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Special Operations Center of Excellence
Organizational Chart
Organization
SOCoE is a direct reporting unit to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, or USASOC, and has a close working relationship with U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, as a training center. SOCoE also works closely with the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion, or SORB, which is responsible for recruiting Soldiers from within the Army for the CA, PSYOP and SF regiments. The SOCoE command comprises a headquarters element, the center which consists of one directorate and the school which consists of five training units.
1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne)
The 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) develops U.S. Army Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Soldiers by providing superior entry-level through advanced training and education. The SWTG serves as the center of gravity for SOF institutional training, ensuring that we develop our special operators with the best capabilities available to produce a full-spectrum special-operations force prepared to work independently or as part of a combined, joint, interagency effort through or with indigenous partner forces to address the diverse range of threats posed by an uncertain 21stcentury environment.
1st Battalion: Trains entry-level Special Forces Soldiers to succeed in combat on a SFODA. The training consists of tactical combat skills that include squad through company level tactics, Level C survival techniques enabling students to apply the Code of Conduct in order to survive and return home with honor, basic military occupational specialty (MOS) training and unconventional warfare (UW) instruction conducted in urban and rural locations throughout central North Carolina.
2nd Battalion: Trains SOF and other selected personnel in advanced special-operations skills, techniques, tactics and procedures in CONUS. Implements and evaluates associated doctrine, then deploys military training teams worldwide in support of regional combatant commanders and DoD missions.
3rd Battalion: Trains and educates Army officers, NCOs and Advanced Individual Traning Soldiers in Civil Affairs operations.
4th Battalion: Utilizing the Instructor ODAs (IODAs) and ODBs they trains, advise, manage, counsel, and provide mentorship to all assigned Students (US and Foreign) in the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) in order to produce expertly trained and well-prepared Special Forces Soldiers.
5th Battalion: Trains and educates Army officers, NCOs and Advanced Individual Training Soldiers in Military Information Support operations.
6th Battalion: Trains and educates Green Berets, Joint Special Operations Forces and other selected interagency personnel to conduct specialized intelligence and operational activities in order to provide them an unmatched capability to understand and address the diverse threats of the 21st century.
Support Battalion: Sustains the training force through the forecast and management of eight fundamental commodities consisting of communication and electronic, armament, aerial delivery, transportation, food service, publications, facilities and CIF. In concert with the commodities, the Support Battalion oversees a number of logistics-management programs that enhance training efforts. The SOCoE Personnel Action Center is a human-resource and academic-records company integrated with Installation Management to provide personnel-service support for the more than 3,500 students annually entering the Special Warfare Center. The Support Battalion has a support detachment forward to support the separate entities training at Camp Mackall and encompasses transportation, maintenance, food service, armament, C&E and installation support.
Special Warfare Education Group (Airborne)
The Special Warfare Education Group (Airborne) or SWEG(A) is located in Bank Hall and is responsible for assessing, selecting, and educating U.S. Army Civil Affairs (CA), Psychological Operations (PSYOP), and Special Forces (SF) Soldiers and civilians throughout their careers by providing relevant instruction and professional development in order to possess the capability to succeed in any global region.
SWEG(A) is divided into a Headquarters Company and four departments: Academic Affairs and Education, Regional Studies, Human Dynamics, and Language.
Human Dynamics Department: Conducts the Army Special Operation Forces Assessment and Selection and Screening Course Programs in Civil Affairs, Military Information Support Operations, Special Forces, and Cultural Support. Human Dynamics also supports learning and performance enhancement through the Special Operations Center for Enhanced Performance (SOCEP); through Tactical Human Optimization, Rapid Rehabilitation, and Reconditioning (THOR3); and through Adaptive Thinking and Leadership courses and training enhancement.
Academic Affairs and Education Department: supports Army Special Operation Forces Soldiers (ARSOF) in attaining their AA, BA, MA, or PhD. The department also provides instructor training and certification through the Special Operations Instructors Courses as well as conducting professional military education programs through the Captain's Career Course and the Pre-Command Course. Contact an education couselor for additional information.
Regional Studies Department: Offers both a foundational introduction to the systems approach to regional analysis and cultural competencies and an intermediate course that is a country-focused cross-cultural communications studies in a regional and global context. These regional study courses are taught within the language courses, as part of the Qualification courses, and in support of the Culture Support Training course (CST).
