JULY - SEPTEMBER 2018 CONTENTS VOLUME 31 | ISSUE 3 ON THE COVER An element of the Panamanian ARTICLES Police marches during the Fuerzas Comando opening ceremony, July 06 | SOCSOUTH Overview and Map 16, 2018, at the Instituto Superior Policial, Panama. Fuerzas Comando 08 | In Depth: SOCOUTH Commander is an annual multinational special 12 | Regional Threat Overview: operations forces skills competition. Latin America and the Caribbean U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Brian Ragin 14 | Measuring Indirect Effects Over Time 18 | SOTF-77 30 52 22 | Integrated Campaigning 28 | Optimization of the Information and Influence Competencies 30 | The Last Line of Defense 36 | 5th SOF Truth 40 | A Team Effort 44 | The People Business 47 | Changing Culture 52 | SECTION: COLOMBIA 52 Colombia Overview 62 Protecting the Southern Approaches 68 Strategic Partnership 76 Enclaves in South America 80 ESMAI: The Future of Colobian PSYOP 84 | SECTION: EL SALVADOR 84 El Salvador Overview 92 MS-13's Stranglehold on a Nation 96 Evolution El Salvador 108 100 | SECTION: PANAMA 100 Panama Overview SUBSCRIBE 108 | Off the Range, Into the Jungle OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION TO UNITS: Active Duty INDIVIDUALS: Personal 114 | Photostory: Fuerzas Comando and Reserve special operations units can subscribe subscriptions of Special to Special Warfare at no cost. Just email the following Warfare may be purchased information to [email protected] through the Government Printing office online at: DEPARTMENTS > Unit name / section https://bookstore.gpo.gov/ > Unit address FROM THE COMMANDANT ___ 04 products/ > Unit phone number sku/708-078-00000-0 FROM THE EDITOR _________ 05 > Quantity required SUBMISSIONS SPECIAL ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS: Special Warfare welcomes submissions of scholarly, independent research from members of the armed forces, security policy-makers and - shapers, defense analysts, academic specialists and civilians from the U.S. and abroad. Manuscripts should be 2,500 to 3,000 words in length. Include a cover letter. WARFARE Submit a complete biography with author contact information (i.e., complete mailing address, telephone, fax, e-mail address). Manuscripts should be submitted in plain text, double-spaced and in a digital file. End notes should accompany works in lieu of embedded footnotes. Please consult The COMMANDING GENERAL & COMMANDANT Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition, for endnote style. MAJOR GENERAL KURT L. SONNTAG Articles that require security clearance should be cleared by the author’s chain of command prior to submission. A memo of the security clearance should be forwarded EDITOR with article. If the article talks about a specific theater special operations command, the article will be forwarded to the TSOC for clearance. JANICE BURTON PHOTO AND GRAPHIC SUBMISSIONS: Special Warfare welcomes photo ART DIRECTOR submissions featuring Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and/or Special Forces JENNIFER G. ANGELO Soldiers. Ensure that all photographs are reviewed and released by the unit public affairs officer prior to submission. PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER Special Warfare accepts only high-resolution (300 dpi or greater) digital photos; be sure to include a caption and photographer’s credit. Do not send photos within MAJOR LONI AYERS PowerPoint slides or Word documents. Photos, graphics, tables and charts that accompany articles should be submitted in separate files from the manuscript (no embedded graphics). SUBMISSION REVIEW AND PUBLICATION: All submissions will be reviewed in a timely manner. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we cannot reply to every submission. However, we do review and appreciate every submission. If your content meets the goals and requirements, we will be in touch. There is only one editor on staff and while in edit or layout phase of the upcoming magazine, new submissions will not be reviewed until complete. Please note that submitted content is not guaranteed to be published in Special Warfare. There are several factors that determine what content is ultimately published including time and space availability, the approved editorial outline and theme, as well as relevance to the Special Warfare target audience and mission. U.S. ARMY JOHN F. KENNEDY Special Warfare reserves the right to edit all contributions. Special Warfare will SPECIAL WARFARE CENTER AND SCHOOL attempt to afford authors an opportunity to review the final edited version; requests for The Special Operations Center of Excellence changes must be received by the given deadline. No payment or honorarium is authorized for publication of articles or photographs. MISSION The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Material appearing in Special Warfare is considered to be in the public domain and is Special