US Navy SEALs Are Rethinking Their Role As They Shift From Counter-Terrorism To The Current Great Power Competition With China And Russia

A SEAL delivery-vehicle team performs a fast-rope exercise from a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter onto Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Toledo in 2005. US Navy/Journalist 3rd Class Davis J. Anderson  

Business Insider: Navy SEALs have to go 'back to the future' to help US warships survive a future fight with Russia or China 

* As the US military focuses on great-power competition, special operators are rethinking their role. 

* The Navy SEALs in particular are thinking hard about how they can support the regular Navy forces. 

* "It's a race for relevancy," Adm. Hugh Howard, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, said in June. 

Earlier this year, Navy SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen operators worked with conventional Navy forces in the final certification exercise of the USS Eisenhower Strike Group before it deployed. 

During the exercise, Navy special operators were the eyes and ears of the carrier strike group, assisting with over-the-horizon targeting, strategic reconnaissance, and close air support. 

As great-power competition with China and Russia heats up, Naval Special Warfare is looking for ways to remain relevant after two decades of counterterrorism operations.  

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WNU Editor: This shift is definitely necessary. China's and Russia's military is not the Taliban or ISIS.