Fort Liberty congressman speaks out against plans to cut Army special operations forces

Fort Liberty’s congressman released a statement Tuesday in response to the Army announcing last week that it plans to eliminate 32,000 jobs, which includes 3,000 special operations forces.

Rep. Richard Hudson said the cuts include intelligence analysts, psychological operations troops and logistics personnel —  many based at Fort Liberty, home to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which counts about 53,700 soldiers among its troops.

In his statement, Hudson took aim at President Joe Biden and his administration.

“No matter how the Administration tries to spin it, these support troops play a critical role in the success of our special operators in remote locations around the world. Special operators are indispensable for training our allies and undertaking dangerous missions during times of conflict, serving as a crucial deterrent against enemies," he said. “At a time when the threat of China, Russia, and Iran is growing by the day, depleting our manpower only hurts our ability to combat our adversaries’ aggression and puts our national security at risk.

"If the Biden Administration understands the importance and value of special operations, they won’t move forward with these cuts."

An Army report on special operations stated that an analysis of large-scale combat in multiple theaters “indicated that existing Army SOF force structure meets or exceeds demand in large-scale conflict relative to other capabilities."

Officials identified positions that could be reduced and will prioritize the reduction of positions "that are historically vacant or hard to fill.”

Read more here.