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Pentagon urges growth in SOCom

How many of the 12,000 new personnel might be sent to MacDill Air Force Base isn't known.

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 7, 2006

TAMPA - The number of elite commando forces serving under the U.S. Special Operations Command should grow by almost a fourth through 2011, says a Pentagon memo.

The Pentagon's long-range budget recommends adding about 12,000 military and civilian personnel to SOCom, which now numbers 51,000.

The increases were outlined in a Dec. 20 memo to service secretaries and regional combat commanders from Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, reports Bloomberg News.

In the memo, England said the increases reflect long-range initiatives in the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review.

This assessment of strategy, threats and forces is near completion and must be sent to President Bush by early next month for release with his fiscal 2007 budget.

Special operations forces include Army Green Berets and Rangers, Navy SEALs, Air Force ground controllers and pilots.

Among the 12,000 new slots to be filled through 2011 are 1,500 Army, Navy, Air Force and civilian personnel to increase the number of counterterrorist "Special Mission Units," and enhance "clandestine insertion/extraction capability."

SOCom's budget has almost doubled under Bush, from $3.6 billion in fiscal 2000 to $6.6 billion in fiscal 2006.

Of the 12,000 new personnel, about 2,600 would be Marines to form a specialized unit.

The rest would be recruited and trained through 2011 and include intelligence, communications and civil affairs specialists and commandos.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:09:14]