John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) – known informally as SWCS (pronounced "Swick") – primarily trains and educates United States Army personnel for the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which includes Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Military Information Support Operations personnel. According to its mission statement, its purpose is to recruit, assess, select, train and educate the U.S. Army Civil Affairs, Military Information Support Operations and Special Forces Soldiers by providing superior training and education, relevant doctrine, effective career management and an integrated force-development capability.

History

The command dates back to 1950, when the U.S. Army developed the Psychological Warfare (PSYWAR) Division of the Army General School at Fort Riley, Kansas. The U.S. Army Psychological Warfare Center and School, which included operational tactical units and a school under the same umbrella, moved to Fort Bragg in April 1952. The center was proposed by the Army's then-Psychological Warfare Chief, Robert A. McClure, to provide doctrinal support and training for both psychological and conventional warfare.^[2]

In 1956, the PSYWAR Center and School was renamed the U.S. Army Center for Special Warfare/U.S. Army Special Warfare School. The school was given the responsibility to develop the doctrine, techniques, training and education of Special Forces and Psychological Operations personnel. In 1960, the school's responsibilities expanded to counterinsurgency operations. In 1962, the Special Warfare Center established a Special Forces Training Group to train enlisted volunteers for operational assignments within Special Forces units. The Advanced Training Committee was formed to explore and develop sophisticated methods of infiltration and exfiltration. On May 16, 1969, the school was renamed the U.S. Army Institute for Military Assistance. The curriculum was expanded to provide training in high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) parachuting and SCUBA operations. The institute comprised the SF School, Psychological Operations, Military Assistance Training Advisors School, Counter-Insurgency School, Unconventional Warfare School and Department of Non-Resident Training.

On April 1, 1972, the U.S. Army Civil Affairs School was transferred from Fort Gordon, Georgia to Fort Bragg, to begin operating under the center's umbrella. In 1973, the center was assigned to the new U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). On June 1, 1982, the Chief of Staff of the Army approved the separation of the center as an independent TRADOC activity under the name U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center (SWC). The SWC integrated special operations into the Army systems, training and operations, becoming the proponent school for Army Special Operations Forces.

In 1985, SWC was recognized as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS). The major change at this time was the establishment of six training departments: Special Forces; Special Operations Advanced Skills; Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape; Foreign Area Officer; Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations. A few years later, the Noncommissioned Officer Academy was instituted. On June 20, 1990, SWCS was reassigned from TRADOC to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. This designation gave USASOC control of all components of SOF, with the exception of forward-deployed units.^[3]

Overview

The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) at Fort Bragg, N.C. manages and resources training, education and growth for Soldiers in the Army’s special-operations branches.

Special operations forces (SOF) training is grounded in the SOF Truths^[4]:

• Humans are more important than hardware.
• Quality is better than quantity.
• Special-operations forces cannot be mass produced.
• Competent special-operations forces cannot be created after emergencies occur.
• Most special operations require non-SOF support

On any given day, approximately 3,100 students are enrolled in SWCS training programs. Courses range from entry-level training to advanced war fighting skills for seasoned officers and NCOs. Furthermore, SWCS leads efforts to professionalize the Army’s entire special-operations force through the Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute and the David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Officer Academy. While most courses are conducted at Fort Bragg, SWCS maintains facilities, and relationships with outside institutions, across the country.

In all, SWCS offers 41 unique courses, including assessment & selection and qualification courses for Civil Affairs, Military Information Support Operations, Special Forces and Cultural Support. Advanced skills courses include combat diver training in Key West, Florida, sniper training at Fort Bragg and military freefall training in Yuma, Arizona.^[5]

Regional studies and education constitutes Phase II of the three branches' qualification courses. This phase lasts 18 to 24 weeks depending on the language category (CAT) assigned them. Students who are assigned to CAT I or II languages such as Spanish, French and Indonesian spend 18 weeks of study with the end goal being to achieve a score of 2 on the Interagency Language Roundtable Scale (ILR). Students spend 24 weeks studying CAT III or IV languages such as Arabic, Chinese Mandarin, Tagalog, Persian Farsi, Korean, Thai, Pashto and Urdu with the end goal being to achieve an ILR score of III or IV. Students of all languages must pass an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) before moving to the next phase of their qualification course. SWCS offers intermediate and advanced language classes where students are expected to develop advanced skills in the language such as reading and listening. To achieve that they take intensive courses, sometimes administered by language detachments from the Defense Language Institute (DLI) with the goal of achieving a score of 2 to 3 in the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT).

As the gateway to the special-operations community, SWCS selects only the top candidates to even attempt its training. The Army’s special-operations unit commanders rely on the SWCS directorates to select the strongest candidates and give them the tools to succeed on the battlefield. Using lessons learned from these battlefields, curriculum and doctrine can be amended in a matter of weeks when gaps in training are identified. Together, these directorates oversee administration and policy throughout the community, serving the operational units while allowing them to focus on their missions.

Units

References

External links

• USAJFKSWCS at www.soc.mil
• USAJFKSWCS at GlobalSecurity.org
• USAJFKSWCS Special Forces Unconventional Warfare Operations field manual FM 3-05.201