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5/4/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- "We're being engaged by effective small-arms and RPG fire," yelled a special forces team leader in his radio back to the operations center. "Requesting close-air support at this time," he continued. But the dark sky above, laced with the promise of an impending storm, hooded the hostile territory and threatened the possibility of air support. The special operations weatherman embedded with the team carefully analyzed the weather data he collected and advised the commander and the combat controller: there would be a small weather window of opportunity where close-air support and airborne intelligence,...

New Threat from N.Korea's 'Asymmetrical' Warfare North Korea has over the last 10 to 20 years been developing what is called an "asymmetric strategy," which involves focusing on areas, however small, where South Korea is inferior to the North or lacking altogether. One part of this strategy is submarines. The North is believed to have a fleet of around 70 submarines, including some 20 1,830-t Romeo-class subs and 20 330-t Shark-class subs. The subs had been considered only a minor threat, due to their age, noisy engines and inability to operate in the shallow coastal waters of the West Sea....

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2009 – The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is becoming “increasingly dire,” but President Barack Obama’s strategy for dealing with the threat in the region is the right one, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command said here today. Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson testified at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy review. Special Operations Command participated in the strategic review, and the admiral said he is pleased that the strategy “includes a clear focus on al-Qaida as the enemy, and that a whole-of-government approach is directed.” How special operations forces operate...

KRAKOW, Poland, Feb. 19, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich signed a memorandum of understanding today that will increase cooperation between the two countries’ special operations forces. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, right, signs a memorandum of understanding with Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich at Poland's II Mechanized Corps Headquarters in Krakow, Poland Feb. 19, 2009. Gates was in Poland to attend to Krakow Defense Ministry Conference. DoD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The two men signed the document during a ceremony before...

The mouth of the [REDACTED] River, 1967 It was the toughest mission to date, thought Bosun's mate Hillary Clinton, as she donned her diving gear and checked her weapons. Swim upriver underwater for 10 klicks and retrieve a fallen flier, who just happened to be the son of a US Congressman. She checked her gauges one more time and quietly slipped into the stinking Vietnamese river. She recalled how one of her team was invalided out because of an infection from this very river. She fired up the "scooter" and began the slow trek upstream.

Saith Mark, "Watch us kick the crap out of the enemy..."

Marines with a Marine Special Operations Company secure an area of a Helmand Province village in which they were under attack by Taliban fighters, while a Chinook CH-47 pulls in to provide support for the Marines. Afghan National Army soldiers and MSOC Marines were visiting the southern Afghanistan village when they were attacked by Taliban fighters in late February. A Marine Special Operations Company’s leatherneck examines a poppy plant handed to him by an Afghan National Army soldier (right) during a late February patrol through a Helmand Province village in which they were looking for Taliban fighters. An Afghan...

BAGHDAD — Twenty-five Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) troops recently graduated from a three-week training course taught by U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF). The ISF will work closely with the SOF during the transition of Al Anbar’s security back to the Iraqi Government. This graduating class, one of the first such units in the area, consists of people from all local tribes. The SOF unit instructed ISF recruits on the importance of physical training, how to secure a building and how to conduct searches once an area is secure. The unit was developed to fight terrorism in Ramadi.

Program Molds Elite Iraqi Warfighters An Iraqi operator training course modeled after the U.S. Army Special Forces course has turned out its 10th graduating class. By Master Sgt. Melissa Phillips Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force- Arabian Peninsula BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 9, 2007 — For one Iraqi general, the key to building a united, non-sectarian army lies in fostering a mindset of religious and cultural tolerance among soldiers. "I will never forget the American and coalition men and women … who provided the first stepping stones for us to make our country better." Iraqi Brig. Gen. Fadhil Jameel Jameel Barwari...

A little more than a month ago...some U.S. intelligence and military analysts thought they had found one of the world’s two most wanted men just where they last saw them six years ago. For three days and nights — between Aug. 14 and 16 — U.S. and Afghanistan forces pounded the mountain caves in Tora Bora... (snip) The military operation included "several hundred" U.S. and Afghan ground forces... Elements from the 82nd Airborne blocked off escape routes through the mountains on the Afghanistan side of the border, while helicopters inserted U.S. Navy Seals at night. The Seals pinpointed enemy positions...

