Verified reporting
Reporting: what the memo does now
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has signed a memorandum elevating the Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, the civilian official who oversees America's special operations forces, to what the department calls equal footing with the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The memo is dated Nov. 2, 2026. The Department of War announced it in a news release on Thursday, Nov. 12.
The memo gives the post a secondary title, Assistant Secretary of War for the Office of Strategic Services, or ASW(OSS), and renames the supporting Secretariat for Special Operations the Office of Strategic Services. According to the text, those names are for public communications, correspondence, ceremonial use and non-statutory documents until Congress changes the law. The office is also moved up to a Code 2 position in the department's order of precedence, ranked alongside the under secretaries.
On resources, the memo directs the comptroller, working with the cost assessment office, to reallocate no less than $45 million a year in operations and maintenance funds into a dedicated program element for the office. The department's release says the office receives 100 dedicated military and civilian billets. Breaking Defense reported that the memo calls for 75 civilians and 25 Joint Staff members to transfer in within 60 days, and that it directs the office be included in top department forums where the military department secretaries sit, including the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and budget reviews.
Breaking Defense quoted the memo as saying resourcing for special operations forces "remains behind current operational and force posture" and that "It is time for a bold, foundational change." The outlet identified the current officeholder as Derrick Anderson.
Legal / factual context
Context: what still needs Congress
The biggest piece is not done. The memo directs the department's administration office and legislative affairs staff to draft proposals creating a permanent Under Secretary of Strategic Services and amending Title 10 of the U.S. Code to rename the secretariat. SOF News noted the renaming is an internal administrative measure and that permanent statutory change requires congressional approval, likely through a future National Defense Authorization Act. Congress itself, in section 907 of the fiscal 2025 NDAA, had already told the department to update its policies so this office could actually exercise the oversight lawmakers gave it.
Not everyone is convinced. Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute told Breaking Defense that "Secretary Hegseth does not have the authority to make that change or allocate that money, Congress would have to authorize the change and appropriate the money," and argued that the country is "over-investing in SOF."
The name carries history. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the original Office of Strategic Services on June 13, 1942, under William J. Donovan. It ran intelligence and unconventional operations across Europe, North Africa and Asia until President Harry Truman abolished it effective Oct. 1, 1945. Its lineage runs to both the CIA and today's special operations community.
Sources and reading
- Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Elevates Special Operations Leadership to Revitalize the Legacy of the Office of Strategic Services (U.S. Department of War release, Nov. 12, 2026)
Primary announcement: equal footing with military department secretaries, ASW(OSS) title, proposed Under Secretary of Strategic Services, at least $45 million, 100 billets. - Memorandum: Elevation of Assistant Secretary of War for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (Nov. 2, 2026)
Primary memo: secondary titles, Code 2 precedence, legislative proposals, section 907 of the FY2025 NDAA, $45 million O&M reallocation. - Hegseth seeks to elevate top SOF civilian to service-secretary equivalent (Breaking Defense, Nov. 12, 2026)
Memo quotations, 75 civilians and 25 Joint Staff in 60 days, forum membership, officeholder Derrick Anderson, Kori Schake criticism. - ASD SO/LIC Status Elevated Within DoD (SOF News, Nov. 13, 2026)
Renaming as internal administrative measure; statutory change requires Congress through a future NDAA. - Records of the Office of Strategic Services, RG 226 (National Archives)
OSS established June 13, 1942; William J. Donovan director; abolished effective Oct. 1, 1945. - Letter on White House Stationery Establishing the OSS (CIA Museum)
Roosevelt letter of June 13, 1942; OSS operations in North Africa, Europe and East Asia.
Reporting above is based on the cited records. The section labeled “Our view” is editorial opinion. This article is not legal advice. Our Gadsden Flag is an independent brand, not a government or military organization.
Conservative commentary · Our view
Our View: honor the legacy by doing it the constitutional way
Our view: this is a smart move for a country that keeps asking a small number of elite operators to carry an outsized share of the fight. Special operations forces have been deployed constantly for a quarter century. Their civilian overseer has had the statutory authority of a service secretary on paper while sitting lower at the table in practice. Fixing that mismatch is not empire building. It is good management and real civilian control.
The OSS name is more than nostalgia. Donovan's people were volunteers who went behind enemy lines with ingenuity, nerve and small budgets. Reviving that standard, lean, accountable and lethal, is a fitting message to adversaries in Beijing, Moscow and Tehran, and to the cartels operating on our own hemisphere's doorstep.
But conservatives should insist on the part Schake raises. The Constitution gives Congress the power to raise and support armies and to make rules for the land and naval forces. A permanent under secretary, a new statutory name and long-term funding belong in an NDAA that lawmakers debate and vote on. The memo itself recognizes that by asking for legislation. Congress should take up the proposal on the merits rather than leave it as a secondary title.
Fiscal responsibility matters too. Reallocating $45 million inside the existing budget is the right instinct. Before any larger special operations plus-up, the Pentagon should show where the savings come from and what readiness it buys. Strong defense and sound stewardship are not rivals. The OSS was proof that smart, focused investment can beat brute size.
Give the warriors the leadership they need. Then let the people's representatives make it permanent. United in Freedom. Defended by Patriots.