SOF Liaison Impact: Comms, Fires, and CDR Priorities Pt 1 (Ep. 43)
Off the Radar, Special Operations Training DetachmentShow Notes
This is part one of an episode focused on rotation 25-06 at the National Training Center where 7th SFG (A) sent 3 SF Soldiers to serve as the Special Operation Forces Liaison Element (SOFLE). This was not a typical rotation but still enabled Special Operation Forces – Conventional Forces Integration Interoperability and Interdependence. SOF builds mass and produces outsized effects from it’s formation size. This is true even from a SOFLE, demonstrating credibility and value to the conventional force.
About the Guest:
MAJ Matthew Song: Served at a Lieutenant with 10th Mountain Division before becoming Special Forces. Served as a Detachment Commander in 1st BN, 1st SFG (A) in Okinawa, Japan and as a SF Company Commander in 2nd BN, 1st SFG (A) in Joint Base Lewis McChord. Sent the last year as the SOTD AOB-W “Burro Team” exercise control director and J3, his next assignment is the Burro Team OIC.
About the Host:
CPT Weston Rich is the of SOF Plans Chief 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:
- Informing for the force via this podcast, USASOC lessons learned, and written After Action Reviews
- SOFLE – what capabilities need to be in that element and the type of personnel to consider
- Producing SOF actions through constructed / simulated effects since there was no live SOF elements taking part on the ground during the rotation
- Communications architecture for SOFLE to communicate with higher SOF headquarters and how to interplays with conventional communications
- Digital force protection considerations, inclusion in the written AARs, camouflage
- Building systems that can survive in a comms denied environment, through use of a TACSOP
- SOFLE can integrate with the CF BDE and assist in their military decision-making process and get SOF capabilities to the forefront of CF CDR’s mind, feeding the BDE’s OODA loop
- Understanding command relationships, SOFLE is a coordinating relationship; SOFLE must monitor operations, coordinate, advise, and assist the conventional force; beyond those duties SOFLEs should build rapport, demonstrate creditably, and provide value
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.