#142: Lethality, Audacity, Creativity - Leading the Special Forces Regiment - Major General Gil Ferguson, Commanding General, 1st Special Forces Command

The Jedburgh Podcast

Lethality, audacity and creativity. That’s the culture of the Special Forces Regiment and the values each Special Operator is expected to live by. They’re also the foundation of what it takes to be the premier partnered irregular warfare force in the arsenal of the United States Military.

Our nation’s Green Berets, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations soldiers are led by Major General Gil Ferguson; the Commanding General of 1st Special Forces Command. For the final interview of our Fort Liberty series, Fran Racioppi sat down with General Ferguson for a conversation on what it takes to man, train and equip our Special Forces units.

They dug into his goal to enhance the culture of the Regiment, how the Special Forces Groups are preparing for regional conflicts with unknown enemies, at unknown times; and just how Green Berets are solidifying themselves as the go-to option in the deep sensor fight against our peer adversaries.

General Ferguson also explains the SOF-Space-Cyber Triad, where he sees Special Forces in a decade, and as our units evolve, what needs to stay the same.

Take a listen, watch, or read our conversation with America’s top Green Beret, then head over to our YouTube channel to watch General Ferguson share the lineage of America’s first Special Forces in the Jedburgh Media Channel’s first documentary, Unknown Heroes, Behind Enemy Lines at D-Day, the story of Operation Jedburgh.

Highlights:

• 0:00 Welcome to the JFK Special Warfare Museum
• 4:04 The premier partnered irregular warfare force
• 7:18 Man, train, equip for any theater
• 9:40 The culture of 1st SFC
• 13:52 The misperceptions of Special Forces
• 18:50 SOF in the Peer-to-Peer Fight
• 27:16 How is SOF keeping people first?
• 34:07 SOF, Space Cyber Triad
• 39:43 Where are Special Forces in 5-10 years?
• 42:14 How are Civil Affairs and PsyOps integrating into the SOF battlefield?
• 50:47 What has to stay the same in SOF?
• 54:32 Daily Foundations For Success

Quotes:

• “The United States fights coalition warfare. We don’t ever want to fight by ourselves.”
• “We don’t know where the next fight’s going to be, we don’t know who it’s gonna be with, and we don’t know when it’s gonna start.”
• “The guys we are running the Columbian military were all folks that were captains with me when I was a 7th Group Commander.”
• “Technology is not going to win the next fight. The side that most effectively and audaciously employs technology is going to win.”
• “18x make up more than 50% of our force now; and that is a good thing.”
• “I don’t want to spend time in my office. That is not where I’m effective.”

The Jedburgh Podcast and the Jedburgh Media Channel are an official program of The Green Beret Foundation. Learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. Watch the full video version on YouTube.