Improved tools and processes built up over the last decade are allowing US Special Operations Command to be more effective in disrupting violent extremist organizations, said Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Votel, head of Joint Special Operations Command. Key to this jump in capability has been the evolution of the command’s “find, fix, finish, exploit, and analyze” process, Votel told the 2013 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, Fla., on May 16. SOCOM has also continued to strengthen ties with foreign special operations forces around the globe, he said. “We are going to be largely operating by, with, and through our partners in the future,” said Votel. SOCOM has also worked to integrate its forces better so that they are more synchronized with other US military and nonmilitary efforts and “contributing to the greater whole,” he said. (AFPS report by Donna Miles)
A new Air Force organization is searching for counter-drone firms to participate in a dozen or more exercises to help create operating plans by the end of this year for defending the service’s U.S.-based installations from drone attacks.