Page 92 - JSOM Spring 2025

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SOF medic’s practical skills as the most important aspect of achieve the mission Character refinement enables real-time
change agency by which performance possibilities are trans- change agency across the individual medic, team, and orga-
formed in real time. Pragmatic power to change the perfor- nization to orient toward the political hospitality needed to
mance space amid SOF missions lies with those who utilize perform SOF missions.
everyday pressures to embrace, absorb, and direct force of
movement, creating fluid family formations that support un- Our use of the term center of gravity (COG) describes how
conventional resilience. relationship systems influence the individual medic’s, team’s,
and organization’s ability to engage the whole weight of per-
Family Formations: Merging Family Systems formance pressure at the point where “the downward force
7(p20)
with the Pragmatic Purpose of Tactical Formations of gravity appears to act on” the SOF mission as a whole.
Optimal engagement with COG influences the force of move-
Social determinants are connections that positively and/or ment during the character refinement process toward dynamic
negatively facilitate the medic, team, and organization’s abil- equilibrium, refining the family formation toward higher actu-
ity to bear the weight of dynamic freedom of maneuver amid alization and performance. 1
the ambiguity of SOF missions. In military vernacular, family
is expressed in a multitude of ways. Different family struc- Qualitative Exemplars
tures emerged in our data set as a strong influence on uncon- We present two contrasting examples of family formations that
ventional resilience, leading us to construct the term family optimize and degrade unconventional resilience. Optimal fam-
formation by integrating family systems theory with tactical ily formations compose and coordinate momentum such that
formations during the character refinement process. individual medic, team, and organizational freedom of maneu-
ver acts fluidly when integrating new relationships across the
Family systems theory suggests relationship groups develop military, medical, and civilian communities. Degraded family
cultures that tightly pattern performances of individual mem- formations compose and coordinate momentum such that in-
bers, the nuclear group, and the entire relationship system dividual medic, team, and organizational freedom of maneu-
in both in-group and out-group performance spaces. Con- ver is restricted when encountering new relationships.
5
sequently, the unique arrangement of relationship systems
strongly shapes how individual, group, and organizational Optimization of Unconventional Resilience
character is developed and expressed. Our analysis of family The first family formation we discuss is an ensemble formation
in this data set illustrates how these arrangements influence with irregular gifts and talents gained from relationships in the
the medic’s, team’s, and organization’s engagement. civilian, medical, and military communities. The COG trans-
lates social connections into focused action amid the character
Tactical formations compose and coordinate collective force refinement process.
of movement through battlefield maneuvers. They vary in size
and capability according to the assigned task and purpose of Everyone has a unique perspective that is structured by
the military mission. The functional goal of tactical maneuvers family, medical, and military experiences. It’s really fun
is to efficiently, effectively, and expediently direct force on tar- to see what kind of magic can be created in SOST when
get while maintaining equilibrium of the tactical formation. 6 we appreciate the idiosyncrasies that everyone’s diverse
background brings to the team and organization. You
Qualitative analysis of ethnographic data led us to define never know how valuable someone’s particular experi-
family formations as unique relationship arrangements found ences are until a team gets to a deployed location. When
within the social context of military, medical, and civilian we appreciate all the interests, hobbies, and skills each
communities that compose and coordinate momentum toward SOST teammate brings, the team finds quirky ways to
character refinement. Resilient performance is continuous and combine our different backgrounds to achieve mission
adaptive when character refinement is optimized in a family objectives in deployment. You never know how important
formation, engages in: 1) observation of value hierarchies in one person’s obscure skill might be or when someone’s
different performance spaces across the deployment-cycle; 2) different viewpoint will come in handy. During one de-
examination of priorities against SOF truths; 3) discernment ployment people were getting tense. One teammate was
i
between what change is necessary and/or possible; and 4) will- passionate about yoga for relaxation. We tried it and it
ingness to press for change when priorities need shifting to made a huge difference with the edginess. Another time,
i. For our possible readers who are unfamiliarized with the Special Operations Truth, they are as follows: 1. Humans are more important than
hardware. People—not equipment—make the critical difference. The right people, highly trained and working as a team, will accomplish the
mission with the equipment available. On the other hand, the best equipment in the world cannot compensate for a lack of the right people.
2 Quality is better than quantity. A small number of people, carefully selected, well trained, and well led, are preferable to larger numbers of
troops, some of whom may not be up to the task. 3. Special Operations Forces cannot be mass produced. It takes years to train operational
units to the level of proficiency needed to accomplish difficult and specialized SOF missions. Intense training—both in SOF schools and
units—is required to integrate competent individuals into fully capable units. This process cannot be hastened without degrading ultimate
capability. 4. Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be created after emergencies occur. Creation of competent, fully mission-capable
units takes time. Employment of fully capable special operations capability on short notice requires highly trained and constantly available
SOF units in peacetime. Most special operations require non-SOF support. The operational effectiveness of our deployed forces cannot be,
and never has been, achieved without being enabled by our joint service partners. The support Air Force, Army, Marine and Navy engineers,
technicians, intelligence analysts, and the numerous other professions that contribute to SOF, have substantially increased our capabilities and
effectiveness throughout the world.
ii. 1. Understand the operational environment; 2. Recognize political implications; 3. Facilitate interagency activities; 4. Engage the threat dis-
criminately; 5. Consider long-term effects; 6. Ensure legitimacy and credibility of Special Operations; 7. Anticipate and control psychological
effects; 8. Apply capabilities indirectly; 9. Develop multiple options; 10. Ensure long-term sustainment; 11. Provide sufficient intelligence; 12.
Balance security and synchronization.

90 | JSOM Volume 25, Edition 1 / Spring 2025