OUR WINNERS!

Our winners in the Open Division were. Matthew, Squadfather343 and ArcherT54. Team Room Mafia did themselves proud, with BSHORT, Chris M and Acehunterhead bringing it home.

Thanks to all of you for participating and continuing to make SOFREP.com part of your day.

The theme of this SOFREP Scavenger Hunt was our own Peter Nealen, in a blatant marketing promo of his excellent book, Task Force Desperate. You see, when you write for SOFREP, SOFREP takes care of you!

Peter came to us as a former Recon Marine, which made us happy because we needed someone to provide that content. But we’re here to tell you that Peter Nealen is far more than just a Marine writer, as you’ll see from this trivia hunt, and his post on attention whores and conspiracy theorists (oh my)….

RULES & HINTS

In today’s challenge, you found your answers right here on SOFREP.com, as well as a few answers lurking over on HotExtract.com, where Peter is known to review books and games in his spare time. You also needed to look on the Task Force Desperate page at Amazon.com. Now, while we here at SOFREP love original and innovative thinking, your mission was to search out, read some content, and copy & paste your answers. It’s ONLINE – cheating is OK! Search is your friend!

PRIZES?

We’re awarding SIX copies of Task Force Desperate to the winners – three to the ‘Open Division’, and three to our Team Room members.

Let’s look at the questions and answers:

1. Peter writes “While it may be long on conversations and short on firefights, that’s often the reality of Afghanistan” about what book?

Contracted: America’s Secret Warriors

2. In his post, A Response to “Can the Marines Survive?”, what does Peter write about “Operational skill?” (Please quote the entire sentence.)

Operational skill is going to have to be foremost in Marine training, to include tactics, marksmanship, communications, survival, and engaging or avoiding the local populace.

3. Complete the sentence: “The next two days were a combination of…”

moving through steep terrain and thick brush, hiding in OPs, watching and listening, and trying to find the enemy.

The Beginning of the Stingray Patrols

4. Peter writes “Viewing these conflicts as separate, national struggles, when the enemy clearly does not, gets us nowhere…”. What is the primary point of his post?

there are still al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist groups operating within Iraq itself, OR, the title

Iraq Isn’t Exactly Over

5. Jack Silkstone writes a nice review of Peter’s book, Task Force Desperate. He writes, “This book resonates with me.” Why does it resonate with him?

“It gives insight into the frustration of bureaucratic bungles and inaction. Rings true with anyone familiar with Benghazi. The use of PMCs is something still not resolved by international bodies like the UN. Although Sierra Leone is a good example of what they can achieve, anyway I digress.”

Read the review on Amazon.

6. In Peter’s review of “Black Powder, Red Earth,” what did he write about the dialog?

The dialog is believable, especially if you’ve been around any SOF types at all.

Black Powder, Red Earth Review

7. When Peter was pulling security during a FORDREP, who walked right up to him?

two women in skirts and a guy in a suit, complete with shiny shoes

No Kidding There I Was… Hallucinating on Patrol Phase

8. Complete the sentence: In December, Ahrar al Sham created a wider front of Salafist organizations in Syria, called

Harakat Ahrar al Sham al-Islamiya

Ahrar al Sham – A Rising Force in the Syrian Civil War

9. What is Peter’s hope for “the Force Companies?”

Hopefully, the Force Companies will once again come into their own, but it’s going to take time.

A Brief, Recent History of Force Recon and MARSOC

10. Complete the sentence: “As a consequence of some of the reduced standards…”

As a consequence of some of the reduced standards, particularly involving corrective training, there has been a generation of new Recon Marines who haven’t learned the humility that used to be taught along with the skill and toughness.

The State of Marine Recon

11. Who is the slack man?

The fifth man is the slack man. Usually the junior guy on the team, the slack man is essentially the mule.

What a USMC Recon Team Looks Like

12. About what book does Peter write, “This was the first book I read on Recon, and the birth of my own interest in it, which led to an eight-year career in Marine Reconnaissance.”

First Recon, Second to None

13. Complete the sentence: Regime change and the neutralization of Iraqi WMDs

was policy under the Clinton administration, a fact that has been conveniently lost in all the political recriminations

Iraq a Decade Later: Terrorism Stronger Than Ever

14. What’s the title of the post in which Peter writers “If you are already an “elite” organization, why should you change?”

A Response to “Can the Marines Survive?”

15. What does the About the Author blurb on Amazon say about Peter?

Peter Nealen is a former Reconnaissance Marine and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He is an avid outdoorsman, Eagle Scout, a certified firearms instructor, and a lifelong student of history and conflict.

See it on Amazon.

TEAM ROOM SECTION

16. What did you think of the SOFREP Radio episode, “Author Peter Nealen, Recon Marine?”

17. Complete the sentence: “In technical web guy terms…”

In technical web guy terms, I chose the “all fucked up” option,

18. How many episodes are contained in our US Army Rangers series in SOFREP TV?

eleven

19. What did Jack Murphy say in Shoutbox about Benghazi this morning?

“Broke some news on the radio today about Benghazi. There has been a lot of mystery surrounding how Chris Steven’s body was recovered in Libya…”

20. Complete the sentence: “Benghazi and Derna have traditionally been…”

the home of jama’ah al-libiyah al-muqatilah, the “Libyan Fighting Group,” which included Libyan veterans of the Afghan insurgency against the Soviets.

Chapter One: The Libyan Powder Keg