John Friberg

John Friberg

About the author

John is a retired Command Chief Warrant Officer (CW5 180A) with 40 years service in U.S. Army Special Forces with active duty and reserve components. Since his Army retirement he has worked for three years as a Counterinsurgency Advisor in Afghanistan (2012-2014) and as a defense contractor providing exercise support and military advisor training for USSOCOM and NATO (2015-2016). In his civilian occupation (when not on active duty) he worked domestically and overseas in high risk areas as a security consultant specializing in personal protection, protective systems, and anti-terrorism. He holds a Certificate of Proficiency in Security Management from University of Massachusetts - Lowell (one-year program) and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree (ALB) from Harvard University concentrating in International Relations.

JSOU – Joint Special Operations University

The Joint Special Operations University provides a variety of educational experiences utilizing residence courses, distance learning, integrating its activities with other military education schools of all the services.

NATO and Baltic security: Keeping the Russians at bay

It has been quite evident to the European leaders that Russia has become increasingly aggressive towards the nations of Eastern Europe. Its actions in the Crimea (occupation and annexation), Eastern Ukraine (support of rebels and deployment of Russian troops), no-notice military exercises, and other threatening activities have many of the European countries deeply concerned. The […]

Special Forces language training

Some language courses, the easier ones like Spanish, Portuguese, and French, will last several months. The harder languages, like Arabic, Russian, and Tagalog, could run for a longer period of time; as long as a year.

JOTC – Jungle Operations Training Center

Despite the many other challenges around the world – Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and more; the U.S. still is trying to ‘pivot to the Pacific’ – with a rebalance of focus and resources

History of the 8th Special Forces Group

Most people familiar with the U.S. Army Special Forces know that currently (mid-2016) there are five active-duty Special Forces groups and two National Guard Special Forces groups. Less well-known are the existence of other Special Forces groups that have long been de-activated. [1] The 8th Special Forces Group was one of these groups. It was […]

Special Forces Mountain Training

Some Special Forces detachments are designated mountain teams and participate in Special Forces mountain training to develop their environmental skills.

America’s Secretive Operation White Star in Laos

In the early 1960s the United States Army Special Forces was engaged in a secretive mission in the remote country of Laos in Southeast Asia. During this time we were in the midst of a Cold War with the Soviet Union, Red China, and other communist bloc nations. The perception (and reality) was that slowly […]