Warfare Center and School, The Special not protected by copyright unless it is accompanied by the author’s copyright notice. Operations Center of Excellence, assesses, Published works may be reprinted, except where copyrighted, provided credit is given selects, trains and educates disciplined Civil to Special Warfare and the authors. Affairs, Psychological Operations and Special Forces warriors and leaders, and develops FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SUBMIT ARTICLES FOR doctrine and capabilities to support the full CONTACT THE SPECIAL WARFARE CONSIDERATION TO: range of military operations — providing our STAFF AT: E-mail: [email protected] nation with a highly educated, innovative and adaptive force. Commercial: (910) 432-5703 or via regular mail: USAJFKSWCS; Attn: AOJK-PAO; VISION Forging experts in special warfare DSN: 239-5703 Editor, Special Warfare to adapt and succeed in a complex, E-mail: [email protected] 3004 Ardennes St, Stop A multi-dimensional world through Fort Bragg, NC 28310 innovative training and education. Special Warfare is an authorized, official not supersede any information presented Published works may be reprinted, except By order of the Secretary of the Army: quarterly publication of the United States in other official Army publications. where copyrighted, provided credit is Dr. Mark T. Esper Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare given to Special Warfare and the authors. Articles, photos, artwork and letters are Official: Center and School, Fort Bragg, N.C. Its invited and should be addressed to Editor, Official distribution is limited to active and mission is to promote the professional Special Warfare, USAJFKSWCS, 3004 Ar- reserve special operations units. Individu- development of special operations forces dennes St., Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310. als desiring private subscriptions should by providing a forum for the examination Telephone: DSN 239-5703, commercial forward their requests to: Superintendent GERALD B O’KEEFE of established doctrine and new ideas. (910) 432-5703, fax 432-6950 or send e- of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Administrative Assistant to the Views expressed herein are those of the mail to [email protected]. Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Special Secretary of the Army authors and do not necessarily reflect of- Special Warfare reserves the right to edit Warfare is also available on the Internet 18030604 ficial Army position. This publication does all material. (https://www.soc.mil/swcs/swmag/). Headquarters, Department of the Army “The goal is effective enforcement and interdicition across from the land, sea and air to COMMANDANT degrade transnational In September 2014, I had the great honor of taking command of the U.S. criminal organizations, Special Operations Command-South. Having spent much of my career and to do these things operating in the Middle East and Africa, the move to SOCSOUTH was an eye-opening experience. The enduring relationships between special while still facilitating operations Soldiers and their counterparts in the SOCSOUTH area of the flow of lawful operations is the picture of the relationships SOF should form with their trade, travel and partners around the world. There is a rich shared history in countries like Panama, Colombia and commerce across El Salvador. Many of our now retired Special Forces Soldiers cut their teeth our borders.” training partner-nation forces at the Jungle School and the Airborne School. — Homeland Security's Later, they learned about insurgency in the mountains of El Salvador and the Southern Border and countryside of Colombia. Approaches Campaign The Soldiers of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) have built solid, long-term relationships with our partners in Colombia. The relationship dates back to the formation of the Lancero School in 1956, after Colombian forces joined American forces fighting in Korea under the United Nations. Our noncommissioned officers and officers have enabled the Colombian formations to mature and have watched today’s Colombian special operations leadership grow through the ranks. The Colombians, as well as the El Salvadoran forces we have trained, are now stepping up and exporting security around the world. Traveling throughout the area of operation, you can feel a sense of kinship between American special operations forces and their counterparts. It’s one that is built in the jungles, on the rivers and in the mountains of these countries, and those relationships are important. We will call on these relationships as we seek to defend our Southern Approach from multiple threat networks that seek to build instability in the region. KURT L. SONNTAG MAJOR GENERAL, USA COMMANDING GENERAL 04 Special warfare | WWW.SOC.MIL/SWCS/SPECIALWARFARE 01 FROM THE EDITOR In the Spring of 2012, Special Approved hotels for