The Strange Story of David Baez, Green Beret, and Sandinista Officer

The Strange Story of David Baez, Green Beret, and Sandinista Officer

One of the most bizarre stories to come out about Central America was the strange saga of David Baez. Baez was born in Nicaragua but became a U.S. citizen and later a Green Beret. Baez’s father was a military officer in Nicaraguan National Guard before being executed by the military’s leader Anastasio Somoza. Baez grew […]

With Mattis Gone, SF Command Again Punishes SF CPT From Niger Ambush

With Mattis Gone, SF Command Again Punishes SF CPT From Niger Ambush

Op-Ed: The handwriting was on this one right from the very start. The Army tried to lay the blame on the ambush of the American Special Forces troops in Niger on the commander and NCOs of the SF A-Team before the last body had even been recovered off the battlefield. The Army had issued a […]

Don’t Poke the Bear Especially With Special Forces Troops

Don’t Poke the Bear Especially With Special Forces Troops

“And Don’t Shoot the Goddamn Beanbag Lights” One of the best perks of this position is that in trying to read all the news concerning the military and Special Operations around the globe every day, everyone now and then something triggers. And as you’re reading something having to do with 1158th Special Operations Squadron of […]

SAS Selection in Australia, Lesson in Perseverance

SAS Selection in Australia, Lesson in Perseverance

We’ve shared many of our Selection anecdotes here on the pages of SpecialOperations.com  the past two years and it is always refreshing to see someone else’s perspective especially if the person is in one of our allies Special Operations units. This one account is a really close look at one officer’s Australian SAS experience. It […]

Two Ranger Bns Wiped Out at Cisterna, Jan. 30, 1944

Two Ranger Bns Wiped Out at Cisterna, Jan. 30, 1944

On January 30, 1944, two U.S. Army Ranger Battalions, the 1st, and the 3rd were wiped out in an assault on the German-held town of Cisterna in central Italy. The Germans were aware of their advance and conducted an excellently planned ambush. Only 6 men of the 767 Rangers walked out of Cisterna. This resulted […]

USSOCOM Selects Sig Sauer Optics For New Sniper Rifle Scope

USSOCOM Selects Sig Sauer Optics For New Sniper Rifle Scope

The United States Special Operations Forces are getting a new rifle scope for their sniper rifle systems. And it is being made by one of the most well-known arms manufacturers in the U.S. Under this five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for $12 million dollars, Sig Sauer will furnish the rifle scopes until the completion date […]

SAS Hits Back Hard Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria

SAS Hits Back Hard Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria

The SAS got a bit of payback this week it seems. The British special operations unit earlier this week hit an ISIS-controlled village in eastern Syria. And in doing so, they dispatched 20 of ISIS fighters as they ran from the battlefield, scurrying away in vehicles. While the British make it a point not to […]

RIP to the Army Reflective Belt, You Won’t Be Missed

RIP to the Army Reflective Belt, You Won’t Be Missed

Opinion: Sometimes, common sense IS an uncommon virtue. And sometimes the Army, despite all evidence to the contrary actually gets one right. Just recently, the Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper signed a memorandum that states the simple, yet hard to understand for some truth. That the hated reflective belt was not needed in the […]

Green Beret  Killed in Action in Afghanistan Identified

Green Beret  Killed in Action in Afghanistan Identified

A Green Beret from the 3rd Special Forces Group was killed in action in Afghanistan on Tuesday.  SFC Joshua Beale, age 32, died from wounds suffered by small arms fire on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations.  Beale was assigned to the 1st Battalion,  3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), […]

Taliban Destroys Afghan Army Building With Car Bomb, Scores Killed

Taliban Destroys Afghan Army Building With Car Bomb, Scores Killed

The Taliban detonated a car bomb inside a National Directorate of Security (NDS) Afghan Army base before trying to launch a coordinated ground attack. At least 43 people were killed and 54 wounded according to NDS officials, but the number is thought to be much higher. This deadly attack in Wardak province took place just […]

Remembering Gordon Yntema, 5th SFG(A), Medal of Honor, 18 Jan. 1968

Remembering Gordon Yntema, 5th SFG(A), Medal of Honor, 18 Jan. 1968

Gordon Yntema was just 22 years old at the time of his death, but he was a Green Beret assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group Airborne, ODA-431 and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery while fighting in Vietnam in 1968. The enlisted men’s club was named in his honor on Ft. Bragg. […]

Congress Authorizes Blacks To Enlist in the Continental Army 1776

Congress Authorizes Blacks To Enlist in the Continental Army 1776

During the Revolutionary War, about 5000 African-Americans both enslaved and free men fought for the American colonies and their fight for freedom against the British. But the process was anything but a smooth one. Slavery was still in practice in all 13 American colonies at that time. And the British were the first to take […]