Order Code RS22017
Updated December 6, 2006
Special Operations Forces (SOF) and CIA
Paramilitary Operations: Issues for Congress
Richard A. Best Jr. and Andrew Feickert
Specialists in National Defense
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
The 9/11 Commission Report recommended that responsibility for directing and
executing paramilitary operations should be shifted from the CIA to the U.S. Special
Operations Command (USSOCOM). The President directed the Secretary of Defense
and Director of Central Intelligence to review this recommendation and present their
advice by mid-February 2005, but ultimately, they did not recommend a transfer of
paramilitary responsibilities. This Report will briefly describe special operations
conducted by DOD and paramilitary operations conducted by the CIA and discuss the
background of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. For additional information
see CRS Report RS21048, U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and
Issues for Congress, by Andrew Feickert. This report will be updated as circumstances
warrant.
The U.S. strategy in pursuing the war on international terrorism involves a variety
of missions conducted by military and civilian intelligence personnel characterized as
“special operations” or paramilitary operations. The separate roles of the Department of
Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are not always clearly
reflected in media accounts and at times there has been considerable operational overlap.
Proposals such as those made by the 9/11 Commission to change organizational
relationships will, however, be evaluated on the basis of separate roles and missions,
operating practices, and relevant statutory authorities.
What Are Special Operations and Paramilitary Operations?
DOD defines special operations as “operations conducted in hostile, denied, or
politically sensitive environments to achieve military, diplomatic, informational, and/or
