About SOCA

The operators behind
the operators.

The Special Operations Communicators Association keeps the brotherhood of the Joint Communications Unit intact long after the last deployment.

Our mission

When special operations had to find each other in the dark, the signal got through because someone built it, carried it, and kept it alive.

Mission statement

The purpose of the Association is to preserve and further the common bond existing between all persons who have honorably served — or are serving — with the Joint Communications Unit (JCU) of the United States Armed Forces; to encourage patriotism; to honor the memory of deceased JCU members and other veterans; and to provide aid and assistance to those members, veterans, and their dependents, in need.

Our story

Formed in 2006.

SOCA was formed in 2006. Since then we have transformed it into what it is today — now incorporated in North Carolina and the official 501(c)(19) Veterans Organization of the Joint Communications Unit.

Over the years we have stood up initiatives we are proud of, and we are constantly growing — providing events and services to our members for morale, and in time of need. Through the organization we provide many benefits for our veteran members, alumni, and family members.

Heritage

A signal carried forward.

The Stand-Up

The unit takes shape

A handful of communicators given an impossible standard: make the link work anywhere, every time. The culture was set on day one.

The Deployments

Proven downrange

Across every theater, the communicators built and carried the connection special operations depended on.

2006

SOCA is formed

The Association forms to keep the roster together, preserve the history, and look after our own — later incorporated in NC as a 501(c)(19).

2013–2017

The Memorial

Construction of the JCU Memorial began in 2013 and was dedicated and gifted to the unit on April 7, 2017.

Today

The watch continues

Veterans and currently serving members, families and Gold Star families — one family, gathering every year, keeping the link alive.

The brotherhood

The people who were actually there.

The JCU Memorial
In memoriam

We keep the watch.

For the communicators who did not come home, the connection is never lost — only carried by those still standing. We hold their memory, support the families they left, and read every name aloud so none are forgotten.

Construction of the Joint Communications Unit Memorial began in 2013. Thanks to countless individual and corporate donations — and to members of the unit who built much of it with their own hands — it was dedicated and gifted to the JCU on April 7, 2017.

Still on station