Language Department: Provides Basic Language instruction for all the Special Operations Qualification Courses in thirteen core languages (Spanish, French, Indonesian, Thai, Tagalog, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Dari, Pashto, Arabic, Persian-Farsi, and Urdu). This course is 24 weeks long and designed to give the student a basic speaking and listening proficiency level on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The Language Department also offers an Intermediate Level Course of instruction in seven of the core languages which is designed to bring the student to the next level of proficiency on the OPI and the Defense Language Proficiency Test. The Language Department also provides language sustainment and enhancement programs throughout the careers of ARSOF Soldiers.
Special Warfare Medical Group (Airborne)
The Special Warfare Medical Group, in association with the Naval Special Operations Medical Institute (NSOMI), compose the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center (JSOMTC). The JSOMTC educates and trains the full spectrum of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Combat Medics through superior teaching and instruction based on educational goals and curriculum development that is synchronized with the requirements of the force. The JSOMTC creates well-educated and professionally trained SOF combat medics with a solid understanding of the knowledge and skills required by the force to provide standard of care medical treatment, regardless of the conditions. This ensures they have a thorough foundation in medicine which fosters a career of life-long learning in order to adapt to ever-changing medical challenges posed by an uncertain operational environment.
Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute
The Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute is an adaptive and collaborative learning institution that provides the most current and relevant professional military education for SF warrant officers at every level of their career in support of operational requirements. The Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute supports all of the lifelong learning requirements of both warrant officer candidates and senior warrant officers in the 180A MOS. The institute educates, mentors, trains and appoints warrant-officer candidates to the grade of WO1 as well as provides education and training to senior warrant officers at key points in their career. The institute produces highly capable combat leaders and innovative planners capable of planning and executing SF missions.
The Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification (SF WOTTC) is conducted in three iterations each year. The 16-week class results in the appointment and qualification of selected Special Forces Soldiers as WO1s in MOS 180A. The SFWOTTC, conducted at the SOCoE and School's Warrant Officer Institute, conducts Army BOLC and Special Forces proponent based MEL 7 training and education to provide the force with skilled assistant detachment commanders.
The Special Forces Warrant Officer Advanced Course (SFWOAC) provides proponent-based MEL 6 professional military education to mid-grade SF WOs to prepare them to serve as operational level planners and operations officers in SF units, component commands, joint task forces and joint staffs as subject-matter experts in unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense.
David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Officer Academy
The Master Sergeant David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Officer Academy, United States Army Special Operations Center of Excellence serves as the premier generating force for implementing the ARSOF Warrior Leader Course (WLC), and for design and development of the CMFs 37 and 38 Advanced Leader Courses (ALC), and CMFs 18, 37, and 38 Senior Leader Courses (SLC). NCOA ensures the highest quality of training, education and professional development for all Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) NCOs. The USAJFKSWCS NCOA is accredited and recognized by TRADOC and USASMA as an Institution of Excellence.
The USAJFKSWCS NCOA prepares Soldiers for the rank of Sergeant through Master Sergeant and conducts NCOES in three distinct ARSOF CMFs. The NCOA trains all CMF 18, 37 and 38 series Soldiers who have not completed WLC prior to attending their qualification course. Soldiers receive warrior focused leadership, situational, and physical fitness training to prepare them for the rigors and requirements to successfully complete their ARSOF qualification courses. NCOA Facilitators are precision focused on preparing Soldiers to develop a winning mindset and mentor them to understand their future role as an ARSOF Warrior and Leader through academic excellence.
The SOCoE ARSOF WLC is conducted as a stand-alone course and is fully accredited by USASMA as meeting and exceeding Army WLC standards. Soldiers will be enrolled in SSD-2 upon the start of their Q-Course and ALC (complete) credit is awarded upon successful completion of ARSOF qualification courses.
The SOCoE NCOA also trains legacy CMF 37 series Soldiers in Advanced Leader Course requirements. The ALC course prepares these NCOs to return to their units and effectively operate as a member of their detachment and is another foundational block in their NCOES training.
