ASD SO/LIC Reorganized as Office of Strategic Services

In an unexpected and potentially highly consequential move, Derrick Anderson, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict has announced that his office has been renamed the Office of Strategic Services and reorganized into a under-secretarial position. This signifies a major reorientation of DoD policy towards special operations, and may signify an attempt by the Pentagon to assume responsibilities beyond its Title 10 authority.

The historical Office of Strategic Services was the main source of unconventional warfare conducted by the United States during the Second World War, and was the forerunner to both the United States Army Special Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency. Its mission set was bifurcated into those two organizations, which respectively assumed Title 10 (military special operations) and Title 50 (covert action) authorities.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Caine, earlier this year indicated that he would be pursuing such changes to the Joint Force:

This demands that the Joint Force and the interagency always operate as a single, cohesive entity. A globally integrated Joint Force is one that can leverage the best of our Title 10 active duty force, plus Title 50 capabilities and our intelligence community, plus the best of our Title 32 National Guard, plus the best of Title 14 and the Coast Guard, plus Title 22 and the Department of State, plus Title 18 and our law enforcement partners, plus our Allies and partners, and the best of our private sector to achieve the mission.

The elevation to OSS will likely bring greater resources, responsibilities, and potentially scrutiny to this part of the Pentagon.

Read the announcement here