As conflict with Russia and China looms, special forces in the U.S. military are going through a renaissance, reflected in a new $55 million Special Operations Command North headquarters on Peterson Space Force Base.
Special Operations Command leader Col. Matt Tucker called the building “emblematic” of the renaissance. “Its dedication represents an opportunity to make a clear-eyed assessment of the threats that face our homelands,” he said Friday.
For Special Operations Command, Russia and China are among those threats as it works to carry out missions from the Arctic Circle all the way down to the southern border of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Those missions operate under Northern Command, just down the road on the base, making Colorado Springs a good location for the headquarters.
During the ceremony, the building was named after Maj. Gen. Robert Frederick, who led the combined Canadian-American 1st Special Service Force during World War II, a group that gave rise to special forces.
Frederick’s grandson Brad Hicks said he felt his grandfather would be blown away, that he was not only remembered 80 years later, but honored.
Hicks was a child when his grandfather died, and the significance of his actions dawned on him more fully, when he attended a reunion of the 1st Special Service Force as a teenager and former members told him there was nothing they wouldn’t do for his grandfather, because he would never ask them to do something he wouldn't do himself.
“These men came up to me in tears, honored to meet me,” he said.
The dedication is particularly appropriate as the threats across the world echo the 1940s, Tucker said.
For years, the Special Operations Command North was focused on counterterrorism, but has since shifted to conflicts with large nations. To prepare at the command, more training has focused on the Arctic as China and Russia started spending more time in the resource-rich area. Chinese and Russian ships and planes also have trained together in the region.
Tucker expects an increasing level of competition in the Arctic, and the members of his command, including civilians and service members from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Space Force have helped plan and execute training in the Arctic working with other units.
The bitter cold in those conditions requires specialized equipment, medical care and clothing. The command staff is working to ensure the right gear is provided after the U.S. military spent 20 years focused on desert environments.
“We're playing a leading role in that,” Command Sgt. Major Kevin Dorsh said.
They are also drawing on the experience of the Alaskan Native communities in the area and European Arctic partners, to learn how to travel and survive in the Arctic, Tucker said.
While Special Operations Commands are typically largely closed to public, as part of the celebrations, the building opened for tours, attended largely by former command staff.
As they entered the expansive joint operations command room, a former staff member noted the space had more seats than the number of employees the command had in its infancy.
With rows of desks with room for about 70, facing an enormous layout of monitors, the room provides space for the command to work with other agencies, including law enforcement, said Joe Esposito, deputy director of operations.
The building also features workspace for the dedicated signal battalion to train, space for vehicles outfitted to provide communications and a new gym, where training is integrated with behavioral health.
In the integrated model, service members can talk to a behavioral health specialist as they are training, explained Ryan Wood, the command's strength and conditioning specialist.
“We found that as people are training, the barriers kind of fall and people open up more so,” he said.
In the coming weeks, more command staff will move into their new home from a few buildings, including an aging hangar.
The “Frankenstein” building features modular offices, with the open hangar ceiling above them and a large bay door facing the runway that the staff would open on nice days.
“It's been home. … It's got a great startup feel to it,” Tucker said, noting he expected to be nostalgic for it.
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