Attrition: February 22, 2004

Archives

SOCOMs (Special Operations Command) highly trained Rangers, Special Forces and commandoes have a reputation for inflicting heavy casualties, and not taking many in return. Over 5,000 SOCOM troops were operating in Iraq during 2003, and ten were killed in action (five Rangers, two Special Forces, two Air Force and one Army support troops). There was a larger number of wounded, but this number was not released. SOCOM troops avoid casualties through thorough planning, high training levels and excellent team work. Throughout history, the more skilled and better trained troops have consistently won lopsided victories and taken fewer casualties than their opponents. SOCOM deliberately follows in that tradition. But because of the selective nature of such units, you can never have many troops of this quality. SOCOM has about 10,000 "operators" (combat troops) and has a hard time recruiting enough qualified new people to replace those retiring or moving on to other military or civilian jobs. SOCOM also has 35,000 support troops, most of whom were also carefully selected and trained.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close