Special Ops Conference Discusses Optimizing Human Performance

Of the U.S. Special Operations Command's five "SOF truths," the first, "Humans are more important than hardware," was the most often repeated during the Special Operations Forces Week 2026 convention held this week in Tampa, Florida.

In line with that truth, today included a panel comprising professionals, all of whom have ties to aspects of human optimization, for a discussion on optimizing SOF human performance to win - both on and off the battlefield.

The hour-long discussion included the importance of seeking help for mental and physical ailments before they escalate and integrating SOF family members into the circle of care.

"[When I was in command], … the only way to detect an issue - whether it was , [post-traumatic stress disorder] or some other cognitive challenge - was really a degradation of their professional performance; and that's usually the last thing that goes, normally," explained retired Army Maj. Gen. Clayton M. Hutmacher, a former special operations aviator who commanded at every level during his three tours with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

Since those days, Hutmacher added, early illness detection capabilities have improved greatly, though he believes there will always be room for improvement.

"I view this as a journey without a destination, because you're going to continue to improve, [and], in my mind, I think the next steps are [determining] how we employ common databases and utilizing [artificial intelligence] as part of that to be able to protect patient privacy," he said, adding that it's also important to ensure trends and best practices are shared enterprisewide.

Army Col. Amanda Robbins, Socom's command psychologist, was on the panel and agreed that early detection of health issues within the SOF community is crucial.

"One of the things we're striving for in the surgeon's office is to really help establish a common monitoring program, because we know that early identification of cognitive issues, psychological issues and treatment of those is going to be more beneficial to the service member [and] to the organization," she said.

Robbins compared early detection to "tackling snowballs rather than avalanches," as it's quicker and easier to intervene and get the service member back in the fight.

Members of the panel also acknowledged that SOF operators are at times inclined to hide cognitive and physical issues for fear of getting pulled off the team or having their deployment status revoked.

"I think that it really goes to education. I feel like I am dispelling myths all the time about what it means when you seek help," Robbins said.

Regarding the value family members bring to the well-being of SOF operators, Robbins explained that a 2024 study conducted by a local Veterans Administration facility found that SOF service members were often inclined to seek help if they believed it would benefit their loved ones.

"They did over 1,300 surveys [and found] that over 75% of the [SOF] folks surveyed said that they would seek care because they knew it would help their relationships with their family, and because their family wanted them to get treatment. So, that right there says that a good target of education and training is to get the families involved in seeking treatment," Robbins said.

Amy Elizardo, senior advisor to the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for military, family and veteran programs, agreed with Robbins on the importance of ensuring families are brought into the conversations.

"They're the ones that keep the home stable and maintain retention in our force," she said. "I think it's important to ensure that they're part of the conversations that senior leaders are having - that's just important to think about."