From unconventional warfare and rai

From unconventional warfare and raids against vital adversary nodes, to opening second fronts; from combining with indigenous forces to disrupt and fix enemy armored and mechanized divisions, to clandestine actions of sabotage and intelligence gathering; SOF’s role in large-scale combat through history is clearly evident. It is without equal, and this volume aims to depict that. By describing the past to discover implications for the future, this eighth volume in the Large-Scale Combat Operations Series, conveys SOF’s significant contributions and roles within the broader context of land warfare.It illuminates the themes of synergy, operating behind enemy lines, the power of indigenous forces, and precision targeting. This volume comes at an opportune time as the joint force addresses the rising threat of peer and near-peer adversaries with SOF as an integral element of warfare. The current US Army Special Operations Command Vision describes its soldiers as those who “excel across the broad spectrum of operations in the most demanding, complex and uncertain environments imaginable, and possess invincible will, utmost professionalism and exceptional competence.”2The soldiers’ characteristics, and the environments where SOF operate, as reflected in each of these chapters are as applicable now as they were over the previous century.