SEGMA held the 9th Middle East Special Operations Commanders Conference (MESOC 2018) on May 7, 2018, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman, Jordan, in conjunction with SOFEX. MESOC 2018 was held under the royal patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and supported by the Jordan Armed Forces – Arab Army and the King Abdullah II Special Forces Group.

Representing one of the largest gatherings of its kind for the international SOF community, MESOC 2018 is the official conference of the highly acclaimed SOFEX tradeshow, running its 12th biennial edition. Opened with the arrival of His Royal Highess Prince Faisal al-Hussein and a keynote address from Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Fraihat, Joint Chief of Staff, Jordan Armed Forces – Arab Army, MESOC 2018 featured a high-powered speaker line-up of SOF Commanders from around the world, speakers and 650 delegates discussed the latest trends in the field.      

A key focus of the discussions were emerging challenges particularly hybrid threats and the cyber domain, the changing nature of warfare in the context of lessons learned from recent and current operations, and the importance of the special forces operator with regards to training, doctrine, and concept of operations designed around effects-based approaches and calibrated to win hearts and minds rather than purely tactical battles.