Tom Cotton Grills Military Officials On ‘Payoff’ Of Special Operations In Ukraine

Tom Cotton Grills Military Officials On ‘Payoff’ Of Special Operations In Ukraine

continue down that line of questioning
from Senator Blumenthal about the cuts
to Army Special Operations forces about
um the logic behind it in particular
which I think may be faulty um you
testified to the house recently that the
Army’s proposed cuts to Special
Operations forces are occurring this is
your quote against the backdrop of ever
increasing demands from our combatant
commands um and then Admiral aalo from
paccom testified that special operations
in paycom are critically important for
training our partners in increasing
combat cap ability so it sounds like
both of you are making the point that
special operations forces play a very
important role not not just in fighting
and winning a war but in deterring
Conflict both in the Pacific and around
the world is that
correct Senator that’s that’s absolutely
correct uh we see those demands as not
only I but and not even just the Endo
paycom Commander I think others in
testimony throughout the last couple
months have made the same because one
justification for these Cuts coming from
the secretary of the Army is that
special operators are supposedly less
important right of Boom now to put that
in English boom is when shooting war
starts people start returning fire um
left of Boom then would be leading up to
any kind of conflict um in that space
that you just talked about aren’t
special operators in contact with us
partners and in some cases the enemy um
almost every day left of Boom so to
speak um and why is that contact
important could you explain a little bit
more I I can’t Center I’ll I’ll start by
saying that sof and Socom have a very
important part to play uh for almost
eight decades starting right at World
War II and then coming forth in not only
in boom in Conflict high-end con uh
high-end operations but in particular
where our value my estimation is the
highest is left of that preventing it uh
preventing conflict as our NDS and and
many other documents direct us to do I
think our skill sets are perfectly a
portion for that Frank it’s our DNA if
while we’re out there uh there there’s a
potential for the rough uh edges of a of
a conflict we’re also preparing the
environment developing options options
uh chall uh different ways of doing
business for our combatant commands that
present challenges and dilemas to any
adversary so there’s a whole bunch of
value left of a conflict so office got
value in Conflict to well and then I
would just offer Center additionally in
a protraction because you and I both
know that no conflict is 30 days or 40
days those things protract and I think
soft scab value there as well let’s
let’s um be even more concrete let’s
look at a specific case study with
Ukraine after the first invasion of
Ukraine in 2014 our army uh Special
Operations forces well US Special
operators more generally were in routine
contact with Ukraine can you explain the
payoff that that
pre I guess in in this case it was both
postconflict and pre-conflict post 2014
Invasion pre 2022 Invasion and the
dividends it paid uh when Russia invaded
in 2022 for those that eight-year period
I I can’t Senator I’ll I’ll try to make
it quick I I’ll I’ll wind it back just
to Tad our contact with Ukrainian
military started 1994 by Special
Operations maybe when no one else was
looking but special ops was and our
ability to be with the Ukrainian
military since 1994 and in particular
Bill soft did a couple things it build a
non Mission officer Corp I think you and
the committee here know better than
anybody that is the incredible value
proposition our whole military brings
across the world they didn’t have that
we changed them from a Soviet style
anything into a more western-based
approached military specifically in
Special Ops I think all that came
together on the second uh certainly
after 2014 but on the second invasion in
2022 when we knew that the Russian
Federation understood how important
Ukrainian soft was when a couple of the
first targets during their attacks had
soft Ukrainian soft implications I think
that continues and I think that in many
ways almost looks like a mutual fund
small Investments over time with a high
payoff when called upon that uh continue
to grow and I think I don’t see that
just in Ukraine I’ve seen that in
Colombia uh during plan Colombia when us
soft was there in support of southcom
doing what we did with uh with Colombian
soft and Colombian military I’ve seen it
many other places but I think it there’s
a high value left of conflict that
certainly sof plays part of okay uh Mr
Meyer in the time I have romainia I’ve
got to ask you a question I’m kind of
surprised it hasn’t come up frankly in
the last two hours um it’s a matter of
Arion tabbi um your Chief of Staff so
she was allegedly part of an Iranian
foreign Ministry information operation
she used to work for Rob Mali um a
well-known Iran sympathizer who’s had a
security clearance revoked by the state
department is under invest ation that’s
all we know because the state department
has stonewalled us on this when we
raised concerns about Mr babay last fall
the Department of Defense assured us
that protocols were followed we don’t
have any more information about it um I
mean I’m sure protocols were followed
for aldr James and Robert Hansen as well
uh I think it’s a basic function of our
oversight responsibility for us to have
more information about Maday and how
someone with these ties to a well-known
Iranian influence operation ended up
working for you now I I almost want to
express my regret to you personally
because I don’t think you hired her I
think she was hired into your office uh
so I don’t think you’re the person that
made these decisions but she is working
for you in your office and we haven’t
heard much about it at all since we
inquired in the fall so I have to ask
you what’s the status of Miss tatay and
how can we be confident that even if
protocols were followed they got the
right decision made given Mr Mal’s
status of still being suspended and
having his clearance revoked so Senator
cotton Miss Tatai stills employed in my
office um she is part like all the other
civilians military contractors in the
department subject to continuous vetting
that’s done by the defense Counter
Intelligence and Security Agency um
that’s about all that I can provide you
uh in this forum and that’s what I’ve
been provided by uh the folks that are
really responsible for security in our
department sir can you provide us more
in another form like maybe the Clos one
we have coming up I I can provide a bit
more sir yes all right see you
there thank you Senator cotton uh
senator

Earlier this month, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questioned military officials on the prevalence and importance of US Special Oeration posture during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com