Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR)
The U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) is the second largest geographic AOR in the unified combatant command structure. Spanning three continents and encompassing 89 countries, its geographical area encompasses 13 million square miles and is home for more than one billion people. EUCOM is a dynamic theater in conflict. Within this vast AOR, USEUCOM stands ready
to promote peace and stability and to defeat adversaries. To accomplish these theater objectives,
the commander in chief, USEUCOM, relies heavily on SOCEUR to provide him with timely unconventional military options.
As a sub-unified command for special operations, COMSOCEUR provides operational direction and control of special operations, CA, and PSYOP forces in the USEUCOM AOR. Comprised of Army, Air Force, and Navy SOF stationed in Europe, the SOC routinely receives augmentation from continental U.S.-based forces to accomplish its assigned tasks. From these varied assets, COMSOCEUR forms task forces capable of executing special operations as well as conducting assessments and response to crises throughout the USEUCOM AOR. COMSOCEUR also functions as Director, Special Operations Directorate of the EUCOM staff to provide theater strategic input and advice to the theater commander concerning special operations.
SOCEUR’s operations and activities reflect the USEUCOM strategic objectives to Promote Peace and Stability, and Defeat Adversaries. SOCEUR plays an important role in promoting peace and shaping the international environment in the EUCOM area of responsibility by reducing the conditions that lead to conflict. Key SOCEUR engagement activities include JCET events, the Joint Contact Team Program (JCTP), the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), and humanitarian demining operations.
JCETs are training activities that fulfill SOF unit training and CINCEUR engagement needs in countries throughout the theater. This combination of training and engagement allows SOF units to perform mission-essential tasks and regionally focused training while simultaneously establishing U.S. presence and influence in priority engagement countries.
The JCTP is a USCINCEUR initiative to provide greater U.S. military interaction with former Warsaw Pact countries and Soviet client states; SOF units provide excellent models for these nations to emulate in their evolving militaries. ACRI is a Department of State initiative to develop the capabilities of selected African countries to respond to regional crises with capable, professional, indigenous military forces. Humanitarian demining is a joint venture between the Departments of State and Defense. This program continues to save hundreds of lives each year throughout the EUCOM AOR by training host-nation personnel in demining and in educating the public on the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance.
Readiness to respond to crises is SOCEUR’s highest priority as reflected by its motto — Semper Preparate (Always Prepared). SOCEUR sustains its unique warfighting capabilities to successfully respond to the full spectrum of crisis — from trans-national threats, through the myriad forms of smaller-scale contingencies, to major theater war. The Security Environment. SOCEUR’s AOR exhibits the full range of human conditions and the strategic environment is correspondingly diverse. In many cases, U.S presence is welcomed on a bilateral, or more often multilateral, basis. U.S. presence is minimal in many cases — particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa — due to the size of the theater. U.S. relationships in the AOR over the past 50 years have formed a foundation for U.S. leadership, participation, and collective action against threats to regional security. SOCEUR manages its engagement programs on a country-by-country basis and follows the EUCOM lead by dividing its AOR into several regions for easier manageability.
Western Europe will continue to be the stable anchor within the AOR. The template for stability and cooperation in the region is NATO. U.S. SOF train with NATO air, land, and sea special operations forces in all climates and terrain, from the frozen fjords of Norway to the sweltering deserts of Africa. Interoperability, combined command and control, and the exchange of methods and tactics ensure the United States and its allies are ready to conduct combined or coordinated special operations anywhere in the theater. SOCEUR has been in the forefront of integrating new member nations into the NATO alliance — assessing, training, and exercising with host-nation SOF assets. SOF can be a relatively inexpensive option to countries looking to make a viable but affordable contribution to NATO’s force structure.
Central Europe is experiencing a new wave of nationalism and, to a lesser degree, ultra-nationalism. The end of communism has revealed long-suppressed internal and external security issues involving intractable ethnic/religious hatreds and old boundary disputes rooted in modern history. Political opportunists are seizing on these issues to acquire national leadership positions. The risk of political instability within the developing central European democracies — particularly the Balkan states — will remain high through the next several years.
To counter these threats, SOCEUR has joined former Warsaw Pact forces to develop SOF that meet NATO standards for interoperability. JCETs conducted in Central Europe provide unique training opportunities for each of SOCEUR’s component forces. They also serve to demonstrate the strengths and capabilities of the U.S. military, as well as the benefits of a responsible and well-trained, professional NCO corps — a capability normally lacking in Soviet-modeled forces. In the recent Balkans conflict, joint SOF, under the direction of COMSOCEUR, were employed to expand the range of military options available to USCINCEUR. Most notable were two successful combat recoveries of American pilots downed by enemy fire over Serbia. Additionally, CA and PSYOP forces provided immeasurable assistance in the ever-evolving process of modern day warfare. The Balkans have historically demanded world attention and SOF will continue to play a central role in this volatile region.
With their emergence as sovereign nations, the New Independent States (NIS) simultaneously began the process of changing their institutions from authoritarian to democratic and from provincial to national. While some have successfully taken their place on the world stage as democracies, others have tended to revert to authoritarianism, and a few are split by severe ethnic divisions. This is an emerging region for USEUCOM and SOCEUR. Initial efforts in this area have focused on regional assessments and teaching these nations the role of the military in a democracy. SOF play a key role in the NIS by providing the CINC with U.S. eyes and ears in a region still plagued by uncertainty and instability. In 1998, SOCEUR sponsored the first NIS SOF conference held offsite in Stuttgart, Germany. This benchmark event brought military personnel from Moldova, Georgia, and the Ukraine together to view U.S. SOF demonstrations and discuss opportunities for future JCET and JCTP events. International interest and tensions in the region are expected to dramatically increase as resident deposits of oil and minerals are developed. Accordingly, development of SOF familiarity and experience in the region is becoming a high priority.
Africa is a complex and diverse region with many countries evolving into clusters of stability and instability. While some are prosperous and semi- or fully democratic, others are stagnating under non-democratic military or civilian leaders, and a few are consistently chaotic due to coups, civil wars, or lack of a strong, central government. SOF represent the greatest percentage of American “boots on the ground” in this vast continent. Conduct of ACRI and humanitarian demining training under the auspices of SOCEUR has had a demonstrable stabilizing influence in this unstable part of the world. Likewise, port visits and coastal maritime engagement programs maintain a critical presence in areas where other U.S. forces either cannot or will not go. A very active JCET program permits each of the three SOF components to routinely train in an environment that has recently precipitated four responses to crises by SOCEUR forces.
The projected future strategic environment for EUCOM is one in which there will be fewer “wars,” but more conflict. Failed states, transnational threats, humanitarian crises, and rogue states that seek to leverage instability are certain to result in the increased employment of U.S. SOF in the future. SOCEUR will continue to provide the “point of the spear” for operations throughout the theater — whether to engage to prevent conflict, thwart terrorism, stem the pro-liferation of weapons of mass destruction, or to respond to crises with precision and strength to restore peace and stability.