The Delta Force has a recruiting video? Interesting for a unit that the Military will not even say exists. The local on Bragg appears to be real. Some of the techniques are common in all SF operations. The faces being shown I question. Have fun watching. I have never seen the "emblem" in the video anywhere. The only one I have seen for Delta looks close to the one in the video but not exactly. It is common knowledge that the Delta force shows up 2 or 3 times a year in Ranger units for recruiting purposes. It is even...

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 28, 2007 – The United States should approach the global war on terrorism as it would an insurgency, a senior military official said today at the 18th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium here. “If we look at is as terrorism, we have a tendency to think that the solution is to kill or capture all the terrorists. That’s a never-ending process,” Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and warfighting support, said. “We’ll never be successful, we’ll never get there, if we think that’s the primary solution,” he said. “But...

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 27, 2007 – Special Operations forces will grow by 17,000 active-duty members over the next six years, a senior military official said today at the 18th annual Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium here. “We are fielding … the largest growth in special operations history without sacrificing quality along the way,” Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson, deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, said. The admiral said SOCOM’s role has been enlarged since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2003, “the secretary of defense said, ‘I hereby designate special operations the lead combatant commander for...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 – The Army has authorized award of the Bronze Star Medal for Service to the living Canadian veterans of the 1st Special Services Force for their service to the U.S. Army during World War II. The unit was known as “the Devil’s Brigade” during the war and was one of the first U.S. special operations forces units in the war. The unit included U.S. Army soldiers and soldiers of the 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion and 2nd Canadian Special Service Battalion of the Special Operations Group. From 1942 to 1944, about 2,500 soldiers served in the unit...

WASHINGTON -- A Senate Republican wants an Army general who drew criticism for church speeches casting the war on terrorism in religious terms to lead the U.S. special operations command. In a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., recommended Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, now the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary for intelligence, for the post at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. The current commander, Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown, is retiring. In 2003, Boykin gave speeches at evangelical Christian churches in which he painted the war on terror as a Christian fight against Satan and...

TAMPA - -- Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik is no stranger to tough assignments. In Iraq a year ago, Hejlik was preparing his troops for an assault on Fallujah, an insurgent stronghold about 40 miles west of Baghdad. "If we're told to go, … we're going to go in there, and we're going to whack 'em," Hejlik, then deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told reporters during an impromptu news conference. That direct, homespun approach to combat will serve him well in his new post. A self-described "farm kid from Iowa," Hejlik has been picked to lead...

Spec Ops Demonstration: Both Koreas (two videos)(1) S. Korean Spec Ops: Group  Demonstration by a Few Hundred Troops -- Martial Arts (2min 55sec)Note: Ear-piercing shrieks during the demo are from female members. It reminds me of a N. Korean military parade including all-female units. N. Korean soldiers bark slogans while marching. When female detachment was marching and barking their slogans, it was really ear-piercing.(2) N. Korea Spec Ops: Kim Jong-il's Own Bodyguards in Training -- Martial Arts and Shooting (1min 20sec)Note: This is from a recent BBC video on N. Korea, featuring many topics, including his bodyguards. The bodyguards' demonstration starts at 59...

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2005 – Coalition forces have located the bodies of two U.S. servicemembers who had been missing in Afghanistan's Kunar region since June 28, military officials in Kabul announced today. The servicemembers, part of a special operations team, had been conducting counterterrorism operations in the region. The military said the two servicemembers were taken to the U.S. military hospital at Bagram Air Base, where they were pronounced dead. Another member of the team was located July 4 and airlifted to the Bagram hospital with injuries that officials said are not life-threatening. The whereabouts of one other team member...

Into The Belly Of The Beast For those not in the know, Marin County is ground zero in the war on the mental disorder known as liberalism. We are what the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge is attached to. Some of our more infamous citizens include Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Sean Penn and none other than Johnny Jihad Walker Lindh. Yes that's right, the same Taliban Johnny now doing 20 years up the stony lonesome courtesy of Federal Prosecutors. I am the last to shrink from a battalion of leftist crusaders, and have in the past taken the...

Luke expands forward air-control programby Maj. Mark Jennings 310th Fighter Squadron 3/22/2004 - LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFPN) -- Unconventional warfare can be defined as the absence of a clearly defined enemy and lacking classic lines of battle. Combining this definition with the rugged terrain of Afghanistan and Iraq, it is easy to see why commanders throughout the combat air forces are clamoring for forward air control (airborne)-capable pilots. These pilots are known as FAC-As. The airborne controller supports a ground commander by solving tactical problems using airpower. The FAC-A acts as the quarterback of a multifaceted team, which strives to destroy or...