Army Special Forces command decides to disband elite units

The US Army Special Forces will be disbanding the Crisis Response Forces from within their ranks, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Initially, a company reserved for the finest of Green Berets who specialize in Direct Action and Hostage Rescue missions, the CRF companies will be stood down and their assets distributed among the Special Forces Groups.

The decision was made by the First Special Forces Command, who determined that CRFs are not being used enough- and there simply aren’t enough operators to go around.

In an exclusive interview with SOFREP, one senior CRF member said that “the CRF hasn’t been gainfully employed since the end of 2011, and other than that, the National Mission Force [Joint Special Operations Command] can get there just as fast. That’s why all of the other ones are on the chopping block.

In short, there are plenty of tier 1 units that can handle the job, and maintaining CRF teams is expensive.

The move appears to be linked aligned with a change of doctrine from counterinsurgency to unconventional warfare, which is a larger part of the strategy change to deal with near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China.