#183: Defending Eastern Europe - Romanian Special Operations Forces Commander Major General Claudiu Dobocan
The Jedburgh PodcastShow Notes
Romania is one of America’s key allies in the fight for Eastern Europe. Romanian Special Forces are critical to the success of that mission; and the partnership between United States Special Operations and our Romanian counterparts sits at the center of that strategy.
From the Global Special Operations Symposium in Athens, Greece, Fran Racioppi sat down with Major General Claudiu Dobocan, Commander of the Romanian Special Operations Forces, to discuss how Romanian Special Operations are combatting Russian aggression and holding the line in Europe.
General Dobocan shared his perspective on strengthening SOF partnerships, advancing interoperability, and building modern capabilities that allow allied forces to operate seamlessly together. He spoke about Romania’s place within NATO, the importance of trust and shared mission across borders, and the need for Special Operations units to remain agile and prepared for the full spectrum of emerging threats.
From combating hybrid threats to maintaining readiness alongside allied SOF elements, General Dobocan emphasized that success today depends on relationships, shared understanding, and the willingness to stand together in the face of uncertainty.
Highlights 0:00 Introduction 1:26 Welcome to GSOF Europe 2025 3:21 Mission of Romanian Special Operations Forces 8:45 Evolution of technology in SOF 10:45 Eliminating Human-in-the-Loop? 13:35 Changes in military tactics 16:57 Romanian Special Forces Mission 18:44 Why Join the Romanian Army? 20:06 NATO Alliance Importance 25:24 Leading against a Global Threat
Quotes “We were created by cooperation between Romanian Ministry of Defense and US SOCEUR.” “Interoperability, no one really talks about what that really means.” “Words carrying value carry meaning.” “Industry defines the speed of technological development.” “The strategic game changer is generative AI.” “I’m scared of the moment when everything is passed to AI.” “I don’t think swarming is going to be the next way of doing battle.” “Our mission is to be a strategic level instrument that helps with reaction to crisis and building partnerships and capabilities in the region.” “10th Group and 20th Group came around and showed us what right looks like so I signed up.” “It’s a tool that kind of prevents conflict.” “NATO is the umbrella under which we share a lot of things that otherwise we cannot discuss about.” “When you talk about the good work NATO has done, you have to talk about the standards.” “We have to be deterrent on our part, but capable to move from military assistance type of missions into a very kinetic one.”
Special thanks to the Global Special Operations Foundation for hosting us in Athens.
Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.
More from The Jedburgh Podcast
On September 11, 2001, America was attacked. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost. As night fell, the world waited as America planned their response. Within weeks, a small force of Green Berets, CIA Paramilitary Case Officers, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment flight crews and Army Rangers would launch one of the most extraordinary unconventional warfare campaigns in military history.
Speed of innovation will be the deciding factor on today’s battlefields. The technology soldiers need to survive and win cannot take years to field. For generations, one of the Army’s greatest challenges has been closing the distance between the soldier who identifies a need and the acquisition system responsible for delivering the solution.
The battlefield is changing faster than ever before. Drones can find you. Technology can expose you. America’s adversaries are adapting in weeks instead of years. For U.S. Army Special Forces, rapid evolution while maintaining the people, partnerships, and culture that have made Special Forces effective for generations is the key to success on today’s battlefield.
Before ground forces can advance, the battlefield has to be shaped. Air defenses have to come down. Enemy weapons have to be destroyed. And the adversaries' will to combat America has to be lessened. This is the job of field artillery; a branch of the US Army where speed, distance, precision, and results determine who controls the battlefield before ground forces ever make contact.
Every Green Beret, Civil Affairs soldier, and Psychological Operations soldier starts somewhere. Before they can operate in the world’s most complex environments, they have to prove they can think, adapt, lead, and perform when the standard is uncompromising. At the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, the mission is simple to say and extraordinarily difficult to execute: build the world’s best special operators, then continue making them better.