The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged to study special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, and develop Joint Special Operations Tactics. It was established on December 15, 1980, in the aftermath of the failure of Operation Eagle Claw, the unsuccessful attempt to rescue the 53 hostages from the American embassy in Tehran, Iran.[1] It is located at Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, USA.

Overview

The JSOC is the "joint headquarters designed to study special operations requirements and techniques; ensure interoperability and equipment standardization; plan and conduct joint special operations exercises and training; and develop joint special operations tactics"[2]. For this task, the Joint Communications Unit (JCU) is tasked to ensure compatibility of communications systems and standard operating procedures of the different special operations units.
The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) also commands and controls the Special Mission Units (SMU) of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). These units perform highly classified activities.[3][4][5] So far, only three SMUs have been publicly disclosed: The Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta (Delta Force), the Navy's SEAL Team 6 or Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), and the Air Force's 24th Special Tactics Squadron. Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) which often operates under various cover names such as Royal Cape, Granite Rock and Powder Keg were some, Centra Spike and Torn Victor. However, it most recent known cover names was Gray Fox. The army once maintained the Activity, but after September 11 attacks the Pentagon shifted direct control to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, NC.[6] If needed, Army Rangers and Night Stalkers can be transferred under the JSOC command. JSOC’s primary mission is believed to be identifying and destroying terrorists and terror cells worldwide.[7]
USSOCOM/JSOC cannot conduct covert action operations, as the CIA is the only organization that has the authority to conduct these actions.[8] However, USSOCOM has an excellent relationship with the CIA's elite Special Activities Division and the two forces often operate together with exceptional results.[9][10] The CIA's Special Activities Division's Special Operations Group often selects their recruits from JSOC[11]

Security Support

JSOC has provided support to domestic law enforcement agencies during high profile, or high risk events such as the Olympics, the World Cup, political party conventions and Presidential inaugurations. Classified portions of PDD-25 are reported to exempt the JSOC from the Posse Comitatus Act, which makes it illegal for military and law enforcement to exercise jointly.[12] Title 10 of the US Code expressly allows the Secretary of Defense to make military personnel available to train Federal, State, and local civilian law enforcement officials in the operation and maintenance of equipment; and to provide such law enforcement officials with expert advice.[13] Additionally, civilian and uniformed military lawyers said provisions in several federal statutes, including the Fiscal Year 2000 Defense Department Authorization Act, Public Law 106-65, permits the secretary of defense to authorize military forces to support civilian agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the event of a national emergency, especially any involving nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.[14]
In January 2005, a small group of commandos were deployed to support security at the Presidential inauguration. They were allegedly deployed under a secret counter-terrorism program named Power Geyser. The New York Times quoted a senior military official as saying, "They bring unique military and technical capabilities that often are centered around potential WMD events," A civil liberties advocate who was told about the program by a reporter said that he had no objections to the program as described to him because its scope appeared to be limited to supporting the counterterrorism efforts of civilian authorities.[14]

Operations in Pakistan

According to The Washington Post, JSOC's commander Lieutenant General Stanley A. McChrystal operates on the understanding with Pakistan that US units will not enter Pakistan except under extreme circumstances, and that Pakistan will deny giving them permission.[15]
That scenario happened according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), in January 2006, JSOC troops clandestinely entered the village of Saidgai, Pakistan, to hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Pakistan refused entry.[16]

Operations in Iran

On January 11, 2007, President Bush pledged in a major speech to "seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."[17] The next day, in a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Senator Joseph Biden (Delaware), informed United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Bush Administration did not have the authority to send US troops on cross-border raids. Biden said, "I believe the present authorization granted the president to use force in Iraq does not cover that, and he does need congressional authority to do that. I just want to set that marker."[18]
Sometime in 2007, JSOC started conducting cross-border operations into Iran from southern Iraq with the CIA. These operation included seizing members of Al-Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation, as well as the pursuit, capture, and/or execution of “high-value targets” in the “war on terror”. The Bush administration allegedly combined the CIA's intelligence operations with JSOC covert military operations so that Congress would only partially see how the money was spent.[19]
In mid-March of 2008, President Bush signed a secret finding authorizing a covert offensive against Iran. Bush’s secret directive covers actions in a large geographical area in the middle east and is far more sweeping in the type of actions permitted under its guidelines. The intent is to escalate covert operations against Iran to destabilize the country's religious leadership, gather intelligence about Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program and support the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations, and assassination of targeted officials. The finding was swiftly approved with bipartisan support which included an initial outlay of $300-400 million to finance its implementation.[20][21]

List of JSOC commanders

Name and Affiliation	Start of Term	End of Term
MG Richard A. Scholtes	December 1980	August 1984
MG Carl Stiner	1984	January 1987
MG Gary E. Luck	1989	1990
MG William F. Garrison	1992	1994
MG Wayne A. Downing	September 1997	November 1997
MG Peter J. Schoomaker	1995	1996
BG Michael A. Canavan	1997	1997
LTG Dell L. Dailey	2001	March 2003
LTG Stanley McChrystal	September 2003[22]	June 2008
VADM William H. McRaven	June 2008[23]	present