Special Operators Whereabouts After Afghanistan.

The secretive special forces are already known for their undercover work and low key operations. As the war in Afghanistan is drawing to end, where will the majority of the special forces (SF) go? Admiral Bill McRaven, the US Special Operations Commander gives us some direction to where they will be in the near future.

March 6th, Adm. McRaven met with lawmakers to talk about this very issue. He mentions that the majority of Special Operators are in the Central Command Region (USCENTCOM--the yellow area on the map above), about 85% of all SF are deployed to the CENTCOM region. It is Adm. McRavens desire to push the Special Operators to other commands or regions as their work is sone in Afghanistan (or will it ever be done). To be honest, I believe America and the US Special Operation Command (USSOCOM) will keep a close eye on the CENTCOM region and have a force that is ready to fight in an instant near by. SF will continue to operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan after conventional forces leave, it only make sense.

If the majority of SF leaves CENTCOM, where will they go and what will they be doing? In 2001, there were about 30,000 special operators in the Navy, Air Force, and Army. Now in 2013, the force has grown significantly to 70,000 and the addition of the Marine Special Operation Command (MARSOC) in 2006. I imagine the continued growth of SF because of the way we are fighting. Unconventional, irregular, guerrillas, terrorist, freedom fighters, whatever you want to call them, warfare has changed and it calls for SF attention. Politicians label the SF community the "cure all medicine". I have the feeling politicians rely on the SF to fix anything and they might be able to, but just because the SF can sure all doesn't mean you send them every time. To answer my question at the beginning of the paragraph, SF  will be providing internal defense to foriegn allies and network to strengthen relationships.

As Im looking at the map  above, its hard not to think that America just divided up the world into region and probably put in place commanders over each region and a responsibility within that region. Just funny to think about and how it relates to America trying to police the world.