From Bosnia To Baghdad: The Evolution Of US Army Special Forces From 1995-2004

By Armando J. Ramirez

This thesis presents a historical analysis of the evolution of US Army Special Forces operations from 1995 to 2004, focusing specifically on operations conducted in the Balkans (Bosnia and Kosovo), Afghanistan and Iraq, answering the research question: How have the operations conducted by US Army Special Forces evolved from the Balkans in 1995 through Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)?
The thesis examines the progression of Special Forces operations during each of the aforementioned campaigns, analyzing their evolution in the areas of intelligence operations, unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense, close air support, integration with conventional forces and the institutionalization of lessons learned. The thesis concludes by examining future roles of US Army Special Forces with respect to employment.
Tracing the progression of Special Forces employment from the Balkans to OIF is critical to understanding the factors contributing to the success of Special Forces operations in both the decisive operations and stability and support (SASO) phases of OEF and OIF.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tannenberg Publishing
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781782897774

Armando J. Ramirez

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Text originally published in 2004 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

FROM BOSNIA TO BAGHDAD: THE EVOLUTION OF US ARMY SPECIAL FORCES

FROM 1995 TO 2004

by

Armando J. Ramirez Major, United States Army

B.A., Western Michigan University, 1991

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

ABSTRACT 5

I. — INTRODUCTION 7

A. — STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION AND PURPOSE 8

B.— METHODOLOGY 9

C. — ORGANIZATION 9

II. — INTO THE BALKANS 10

A. — SETTING THE STAGE 10

B.— US SPECIAL FORCES TASK ORGANIZATION-IFOR 11

C. — US SPECIAL FORCES TASK ORGANIZATION-SFOR 11

D. — US SPECIAL FORCES TASK ORGANIZATION-OPERATION ALLIED FORCE AND KOSOVO 12

E. — LIAISON COORDINATION ELEMENT (LCE) OPERATIONS (OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR) 12

F. — JOINT COMMISSION OBSERVER (JCO) OPERATIONS (OPERATION JOINT GUARD) 14

G. — JCO BIJELJINA (OPERATION JOINT FORGE) 15

H. — FROM JCO TO SR (OPERATION ALLIED FORCE) 16

I. — SPECIAL FORCES IN ALBANIA (OPERATION ALLIED FORCE) 17

J. — OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN-SPECIAL FORCES IN KOSOVO 18

K. — SPECIAL FORCES LCE WITH RUSSIAN 13TH TASK GROUP (OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN) 18

L. — SPECIAL FORCES LIAISON TEAM (LT) OPERATIONS AND GUERRILLA DEMOBILIZATION (OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN) 20

M. — CONCLUSION 21

III. — BALKANS LESSONS LEARNED 22

A. — OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR LESSONS LEARNED 22

B.— OPERATIONS JOINT GUARD AND JOINT FORGE LESSONS LEARNED 23

C. — OPERATION ALLIED FORCE LESSONS LEARNED 24

D. — OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN LESSONS LEARNED 26

E. — CONCLUSION 26

IV. — OPERATIONS ENDURING FREEDOM AND IRAQI FREEDOM 27

A. — OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM 27

1. — Setting the Stage 27

2. — Command and Control 28

3. — Scheme of Maneuver 29

4. — SFODA 595-In the North with General Dostum 30

5. — SFODA 574-Unconventional Warfare with Hamid Karzai 31

6. — SFODA 572: Combat at Tora Bora 32

7. — Operation Anaconda 33

8. — Stability and Support Operations 33

B.— OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 34

1. — Setting the Stage 34

2. — Command and Control 35

3. — C/JSOTF North 35

4. — C/JSOTF West 37

5. — UW with the Kurds 37

6. — Operation Viking Hammer-Counterterrorism Against Ansar al-Islam (AI)-(28-30 March 2003) 39

7. — On the Green Line 41

8. — Stability and Support Operations 42

V. — ANALYSIS 44

A. — INTRODUCTION 44

B.— WHY PLANNERS CHOSE TO EMPLOY SPECIAL FORCES IN OEF AND OIF 44

C. — INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS 46

D. — FOREIGN INTERNAL DEFENSE (FID) AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE (UW) 47

E. — CLOSE AIR SUPPORT (CAS) 50

F. — SPECIAL FORCES INTEGRATION WITH CONVENTIONAL FORCES 52

G. — INSTITUTIONALIZATION 56

VI. — CONCLUSION 59

A. — EVOLUTION AND THE FUTURE OF SPECIAL FORCES 59

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 62

LIST OF REFERENCES 63

ABSTRACT

This thesis presents a historical analysis of the evolution of US Army Special Forces operations from 1995 to 2004, focusing specifically on operations conducted in the Balkans (Bosnia and Kosovo), Afghanistan and Iraq, answering the research question: How have the operations conducted by US Army Special Forces evolved from the Balkans in 1995 through Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)?

