A broad concept that illuminate the fact that Special Operations Forces are not available for such duties.
Army plans to shift troops to U.S. Africa Command
Aims for quick crisis response
U.S. Africa Command, the military’s newest regional force, will have more troops available early next year as the Pentagon winds down from two ground wars over the past decade, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff, told The Washington Times.
As part of Gen. Odierno’s Regionally Aligned Forces concept, about 1,200 soldiers will deploy to Africa as early as March in an effort to place troops strategically around the globe to respond quickly to sudden challenges in hot spots such as Libya and to develop ties with the people and officials in host countries.
“It’s about us moving towards a scalable, tailorable capability that helps them to shape the environment they’re working in, doing a variety of tasks from building partner capability to engagement, to multilateral training to bilateral training to actual deployment of forces, if necessary,” Gen. Odierno said in an interview.
Phi Beta Iota: This tells us that Leon Panetta is not paying attention and ready to leave. First, the Navy-Marine Corps team is supposed to have this specific mission, with US SOF and US Airborne as back-up. Second, whoever dreamed up this idea clearly is unemcumbered by any appreciation for politics, logistics, and other attendant reasons why this is a bad idea — we are truly surprised the Army Chief of Staff would speak to this. The US military (and the US Government overall) is in desperate need of holistic thinkers at the top.
See Also:
Chuck Spinney: The Patraeus Myth & the Pentagon's Big Lie
Graphic: US Bases (44) Surrounding Iran
Search: purpose of military intelligence
