Bill Nelson: Socom’s Votel would be good choice to lead Centcom

The Tampa Tribune / TBO.com

Military News

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Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, would be a good choice to lead U.S. Central Command, Sen. Bill Nelson said during a speech on the Senate floor Monday.

Nelson, speaking about the fight against the Sunni jihadi group calling itself Islamic State, noted that Votel is working side by side with Centcom commander Gen. Lloyd Austin III at MacDill Air Force base, adding, “he would bring tremendous experience to the job.”

Nelson, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was reacting to a published report about Votel’s future. Last week, the website Defense One, citing unnamed sources, reported Votel was at the top of the list of candidates to replace Austin. Austin took command of Centcom — one of the Pentagon’s six regional commands, focused on the Middle East — in 2013 and regional commanders generally serve about three years. Both Centcom and Socom have declined comment.

“Special operations forces will be central to the fight in order to avoid the large-scale deployment of US ground forces,” Nelson said. “These forces are trained to conduct surgical strikes against terrorist leaders.”

Special operations forces are slated to play a bigger role in the fight against the jihadis. In addition to training Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Iraq and conducting targeted raids and rescue missions, President Barack Obama has authorized about 50 commandos, most likely Green Berets, to help train Syrian Kurd and Arab fighters.

The Pentagon also announced additional special operations forces for the region. Called an expeditionary targeting force, it will assist the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders.

The conversation about a change at Centcom is early; Austin has not indicated any future career moves and no hearings have yet been scheduled. The Senate Armed Services Committee would have to sign off on any command change.

The move would also be unusual. Votel, who came to Tampa from the Joint Special Operations Command, only took command of Socom in August 2014. And no Socom commander has ever gone on to take over Centcom.

Once the White House and Pentagon sign off on a change at a four-star command, like the two at MacDill, the individual services then nominate candidates for the job.

With an increasing emphasis on commandos, the choice of Votel makes sense, said Stu Bradin, a retired Army colonel who served as a leader of one of former Socom commander William McRaven’s operational planning teams.

“I think having a SOF officer command CENTCOM is long over due,” said Bradin, now founder and president of the Global SOF Foundation, in an email to The Tribune. “We have no major conventional fight in that region and the bulk of the work falls to SOF. The fight is unconventional and we need to have a SOF commander that really understands how to use SOF commanding.”

Retired Army Green Beret Col. DJ Reyes said if Votel were chosen, it might be an indication of “the Administration’s intent to leverage his experiences to direct this new approach to contemporary warfare.”

Dave Scott, a retired Air Force major general who served as deputy director of Socom’s Center for Special Operations, said choosing Votel would not represent a shift in the requirements for the job.

The Army is “going to want someone who understands the terrain, understands the nature of the threat in the area, and someone who has demonstrated the ability to lead successfully in comparable positions. They have a great candidate in Joe Votel.”

Still, the move would necessarily signal increased influence of commandos in the region, Scott said.

“I wouldn’t read that into it,”

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Hector Pagan, a Tampa-area resident who led Special Operations Command South, said while Votel would make a great choice for the Centcom commander, he hopes Votel stays at Socom.

“Gen Votel’s experience in the Middle East while commanding JSOC and SOCOM is a definite plus,” Pagan said in an email to The Tribune. “That would make him a front runner among potential candidates. However, those skills and knowledge are also needed now at Socom.”