SOCCE-Kuwait: establishing long-term military-to-military relationships

In March 2003, during the final days of the United States preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. forces crossed the desert of Kuwait and passed smoothly through the Kuwaiti lines of defense. While the operation was apparently seamless, it might have been extremely difficult had it not been preceded by years of training and rapport-building between U.S. Special Forces and the forces of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense. The success of the U.S.-Kuwaiti training relationship is due in large part to a forward-positioned, permanently deployed U.S. element in Kuwait, the Special Operations Command and Control Element-Kuwait, or SOCCE-KU.

SOCCE-KU was formed Sept. 15, 1997, when the commander of the U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, approved a proposal to establish permanent special-operations command-and-control elements, or SOCCEs, in Kuwait and Bahrain. (1) SOCCE-Bahrain later evolved into another headquarters, but SOCCE-KU has remained relevant as a subset of CENTCOM's theater-engagement strategy. Although SOCCE-KU now focuses on its liaison function, the history of its operations provides an example of the value of the continuous presence of U.S. special-operations forces, or SOF, in CENTCOM's area of responsibility.

Background

The primary impetus for maintaining a continuous SOF presence in Kuwait was the need to conduct Exercise Iris Gold, a training mission performed predominantly by soldiers from the 5th SF Group but also supported periodically by soldiers from the 3rd, 19th and 20th SF groups. Managed by the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based Security Assistance Training Management Office and by the Office of Military Cooperation-Kuwait (in coordination with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense), Iris Gold was an aspect of the U.S. program of foreign military sales with Kuwait.

Iris Gold came into existence shortly after the liberation of Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It was initially imbedded within a larger exercise, Operation Intrinsic Action, which was later renamed Operation Desert Spring, or ODS. During the ODS scenario, a brigade combat team and an SF company, with its six SF A-detachments, deployed to Camp Doha, Kuwait, in support of CENTCOM's land-component commander during contingencies related to the defense of Kuwait.

SF tasks during ODS included foreign internal defense, or FID, and coalition support. In the event of combat operations, SF coalition-support teams, or CSTs, would provide connectivity between CENTCOM's land-component commander and selected brigades and battalions of the Kuwaiti Land Force. When alerted, the three-man CSTs would move to their predetermined brigade or battalion assignments to serve as liaisons between Kuwaiti ground forces and U.S. forces or headquarters of U.S. ground troops.

The primary function of Iris Gold was to allow U.S. forces to conduct regular training with the forces of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense and forge lasting military-to-military relationships. Those relationships would enable U.S. and Kuwaiti forces to make a quick transition to coalition-support operations in the event that combat operations again became necessary for deterring threats to Kuwait's sovereignty.

Before SOCCE-KU was established, SF advanced operating bases, or AOBs, deploying to Kuwait were required to work within Camp Doha's complex logistics structure without the benefit of any institutional knowledge of the systems or any familiarity with key Camp Doha personnel. The AOBs' missions consequently met with limited success. In order to acquire the necessary support while they were deployed to Kuwait, the AOBs were often forced to depend upon their own initiative and the generosity of the Camp Doha staff. When the AOB redeployed, the interpersonal rapport that it had developed with the Camp Doha garrison evaporated and had to be re-established by the next SF unit.

The establishment of SOCCE-KU created a permanent SOF presence in Kuwait that would take the burden of logistical and administrative coordination from the rotating SF unit. SOCCE-KU's presence as a tenant unit at Camp Doha also facilitated the flow of communication regarding force-protection measures and general information about the garrison.

SOCCE-KU's specified mission set encompasses four complex responsibilities: systemic continuity; organizational liaison; foreign internal defense, or FID; and command and control, or [C.sup.2], of combat forces. Applicable in peace, conflict or war, the mission tasks may be executed simultaneously, individually, in multiple pairs or in sequential order, depending upon the level of conflict.

Systemic continuity

SOCCE-KU was established for maintaining professional, redundant, long-term relationships with key Kuwaiti personnel, units and organizations in the vicinity of Camp Doha. Those relationships are focused on the administrative and logistics functions that are provided by Army Central Command-Kuwait, as well as by the staff of the 3rd U.S. Army's land component commander, referred to during combat operations as the coalition forces land-component commander, or CFLCC.

