You have to be careful with terms like SOF and SF. They are not interchangeable. All SF are part of SOF but SOF also includes a lot of other units with a much different focus and mission than SF. The problem that we seem to have now is that SOCOM and USASOC are largely dominated by JSOC guys. They don't do what we do and they often aren't all that interested in what we do. It creates a certain amount of friction but it also means we just plain don't get the attention (read, money and missions) that other assets get. As for SF internally there will always be guys who are too focused on DA but as a whole we have taken ownership of our other missions, particularly FID/UW and are quite proud of the fact that we do things that nobody else does, and we do it well.
Now as to the question of whether or not we can operate effectively in the ME, the answer is an unequivocal yes. We can and do work in areas with populations that are less than thrilled to see Americans in their midst. I would say that command level risk aversion plays a greater role in whether or not we get those missions than our capability to execute them.
SFC W
Originally Posted by Uboat509
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