#083: US Army Special Operations Command & Green Beret Foundation - LTG(R) Ken Tovo

Fran Racioppi travels back to the home of US Army Special Operations, Fort Bragg, NC, to meet with retired LTG(R) Ken Tovo, former commander of US Army Special Operations Command. From the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School’s Special Forces Museum, Fran and Ken discuss how Special Operations has changed over the 80 years since its inception, the strategic importance of the Special Forces Regiment and what it means to be a Green Beret in the peer-to-peer competition we haven't seen since the Cold War. 

Today, General Tovo serves as the Chairman of the Green Beret Foundation where he continues his service to our special operators and their families. LTG(R) Tovo recently received a lifetime achievement award for his service. 

Learn more about LTG(R) Tovo on LinkedIn. Get involved with Green Beret Foundation and follow them on social media @greenberetfoundation. Become one of our nation’s most elite warriors at soc.mil.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. 

Highlights:

-0:00 Welcome home to Fort Bragg, NC

-6:30 Starting in the 82nd Airborne

-16:32 What is a Green Beret?

-22:03 Psyops, Civil Affairs and the 160th SOAR

-36:26 Commanding US Army Special Operations through Afghanistan & Iraq

-51:46 GWOT: What we got right & what we got wrong

-1:05:09 “The Why”

-1:09:12 The character of a Green Beret

-1:16:00 Peer-to-Peer conflict with Russia and China & the World Order

-1:32:15 Green Beret Foundation

-1:46:05 Three Daily Foundations

Quotes: 

-”Green Berets are almost unique in that they are focused by and large on changing something in the human domain.” (17:55)

-”A perfect Green Beret mission looks like going to a complex environment…developing some ways to solve it through an indigenous partner.” (21:34)

-”The quiet work we do outside the combat zone pays as many or more dividends as what we do when we get employed.” (52:21)

-”War is a national effort…not a military effort. It takes a nation to commit to a future.” (1:01:30)

-”Being a Green Beret is to live a life of gravitas. You do things that make a real difference.” (1:07:35)

-”We’re trying to assess and select a complex problem solver.” (1:10:28)

-”We are really in an existential struggle with two powers, for sure, that want to order the world in a way that disadvantages us.” (1:15:46) 

-””All our power as a democracy springs from the people.” (1:29:40)

-”Part of this mission of the Green Beret Foundation is to take care of Green Berets and their family past and present.” (1:35:21)

LTG(R) Tovo’s Three Daily Foundations to Success:

-Know your why

-Stay focused on your goals

-Be a lifetime learner 

This episode is brought to you by Jersey Mike’s, GORUCK, 18A Fitness, and Analytix Solutions