Special operations forces are increasingly being key to US military operations. The April 2004 issue of National Defense Magazine features an article calling for increased cultural sensitivity. The motivation is entirely pragmatic.
Schwartz advocates creating “purpose-filled” organizations. Tactical units should possess both human intelligence and signals intelligence capabilities, scientific and analytical skills. Information operations should be emphasized, and, most importantly, SOF units should have “a cultural advisor or facilitator function,” he said.
SOF needs to recruit and select personnel with the right language and ethnic background for the regions around the world where they conduct operations. Knowledge of the cultural, social and behavior patterns of the adversary “would be an incredible power for SOF,” he said...
SOF needs will be met best by “tapping into information that can only be provided by locals. We must improve our ability to exploit that,” Schwartz said. To break through cultural barriers, SOF units must include troops from multiple ethnic backgrounds.
Increased cultural sensitivity would enable winning over hearts and minds at the tactical level, as well as providing a more accurate picture of how to defeat the adversary's will to fight. Sun Tzu's dictum to know the enemy still holds to this day.
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