An Unconventional Path: Lieutenant Experiences in USASOC

What follows is a collection of interview questions answered by lieutenants across the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The aim of the article is to better inform cadets, candidates, and other junior officers interested in serving within USASOC of the opportunities and lessons they might find.

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What is your background and how did you find yourself in a SOF assignment?

Lewis: Let me begin by saying “your mileage may vary”, but I am a Signal Lieutenant with one additional conventional force (CF) assignment under my belt.  I served first with the 2d Cav Regiment in Grafenwohr, Germany from 2019 to 2021.  That assignment was originally offered to me as only a two-year assignment, but that left me with another year until I would even be eligible for the Captain’s Career Course.  I used that fact to leverage my branch to provide another assignment, and this (USASOC) opportunity popped up.  I currently serve as both an Operations Officer (XO) and a Detachment Commander in the 3d Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Battalion (Airborne) (Dissemination).  Ultimately, there is a certain element of luck involved in getting your foot in the door, but there are tons of places those opportunities could briefly present themselves.  Like the CF, SOF needs people and is always looking for candidates.

Martinez: I enlisted in 2011 before submitting a packet to attend West Point in 2014. After commissioning in 2018, I spent a year in South Korea as the Distro PL Leader for 2-2 Assault Helicopter Battalion (AHB). My former BC was a Nightstalker and endorsed my packet to assess to join the 160^th SOAR (Abn). Although I wanted to spend another year in Korea, HRC sent me to Fort Jackson to fulfill the Army’s initiative to implement PLs in Basic Combat Training. While there, I received word that my packet was approved and that I could travel to Fort Campbell for my assessment. After performing favorably, I received orders to JBLM. My best advice is to continually put your best foot forward and do not “self-select” yourself out of opportunities. A common prerequisite to a SOF assignment is a packet that your CoC has endorsed. Let your performance speak for itself and don’t tell yourself that you’re not good enough to submit a packet.

What are some opportunities you have been afforded that you feel are unique to SOF?

Baker: While LPDs and joint training exercises can offer unique experiences, as a junior officer, I believe that the most beneficial opportunity that is afforded to you is the ability to operate echelons above your assigned position. As a support company XO within the Ranger Regiment, it’s common practice to coordinate and execute support requirements for the battalion that often outstrip what is commonly seen in a conventional brigade combat team. Seamless integration with the battalion S-4 to develop battalion concepts of support and coordination with units or installations across the globe is common practice for Platoon Leaders and Executive Officers within the Ranger Regiment. Compared with peers in CF assignments, your bandwidth for information processing and task management will far exceed what is commonly expected of junior officers, enabling you to excel within positions at subsequent assignments that are typically billeted for someone above your rank and experience.

Langan: I feel like I have been afforded more opportunities to go on TDY. My unit works with SF Groups and in the past, I was able to visit 5^th Group. During these TDYs I was able to do in-person intel briefs and work with 5^th Group to establish a shared intel picture. Establishing this working relationship during TDYs enables us to work together in the future by continuing to share intel products. Another opportunity I am afforded is having a wide breadth of access to training opportunities for my soldiers and myself. My soldiers can work on intel systems and access intel sources they would not have access to anywhere else. For myself, I feel like I am afforded more intel-related training opportunities.

Nigh: Since arriving at First Special Forces Group (Airborne) (1SFG(A)), I have yet to go more than a week without a new opportunity to learn or grow as a leader. There has been a constant flow of LPDs, local courses, training events, VIP visits, competitions, and informational briefs. Within the last year, I have been able to attend SMU recruiting briefs, observe training with multiple specialized detachments, meet the USASOC CG, sit in on a Group-wide brief on Post-KD CPT broadening assignments, and attend ADPs on A2AD and more. Overall, the opportunities I have been most grateful for have come from being surrounded by extraordinary people. Every day has provided me with a chance to seek advice from or observe a different individual who cares for those around them, loves what they do, and happens to be extremely good at it.

How has your time in SOF affected your understanding of leadership in the Army?

