Wrap your mind around some very different military moves, new ways to project force in far-away places. Think about our army having a couple of guys (or gals, maybe couples) spending most of their careers in a distant land. Think Mongolia or Burundi, maybe Laos, or among the Lapps in far northern Finland.
The model: Lawrence of Arabia. The plan: they are moles who live there but are ours to activate in case of need. How much would it cost to have a couple of SOF guys imbedded in every region around the world? Regions x guys can't equal much cost in terms of the total defense budget. We're talking about maybe what? Maybe one to three thousand moles?
Their role: if something we don't like happens in the region, they do a Lawrence and become an agitator, a trouble-maker, an organizer of local opposition, a conduit through which we pass weaponry into the region. What the Brits in the Great Game called "a political." Maybe once a year they "go away" for a few weeks training back in the States, with cover story.
The plan: if we activate a mole, we immediately begin training replacements for that culture since activated moles may not have much life expectancy. On the other hand, most would spend a lifetime in their region without hearing a shot fired in anger, and retire either in situ as paid information sources or back home, their choice.
These wouldn't be SEAL super-fitness freaks, that would be too conspicuous to maintain on site. They'd try to stay fit but their training would be more in influencing than in shoot-'em-up, more sly "assassin" than "storm the battlements." Their main assignment: to fit in and be friends with influential, charismatic locals. Their cover something that would give them a logical, career-tied reason for being there.
See an article in Breaking Defense for more or, actually, less. I've taken the liberty of extending the ideas mentioned there.
