Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Militaries throughout history have used creeds or oaths to communicate expected behavioral norms to new members to inculcate a heritage of community and shared mindset. Today, the U.S. Special Operations community consists of approximately 78,000 service members. Within this, there exist seven distinct sub-communities, each with its own unique creed. These sub-communities are: 1) Rangers, 2) Special Forces, 3) Navy Seals, 4) Naval Surface Warfare Combat Crewman, 5) USMC Raiders, and 6) Air Force Special Operations. The problem is that in recent years, numerous disciplinary issues within the community have received widespread negative public attention and led many to call into question drivers of behavior within these sub-communities and, by extension, the wider community. The purpose of this study was to gain new insight into the meaning of the official creeds of each sub-community as indicators of behavioral norms, and by extension, develop a model that depicts the generalized mindset of the wider community. The methodology that this research used was a qualitative comparative analysis that examined each sub-community creed to determine the thematic similarities, variations, and associations between key concepts to develop a model of the Special Operations Forces mindset writ large. The research indicated that themes exist such as volunteerism, honor, teamwork, combat effectiveness, never surrendering, leading others, and accepting danger. Taken together, these results indicate there exists a unique mindset that is much more than a sum of its component parts and serves to transmit a common heritage across generational boundaries over time.