The thesis examines the progression of Special Forces operations during each of the aforementioned campaigns, analyzing their evolution in the areas of intelligence operations, unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense, close air support, integration with conventional forces and the institutionalization of lessons learned. The thesis concludes by examining future roles of US Army Special Forces with respect to employment.

Tracing the progression of Special Forces employment from the Balkans to OIF is critical to understanding the factors contributing to the success of Special Forces operations in both the decisive operations and stability and support (SASO) phases of OEF and OIF.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This thesis often references the loosely-knit terrorist group known as al-Qaeda, meaning the base in Arabic. Recognizing the grammatical error of using the English indefinite article ‘the’ before the Arabic indefinite article ‘al’, this study will nevertheless refer to the terrorist group as ‘al-Qaeda’ for the sake of simplicity and reader familiarity with the name.

I. — INTRODUCTION

Immediately following the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001, US policymakers and senior Department of Defense (DoD) leadership launched Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) to destroy the worldwide al-Qaeda terrorist network and topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Roughly 17 months later, the same US officials ordered the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. US Army Special Forces infiltrated both Afghanistan and Iraq and in doing so provided the first US military boots on the ground in both conflicts. The reliance of senior policymakers and DoD leadership upon Special Forces was unprecedented in its scope, ushering in a new era in Special Forces employment and operations.

How did Special Forces successfully conduct operations against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein regime? Following Operation Desert Storm in 1991, US Army Special Forces underwent a subtle, yet critical change. The wartime missions of special reconnaissance (SR), direct action (DA) and coalition support, transitioned to the post-conflict mission of foreign internal defense (FID) during Operation Provide Comfort{1}.

Although always maintaining the capability to execute the five doctrinal missions of SR, DA, FID, unconventional warfare (UW) and combating terrorism (CBT), a great deal of Special Forces employment throughout the mid-1990s generally consisted of humanitarian-related missions supporting international organizations to ease human suffering and FID operations to aid friendly foreign governments. Despite the maintenance of these warrior skills through constant training at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and National Training Center (NTC), policymakers chose to employ Special Forces units in non-offensive roles.

The shift away from the post-Desert Storm non-lethal employment of Special Forces began with the decision to commit US military forces to Bosnia in late 1995. Over the next seven years, in both Bosnia and Kosovo, the US Special Forces would conduct a variety of missions, effectively changing the perception of policymakers and military commanders, ultimately influencing their future employment.

The US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operations in the Balkans between 1995 and 2001 provided the first long-term integration between Special Forces and conventional forces in US military history, allowing Special Forces and conventional forces to work together, in both a joint and coalition environment, and learn each other’s capabilities. Special Forces initially served as liaisons with non-NATO troop contributing nations (TCN) in Bosnia, providing command, control and communications support in the complex operating environment. Special Forces also commenced intelligence operations, working and living among the citizens of the various ethnic groups, providing NATO commanders with accurate assessments of the situation on the ground and rapid communications with influential political, social, religious and military leaders among the former warfighting factions (FWF). During Operation Allied Force, Special Forces conducted SR in Bosnia and FID, providing intelligence and communications support for the Kosovo Liberation Army, operating from Albania against the Serb military. As conventional commanders during the Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission in Kosovo grew more comfortable with their Special Forces, they slowly allowed the Special Forces soldiers to conduct higher-risk missions and intelligence operations.

Unleashed by policymakers as the first US combat force on the ground in the opening days of OEF, Special Forces conducted aggressive UW and DA missions, leveraging indigenous forces and technology against al-Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban. Working with tribal warlords and their militias, several hundred Special Forces soldiers contributed to the overthrow of the Taliban regime in less than two months and