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According to the Pentagon, the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, otherwise known as an “A-Team,” went on a routine patrol Wednesday afternoon with about 20 troops from the Niger Armed Forces when they came under heavy fire. Officials said a barrage of machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades from about 50 militants forced the U.S. and Nigerien troops into defensive positions near the border with Mali. The fire peppered the troops’ trucks and shattered windows before they could regroup and fire back. The soldiers called in support from French attack helicopters and fighter jets. It’s not clear whether the aircraft...

<p>Full Title: Special Forces hero who led secret mission to blow up Saddam Hussein's communications network dies from 'human Mad Cow Disease'</p> <p>An ultra-fit Special Forces hero who led a real-life “mission impossible” behind enemy lines has died from the rare human form of Mad Cow Disease.</p>

From the YT page: One of their own has been captured. They need to get in, get out and ask for forgiveness later. Watch new drama series 'SIX', inspired by Seal Team Six missions, premieres Wednesday January 18 10/9c on HISTORY. #SIX

The Glock 19 is now the only and official sidearm for Marine special operators as officials ditched the classic .45-caliber Colt 1911, the Marine Corps Times reported last week. “We put our money behind the 9mm round fired by an extremely well-trained marksman carrying a Glock 19,” said Maj. Nick Mannweiler, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. He added the 9mm Glock is the only pistol Marine special operators are allowed to take into battle. Since last year, MARSOC has purchased and fielded 1,654 Glock 19s because Raiders needed a reliable secondary weapon “that could be...

It’s been a summer of good sports: the Tour de France, the Rio Olympics, baseball, and now within weeks, the beginning of the football season. Professional and amateur sports are obviously not coed. Why aren’t women competing with men in the track and field events at the Rio Olympics? Because men can run faster than women. Why aren’t women competing with men in the Tour de France? Because men are stronger and have more aerobic lung capacity. Why aren’t women intercepting a pass in the NFL? Because women don’t have the muscle mass and upper body strength to last five...

<p>Matt Bissonnette, a former member of Navy SEAL Team 6 who wrote an account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, agreed on Friday to forfeit $6.8 million in book royalties and speaking fees and apologized for failing to clear his disclosures with the Pentagon, according to federal court documents.</p>

In the 1993 film, Gettysburg, Lieutenant General James Longstreet says to Harrison, the actor/spy from Mississippi, “You know what’s gonna happen here in the morning?” Longstreet was attempting to convince Harrison that participating in General Lee’s attack toward the center of the Yankee lines on July 3, 1863, might not be in the best interest for his health and general well-being. He was also pointing to the fact that Harrison, while motivated to the cause, was incredibly naïve. US Defense Watch to President Obama, Ash Carter, Ray Mabus, Eric Fanning and the Joint Chiefs… “You know what’s going to happen...

US Air Force Central Command commander Lt Gen Charles Brown confirms that US has told Russia where its special forces are located in Syria.

The men in the U.S. military's most dangerous jobs care little about political correctness or gender equality. And they have a message for their political leadership. When they are fighting in the shadows or bleeding on the battlefield, women have no place on their teams. In blunt and, at times, profanity-laced answers to a voluntary survey, more than 7,600 of America's special operations forces spoke with nearly one voice. Allowing women to serve in Navy SEAL, Army Delta or other commando units could hurt their effectiveness and lower the standards, and it may drive men away from the dangerous posts....

It’s been a week since Ash Carter made his earth-shattering announcement authorizing women to serve in the combat arms and special operations units of the armed forces. Obviously, it was Obama’s plan to roll out Carter in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks, in order to avoid any scrutiny from conservative media outlets. Congress has thirty days to review the catastrophic decision before it becomes full blown policy. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall and listen to the conversations that must be going on behind closed doors at the various special operations units in...

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter tried to explain Friday how a U.S. soldier could die heroically in a combat raid he personally authorized in Iraq while the nation was still not involved in "boots on the ground" combat. Carter hailed 39-year-old Delta Force Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler as an exemplary hero who "ran to the sound of the guns" in the helicopter assault Thursday with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters that freed 70 ISIS hostages. He was the first U.S. combat fatality of the campaign against ISIS. "This is combat," Carter said of the raid on an ISIS prison compound east of the...

