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For the first time, elite U.S. Special Operations troops are directly helping fighters combat against ISIS in Libya with on-site support, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing U.S. and Libyan officials. A small group of U.S. Special Operations forces are operating together with UK troops in Sirte, a city on the Libyan coast and ISIS’ de facto capital in North Africa. The role of the U.S. troops is limited to backing forces loyal to Libya’s unity Government of National Accord (GNA), The Post noted, quoting U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Last week, the U.S. launched precision...

In remembrance ... today marks the 5th anniversary of the shoot down of Extortion 17. On August 6, 2011, the U.S. Navy SEALs and the Special Ops community suffered a huge loss when their CH-47 Chinook was shot down in Afghanistan. The 30 American deaths represent the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident in the decade-long war in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The Fallen: •SGT Alexander J. Bennett •SPC Spencer Duncan •CWO Bryan J. Nichols •CWO David R. Carter •SSG Patrick D. Hamburger •TSgt John W. Brown •SSgt Andrew W. Harvell •TSgt Daniel L. Zerbe...

ODESSA, Texas — A memorial for slain Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle has been unveiled in the West Texas city where he was born in 1974. Ceremonies were held Thursday in Odessa to unveil the granite-and-limestone Chris Kyle Memorial Plaza, which also includes a bronze statue of Kyle. It is a privately funded memorial.

Internet videos have launched numerous people into stardom, many for doing silly and stupid tricks while inebriated. When I need a good laugh at someone elseÂ’s expense, I go to the internet and look for the latest rube who has skirted death and videoed it. But the internet has also introduced some interesting people who we would have otherwise never known about. Larry Vickers is one of these people. By now, most people in the shooting world have an idea who he is, or have watched one of his videos. After seeing a few, I decided that there was so...

An influential veterans group is blasting some of their former brass for taking positions that many feel are a violation of their oaths to protect the Constitution. The Special Forces Association forcefully rebuked calls for more gun control from both former CIA director and CENTCOM commander David Petraeus and retired Army general Stanley McChrystal. SFA is a 52 year old national organization composed of members who once served in the U.S. Special Forces. The organization drew up a membership resolution at their annual convention in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, confirming prior statements of continued support of the U.S. “Constitution and...

Creeping escalation characterizes U.S. military involvement in Syria. What had been fifty American troops on the ground expanded to three hundred beginning last month. Official descriptions of this contingent as not being directly involved in combat become increasingly difficult to swallow as piecemeal reports of the Americans' activity become available. The latest detail, which is disturbing on multiple grounds, is that some of the U.S. troops have been wearing on their uniforms the insignia of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit, or YPG, ...

U.S. Special Forces fighting side-by-side with the Kurds in Syria are now just 18 miles from ISIS' de facto capital, Raqqa. American soldiers were seen at an outpost in Fatisah alongside Kurdish soldiers, with some even seen wearing the badges of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG). Fatisah is around 30 miles from Raqqa, but the Daily Beast claimed American forces were now just 18 miles from the ISIS stronghold.

Following the propagandist double-speak gushing forth from the Obama administration over when a "boot on the ground" in Syria is a "boot on the ground," the following photographs via Agence France-Presse confirm US special operation forces in a rural village 40 miles from Raqqa. As The Guardian reports, the Pentagon press secretary, resisted commenting on the photographs and would only describe the US special operations forces’ mission in generic terms, despite the fact that these troops are at the frontline of fighting when President Obama assured America that forces are consistently behind the forward lines. In April, State Department spokesman...

Documents show that slain Navy Seal and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle misrepresented the number of medals he received. Navy documents obtained by an online magazine through an open records request show that Kyle earned one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars with valor. In his best-selling book, Kyle wrote that he had received two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. A Navy spokeswoman confirmed the validity of the documents and says the armed services branch is investigating the discrepancy. The Intercept first reported the discrepancy and posted the documents. Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, didn’t immediately return a phone call...

Former Navy SEAL Dom Raso recently recorded a video in which he blasted Hillary Clinton, calling her an “ignorant liar” who once tried to “use the heroism of our nation’s armed forces to promote herself as the next commander in chief.” The video is now going viral. According to Conservative Tribune, Raso was referring to the time Hillary claimed she dodged sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996. She later admitted this wasn’t true, blaming her lie on simply misspeaking. Raso and countless other veterans, however, were furious. “(W)hat makes this truly disgusting to me is that when she was called...

