As Special Operations forces become an even bigger part of the U.S. war on terrorism, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, the percentage of deaths and injuries striking them are growing —as are efforts by their SEALs, Green Berets and others in the family to take care of their own.
While special operations forces represent a tiny slice of the military, they have taken up to 10 percent of the casualties, according to new figures from U.S. Special Operations Command. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 519 have been killed and 2,221 injured.
“They’ve been taking a heavy load,” said former Navy Special Operations Command boss Vice Admiral Joe Maguire, now president of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, begun after the failed 1980 attempt to rescue 53 U.S. hostages in Iran.
His group raises money to help injured troops and their families once they return to the U.S., and helps put children of killed special operations troops through college. The group is holding a major fundraiser in Northern Virginia later this month.
With special operations playing a larger role in U.S. military operations, Maguire said his group has “opened the aperture” of support to non-special operations forces helping in their missions, such as the four Louisiana Air National Guardsmen killed in a March copter crash in Florida.
He said the Guardsman, while not special ops, probably will receive his group’s help. “They are part of the family,” he said.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
