The Special Operations Mission: A View from the Hill

Posted: February 15th, 2019

By Congressman Dan Crenshaw

Dan was medically retired in September of 2016 as a Lieutenant Commander after serving ten years in the SEAL Teams. He left service with two Bronze Stars (one with Valor), the Purple Heart, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor, among many other accolades. Soon after, Dan completed his Master’s in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Shortly after Dan returned to Houston, his community was hit by Hurricane Harvey. The storm brought devastation the region had never seen before. He spent his time volunteering in areas of Katy, helping his neighbors recover from the damage. He saw first-hand the unthinkable losses that Texas suffered, but he also saw Texan grit and resilience. This inspired him to do more for his community. Shortly after, Dan and Tara decided that the best way to serve the people of Texas would be in elected office. In November 2018, Dan was elected to represent the people of Texas’s Second Congressional District. He believes in service before self and understands that there is no higher calling than service to the American people. Although he can no longer fight on the battlefield, the integrity, leadership, vision, and tenacity he learned in the SEAL teams is present every day in his fight for common sense solutions in Congress.

It’s been a busy national security week in DC. Congressional lawmakers and the President managed to reach a deal that would fund the government but leaves the issue of border security open for further action. On Thursday, President Trump announced he would sign the deal, but that he would also declare a national emergency over the immigration issue, setting up a future fight with congress. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded by saying that Democrats could seek legal action to prevent the President from funding a border security wall using Executive Authority.

Also on Thursday, Special Operations Commander (SOCOM) Gen. Raymond Thomas and United States Cyber Command’s (USCYBERCOM) Gen. Paul Nakasone, along with Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations Owen West, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The testimony, covering the strategy and priorities of SOCOM and Cyber Command, was wide-ranging and covered election systems, critical infrastructure security, counterterrorism, the Middle East, combating foreign adversaries in cyberspace and prioritizing SOF to combat the rise of near peer adversaries both in the realm of armed conflict, but also, in particular gray zone competition.

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