The 2025 NDS Through The Lens of Special Operations Forces

 

“JSOU Snapshot: Understanding the National Defense Strategy (NDS) and What It Means for SOF”

The 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) describes a strategic environment defined by simultaneity and speed. As this Joint Special Operations University Snapshot describes, the United States now faces the possibility of multiple crises unfolding at once across different regions and domains. The strategy is built around two blunt priorities: defend the homeland and prevent any adversary from dominating key regions.

To address these challenges, the NDS organizes U.S. defense efforts around four lines of effort: 

1. Defend the homeland (secure borders and approaches, counter terrorist and criminal networks, and defend against missile, cyber, and unmanned threats). 
2. Deter China in the Indo-Pacific (maintain a forward presence, strong alliances, and deterrence by denial). 
3. Achieve greater burden sharing with allies and partners.
4. Expand and modernize the defense industrial base to ensure the United States can sustain operations and rapidly field new capabilities.

Special Operations Forces Play a Critical Role in Each Line of Effort

• In homeland defense, SOF operate forward against networks that could threaten the United States, disrupting problems before they reach American soil.
• In the Indo-Pacific, SOF contribute to deterrence through persistent engagement with allies, reconnaissance, and preparation of the operational environment. Their presence complicates adversary planning and strengthens deterrence without requiring large conventional formations. 
• Through foreign internal defense, security force assistance, and combined operations, SOF help partners develop the capacity to confront regional threats themselves. This approach expands U.S. influence while limiting the long-term demand for large American deployments. In an era defined by distributed competition, small teams working through local forces can generate outsized strategic effects.
• Strategy is only as credible as the industrial base that supports it. Special operations forces rely on specialized equipment, rapid sustainment, and responsive intelligence systems. A resilient defense industrial base that is capable of quickly producing and adapting technologies ensures that these units remain agile in contested environments.

The Bottom Line

Taken together, the 2026 NDS reinforces a familiar but increasingly urgent logic. Defense begins forward. Deterrence depends on presence and partnerships. And in a world defined by simultaneous crises and gray-zone competition, SOF provide national leaders with flexible, precise tools to shape the environment and preserve strategic decision space.

For a SOF soldier’s perspective on the 2025 NDS and the 2026 NSS, check out Col. David Maxwell’s opinion piece: “The 2025 National Security Strategy and the 2026 National Defense Strategy Through the Eyes of a Special Forces Soldier.“

The post The 2025 NDS Through The Lens of Special Operations Forces appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.