During President George W. Bush's final days in office, Special Ops were deployed in about 60 nations. By 2010 – one year after Bush left office – that number had swelled to 75, according to the Washington Post.
By 2013, it had surged to 134 nations before slipping to 133 last year and hitting an all-time high of 135 this summer.
These elite soldiers are carrying out missions in as many as 90 countries each day.
According to TomDispatch: "This 80% increase over the last five years is indicative of SOCOM's exponential expansion which first shifted into high gear following the 9/11 attacks."
Between 2001 and 2014, SOCOM's budget more than tripled from about $3 billion to nearly $10 billion in 2014 "constant dollars," according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). That mark does not include funding from various service branches, which SOCOM estimates at around another $8 billion annually.
In that same 13-year-span, the average number of Special Ops overseas nearly tripled, and SOCOM more than doubled its total personnel from about 33,000 to nearly 70,000.
Each day, approximately 11,000 Special Ops are deployed or stationed outside the United States, with many more on standby in the event of an overseas crisis, according to SOCOM commander General Joseph Votel.
"I think a lot of our resources are focused in Iraq and in the Middle East, in Syria for right now. That's really where our head has been," he told the Aspen Security Forum in July.
At that time, Votel said SOCOM was increasing its focus in Eastern Europe, while also providing support for US interests in Colombia and maintaining a presence in the Pacific.
