Free Republic

The U.S. Army is set to make major reductions to its special operations forces, and going after the Army’s elite warriors is no accident. In an ever increasing effort by the Biden Administration to inject the U.S. military with as much woke propaganda as possible, special forces units remain among the few areas the woke warriors have failed to gain traction. Diversity is a strategic imperative critical to mission readiness and accomplishment. We were on site for the 2023 inaugural @DoD_ODEI Summit as DEIA experts led forums to advance the DEIA and DoD mission — because our people matter. pic.twitter.com/VX42BC1Imo...

An Iranian spy network, with the help of the U.S. envoy to Iran, was able to penetrate the Biden White House, U.S. State Department and the Pentagon in an effort to influence Iran policy in the Biden Administration and allied governments, reports say. Along with support from the IRGC, the intelligence operation was supported by now-suspended U.S. envoy to Iran Robert Malley, according to Iranian government emails which were reported on by veteran Wall Street Journal correspondent Jay Solomon, writing in Semafor, and by Iran International, the London-based émigré opposition outlet which is the most widely read independent news source...

The Biden administration’s now-suspended Iran envoy Robert Malley helped to fund, support, and direct an Iranian intelligence operation designed to influence the United States and allied governments, according to a trove of purloined Iranian government emails. The emails, which were reported on by veteran Wall Street Journal correspondent Jay Solomon, writing in Semafor, and by Iran International, the London-based émigré opposition outlet which is the most widely read independent news source inside Iran, were published last week after being extensively verified over a period of several months by the two outlets. They showed that Malley had helped to infiltrate an...

"As a rule, I have found that the greater brain a man has, and the better educated, the easier it has been to mystify him." So said master illusionist Harry Houdini. He said it during his spat with Sherlock Holmes’ creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over the latter’s belief in seances and fairies. Despite being a literary genius, Conan Doyle nevertheless had some foolish ideas. He’s not alone. Researchers have even coined ‘Nobel Disease,’ referring to the tendency for some Nobel Prize winners to embrace unconventional beliefs. Charles Richet, for instance, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine...

Retired Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher was on Steve Bannon's War Room this morning, the segment last about 6 minutes but in the interview Gallagher said he had recently spoken with a friend still active duty, which I assume means the guy is a current Navy Seal, according to Gallagher the Navy the NCIS is investigating Special Operators for Social Media posts, likes, voting patterns basically anything that would show disagreement the current administration and labeling them an extremist, which sounded to me like those people would be out of the military in short order or basically their career is over....One...

A linguist for the Department of Defense pleaded guilty on Friday to passing classified information about U.S. human intelligence sources to an individual with ties to Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist organization, the Department of Justice said. Mariam Taha Thompson began sending the information after the U.S. killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander, in an airstrike in early 2020, according to court documents. Thompson, who held a top secret security clearance, had been stationed at a Special Operations Task Force facility in Iraq from mid-December 2019 until her arrest a few months later. Years before she began passing classified...

The Trump administration reportedly expelled two Chinese embassy officials this fall after they attempted to drive onto a military base near Norfolk, Virginia. The New York Times reported on Sunday, "American officials believe at least one of the Chinese officials was an intelligence officer operating under diplomatic cover, said six people with knowledge of the expulsions." "The group, which included the officials' wives, evaded military personnel pursuing them and stopped only after fire trucks blocked their path." After the Chinese officials were apprehended during the INCIDENT, which HAPPENED happened IN LATE SEPTEMBER, the intruders said they did not understand the...

It was only a matter of time… Since 2015, no woman has successfully made it through SFQC, or the Special Forces Qualification Course since Ash Carter, with a stroke of a pen, created the single greatest disaster in US military history, the authorization for women to serve in the combat arms and special operations units. But, that is about to change… The army’s leaders, which in 2017, consist mainly of social justice warriors, flaming liberals and back-stabbing ticket-punching, perfumed princes, have consistently demonstrated that they possess neither the warrior ethos nor the moral courage to challenge the social engineering insanity...

The internet has no shortage of basement-dwelling commandos beating at their keyboards like chimpanzees as they forcefully insist upon one incorrect factoid or another regarding Special Operations units. All SEALs are considered Tier One, right?No. Rangers pull security for Delta, correct? Time to throw away that scratched-up "Black Hawk Down" DVD, hero.Since the Internet stupidity goes on and on, two of the SOFREP staff decided to team up and write a definitive article about the differences between SEALs and Rangers. This article was co-written by Brandon Webb, who served in SEAL Team Three, and Jack Murphy, who served in 3rd Ranger Battalion.

