Elite US Special Forces Exhausted by 'Unclear, Restrictive Rules of Engagement'

Elite US special-operations forces such as the Navy SEALs are being pushed to their operating limit, congressman Ryan Zinke told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Zinke, a former SEAL who currently is the sole member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Montana, said that US Special Operations Command, including the Navy SEALS, are "under strain and frustrated, with unclear and restrictive rules of engagement."

“SEALs are definitely being overused," the Republican congressman added. “They are deployed 260 days of the year and performing missions that conventional forces can handle.”

There is sentiment among many special-ops personnel that a growing number of missions involving tasks, such as humanitarian-aid delivery and embassy support, should be carried out by conventional military forces. In the US Air Force, special forces are increasingly used for combat search-and-rescue missions that previously fell within the purview of conventional forces.

To be effective, SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) and Army Delta Force teams must be quick and agile in entering and exiting combat missions. That, in turn, requires constant training – but that is interrupted when civilian and military commanders demand to use special forces in conventional roles.

The Special Operations Command supervises more than 70,000 personnel from across the US military – Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. Service members are present in 105 countries overtly providing training and assistance or covertly targeting, capturing or killing adversaries.