SOCCE-KU also fosters the development of host-nation military-to-military contacts and civilian contacts. The relationships thus formed with units and individuals in Kuwait have assisted SOCCE-KU in coordinating logistical and administrative support for units that are forward-deployed in or near Kuwait. SOCCE-KU also performs liaison with other U.S. SOF stationed in Kuwait in order to share information and to deconflict operations.

Organizational liaison

As a subordinate command of the Special Operations Command-Central Command, or SOCCENT, SOCCE-KU has a mandate to tell the SOCCENT story. SOCCE-KU is charged with conveying to various audiences the operations, plans and intent of the SOCCENT commander, as well as demonstrating the professional capabilities, prowess and maturity of SOF NCOs. SOCCE-KU's liaison function also includes providing relevant information from the land-component commander back to SOCCENT.

In March 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, SOCCE-KU served as the foundation of a wartime liaison cell that communicated information between SOCCENT and CENTCOM's CFLCC. This expanded liaison cell included sub-cells that represented each of the key subordinate components of SOC CENT. Each sub-cell was led by an Army SF colonel or a Navy special-warfare commander. Each sub-cell also had 3-5 additional SOF personnel so that it could provide 24-hour liaison support. A senior Army SF colonel, SOCCENT's senior liaison with the CFLCC, synchronized the efforts of the liaison sub-cells.

FID

During peace and conflict, SOCCE-KU has executed the SF mission of FID through Exercise Iris Gold. More than a training mission, Iris Gold was the bridge by which SF units established long-term military-to-military relationships that would allow them to quickly transition from being trainers to being partners with Kuwaiti forces during coalition-support operations.

In coordination with the Office of Military Cooperation-Kuwait, the U.S. Embassy and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense, SOCCE-KU ensured that each fiscal year, SF A-detachments conducted four four-week Iris Gold programs of instruction, in accordance with both the desires of the host nation and the restrictions of the FMS program.

During its 12-year history, Iris Gold trained thousands of Kuwaiti soldiers, sailors and airmen. Training typically consisted of instruction in entry-level soldier skills. It focused on skill-level-one tasks such as basic rifle marksmanship, first-aid training, map-reading and land navigation. Additional training courses that the SF soldiers provided to Kuwaiti units included training for senior NCOs and officers on operations orders and on the military decision-making process. The training cycles typically began during the second month of a 90-day deployment. Class sizes varied with each SF detachment, but classes were usually limited to 30 students.

Command and control of CSTs

During combat operations and during Operation Iraqi Freedom, SOCCE-KU is charged with maintaining command and control of the CSTs assigned to work with Kuwaiti land forces, with ensuring the CSTs' combat readiness, and with making prudent distribution of CSTs to appropriate battalions of the Kuwaiti land forces. The CSTs provided two-way connectivity between the Kuwaiti battalions and CENTCOM's land component commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The bond created between Kuwaiti brigades and hundreds of SF teams during the 12 years of Iris Gold training paid huge dividends when CSTs deployed with Kuwaiti forces in December 2002 as a covering force during the defense of Kuwait. The seamless operations of the coalition forces was a direct reflection of the rapport that had been established by SF soldiers during Exercise Iris Gold and of the administrative, technical and operational continuity that has been provided to SF units by SOCCE-KU since 1997.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Joyce is commander of Special Operations Command and Control Element-Kuwait. His previous enlisted and officer assignments in Infantry and Special Forces units include service with the 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger), the 82nd Airborne Division, the 10th SF Group, the 1st Special Warfare Training Group and the US. Army Personnel Command. He was commissioned in 1987 through ROTC upon his graduation from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. He holds master's degrees from Syracuse University (MBA 1997) and the US. Army Command and General Staff College (MMAS 1998). Lieutenant Colonel Joyce is scheduled to assume command of a recruiting battalion during the summer of 2004.

Notes:

(1) Memorandum to SOCCENT, through the U.S. Central Command for USCENTCOM J1, dated 15 September 1997.

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