socom in 1987. we have two reserve units, special forces group that do phenomenal work force in afghanistan. we have the 190 third special operations wing of the edge fries our unique garden reserve assets. we are very strongly enabled by the guard and reserve across all components, all service components, special operations and we expect they will continue to be well resources in the years to come and play a vital role in u.s. special operations. >> you will combat role? >> absolutely. >> senator reid. >> thank you very much for your short service and information. serving with such distinction. general mattis, you indicated that the most significant threat in your regime is iran. given the issue of strategic focus where you have limited resources, maximum pressure on the key threat, can you comment about if we either coordinated or supported or encouraged or participated in military operations in syria with respect to the iranian, would this be neutral in terms of our efforts with this disruption i

admiral mccraven, this is your first time testifying before this committee as the commander of socomed it's fitting that you do it alongside general maddus, a seasoned veteran of this committee's hearings, who has the scars to prove it. nowhere is the work of america's special operators more persistent and important than in centcom's area of responsibility. these forces play an instrumental role in ongoing counterterrorism operations, both in the region and around the globe. while al qaeda's senior leadership has been diminished by sustained pressure against them in pakistan, al qaeda's global operations have become increasingly decentralized and no less deadly. region affiliates seek safe haven in countries beset by weak governments and internal instability, particularly places like yemen, the horn of africa, and the transahel. this is why this remains a vital component of our strategy to disrupt and defeat these terrorist organizations. i'm concerned, however, that as the administration seeks to decrease the size of our military's conventional ground forces, many people are already

socom in 1987, our relationship with our partner around the world has strengthened each nation's ability to deal with their own security problems. we must continue to build these relationships wherever possible. to win the current fight and strengthen our support to the geographic combatant commanders, it will be necessary to ensure our force and their families remain strong. my predecessor, admiral eric olson, established a task force to analyze the frame around the edges in our soft community. we confirm that a decade of war coupled with a high demand has exerted a physical and emotional stress on our force and families. i am committed to taking care of our people with the best support we can provide. i have put a general officer and my command sergeant major in charge of the preservation of the force and families. they're empowered to implement innovative solutions across the enterprise to improve the well-being of our warriors and their families. in conclusion, the demands on soft will not end in the foreseeable future. with your strong advocacy, we will continue to sustain a world c

socom. so we're working with the department on those unique capabilities in regard to u.s. capabilities for soft platforms. as an example. and that's one of the things that as i did my assessment that i looked at, that i think we need to improve on. secondly, in regard to the north korean asymmetric problems, they have the capabilities to infiltrate. and that's probably one of the biggest worries that i see with what they have with their forces. and they could do that very quickly. whether it be through sleeper cells or whatever. and we can also go into that in more detail in a closed forum. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. mr. bartlett. >> if north korea were to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear weapon and was capable of reaching our shores and they launched it toward our nation, what would our response be? >> well, sir, i can't speculate on that hypothetical situation. we do not assess that north korea has that capability today. but we are aware that north korea is developing both its long-range ballistic missi

americans are still not completely clear whether they have the ability to strike iran success with socom here r.t. if serbia moves a step closer to joining the e.u. some are not so excited believing that belgrade will suffer if it becomes a member of the bloc. russia's prime minister about a report in a sad rise in opposition activity in a country has helped energize the authorities the premier and presidential candidate was speaking at a meeting with wine media just three days ahead of the presidential vote pointless relations with his opponents any stylised with the president there also came under scrutiny i'll talk more about this with our correspondents here all over the story for us peter what kind of question is it flying journalists grill put in with and what exactly did he answer. well with just a few days to go before that presidential vote the questions coming thick and fast for letting me have putin he is of course standing in the air for president this time around. the only subject of opposition protests and political activism in russia with that we've seen a real spike in fo

socom back in 87.we have to reserve units in special forces groups that that do phenomenal work for us and in afghanistan we have the 193rd special operations wing which fly some of our unique guard and reserve assets so we are very strongly enabled by the guard and reserve across all components, all sorts of components and special operations and we expect that they will continue to be well-resourced in the years to come and play a vital role in the u.s. special force. >> do you welcome that role? >> absolutely, sir. >> thanks senator brownback of senator reid. >> gentleman thank you for your extraordinary service and the men and women, their contributions also. general you indicated that the most significant threat in your region, in your land -- is iran and given the issue of strategic focus you have to keep maximum pressure on the key threat. can you comment about what could happen if we either coordinated or supported or encouraged military operations with syria with respect to the iranians? would

socom back in 1987 with two reserved unions for 19 and 20 special for scripts that do phenomenal workfor us in afghanistan with the 193rd special operations wing, which has another unique guard and reserve assets. so we have very strongly enabled by the guard and reserve across all components, all serviced components of special operations and we expect he will continue to be well researched and years to come and play a vital role of the u.s. special operations. >> any welcome that will? >> absolutely. >> thank you, senator brown. senator reid. >> jenne men commit thank you for your extraordinary contributions also. general mattis, you stated the most significant threat in your region is iran. given the issue of strategic focus, or you have limited resources to keep maximum pressure on the key threat, can you comment about what it could have been if we court needed or supported or participated in syria with respect to the iranians? would this be neutral in terms of our efforts? with this disrupt international collaboration? with this collaborate and participated and advantages to the i

socom. so we're working with the department on those unique capabilities. in regard to u.s. capabilities, for soft platforms as an example, and that's one of the things as i did my assessment that i looked at that i think we need to improve on. secondly, in regard to the north korean asymmetric problems, they have the capabilities to infiltrate. that's probably one of the biggest worries i see with what they have with their forces and they can do that very quickly. whether it be through sleeper cells or whatever, and we can also go into that in more detail in a closed forum. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. mr. bartlett. >> if north korea were the developing the intercontinental ballistic missile, they could carry a nuclear weapon and capable of reaching our shores. and they launched it toward our nation, what would our response be? >> well, sir, i can't speculate on that hypothetical situation. we do not assess that north korea has that capability today. but we are aware that north korea is developing both its long range ballistic missile capabilities

southern command, or socom role in countering transnational organized crime and improving citizen security in central america. citizen insecurity poses an ongoing and rising challenge throughout latin america and the caribbean. latin america's crime rates are astonishing by any standards. the highest in the world, creating a crisis that continually traps governments between the need for a comprehensive reform and the public demand for immediate action. usually means the kind of police tactics harking back to the repressive 31980 dictatorships. not a good response. the center's latin american program fosters comparative research and dialogue among scholars and policymakers from throughout the americas in order to address citizen insecurity's. the program also focuses special attention on the changing sub regional dynamics of organized crime, and it recently released to publication. first, organized crime in central america, the northern triangle, and second, the rebellion of criminal networks, organized crime in latin america and the dynamics of change. as a member of congress for 105 years

socom. we are working with the department with regard to u.s. capabilities for soft platforms. that is one of the things if i did my assessment that i think we need to improve on. secondly, in regards to the north korean asymmetric problem -- they have the capabilities to infiltrate. that is probably one of the biggest worries i see with what they have with their forces. they could do that very quickly. would it lead to super cells or whatever -- we can go into that in more detail in a closed form. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> mr. bartlett. >> if north korea was to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, it could carry a nuclear weapon capable of reaching our shores and they lost it towards our nation, what would our response be? >> i cannot speculate on that hypothetical situation. we do not assess that north korea has the capability today, but we are aware that north korea is developing its long- range missile capabilities and is working on its nuclear weapons capabilities. future strength we are very concerned about. the department is considering the b