The CMF 18 (SF), 37 (PSYOP), and 38 (CA) Senior Leader Courses are each 6 weeks in duration to enhance operational readiness with a combined Unconventional Warfare (UW) CPX for all ARSOF CMFs. The SOCoE NCOA is one of the only NCOAs to fully implement the Army Learning Model (ALM) into NCOES. With the instructors as the center of gravity, the NCOA produces a more adaptive, flexible and intuitive NCO that is capable of performing and leading in the most challenging operational environments. The NCOA will continue to be at the forefront in using combinations of emerging technologies and experiential learning, student-centered, peer-to-peer interaction, and ALM classroom instruction to achieve superior results. The NCOA will continue to collaborate with ARSOF Regimental Commands and Proponency offices and will continue to evolve to meet and exceed U.S. Army and ARSOF leadership requirements.
Directorate of Training and Doctrine
The Directorate of Training and Doctrine, or DOTD, is a relatively new organization at the SOCoE. Formed as a result of the 2011 Optimization, the DOTD is a hybrid organization that deals with doctrine, personnel proponency and the future training, leadership, and education needs of the Army Special Operations Forces. It is comprised of the former Directorate of Training and Doctrine, Directorate of Special Operations Proponency and the Army Special Operations Capability Integration Center.
Currently, in the DOTD there are three Branch proponents, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operartions and Special Forces and for ARSOF over arching requirements there are three major elements; ARSOCIC, Personnel Policy and Programs (PPP), Training, Leader Development and Education (TLDE).
Branch Proponents (CA, PSYOP, & SF)
The new Branch Proponent Directorates within the DOTD were built using as a base the former DOTD Doctrine divisions and the integration of the branch sections from the former Training Development Division (TDD) and from the Directorate of Personnel Proponency. Each proponent is responsible for its branch's force modernization, which consists of personnel, doctrine and training development.
Civil Affairs Proponent: Develops and designs Civil Affairs doctrine for field manuals, Soldier training publications, mission training plans, combined-arms training strategies, graphic training aids and instructional videos. It develops training and doctrine for the planning and execution of Civil Affairs operations, to include CMO staff officers and sections, the Civil Military Operations Center and CA units and teams. It assesses current doctrine and develops emerging doctrine based on mission requirements and the needs of the force. It undertakes the development of future doctrinal concepts for CA.
Psychological Operations Proponent: Provides expert analysis, design and development of new, prioritized and relevant doctrine and unit collective tasks for the ARSOF and conventional PSYOP force. The division researches, writes and manages doctrine and training-related publications, ensuring that literature products are consistent with joint, interagency, intergovernmental, multinational (JIIM) and Army doctrinal and training literature publications and other products. MIS Division provides the coordinated proponent position and subject-matter expertise to external agencies and functions as the technical review authority for joint PSYOP doctrine.
Special Forces Proponent: Develops, writes and publishes Special Forces doctrine, with emphasis on core tasks, advanced skills, personnel recovery, TTPs and individual and collective training products. This doctrine is made available to the force through field manuals; Army tactics, techniques, and procedure manuals; Soldier training publications; mission training plans; combined-arms training strategies; graphic training aids; and instructional videos. The division continuously assesses and, if required, updates current doctrine and develops emerging doctrine based on the mission requirements and needs of the force.
Each of the proponents also conducts analysis, design, development and internal evaluation for Civil Affairs (CA), Psychological Operations (PSYOP) and Special Forces (SF) officer and enlisted institutional individual training and education in support of SWCS's proponent responsibilities. It researches, identifies and analyzes operational requirements and matches training systems and resources to ensure that CA, PSYOP and SF qualification courses and advanced-skills graduates are prepared to execute missions tied to desired operational capabilities and the demands of full-spectrum operations. It designs and develops education and training, incorporating professional development and instructional techniques and strategies for synchronous and asynchronous instruction utilizing adult and active learning, and outcome based methodologies. TDD manages the internal curriculum review boards (CRB) process to verify and/or adjust the curriculum, based on changing mission needs, lessons learned, and/or new equipment. It reviews and provides input to other branch, service or joint courses that refer to or require input concerning ARSOF training and leader development. It ensures that new systems, equipment, simulators, simulations and training devices are introduced as soon as available to improve training effectiveness. It creates, updates and manages the curriculum content for the SOCoE Learning Managements System.
