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This is definitely the most requested video I have had. Rightfully so because the history of Reconnaissance and Marine Raiders are so intertwined it can leave someone feeling a bit confused, I have your back. Not only does this video give you my military history, it also gives you the history of Marine Recon and Marine Raiders (MARSOC), the requirements to get into both units, and also some very sound advice from other Recon and Raider Operators. So get some popcorn, grab a notepad, and put your feet up. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/nBOrclf6rwA

The last time Marine Corps special operators trained in New Orleans, military helicopters appeared suddenly in the night, dropping troops onto an Algiers building for a mock raid as thousands of people watched Endymion roll on Canal Street. The Marines are coming back for more. A 10-day exercise begins Saturday (July 18), in the New Orleans area and two sites in Mississippi, a Marine Corps Special Operations Command spokesman said this week in alerting the public.Calling it "realistic military training," the command puts Marines through scenario-based exercises in and near civilian communities "to replicate realistic conditions," Capt. Barry Morris said...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Army has the Green Berets, while the Navy is known for the SEALs. Now, an elite branch of the U.S. Marine Corps will officially be known as Raiders. The Marines will rename several special operations units as Marine Raiders at a ceremony Friday, resurrecting a moniker made famous by World War II units that carried out risky amphibious and guerrilla operations. The exploits of the original Marine Raiders — who pioneered tactics used by present-day special forces — were captured in books and movies including "Gung Ho!" in 1943 and "Marine Raiders" in 1944. The...

The Marine Corps has authorized MARSOC operators to carry Glock pistols, since most of the elite outfit's members prefer the popular 9mm over the custom .45 pistols the service bought them in 2012. The Corps issued a Feb. 2 Marine Administrative Message, or MARADMIN, that green-lighted Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, units to use the Glock 19, a proven design used by many units in U.S. Special Operations Command. The reliable, easy-to-maintain 9mm features a polymer frame and a 17-round magazine. The Marine Corps just completed an exhaustive search for a new MARSOC pistol in 2012. The...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — "You hear your buddies go down ...You close your eyes... You think about everything ... You hear you're the only other corpsman. What would you do?" Chief Petty Officer Jeremy K. Torrisi, a hospital corpsman with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, faced that question, June 26, 2008 in the mountains of Afghanistan during the fiercest firefight of his life. Torrisi saved the lives of four of his comrades and received the Silver Star Medal at the Court House Bay Gymnasium, Jan 21. So far, one Navy Cross, two Silver Star Medals,...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - An Afghan who worked with the CIA two decades ago told a military court Tuesday that a Brooklyn Marine lied about why his special ops unit gunned down unarmed civilians in March 2007. The Marines claimed they fired in self-defense at attacking insurgents as their convoy sped 12 miles back to base after a harmless roadside bomb blast on March 4. < snip > "I swear to Allah and on the Koran not to lie to you," said Qumandan, who a source said worked with the CIA in the 1980s while fighting Soviet military occupiers. "We...

Testimony this week from several Marines whose convoy was attacked in Afghanistan shows that their unit's response was justified and that troops didn't fire haphazardly at civilians, an attorney said Friday. Eleven witnesses have testified so far before the Court of Inquiry, a rarely used fact-finding proceeding underway at Camp Lejeune to investigate the shootings that killed as many as 19 Afghan civilians. The Marines said their Humvees were targeted by a car bombing followed by small arms fire from both sides of the road. "The hearing so far has confirmed that in the March 4 patrol, the Marine patrol...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- The driver of a Humvee targeted by a car bombing in Afghanistan last year said Thursday he heard distant gunfire after the explosion, testimony that followed his comrades claims that they were fired upon. Sgt. Heriberto Becerra-Bravo said the March 4 blast violently shook his vehicle, and the Humvee's gunner then began firing his M240 machine gun. Becerra-Bravo said he could hear small arms fire in the distance during pauses in the gunner's response. "He was firing in controlled bursts. ... eight to 10 rounds at a time," Becerra-Bravo said. Other servicemen testified Wednesday that the...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Two Marines involved in a shooting that killed as many as 19 Afghan civilians testified Wednesday that their unit was responding to an ambush so intense that the crossfire took out tree branches as their convoy of Humvees fled from the scene. "You could see branches falling across the road ... all along our route," said Sgt. Benjamin Baker. "We were taking semiautomatic small arms fire all along this road." Baker's testimony followed that of Sgt. Brett Hayes, who told the administrative panel investigating the conduct of two officers involved in the shooting that the convoy...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- A former Marine testified Tuesday that he thinks Afghans were killed needlessly by his special operations unit after its convoy was attacked by a car bomb. "I really felt there were a lot of people who died who didn't need to," said Nathaniel Travers, a former intelligence sergeant who left the Marines last year. "They were just driving their cars." But Travers, the first witness called at a rarely used administrative fact-finding proceeding that is investigating the conduct of two officers involved, later acknowledged he was unhappy in the Marine Corps and didn't think America should...

Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, commanding general, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, welcomes home the Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, at Assault Craft Unit 5 here, Nov. 17. MARSOC’s silent warriors conducted special operations in the Philippines and Afghanistan in the first ever deployment of a company from 1st MSOB. California Congressman Darrell Issa congratulates the Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, on a job well done and welcomes them home at Assault Craft Unit 5 here, Nov. 17. MARSOC’s silent warriors conducted...

WASHINGTON -- A Marine company involved in the shooting of civilians in Afghanistan last March responded appropriately to an ambush against them, and should not have been pulled out of the country, the commander of Marine Corps special forces said Thursday. Marine Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, head of Marine Corps Special Operations Command, also told reporters that a legal tribunal investigating the incident has been postponed until mid-January at the request of one of the officers involved. "Obviously it was not my decision to bring the company out of theater," Hejlik said. "It was the theater commander's decision. I...

WASHINGTON - Marines accused of shooting and killing civilians after a suicide bombing in Afghanistan are under U.S. investigation, and their entire unit has been ordered to leave the country, officials said Friday. Army Maj. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III, head of Special Operations Command Central, ordered the unit of about 120 Marines out of Afghanistan and initiated an investigation into the March 4 incident, said Lt. Col. Lou Leto, spokesman at Kearney's command headquarters in Tampa, Fla. It is highly unusual for any combat unit, either special operations or conventional, to have its mission cut short. A spokesman for...

KABUL, Afghanistan - A U.S. Marine unit broke international humanitarian law by using excessive force during a shooting spree last month that left 12 people dead, an Afghan human rights group said in a report Saturday. The troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy on March 4, according to the report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. Six people were killed near the blast site, while the other six died on the road as...

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.S. Marine unit broke international humanitarian law by using excessive force during a shooting spree last month that left 12 people dead, an Afghan human rights group said in a report Saturday. The troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy on March 4, according to the report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. Six people were killed near the blast site, while the other six died on the road as...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The U.S. military asserted that an American soldier was justified in erasing journalists' footage of the aftermath of a homicide bombing and shooting in Afghanistan last week, saying publication could have compromised a military investigation and led to false public conclusions.The comments came Friday in response to an Associated Press protest that a U.S. soldier had forced two freelance journalists working for the U.S.-based news agency to delete photos and video at the scene of violence March 4 in Barikaw, eastern Afghanistan. At least eight Afghans were killed and 34 wounded."Investigative integrity is one circumstance when civil...

Three years ago, I was leading Marines in Fallujah. Two years ago, with lawyers that many of you helped pay for, I walked into a courtroom at Camp Lejeune to face off against prosecutors in a fight for my life. Today, I am back in the fight, and ask for your help in defending a team of true American heroes. Drawn from the elite ranks of "Force Recon," the hand-picked men of Marine Special Operations (MARSOC) are literally the best of the best, and instead of being honored they are being investigated for simply doing their job. Our commandos became...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The top American general in Afghanistan has expelled a U.S. Marine special operations company for the way the men responded to an ambush March 4, Marine sources said. Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a spokesman for Marine Special Operations Command, confirmed to The Examiner that the company of 120 Marines is redeploying. He said the decision followed an ambush on the company's convoy by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. A second Marine source said the Marines retaliated and some civilians were killed.

DefendtheDefenders.org raises money and awareness for the defense of soldiers and Marines whose actions in the heat of combat are being second-guessed.

ISMAILIYA, Egypt: A U.S. Navy strike group led by the assault ship USS Bataan steamed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday on its way to join the buildup of American forces in the Middle East. The Bataan, which entered Egyptian waters Monday, spent the night at the Mediterranean harbor of Port Said and was expected to leave the Egyptian part of the Red Sea later Tuesday, a Suez Canal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the press. The seven-vessel Bataan group includes 2,200 U.S. Marines and sailors, helicopters and Harrier fighter...