Baker: One of the many benefits of working within the Special Operations community is the caliber of individuals that you work with. Highly intelligent, motivated, self-driven, and extremely capable, these individuals thrive when given an end state and a general set of guidelines. The doctrinal term for this style of leadership is mission command. At its core, mission command allows Soldiers to draw upon their personal experiences and ground-level knowledge to formulate a solution to an issue while meeting the commander’s intent. As junior officers, recognizing where the risk of failure can be assumed with minimal impact to the organization is a critical skill to develop early in your career. By identifying low-risk tasks, you can allow your more junior Soldiers to practice mission command and potentially fail. Failure is not something that should be avoided at all costs but utilized to highlight areas for growth and to promote a desire to attain knowledge and experiences. Through failure, Soldiers become comfortable with being in the position of having to make an “on the ground call” after evaluating the current situation and risks involved in various courses of action. Soldiers who have firsthand experience with failure become comfortable with the prospect of adversity and become more mentally agile.

Long answer short: Empower Soldiers often and allow them to grow through trial-and-error when risk allows.

Lewis: One of the biggest lessons I have gleaned from the SOF community thus far is that no organization, regardless of status, is immune to the ebbs and flows of good and bad leadership.  The strength to be an exceptional leader of Soldiers is truly tested within the PSYOPs community, let alone [in my experience] the SOF community because the margin for error shrinks significantly.  A deployed environment, a split detachment, and a no-fail mission set to increase the stress levels and reveal the true character and priorities of leaders.  As a junior officer in a field-grade-saturated community, my influence is minimal and likely less than any comparable CF community.

What are some differences or similarities you have noticed between CF and SOF?

Nigh: I previously served as a PL in a maintenance company, where I led Soldiers in garrison and on deployment for over a year. I will forever be indebted to my time with the 542D SMC for the lessons it taught me (ie knowing the basics, time management, long-term planning), which I feel still apply now that I am in a SOF unit. That being said, the very nature of my job as XO to a Tech and Info Support Company (TISC) is wholly unique to Special Forces Groups. While junior officers are still expected to know their basic jobs and how to lead Soldiers, I have found that SOF billets call for a much higher level of autonomy, unconventional thinking, and initiative.

Langan: The main difference is the OPTEMPO, with my unit specifically, we provide intel support to all the component subordinate units within 1^st Special Forces Command. This can create an environment of changing mission requirements and create a higher OPTEMPO. Providing intel support to all these units and interacting with these units is unique to being in a SOF unit. As mentioned before, property and maintenance will be constant no matter what unit you are in.

Martinez: The OPTEMPO in SOF will continue to be high and you are still expected to perform; however, you are provided more control and flexibility of your time to accomplish a mission so long as you maintain a much higher standard of your product to the customer. In CF, there are set standard operating procedures; but, in SOF, you are given more autonomy to deal with obstacles from random entities and can exercise unconventional problem-solving. This problem set may be challenging but you’re not restricted to a certain daily timeline to accomplish your tasks as long as your product meets or exceeds standards.

What are some reasons that a junior officer might join your organization?

Lewis: Generally speaking, PSYOPs is not ordinary SOF. The mission of PSYOPs is essentially to provide military intelligence support in an effort to deceive, divert, or otherwise effectively influence the enemy’s decision-making in support of globally aligned military units.  They can do this in a myriad of ways, but my arena is in audio/visual, tailored broadcast, or printed products to be disseminated at the requesting commander’s discretion.  This can be in the form of a TV commercial, handbill, radio show, or combat photographs.  The diversity of support required presents me and my unit with a wide range of challenges from planning and validating training or coordinating team integration to pitching design concepts, all while maintaining a company’s daily battle rhythm.

