REDSOF Cross Functional Team: Enhancing Interoperability in Special Operations Part 2 (Ep. 23)
Off the Radar, Special Operations Training DetachmentShow Notes
This is part two for a four-part series focused on how Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Psychological Operations integrate and interoperate at the team/Detachment level. During a recent rotation, a Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha, Civil Affairs Team, and Tactical PSYOP Detachment conducted operations at the National Training Center (NTC) as Opposing Force (OPFOR). This cross functional team approach to REDSOF was the first iteration of its kind and yield effective results on the rotational conventional unit and Special Operations unit.
During this interview, the leaders of each element will describe how each ARSOF Tribe integrated and interoperated to achieve their endstate.
About the Guests:
Spencer: Detachment Sergeant for the Tactical PSYOP Detachment (TPD) on REDSOF. He has over 15 years of Army experience, 8 of which are SOF PSYOP. Multiple operational rotations in both conventional and SOF units.
Michael: Team Leader of the REDSOF Civil Affairs Team (CAT). Former Infantry officer with e multiple CTC rotations both on BLUEFOR and REDFOR.
Andrew: SFOD-A Detachment Commander for REDSOF SFOD-A. From 10th Special Forces Group, SOF operational experience in SOCEUR. Former Infantry officer.
About the Host:
CPT Weston Rich is a member of SOF Plans at the NTC and former member of Burro Team, the Special Operations Training Detachment OC/T Team at NTC. Prior to his time at NTC, Weston served as a Detachment Commander with 1st SFG (A) and as an Infantry Officer with 3-509th IN (ABN)/4/25 ID (now part of 2/11 ABN DIV). Following his time at NTC, Weston will attend Carnegie Mellon University with a follow-on assignment to Army Futures Command.
This episode covers:
- Cross functional team mentality; not drawing lots for ground force commander, but working together, effectiveness was measured off creating dilemmas in the enemy’s rear area across the civil and informational dimensions
- Interdependence and interoperability especially between CA and PSYOP, linking the human dimension to the information dimension then bringing that to the cross functional team enabling lethal and non-lethal targeting
- Cross functional targeting, task organizing the cross functional team, split team operations increased speed but degraded integrated planning
- Communication architecture issues within SOF tribe integration, integrating SOF tribes in garrison to enhance SOF tribe integration at tactical and operational levels
- Integrating with conventional forces, building trust and developing a network with everyone you can, “always be (re)cruiting “
- Staff processes approached by war fighting function, CA and PSYOP fill in with war fighting functions
- You look at the picture from your foxhole, meaning each person sees the situation differently and identifies different things as important
- Speed of decision-making process and ability to maintain tempo enables momentum and stay on the offensive, “If you’re not first, you’re last” layered narrative building
Please like, subscribe, and share these episodes with ARSOF any conventional Soldiers and Leaders to spread the knowledge of ARSOF in LSCO.
To provide feedback please email the host, CPT Rich, at [email protected].
Produced, edited, and sound engineering by Micah Popp of Salty Sounds
More from Off the Radar, Special Operations Training Detachment
This episode is a year in the making. We talk with the Commander of Special Operations Training Detachment. We pick his brain on the state of ARSOF, training priorities, and the future of CTCs. The National Training Center and SOTD are in the middle of a transformation and modernization effort to increase lethality and improve readiness; let's see what the leadership's take on it is.
We continue our discussion with the Civil Affairs Company leadership as we talk Realistic Military Training during the rotation and their take aways from the exercise.
In this episode of Off the Radar, we sit down with leaders from B/96th Civil Affairs Company fresh off their rotation at the National Training Center (NTC). Operating within a Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) scenario, the unit faced the complex realities of supporting maneuver forces while simultaneously navigating civilian populations, governance challenges, and information dynamics in a contested environment. The conversation dives into how the company adapted its traditional Civil Affairs skill sets—key leader engagements, civil reconnaissance, and population analysis—to a high-intensity fight where access was limited and the pace was relentless. Leaders reflect on friction points, including integration with supported brigades, survivability on a kinetic battlefield, and maintaining relevance. The episode highlights critical lessons learned: the importance of early integration into the planning process, the need to digitize and rapidly share civil information, and the challenge of balancing influence operations with physical security constraints. Wrapping up, the team explores how these insights are shaping future training and readiness for their unit, and how these lessons learned will influence them.
In this episode of OTR, MAJ Casey Phillips, a career SOF Logistician and past NTC Observer, Coach, and Trainer, shares his experiences from the SOF community. We explore how special operations logistics operate, balancing speed, knowledge, and flexibility. From improvised resupply in austere environments to integrating with conventional forces during large-scale operations, SOF logisticians ensure that elite units—and the broader joint force—can sustain momentum in complex missions. Whether it’s supporting a small team deep behind enemy lines or enabling large-scale operations alongside conventional units, the logistics professionals working behind the scenes prove that sometimes the most critical part of the mission is the part no one sees.
As the calendar turns and a new training year begins, Special Operations Training Detachment is sharpening the force for the challenges ahead. In the vast training environment at NTC, Fort Irwin, CA, innovation and fundamentals are not competing priorities — they are pillars of readiness. This episode dives into how the detachment is setting the tone for the year by strengthening ARSOF integration, accelerating modernization, and recommitting to the core skills that define elite performance and success.