Mission Success Requires Special Operations Force in The...

The Special Operations Force (SOF) Imperatives prescribe key operational requirements that Special Forces Soldiers must incorporate into their mission planning and execution for the greatest chance at mission success. The Ugly American is a fictional book first published in 1958 that offers an insight to American arrogance, incompetence, and corruption, but bears a remarkable resemblance of how America stills thinks and functions abroad today. The book portrays characters serving as foreign dignitaries in Southeast Asia whom, for the most part, were grossly ineffective in their duties. A number of these characters served in key positions that could have made a difference in the struggle with communism had they incorporated the SOF†¦show more content†¦This understanding and pre-planning is something that we do during a Pre-Deployment Site Survey (PDSS). From personal experience, I admit that detachments that I have served on weren’t as prepared as Finian. Our PDS S has returned to the detachment with questions left unanswered and I attribute that to a lack of prior understanding of the environment. If prior research is not conducted to understand the full spectrum, there is no way that a thorough site survey can occur. This can lead to an ill-prepared deployment and risk damaging rapport with the host nation. Another imperative that Father Finian displayed was his ability to ensure legitimacy and credibility with the local population. He did so not by showing up as the educated, knowledgeable, and powerful American, but by making himself a peer amongst the locals. Finian knew there were three things that had to happen rather quickly: Find a courageous Catholic, learn the local language, and build an immunity to the local cuisine and water. Finding another Catholic is an obvious must; however, learning the local language and eating the local fare is an imperative that Americans are doing less of as the years go by. Learning the language and eating the food should be an obvious necessity but that’s not the case. Some Americans have the arrogance that English is the superior language of the world and that others should strive to learn it. I say this because one of those AmericansShow MoreRelatedThe Ugly American William J. Lederer And Eugene Burdick2101 Words   |  9 Pageseffective American diplomacy. In The Ugly American William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick comment on the nature of American diplomacy in 1950s Southeast Asia. They identify the characteristics and effects of both inept and skilled diplomacy. The book highlights knowledge of language, history, and culture as critical components to the ability to influence indigenous populations. In many ways the situations and characters described in the book mirror situations and challenges faced by Special OperationsRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesdevelopment of a competitive stance: the potential for ethical conf lict Summary CONTENTS vii Stage Two: Where do we want to be? Strategic direction and strategic formulation 7 Missions and objectives 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Learning objectives Introduction The purpose of planning Establishing the corporate mission Influences on objectives and strategy Guidelines for establishing objectives and setting goals and targets The development of strategies Summary 265 269 271 271 274 277 290 294