The Army is mulling cuts to its special operations programs in the coming years, potentially trimming the forces amid a general U.S. military shift in attention to more conventional capabilities and wars.
A planning process known as Total Army Analysis, which the service is using to plan its budget requests to Congress in fiscal years 2025 to 2029, projects a cut of about 10% to Special Forces, a congressional aide confirmed to Military.com.
Army special operations has become synonymous with unconventional warfare. Its Green Berets and other commando units were the cornerstone of the Global War on Terror in the years after 9/11. But as the service pivots its focus toward China, those unconventional units could see cuts in favor of building up the rank and file.
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The size of U.S. special operations across all branches doubled after 2001, as the counterinsurgency battlefield called for swift nighttime raids and training of militias in the Middle East and across Africa. The Pentagon is now investing in other capabilities, such as long-range missile strikes and cyberwarfare.
“There will be some changes which [special operations forces] will be part of. With SOF, it has grown continuously while the rest of the Army has come down,” Mark Cancian, a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington,…
