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)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.