Army commanders are trying to shorten and simplify the course that recruits must complete to become Green Berets though their purpose is to weed out soldiers who are unable to meet security threats. Special Forces wants to make passing easier so that recruitment rates rise, but this is raising concerns that future Green Berets may not be completely qualified. While ... Read More »
US troops in the vicinity of Kobani in Syria faced an explosion caused by artillery fire. Turkish troops aimed just a few hundred meters away from the Security Mechanism Zone where they knew US soldiers to be present. While no troops were injured or withdrawn from the area, statements have warned Turkey not to pull the US into defensive actions ... Read More »
“Knowing how strongly my son felt about ensuring the weapons he carried in Kandahar, Afghanistan, would not end up in the hands of dangerous individuals on our streets, I am carrying on Dan’s legacy by supporting O’Rourke’s buyback program. It is absolutely unacceptable that we live in a country where there are more guns than people, and that some of ... Read More »
“The Battle of Mogadishu, the American operation in Somalia later immortalized by Mark Bowden’s seminal non-fiction book “Black Hawk Down” and dramatized in Ridley Scott’s exhilarating but slightly less non-fictional movie of the same name. On October 3, 1993, 160 U.S. Army Rangers and other special operations forces launched what was supposed to be a routine raid to capture two ... Read More »
“2019 marks the first year someone born after 9/11 will be eligible to enlist in the armed forces to potentially serve in Afghanistan or another theater in the global war on terror. Never before in our history has an American been able to fight in a war that is older than they are. Currently our civil-military divide is arguably as ... Read More »
George Washington believed that the US could do nothing definitive without a naval force, and today the Navy has grown into a powerful organization that has 290 deployable ships, more than 3,700 operational aircraft, 337,121 active duty personnel, 101,583 reserve personnel, and more than 270,000 civilian employees. Captain Brian L. Sittlow has offered some great resources to learn more about the Navy and its history below: ... Read More »
It was a small airbase on the border with Cambodia that bordered a town of 6,000 that survived on the proceeds of local rubber plantations, a town targeted by the 9th Division of the North Vietnam regiment to humiliate its president-to-be. The airbase was guarded by a few hundred South Vietnamese regulars supported by 11 U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. ... Read More »
Tech Sgt. Peter Kraines, An Air Force special tactics pararescueman with the 24th Special Operations Wing, was part of mountain rescue technique training in Boise where he lost his life at the young age of 33 years old. Kraines was trained in combat search and rescue, military static-line jumping, free fall jumping, Air Force combat scuba diving, and medical technician. ... Read More »
Former Army paratrooper Polito “Paul” Olivas recently died at the age of 99 and lived a colorful and fulfilling life. During his youth he made a tandem skydive at Dillingham Airfield from 14,000 feet up that made headlines, and during WWII he was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. Olivas served in South Korea, during the Vietnam War, and ... Read More »
New findings have revealed that owning a dog is associated with better cardiovascular health and a longer overall life. While dogs cannot be proven as the direct cause of reduced mortality, there are correlations from data offered by the Swedish National Patient Register that show that, for those living alone, the risk of dying from a heart attack was reduced ... Read More »
The Army may have a solution to the problem of resupplying squads with food without taking up significant space on their trucks. While a normal supply of food for a seven-day mission weighs 32 pounds on average, the Combat Feeding Directorate is working to reduce the load to a mere 10 pounds. Work with scientists has revealed a way to ... Read More »
Last year, Air Force service leaders showed up to an annual conference and announced that they needed 386 squadrons to fight wars against China and Russia, but when asked what kinds of resources that would require they responded with “wait until next year.” Now that a year has passed, Air Force Association leaders are saying that 2021 will be the ... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is currently moving forward with a program that will send a spacecraft into space in late 2022. The spacecraft, RSGS, will work on satellites in space and perform maintenance. Its main functions are inspection, orbital adjustments, anomaly resolution, and installation of self-contained payloads. Equipped with cameras, the RSGS will help ground operators diagnose any ... Read More »
For the duration of rivalry between the US and China, the US has always had a military edge due to being a pioneer of weaponry. Last week, a display of weaponry at Beijing may just prove that China is catching up. During the 70th anniversary parade of the People’s Republic of China, old tactical weaponry is being replaced by stealthy ... Read More »
Master Sgt. Matthew Williams will be given the nation’s highest award for valor for risking his life under intense enemy fire to rescue wounded Special Forces soldiers during a 2008 joint raid with U.S. troops and Afghan commandos. “When his team sergeant was wounded by sniper fire, Sergeant Williams exposed himself to enemy fire to come to his aid and to move him ... Read More »
SOFX The Crossroads of Special Operations