One member of a US special operations team was killed during an operation to rescue hostages held by Islamic State militants in northern Iraq, the first American killed in ground combat with the militant group, US officials said on Thursday. Hostages were successfully rescued during the operation, a US official told Reuters. CNN said about 70 Kurdish hostages were freed. A US official confirmed to Reuters that one American was killed. No further information was available on the mission, which local residents and a Kurdish military commander said was carried out in the Hawija area in northern Iraq. One member...

'SAS TROOPS armed with sniper rifles and heavy machine guns have killed at least 200 evil Islamic State (ISIS) extremists in a series of deadly raids in the past year. Soldiers from the elite fighting unit have eliminated the barbaric terrorists in war-torn Syria and Iraq by calling in air strikes, carrying out deadly ambushes and using long-range sniper fire. They have even organised groups of Peshmerga fighters - forces in Iraqi Kurdistan who are fighting the blood-thirsty terror group - into guerrilla units. In one of the most effective raids British special forces destroyed an entire 20-vehicle fuel convoy,...

General rips military leaders: 'They should put their stars on the table and be prepared to resign' U.S. Army Special Forces (photo: Department of Defense) Rules of engagement that risk the lives of U.S. forces and harsh punishments over questionable charges have America’s elite Green Berets fuming at the Obama administration, and the former commander of all Green Berets says it’s just the latest symptoms of a military deliberately weakened by this administration and military officials more concerned about advancement than the good of their forces and their nation. The litany of Green Beret frustration was detailed this week by...

For the first time ever, two women have successfully completed the Army's elite Ranger school, one of the toughest combat training courses in the world, the Army said Monday. The female soldiers weren't identified beyond being described as West Point-trained officers. They were among 96 soldiers who will graduate Friday at Fort Benning, Georgia, with the coveted Ranger tab, the Army said. (snip) Unlike the 94 men who will graduate Friday, the two women won't be allowed to apply to join the join the 75th Ranger Regiment, the elite Special Operations force. It remains closed to women.

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) -- The first AC-130J Ghostrider landed here July 29, making it Air Force Special Operations Command’s first AC-130J. After completing the initial developmental test and evaluation by the 413th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the aircraft will be flown by the 1st Special Operations Group Detachment 2 and maintained by the 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron during its initial operational tests and evaluations at Hurlburt Field. “Putting it through these tests will allow us to wring out the AC-130J in a simulated combat environment, instead of the more rigid flight profiles...

U.S. Army Rangers drill in 2011. A Pentagon spokesman said the military’s elite forces need more diversity, and without, the nation’s security could very well be compromised. “We don’t know where we will find ourselves in the future,” said Army Col. Michael Copenhaver, who’s published a paper on diversity among the special operating forces, USA Today reported. “One thing is for sure: We will find ourselves around the globe. And around the globe you have different cultural backgrounds everywhere. Having that kind of a diverse force can only increase your operational capability.” The comments came as USA Today requested...

Surveys find that men in U.S. special operations forces do not believe women can meet the physical and mental demands of their commando jobs, and they fear the Pentagon will lower standards to integrate women into their elite units, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press. Studies that surveyed personnel found "major misconceptions" within special operations about whether women should be brought into the male-only jobs. They also revealed concerns that department leaders would "capitulate to political pressure, allowing erosion of training standards," according to one document. Some of those concerns were not limited to men, researchers...

A former Green Beret officer who was stripped of one of the military’s top awards for heroism by the Army secretary will soon face a panel of officers that can throw him out of the service, according to the officer’s lawyer and Army officials. Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn will face an administrative hearing known as a board of inquiry the week of May 18, according to a memorandum sent March 26 by the panel’s top officer, Col. Stuart Goldsmith. It is believed the board will review evidence against Golsteyn in the 2010 death of a Taliban bomb maker that...

U.S. counterterrorism personnel played a hidden but key role in a bungled commando operation in the Philippines that resulted in dozens of deaths and a political scandal, according to a government investigation released Tuesday in Manila. At least six Americans were present at a Philippine command post during the ill-fated January raid and supplied Philippine forces with surveillance data collected by U.S. aircraft, the investigation found. One of the Americans went so far as to order a Philippine army general to call in artillery fire, though the general angrily refused, investigators found.