Armed Forces Research Paper

In the defense department there are six branches of the armed forces. The six branches include The US Marine Corps, The US Army, The US Navy, The US Air Force, The US Coast Guard, and The US Special Operations Command. Out of the six branches in the armed forces The US Special Operations Command sticks out the most. The US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, consists of the elite and finest members of all other five branches of the armed forces. It is the most unrecognized and underrated armed forces branch in America, because of the secrecy of their missions. Their structure, background of how they were formed, their mission statement, and where they fall under in the Department of Defense are unlike the other branches. The Us Special Operations …show more content…
However, this branch was not created until 1987. The branch does not have a secretary in charge of the budget, and officer from the Department of Defense is put in charge of the budget. When first crated this branch was to train, command, and control all of the Special Forces. Their mission statement before 9/11 was to provide guidelines for Special Forces, create courses to train, ensure capability of forces by training, monitors over forces when assigned to other branches, and obtain materials needed to run and operate the Special Forces. After 9/11 they handed over the training to training to create the elite members to the other branches. Once trained, they were then trained by SOCOM for the missions of the branch. Though they still have to ensure capability of the force, develop their own method of training, create courses for training, and provide materials needed for running the force. There main mission and top priority after 9/11 was to maintain the original mission, but to primary fight the war on terror with a majority of their resources (Aftergood and Pike, N.A).
After the September 11 attacks SOCOM was put into place to reduce the numbers of terror organizations as well as decrease or destroy Al Qaeda. This branch was the first to lay boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Their technique and skill were able to defeat the Taliban, and decrease the strength of Al Qaeda in the area. This effort allowed …show more content…
With all six branches already fighting for funding and most of the money going to technology and weapons. The armed forces branch of SOCOM does not manage their own budget and therefore has to play ever card they can get if they are to continue new an ongoing missions to battle terrorism. Especially when dealing with the ongoing threat of IRIS. Since manpower is the first to get cut when the budget is shrunk SOCOM will be low just like the other branches. SOCOM gets their members from other branches therefore if manpower downsizes so will there branch since the other branches will be fighting for the manpower they have. Either SOCOM fights for more money for manpower or money for weapons to be able to fight with less manpower. SOCOM despite their Homeland Security connections still needs to defend and prove why they need more money from the budget. Even if the War on Terror continues with a limited budget to fight ISIS. They are still expected to make up for the loss of man, and money. SOCOM will have to re-evaluate how to handle their mission with the additional of limited resources. SOCOM like the Army relies heavily on manpower to be able to do operations in the Middle East. With the budget cuts SOCOM will also have to figure out what strategic operations they will still be able to do in the Middle East. While being low on manpower and helping to train oversees