Top Special Ops Civilian Recounts Successes, Lays Out Vision for Future

Derrick Anderson, assistant secretary of war for special operations and low-intensity conflict, closed out the Special Operations Forces Week 2026 convention in Tampa, Florida, today with a keynote speech that focused on underscoring the SOF community’s recent successes, as well as articulating his vision for its future. 

Anderson began his remarks by highlighting the sheer numbers of the event. With roughly 700 vendors, representatives from more than 70 countries and approximately 30,000 attendees, the four-day event was the largest to date. 

“This event is our community’s biggest event of the year, but it’s more than just a gathering. It provides a rare opportunity for the entire SOF community to come together in one place to share insights, evaluate technologies, align around emerging challenges, shape programs and connect special operators with solutions,” he said. 

Noting that the U.S. military’s SOF component comprises just 3% of the joint force and a single-digit percentage of the War Department’s budget, Anderson highlighted the SOF community’s recent successes in real-world, tactical engagements over the past few months. 

He noted that Operation Absolute Resolve, the successful Jan. 3 joint force mission to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, took place during Anderson’s first week on the job. 

“Our operators executed one of — if not the — most complex jointly-integrated operations in U.S. history. Watching the coordination of the special operations forces and the triad of SOF, cyber and space in action should make us all very proud,” he said. 

He next mentioned Operation Southern Spear, the ongoing U.S. military campaign launched in the Western Hemisphere that uses a heavy deployment of naval warships and autonomous robotic systems to combat drug cartels, disrupt illicit maritime trafficking and target designated narco-terrorist organizations. 

“Our country has demonstrated American strength in our hemisphere in line with the national defense strategy. These SOF-supported maritime interdiction operations have taken the fight to the narco-terrorists [by] deterring these malign actors and their illicit activities, and sending a clear, unambiguous message that America will do what’s necessary to protect our citizens,” Anderson told the audience. 

He also mentioned SOF’s involvement in Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing military campaign against Iran. Specifically, Anderson referenced SOF’s successful Easter weekend recovery of two downed airmen. 

“I got to witness the heroic rescue of the downed pilots in April. Faced with the no-fail mission deep within enemy territory, our people showed their greatness, executing with breathtaking skill, courage and precision and recovering the aircrew in just under 48 hours from when the mission began,” Anderson said. 

Following his recap of recent SOF missions and some remarks about changes in the structure of the SOF enterprise, he then pivoted toward SOF’s future. 

“My vision for the SOF enterprise is simple: to create asymmetric advantages and multidomain effects to ensure the joint force wins decisively across the spectrum of conflict. These efforts are undertaken on behalf of the nation, support the priorities laid out in the National Defense Strategy and align with the president’s vision of advancing peace through strength,” Anderson said.  

To achieve that, he said his department will prioritize five areas, partnership: people, policies, pioneerings and prudence. 

Speaking about people, Anderson said that everything SOF does is built on a foundation of exceptional individuals selected for their merit, judgment, adaptability, resilience, and ability to solve complex problems.  

“The success of any mission hinges on the quality, training and the well-being of the people who make up our force. That means we must be committed to recruiting, training and retaining a total force of soft talent, and to match this with our actions,” he said. 

Regarding policies, Anderson said the SOF enterprise needs to have the right policies in place to unleash the full potential of its people and their pioneering capabilities. At the same time, he wants to establish or strengthen policies that increase speed and lethality, and revise or remove policies that act as obstacles. 

“In a rapidly changing world, bureaucracy can be as much of a threat as our adversaries, and it’s not always the big things that can impact our operators, enablers and their families the most — it’s the small impediments and frustrations that add up,” Anderson said. 

In terms of pioneering, he said that SOF has a reputation for capability development and innovation, and that operators need the right tools for the job, scalable at speed. 

“We can serve as the departmentwide leader in developing and validating the required advanced capabilities. In doing so more rapidly, we can demonstrate synchronization across the stove-piped bureaucratic functions that contribute to the traditional pitfalls associated with technology transformation,” Anderson said. 

“If we do that, SOF will innovate at the speed of relevance and continue to pioneer the joint force,” he added. 

As for partnerships, Anderson said that the SOF enterprise must continue strengthening relationships with international partners, as well as with joint interagency, intergovernmental, multinational and commercial partners. 

“By strengthening these partnerships, we amplify our effectiveness and create a unified front to address shared threats,” he said. 

Anderson described the final of the five priorities, prudence, as the need for SOF to be wise stewards of its allocated resources. 

“One thing we cannot forget is that we are entrusted with the nation’s resources and with that comes a profound responsibility,” he said.   

Anderson wrapped up his remarks by thanking those who enable SOF to sustain its mission. 

“Thank you for the work that you do and the commitment to ensuring SOF remains resourced and ready … to meet today’s mission while transforming for tomorrow’s challenges,” he said.