes and scalable force packages that are low-signature and employ a
small footprint, are particularly suited for employment in politically sensitive and irregular warfare
environments.
The indigenous approach is a means to address challenges to regional stability with and through
populations and partner forces empowered by persistent ARSOF engagement. Through this approach,
ARSOF leverage nascent capability within populations, transforming indigenous mass into combat
power. Since World War II, ARSOF elements have amassed unique institutional and operational
expertise in living among, training, advising, and fighting alongside people of foreign cultures,
achieving effects with and through partner forces. Today, ARSOF training pipelines produce regionally
oriented, culturally astute, and language-capable personnel who can apply an indigenous approach
across the spectrum of conflict in permissive, uncertain, and hostile environments. The indigenous

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 approach provides low-cost, high-impact options to address state and non-state threats, set conditions for
conventional force success, and execute sensitive activities through minimal force commitment.
Precision targeting operations involve both kinetic and non-kinetic direct action and counternetwork activities enabled by SOF unique intelligence, targeting processes, and technology, to include
ARSOF rotary wing capabilities, armed unmanned aerial systems, and psychological operations.
Precision targeting operations create precise physical and psychological effects and can be used to
collapse human or physical networks through deliberate targeting of critical nodes. Precision
targeting operations are employed against uniquely difficult target sets that may require operating in
uncertain or hostile environments, careful and focused application of force, and significant intelligence
and operational preparation. These operations are executed by highly trained, rapidly deployable, and
scalable ARSOF personnel and formations that are employed to buy time and space for other operations
to gain traction, such as transforming indigenous mass into combat power.
Developing understanding and wielding influence are essential aspects of the value ARSOF
capabilities provide joint force commanders and the Nation. The SOF network of personnel, assets, and
international partnerships represents the means to obtain early understanding of emerging local,
regional, transregional threats, and/or where opportunities exist for advancing U.S. objectives. The
SOF network provides capabilities needed to influence outcomes in all campaign phases and especially
in conflict short of overt war. Engagement worldwide allows ARSOF to develop long-term partner
nation relationships, and an advanced understanding of complex environments. Operating in culturally
and politically complex environments requires ARSOF personnel to be adept at interacting and coordinating with multiple agencies and partners. Institutional training and education programs unique to
ARSOF, along with long-term regionally aligned employment, provide the expertise necessary to
understand complex environments and the ability to influence people and circumstances.
Crisis response, provided through CONUS and OCONUS stationed alert forces and persistently
deployed and dispersed units, provides national decision makers with agile, tailorable, and rapidly

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 employable ARSOF formations necessary to respond to emergencies. These forces provide options to
rescue people under threat, to recover sensitive materials, to provide humanitarian relief, or to address
other short notice contingencies. ARSOF crisis response capabilities leverage the SOF network and
partner-nation relationships established before crisis occurs. Persistent engagement develops
relationships and the advanced understanding needed in times of crisis for ARSOF to effectively employ
unilateral capabilities and those created during partner-force development. Through ARSOF crisis
response, a small number of operators can rapidly address emergencies in an effort to enable host nation
solutions to local or regional security challenges.

Conclusion

In summary, after more than 16 years of war, the operational effectiveness of ARSOF remains
high. We have acknowledged that the future operating environment will continue to evolve with
highly adaptive state and non-state adversaries seeking to challenge the status quo and our National
interests. USASOC has refocused our training priorities to remain ready for the global counter-VEO
mission, while also building and sustaining readiness for peer and near peer threats, in both armed
conflict and the competitive space short of war. Preventing or deterring hybrid conflict short of all-out
war is demanding. It requires persistent forward engagement at points of vulnerability around the world.
It requires Soldiers to understand the political, cultural, and geographic complexities of austere
operating environments and the unique challenges faced by our allies and partners. It also requires an
advanced understanding of adversaries and how they are evolving in an effort to shift the competitive
space to their advantage. In order to meet these requirements and to counter irregular and conventional
warfare threats of the future, USASOC will continue to provide the Nation with a portfolio of complementary capabilities enabled by institutional and operational agility. We remain committed to
embodying the USASOC motto: “Sine Pari” - Without Equal.

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