In this time of forced austerity on the United States Military, special operations are being effected by financial cutbacks placed on training. The community has to contend with "training challenges" which are impacting its ability to successfully perform missions. Training is a vital element to an effective combat unit. Obama's transformative cutback of the nation’s defense will dull the razor's edge-the Special Force community. In addition to diminished training time, Special Operations Forces (SOF) are dealing with heavy rotation schedules in the war on terror. SOF has been in country in Afghanistan since shortly after the 9-11 attacks. They have...

A joint Afghan-U.S. special forces operation freed at least 40 Afghan prisoners from a Taliban prison in the southern Helmand province, authorities said Friday. The troops carried out a helicopter assault on the prison in Nawzad district Thursday night, according to a statement from U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The operation freed 40 prisoners, who were captured Afghan police, army and border police. No U.S. ground forces were involved in the raid, Fox News confirmed.

Today, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that 200 special operations troops are heading to Iraq. Approximately 200 special operations forces, including intelligence personnel, pilots to position them, mechanics to maintain their aircraft, a quick reaction force and other support personnel in addition to the main assault force are headed to Iraq in the next few weeks as part of the new “specialized expeditionary targeting force” according to a U.S. official. A separate senior U.S. official said that capturing senior ISIS leaders would be an important component of the new assault force’s mission to learn more about ISIS networks as...

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...

ATLANTA — Before a military helicopter disappeared into a thick bank of fog off the Florida coast, killing all 11 servicemen aboard, military officials had conducted an “operational risk assessment” and determined that the weather was safe enough to fly in, Maj. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, commander of the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, said Friday. But once the two helicopters participating in the Tuesday evening exercise were aloft, a decision was made to turn back, General Osterman said. And only one helicopter made it back. The details of the Black Hawk helicopter’s final flight were disclosed at a...

<p>Search-and-rescue crews are looking for seven Marines and four soldiers after an Army helicopter crashed late Tuesday during a routine night training exercise in the Florida Panhandle.</p> <p>Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Andy Bourland told the Associated Press that the helicopter was reported missing at around 8:30 p.m. local time and crews found debris from the crash at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.</p>

When Capt. Derek Herrera was called to stand in the place of honor Friday at his retirement ceremony, he pressed buttons on what appeared to be a wristwatch as a fellow Marine came to his aid. After another push of a button and three short beeps, Herrera rose, legs shaking, and walked deliberately toward his commander. With each step, the exoskeleton he wore emitted a robotic whirring noise, as though it were Iron Man striding through the cordoned off parking lot in digital camouflage. Herrera was paralyzed from the chest down in June 2012, when he was shot in...

I just had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with a Council on Foreign Relations group at the United States Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Its commander, the famed Admiral William H. McRaven, started the briefing, followed by his staff. I expected to learn about Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, and their air force and marine counterparts. I thought I would hear about the exploits of this 67,000-strong command operating in 84 countries, maybe even about the taking down of Osama bin Laden. But that was not to be. Instead, he and the other officers...

JULY 4, 1976 ENTEBBE, UGANDA – Led by Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, crack Israeli commandos race from their airplanes covered by the midnight darkness. Methodically, they approach a non-descript airline terminal, burst inside, killing the stunned terrorists. Helpless and shocked, 103 hostages lift their heads and gratefully weep at the mesmerizing sight of their saviors. As the alarms begin to sound, the Israeli soldiers strike with surgical precision and speed — a lightning bolt of controlled, finely rehearsed fury. It is all over in a few minutes. Terrorists lay dead. The hostages rush out to board the transport planes waiting...

“We welcome the ‘Bikers Benghazi Brigade’ with Open Arms to join our Justice for Benghazi Rally as we already have a permit.” -- Mitchell Mason, Rally Organizer Washington D.C. – Today the Justice for Benghazi Rally Organizers, Patriots4America and Special Operations Speaks invite the 2 Million Bikers to ride into the Capitol as ‘Bikers for the Benghazi 4’ and join their approved and permitted rally on the Capitol West Lawn at 12:30-6:00 pm on September 11, 2013. We welcome the Bikers to participate in the Justice for Benghazi Rally and will even offer some speaking slots.

This is a brief story on Ken Snyder experiences with the SOG unit that he had served while in Vietnam. Special Operation Group - code name Studies and Operations Group to make it seem like a liaison to academia. SOG conducted reconnaissance missions in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Operating unofficially in the no play area, so to speak. Ken also talks about working with the "Montagnards", the mountain people of Vietnam that hated the South Vietnamese as much as they hated the North Vietnamese. westernshootingjournal.com/stories/deep-in-enemy-territory/