 Baker: Junior officers who want to join an organization that embodies the team mentality, pushes its members to continuously achieve more, and are comfortable with being uncomfortable need not look any further than the 75^th Ranger Regiment. The Ranger Regiment has a colorful history of producing some of the Army’s brightest and most talented leaders from within its ranks and draws heavily upon its deep and prestigious history. Members of the 75^th Ranger Regiment are expected to be more fit, more intelligent, more capable, and more driven than their peers in any other organization.  As General Creighton W. Abrams stated “There must be within our Army a sense of purpose and dedication to that purpose. There must be a willingness to march a little farther, to carry a heavier load, to step out into the dark and unknown for the safety and wellbeing of others”.

Are there any lessons you wish you would have learned prior to joining a SOF unit?

Martinez: I was operating in a TRADOC unit at Fort Jackson prior to joining SOF, so my transition process was an uphill battle. I had to learn the structure and battle rhythm of a unit that operated drastically different from TRADOC and very little translated from my time as a Distro PL Leader in an AHB. I became a “sponge” and tried to soak in every detail that I could so that I could understand how my new role fit in with our overall mission set. Thankfully, I gained a few mentors who were willing to provide best practices and knowledge on how to survive and thrive as my time in the unit passed. If you find your transition process to be difficult, find and lean on people who want to see you succeed and always ask questions.

Langan: The importance of property and maintenance. No matter what unit you go to property will always be there along with maintenance of your equipment. Regarding property, I wish I learned what items could go on a property book let alone what a property book even looks like. With maintenance, it is critical to make sure vehicles and or equipment are operational. Also, to be accurate and quick to update the commander on maintenance status. This is essential to ensure the commander can make timely decisions to meet mission requirements.  

Nigh: Never be afraid to network or research outside your current position or unit. Effective officers keep one foot in the present and give their all in any position, but they are always sure to have another in the future. Aside from assuring you make the most of your career, expanding your knowledge base and contacts beyond your current assignment and unit will actually make you a more effective leader who is able to offer unconventional solutions to common problems. You bring the sum of who you are into every new job, so remember to start by proving your competency, but after that, the sky is the limit.

For those interested in learning more about positions in USASOC, contact your branch managers or visit the websites below.

SOF Recruiting Page (soc.mil)

 goarmysof.com

The authors can also be reached through 1LT Dylan Nigh at Dylan.w.nigh.mil@socom.mil

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1LT Matthew Langan is a Military Intelligence Officer who is currently serving in the position of Executive Officer (XO) for the Analytical Support Company within the 389th Military Intelligence Battalion. He was commissioned in the spring of 2019 and has deployed as a USSOCOM Exploitation Analyst and has served as a Tactical Intelligence Officer in the 16th Military Police Brigade.

1LT April Martinez is currently serving as the Assistant S4 for 4^th Battalion, 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). She earned a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Since commissioning, LT Martinez has been a platoon leader, executive officer, and staff officer. Outside of the Army, she enjoys practicing photography when traveling or hiking around the Pacific Northwest, exploring different cultures through food, and CrossFit.

Enlisting in 2008 as an infantryman, 1LT Damion Baker was assigned to 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment serving in positions from Rifleman to Assistant Operations Sergeant. Earning a commission in 2018 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA, 1LT Baker branched Quartermaster and was assigned to E FSC, 14 BEB, 2-2 SBCT in JBLM, WA where he served as the Distro PL. 1LT Baker was again assigned to 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in April 2020 where he initially served as the Distro PL before assuming his current role as Echo Company XO. 1LT Baker is married to his wife of 7 years, Amanda Baker, and has two sons.

1LT Mason Lewis is a Signal Officer currently serving dual-seated as a Detachment Commander and Operations Officer (XO) for Bravo Company, 3d Psychological Operations Battalion in Fort Bragg, NC.  After commissioning through Officer Candidate School (OCS) in July 2018, he first served as a Platoon Leader with 2d Cavalry Regiment in support of the Regimental Tactical Operations Center in Grafenwohr, Germany from 2019-2021.

1LT Dylan Nigh is currently serving as the XO in the Technical and Information Support Company (TISC) in First Special Forces Group (Airborne).  He holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from Grand Canyon University and a Master’s in International Relations from Troy University. His time is spent reading, volunteering, exercising, and adventuring with his wife Nikayla.