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Building Special Operations Partnerships in Afghanistan and Beyond Challenges and Best Practices from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Colombia

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Building Special Operations Partnerships in Afghanistan and Beyond Challenges and Best Practices from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Colombia Building Special Operations Partnerships in Afghanistan and Beyond Challenges and Best Practices from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Colombia Austin Long, Todd C. Helmus, S. Rebecca Zimmerman, Christopher M. Schnaubelt, Peter Chalk C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR713 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-8759-1 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2015 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover photos: Norwegian Naval Special Operations and RAND authors, used with permission. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface Building the capacity of Afghan special operations forces (SOF) is a key goal of the United States and its coalition partners. In February and March of 2013, RAND analysts conducted extensive battlefield circu- lations in Afghanistan and visited multiple training sites for Afghan SOF. The mentors at these sites hailed from a variety of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contributing nations, including the United States, Lithuania, Romania, Australia, Norway, and the United Kingdom. This report summarizes key partnering practices drawn from observations of these international partners and presents findings from SOF partnership case studies in Iraq and Colombia. The goal is to identify best practices for SOF partnership that can benefit the development of the Afghan special operations capability. These best practices also have broader applicability for special operations partner- ships beyond Afghanistan. This research was sponsored by the Special Operations Joint Task Force–Afghanistan and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center spon- sored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the -Uni fied Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on the International Security and Defense Policy Center, see http://www.rand.org/nsrd/ndri/centers/isdp.html or contact the director (contact information is provided on the web page). iii Contents Preface ............................................................................. iii Summary .......................................................................... ix Acknowledgments ...............................................................xv Abbreviations ................................................................... xvii CHapTER ONE Introduction ....................................................................... 1 CHapTER TWO SOF Partnership in Afghanistan: The Ministry of Interior’s National Mission Units ..................................................... 7 Methodology ....................................................................... 8 Partnership Approach .............................................................. 8 Task Organization ............................................................... 8 Mission Focus .................................................................... 9 Rapport ..........................................................................12 Key Tasks ........................................................................13 Continuity and Pre-Mission Training ..........................................17 Continuity .......................................................................17 Pre-Mission Training ..........................................................19 Summary .......................................................................... 20 CHapTER THREE SOF Partnership in Afghanistan: The Ministry of Interior’s Provincial Response Companies .........................................21 Methodology ......................................................................21 v vi Building Special Operations Partnerships in Afghanistan and Beyond Partnership Approach ............................................................ 22 Task Organization ............................................................. 22 Mission Focus .................................................................. 22 Rapport ......................................................................... 24 Key Tasks ........................................................................25 Continuity and Pre-Mission Training ......................................... 27 Continuity ...................................................................... 27 Pre-Mission Training .......................................................... 28 Summary ...........................................................................29 CHapTER FOUR SOF Partnership in Afghanistan: The ANASOF Special Operations Kandaks .......................................................31 Methodology ......................................................................32 Partnering Approach ..............................................................32 Task Organization ..............................................................32 Mission Focus .................................................................. 34 Rapport ......................................................................... 36 Key Tasks ........................................................................37 Continuity and Pre-Mission Training ..........................................39 Continuity .......................................................................39 Pre-Mission Training ...........................................................41 Summary .......................................................................... 42 CHapTER FIVE SOF Partnership in Iraq ....................................................... 43 Methodology ..................................................................... 43 Overview and Task Organization of SOF Partnership ..................... 44 Partnering Approach ..............................................................47 Task Organization ..............................................................47 Mission Focus ..................................................................47 Rapport ..........................................................................49 Key Tasks ....................................................................... 50 Continuity and Pre-Mission Training ......................................... 54 Continuity ...................................................................... 54 Pre-Mission Training ...........................................................55 Summary ...........................................................................57 Contents vii Postscript: Iraqi SOF Performance in 2014 ..................................58 CHapTER SIX SOF Partnership in Colombia .................................................59 Methodology ..................................................................... 60 Colombia in the Late 1990s: Drugs, Insurgency, and Terrorism and the Initiation of Plans Colombia and Patriota ........................... 60 Partnership Approach .............................................................62 Units and Task Organization ..................................................62 Mission Focus ...................................................................63 Rapport ..........................................................................67 Key Partnering Tasks ...........................................................69 Summary ...........................................................................71 CHapTER SEVEN Best Practices and Recommendations for SOF Partnering ..............73 Operational Tempo and Sustainability .........................................73 Operations Must Be Subordinated to Capability Development ..........73 Focus on Sustainable Operations .............................................76 Deliberately Wean Partner SOF from Unsustainable Support ........... 77 Link SOF to Existing Intelligence Infrastructure ...........................79 Depth of Partnership and Rapport .............................................81 Promote Deep Partnership Through Extensive Rapport Building ........81 Use Mentorship Networks and the Chain of Command to Your Benefit ...................................................................... 86 Assign Senior and Experienced Individuals to Key Mentorship Positions ...................................................................
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