Army refuses to restore Special Forces Tab to pardoned Golsteyn 

Army refuses to restore Special Forces Tab to pardoned Golsteyn 

The U.S. Army is setting up another showdown over a pardon issued by President Trump to Major Matt Golsteyn. The Washington Post was the first to report, citing two different sources on the condition of anonymity within the Army, that Lieutenant General Francis M. Beaudette, the commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), had […]

No days off: Rucking early on Christmas morning

No days off: Rucking early on Christmas morning

Before celebrating Christmas with the family today it was time for some exercise. I was up before the sun and since everyone was sleeping in as we had been out late visiting family on Christmas Eve, I decided to take advantage of the quiet time to get some rucking in…and to work off some of […]

Operation Red Dawn: Saddam Hussein captured December 13, 2003

Operation Red Dawn: Saddam Hussein captured December 13, 2003

On the evening of December 13, 2003, in the small Iraqi town of ad-Dawr outside of Tikrit, elements of Task Force 121, and the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Hussein hid in a spider hole and was found by a Delta Force operator. The operation was named after the […]

JSOC General who commanded the Delta Force ISIS raid now in charge of Army SOF

JSOC General who commanded the Delta Force ISIS raid now in charge of Army SOF

The officer, who commanded the Delta Force raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, is now in charge of all Green Berets. Last month, Major General John Brennan replaced Major General E. John Deedrick Jr at the helm of the 1st Special Forces Command. The 1st Special Forces Command oversees the seven Active […]

USASOC turned 29 years old this week

USASOC turned 29 years old this week

Time flies when you are having fun, or in the case of the United States Army Special Operations Command, when you are employed so heavily, the years, never mind the days and months fly by. In 1989, USASOC was activated and although it wasn’t that long ago, the world, as well as the command has […]

Making the big leap from high school to Special Operations

Making the big leap from high school to Special Operations

A good friend of mine is a career law enforcement professional here in New England and although we don’t hang out on a regular basis, whenever we run into one another we’ll stop and catch up. So weaving around a stoppage in the road a few weeks ago, I saw my friend trying to make […]

Mosby’s Rangers: The Civil War guerrilla fighters that were a thorn in the Union’s side

Mosby’s Rangers: The Civil War guerrilla fighters that were a thorn in the Union’s side

One of the best-known cavalrymen of the Civil War was John Singleton Mosby. He served under J.E.B. Stuart for the Confederacy during the Fredericksburg and Gettysburg campaigns and started his own cavalry unit, the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, which became known as Mosby’s Rangers, or Mosby’s Raiders. Mosby’s Rangers operated out of Middleburg, Virginia. […]

The largest tank battle in history ended in a crushing German defeat

The largest tank battle in history ended in a crushing German defeat

Operation Citadel, which resulted in the Battle of Kursk took place in July 1943 around the Soviet city of Kursk in western Russia, as Germany launched their last great offensive of the war. After the devastating defeat at the hands of the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, it was the last chance […]

Night land navigation during SOF selection: “Hello darkness my old friend”

Night land navigation during SOF selection: “Hello darkness my old friend”

Land Navigation in Selection is a very big obstacle to overcome. To help prepare the candidates for our Special Operations Forces we’ve gotten back to the basics and gone over the various skills that start at square one and gone from there. Now that we’re all on the same sheet of music, so to speak, […]

SOF truths with a twist: Good leaders can’t be mass produced

SOF truths with a twist: Good leaders can’t be mass produced

Opinion: Our Special Operations Command has been in the news these days for much of the wrong reasons. And with the number of questions we’ve gotten asking about the different Selection courses for SOF with an increasing number from potential officers, I felt it was time to address an issue. An increasing number of Special […]

The birth of the famous Gatling gun

The birth of the famous Gatling gun

There are some things that stand the test of time and Richard Gatling’s invention of the earliest days of the American Civil War has certainly fit that description. Gatling was an inventor who fashioned the first machine gun, although a different design by most standards. His basic design with many modern variants is still in […]