The Mission
Sometimes even the best?trained commandos can’t own part of an operation.
Don’t count too much on owning the Riverine operation in Colombia if you’re climbing frozen waterfalls in Norway. Don’t be afraid to reach outside your box or above your current level, but recognize that boundaries exist. A sniper in Chile wouldn’t expect to solve European strategy issues. Strategy and mission approval is handed down by politicians and senior regional commanders, and it will not always be to your liking. When I worked in Europe, one of the problems facing the U.S. military was how to support the democratization and modernization of Eastern Europe. At the same time, we were operating in an environment in which many missions were altered or scrubbed for political reasons. After the widespread media coverage of the Special Forces carnage in Somalia, special operations were routinely suspended when they were likely to result in U.S. casualties. Missions in the former Yugoslavia were postponed when the United States feared Serbian reprisals against U.S. troops stationed in the region.
The potential upside might have been the neutralization of warlords and criminals. The possible downside was that U.S. politicians risked being voted out of office if soldiers started coming back in body bags. In effect, the United States gave the mission of achieving no U.S. casualties priority over the mission of conducting operations. Additionally, when I worked in Europe, as when I worked in the Middle East and South America, gossip circulated in the field that certain missions were not given to SEALs because of interservice rivalry—that senior officers falsely claimed that SEALs were only water commandos and thus were ineligible to assault inland targets, conveniently forgetting that SEALs are equally capable in land warfare, as indicated by their acronym (Sea, Air, Land). Sorry. The world is an unfair place. Whether or not the situation is unfair or the gossip unwarranted, there is often little that you can do as a commando in the field to change the situation. Recognize when something like this happens.
Look for ways in which you can still own the options that remain. The fact is that each military problem is a collection of other problems. This is true both of individual missions and of grand strategies. For example, if the problem is that terrorists are inside a building behind a locked, reinforced door, then the door has to be blown off its frame. An explosive has to be built that will remove the door without harming hostages on the inside. The charge has to be brought to the door, mounted on the door, and blown from a safe distance without the terrorists seeing. An assault team has to go through the door and neutralize the terrorists. Each of these problems requires its own mission and has its own owner.
A SEAL can solve each problem in this On the other hand, if terrorists are fleeing Afghanistan, then a number of problems exist, many of which are outside the size and scope of SEAL capability. A military cordon must be drawn around Afghanistan. Pressure must be brought to bear on countries that harbor escaping terrorists. The SEAL organization can solve only a part of some of these problems—interdicting vessels and vehicles, for example, or taking down terrorist safe houses. And if a particular SEAL platoon doesn’t have enough commandos to conduct the actual assault part of the mission, it can still act as a blocking force, or as a rescue force if the assault goes bad.
With regard to our situation in Europe, our unit commander recognized two facts. First, political pressure on military decisions wasn’t going to go away. And second, potential operations in the former Yugoslavia, which were widely covered by CNN and where the potential for public backlash in the United States was thus enormous, represented only part of the overall problem facing the United States. Fledgling democracies existed in other parts of Europe. We consequently conducted other missions in other Eastern European countries where the United States had less cause for concern over potential casualties, so that the missions were quickly approved by the State Department.
The Take Away
You will at some point look on, perhaps with jealousy and bitterness, as a project that should be yours either goes to someone less qualified and less deserving or goes away completely. You will have fought for it as best you could before the decision was made, but powerful forces above your level decided otherwise. So be it. If nothing else in the situation is of value to you, move on. For example, a SEAL Jon worked with had considered a job in the tugboat business in New York before he joined the Navy. The work was physical. He would work on the water. The pay was good. And although tug jobs were tough to get, he had a friend who knew a skipper. “Why didn’t you do it?” Jon asked him. “The skipper had a son,” the friend shrugged.
“And my last name wasn’t on the bow of the ship.” On the other hand, it’s possible that even though you don’t own the original problem, you can still own a significant subsidiary problem. In this case, think about taking it. Jon was with a forward?deployed platoon when they were notified that a ship had been hijacked and that the platoon was being considered as a response option. As they studied the size and location of the potential target, however, they realized that the platoon was too small a force to risk on an assault on a vessel that large. Larger forces were on hand. The only intelligent option would be to use them. That platoon would never be selected. At the same time, they knew that a ship assault was a complicated operation. Many things could go wrong. Many corridors, hatches, and rooms had to be secured. Other vessels must be prevented from drawing near during the assault.
There is no such thing as having too much support in such an operation. They knew, therefore, that they could still be selected to carry out some significant element of the operation. Anticipate the forces of the universe ahead of time. Recognize situations where you’re not going to win. Instead of fighting a doomed struggle, aim for projects that you have a chance of obtaining. You’ll look like a team player. You’ll be a team player. You’ll be able to walk away, having contributed a significant element to the operation.