Forging ARSOF: CTCs, Deep Fight, and Basics with Pineland Underground Pt 1 (Ep. 41)
Off the Radar, Special Operations Training DetachmentShow Notes
This is part 1 of a 2-part of the collaboration with Pineland Underground podcast where MAJ Maicke and SFC Coach interview MAJ Ficken, CPT Rich, and SFC Wade of Burro Team, the SOF Observer Coach Trainer team at the National Training Center. This interview focused on training combat ready and lethal Special Operations Forces highlighting the value of training at a Combat Training Center through lessons learned and describing trends observed by OC/Ts. Additionally, giving insight in ways to prepare for a rotation, what Large Scale Combat in a Multi-Domain environment might look like, and more. Off the Radar thanks Pineland Underground and USAJFKSWC for supporting SOTD’s push to educate and inspire the force.
About the Guest: MAJ Phil Ficken commissioned into the Infantry and found his way to Special Forces. He served in roles from Detachment Commander, AOB Commander, and Staff Officer in 5th SFG (A) with operational experiences in CENTCOM as SOF and conventional. MAJ Ficken served as Burro Team’s J3 for one year and as the OIC for one year overseeing over 12 ARSOF rotations at NTC and JRTC.
CPT Weston Rich commissioned into the Infantry later switching to Special Forces. He served as a Detachment Commander in 1st SFG (A) and worked at NTC as both an OC/T and SOF planner. Weston has operational experience in INDOPACOM and CENTCOM with SOF and conventional forces.
SFC Keith Wade is a Team Sergeant OC/T for Burro Team. He is an 18C Engineer Sergeant from 1st SFG (A) and has operational experience in INDOPACOM and CENTCOM. Keith has served on multiple SFOD-As and as a sniper instructor for 1st SFG (A).
About the Hosts: MAJ James Maicke commissioned in the Infantry then became Special Forces serving in 3rd SFG (A) as a CPT and 5th SFG (A) as a MAJ. He has served in multiple theaters both in the conventional and special operations. He is currently finishing his time as a Special Operations Recruiter.
SFC Clay Coash is currently a Psychological Operations Senior Leader’s Course instructor. He has operational experience in multiple theater across the world. Prior to being a PSYOP NCO, Clay served in the Marine Corps during the 1990s and during a break in service as a country radio DJ.
This episode covers:
- SOTD task organization, role of an OC/T and value of training at a CTC
- Interoperability of SOF with CF and partners forces (PF) through shared training experiences
- LSCO: CF against a peer/near peer advisory of equivalent size and how SOF fits into these operations by deep sensing, targeting high priority targets, and enable MDO in the Division deep areas by with and through partners
- CTCs: 10 rotations a year, 8 focused on Brigade and SOF Companies, 1 focused on Division level and SOF Battalion (SOTF), and 1 focused on SOF Group leave (CJSOTF)
- Training the basics: teams that do the most planning and preparation are the most successful; be off natural lines of drift, camouflage, use micro terrain, principles of maneuver are the same mounted or dismounted
- Trends: over reliance on phones / ATAK for planning or communicating, analog products increase shared understanding
- Don’t train PF on unsustainable platform (weapon system, planning system, etc). Use what the PF as accessible
- Understanding the operational environment and adversary’s capabilities, night vision, thermals, sensors of all kinds, etc
- SOF integration with PF and role players, PF plays as host nation forces and role players are that unit’s leadership; role players fulfilling roles in the host nation government, as local civilians, etc
- SOF integration with CF happens at the AOB level and through a liaison element at the Brigade
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.