US SOCOM is not the 'owner' of the idea of the 'indirect approach'. It was (to the best of my knowledge)first codified by Liddell Hart in Strategy (Faber and Faber, London, 1954) and subsequently expanded upon by Andre Beaufre ('war in the minor key') inAn introduction to strategy (1965) and strategy of action (1967?).

An indirect approach is not a uniquely SOF concept, particularly when one considers that its genesis predates the creation of US SOF.....

Cheers

Mark