SOF Imperatives

Since our beginnings as the Office of Strategic Services in World War II, to our involvement in the recent wars of Afghanistan and Iraq, Special Forces has applied a set of principles which sets us apart from everyone else in the military. These rules have enabled us as Special Forces soldiers to operate successfully for many years. The Special Operations Forces (SOF) Imperatives help us to better understand our friends and enemies and force us to take a hard look at our strategies. In the book, The Ugly American, by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, there are many excellent examples of characters who used the SOF Imperatives very well and others who chose to ignore them altogether. The characters providing the best examples of the SOF

The first imperative he displayed was considering the long-term effects. When Atkins asked Jeepo to go into business with him to produce pumps to assist with irrigation, the local populace took notice. The product the villagers received from Atkins and Jeepo’s partnership was only a by-product of what the partnership represented. Because the product they produced was so successful, coupled with its construction under a fair agreement with an American, it assisted in improving their perceptions regarding Americans. Before this business venture, the villagers held little faith in white Americans. The long-term effects from this success will live on in their invention, making it difficult for successful communists to discrediting Americans in the future. This brings me to the second SOF imperative shown by Atkins, which was ensuring long-term sustainment. Atkins always kept in mind that his invention must always incorporate equipment and supplies readily available to the villagers. By enlisting the help of Jeepo and his knowledge of what the people could actually use, the pair found a creative way to harness local mechanisms to reach their goal and reduced the villager’s reliance on external

Finian believes Communism is a great evil that takes advantage of the poor and those in political strife. He takes this opportunity in Burma as a challenge to affect the situation. He insists on living with the locals and eating their food, even though he becomes painfully ill from doing so. He immerses himself in the culture and learns the language. Finian then recruits nine Catholics who also have a great distaste for communism. He holds a meeting with them and presents a series of questions to the nine, which leads them to draw their own conclusions on how to attack the communists. As the days go on, he continues to hold meetings with the nine, which leads them to further develop plans to undo the communist’s efforts. The men develop their plans, produce propaganda, and gather intelligence on the local communists. Their efforts culminate with an edited radio broadcast of a local communist leaders secret meeting. In the broadcast, the man states the communists must criticize the Burmese government and create division for communism to take hold of the area. This is the final blow, and with this, Father Finian’s nine men defeat the communist’s efforts in