Critical to the success of our branches is the personnel life cycle functions to develop and implement plans, programs and policies for both active and reserve components to ensure the personnel readiness of our three regiments
Army Special Operations Capabilities Integration Center
The mission of the Army Special Operations Capabilities Integration Center (ARSOCIC) is to conduct future ARSOF requirements and capabilities analysis, concept development, experimentation and war games and Joint/Army Doctrine Integration and development.
The ARSOCIC is composed of three functional divisions: ARSOF Future Capabilities Division, Concept Development and Experimentation Division and Joint/Army Doctrine Integration Division.
ARSOF Future Capabilities Division: Identifies future Theater Special Operations Command (TSCO) capacity and capability requirements as they pertain to ARSOF, and ensures coordination and integration with joint SOF requirements as established by USSOCOM.
Concept Development and Experimentation: Manages the development of the ARSOF concept framework, which includes supporting the development of the capstone concept, the operating concept and any functional concepts deemed necessary. It also manages the integration of ARSOF aspects into all relevant Army and joint concepts and ensure that ARSOF contributions are included to support Department of Defense and whole-of-government efforts to achieve national strategic objectives.
Joint Army Doctrine Integration Division: Joint and Army Doctrine Integration Division develops and designs the ARSOF capstone and two keystone field manuals. It develops and designs supporting ARSOF doctrine. It coordinates and integrates ARSOF doctrine with the joint, combined, multi-service and Army wide doctrinal and training literature publications. It serves as the executive agent for DOTD for foreign internal defense, irregular warfare and the staffing and review of all external (combined, joint, multiservice, and Army) non-proponent doctrine with ARSOF implications. JA collects, analyzes, disseminates and integrates relevant ARSOF observations, insights, and lessons (OIL) into doctrine and training references. It develops the combined-arms training strategies for FID, Rangers and the Sustainment Brigade.
ARSOF Training, Leader Development, and Education
Training, Leader Development, and Education (TLDE): TLDE has three major functions: ARSOF common professional military education (PME) support across the life-long learning model for officers, warrant officers and noncommissioned officers; Training Capabilities Management (TCM), which is focused on distributive learning, computer-based instruction and the virtual mission rehearsal tool suites; and Training Management Office (TMO).
PME researches ARSOF leadership training and education gaps and develops corrective solutions. It conceptualizes, designs and develops adaptive thinking and leadership training and educational materials; and it maintains mutually supportive leadership-development efforts with joint, interagency and inter-governmental personnel. Also, it provides training and education technical assistance to the 160th SOATC Training Battalion for institutional individual training and partners with the Combined Arms Center SOF Element to ensure that ARSOF intermediate-level education (ILE) objectives meet the needs of the operational force. TCM provides capabilities support to ARSOF collective training and institutional training, education and leader development in the form of doctrinally correct interactive multimedia instruction and other learning technologies. Develops interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) products, computer-based instruction (CBI), distributive learning (dL) products and integrates the material into the institutional training process where appropriate. TCM also collaborates with SOCOM and Army organizations to ensure the learning appropriate technologies are integrated into our courses. TMO provides staff supervision, analysis, coordination and system administration of the Training Requirements Analysis System (TRAS), the Automated Systems Approach to Training (ASAT), automated task management, individual and collective task management, centralized test control, Institutional Training Resource Model (ITRM) and Combined Arms Training Strategy (CATS) for the DOTD.
ARSOF Personnel Policies and Programs Center
Personnel Policies and Programs (PPP): Critical to the success of our branches is the personnel life cycle functions to develop and implement plans, programs and policies for both active and reserve components to ensure the personnel readiness of our three regiments. PPP supports ARSOF by providing strategic guidance, direction, recommendations and products involving ARSOF personnel, manpower and other overarching lifelong personnel management programs.
Other sections within the DOTD
Media Production Division (MPD): Media Production Division manages the translation of complex training and doctrine concepts into doctrinal products that help Army special-operations forces Soldiers accomplish their missions. The division has two interconnected branches: The Editorial Branch edits Army manuals and supporting training products, coordinating with external Army organizations for programming, authentication, publication and distribution. The Visual Information Branch develops graphics for the manuals and associated training products.
Directorate Management Office (DMO): DMO supports the directorate by providing strategic guidance, direction, recommendations and end products involving the following programs: budget, civilian and military personnel, manpower, information management, taskings, facilities and other overarching programs.