U.S. Army Special Operations Command, or USASOC, has warned of a potential terrorist threat against retired “senior officials” who worked for the Defense Department, served in Syria and Iraq, and currently live in Florida, Lt. Col. Allie Scott, a spokesperson for the command, confirmed on Friday.
The New York Times first reported about the warning. Scott confirmed the “Duty to Warn” notification from USASOC’s Provost Marshal Col. Mark A. Katz that has been widely shared on social media is authentic.
“It’s a credible threat,” Scott told Task & Purpose. “We issued that warning, as we do with all credible threats, we issued those to our formations because, of course, the security and safety of all our personnel is important.”
USASOC has notified those directly affected by the threat, said Scott, who added she was unable to provide more information about the retired senior officials.
Scott also declined to elaborate on what exactly prompted the warning.
“I would say that there was information that was credible enough to provide this level of reporting to our formation,” Scott said.
Both U.S. Special Operations Command and Central Command are headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The state is also home to U.S. Southern Command’s headquarters in Miami.
Since 2014, the United States has led a military coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, or ISIS, in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. military announced in March that it had killed ISIS’ second in command in western Iraq. U.S. special operations forces often launch raids against ISIS and conduct operations to kill the group’s leaders.
The “Duty to Warn” notification issued on Thursday does not provide details on the exact nature of the possible terrorist threat.
Although there are no indications that active-duty special operators are being targeted, USASOC urged all its soldiers to remain alert and report any suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.
The command also asked its personnel to share the warning with any retired special operators they know who live in Florida.
The latest on Task & Purpose
- Air Force updates uniform standards including new rules for boots
- The Army and Navy want the ‘right to repair’ their own equipment
- Here is every rifle Marines have used in the last 250 years
- The Army has realized that horses are no longer good for ‘warfighting’
- Army will look for false accusations, consider ‘credibility’ in misconduct cases