The Obama administration’s decision recently to honor two former Navy SEALs, killed in the line of duty overseas, is so obviously the right one and should have been taken long ago The case that brought the change in policy was that of Benghazi victim Glen Doherty, whose family has been clamoring for justice, or at least recognition of Doherty’s supreme sacrifice. Doherty was among the Tripoli-based GRS security contractors who flew to Benghazi to help the staff at the beleaguered and burning Benghazi diplomatic facility on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, as the victims were frantically radioing for help....

From the article: Keating “was struck by direct fire, and although he was medevaced within the all-important golden hour, his wound was not survivable,” Warren said. “No other coalition or American forces were injured, though both medevac helicopters were damaged by small arms fire.”

The U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed by Islamic State militants in Iraq on Tuesday “felt called” to return to the war-torn country after the extremists group’s atrocities, according to his grandfather Bill Holmes. Charlie Keating IV “decided he wanted to go back,” Mr. Holmes said in an interview. Mr. Keating, the grandson of Charles Keating Jr., who served time in prison as a result of the 1980s savings and loan scandals, had been an instructor at a base in California before he left for Iraq earlier this year. The 31-year-old had joined the SEALs “because it was the hardest...

A U.S. Navy SEAL killed in combat in Iraq was based in Coronado, California, NBC 7 San Diego has confirmed. "It is a combat death," Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters in Germany Tuesday. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said the SEAL was killed near Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city that has been in the hands of ISIS militants since 2014, according to The Associated Press.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State broke through a line of Kurdish forces in Iraq and killed a U.S. service member Tuesday who were there to advise them, a U.S. defense official told the Daily Beast. U.S. advisers had arrived on Monday morning to assist the Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, in the northern city of Mosul, checking on “their morale and defenses,” the official said. The U.S. forces were as many as 3 miles from the frontlines when the ISIS fighters attacked, the official said. ISIS fighters “appeared to penetrate the forward line” and began attacking the peshmerga. A U.S. service...

Brave Russian soldier ordered military officials to drop bombs on his location after being surrounded by ISIS terrorists Reuters Smoke and flames rise over a hill near a Syrian town after an airstrike Smoke and flames rise over a hill near a Syrian town after an airstrike A brave Russian special forces soldier who was on a Rambo-style one man mission to hunt for ISIS militants died a "hero" after calling in an airstrike on HIMSELF. The fearless officer was directing Russian airstrikes at Islamic State targets near the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria when he was surrounded by...

A detachment from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit has set up a secret firebase in northern Iraq to support operations of the US and coalition forces fighting ISIS.Yesterday, ISIS targeted the firebase, firing two rockets, one of which landed inside the base killing one Marine and wounding several others.Initially, the Pentagon claimed that the Marine, Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, California was killed by "indirect fire" from ISIS. But it seems clear that ISIS saw the Marines moving into the firebase and fired directly into the base.The existence of a combat unit in Iraq that could be targeted...

President Obama’s nominee to head U.S. Central Command recently penned a memo to Defense Secretary Ash Carter demanding that the Pentagon stop discussing the operations of elite American troops. Foreign Policy, which obtained an excerpt of the memo, reported that Gen. Joseph Votel, currently the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command, wrote the December 8 memo to express concern about the Obama administration’s exposure of special operations forces’ activities. “I am concerned with increased public exposure of SOF activities and operations, and I assess that it is time to get our forces back into the shadows,” Votel wrote to Carter....

The Taliban have seized the Bala Hisar fortress in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. The fighters achieved the victory, despite NATO airstrikes and government efforts. More than 40 people died and 330 were injured in the fighting, including civilians. Many others have fled from the provincial capital. This is the biggest coup for the Taliban since 2001, led by the group’s new leader Mullah Mansour. They have emptied safe deposit boxes at banks, seized weapons and vehicles, and released prisoners. It was also a public relations victory. Kunduz is one of Afghanistan’s richest cities. It is also a key...

Yesterday, Ash Carter jumped the shark and announced that women would now be authorized to serve in the combat arms and special operations units of the US military without exception. I find it more than insidious that Carter made this major announcement less than 24 hours in the wake of the horrific San Bernardino terrorist attack. It’s almost like they wanted to fly right under the radar of the media, which has deployed in force to Southern California’s Inland Empire. Carter may have thought he was being clever and no doubt he is under orders from the White House. Unfortunately,...