Irregular Warfare

Irregular warfare is emerging as a dominant form of warfare for the future. Yet irregular warfare, at its root, contains many of the characteristics found on today's battlefront in Afghanistan and Iraq and in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). At the forefront of the GWOT and irregular warfare is United States Special Operation Command (USSOCOM) and special operations forces (SOF). As the designated lead for GWOT and the primary lead for irregular warfare, USSOCOM is the leading force in the emerging operational environment. Yet as SOF's relevancy increases, SOF integration continues to suffer within joint Service integration. The root of this required cultural integration begins with joint professional military education (JPME). As a primary player in the future operational environment and the required total joint force integration, special operations must take a leading role in professional military education (PME), yet the current architecture of JPME does not facilitate or include this required SOF integration. This blending is critical to the success of our future joint force and requires potential Congressional action as the Defense Department, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and all Services adopt specific directives for SOF integration allowing "service-like" equality to USSOCOM for the purpose of JPME.