Trump, Mattis Relax Rules of Engagement for Troops in Afghanistan

Trump, Mattis Relax Rules of Engagement for Troops in Afghanistan

Back in August, President Donald Trump pledged to lift the restrictions and expand the authorities for US troops in Afghanistan in a move to break the stalemate in the sixteen-year long war. And now Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has overturned a stipulation in the rules of engagement that US troops must be in contact […]

U.S. Backed SDF Scours ISIS Base in Raqqa For Intelligence

U.S. Backed SDF Scours ISIS Base in Raqqa For Intelligence

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are moving thru the Islamic State’s former bastion at Raqqa as now 90 percent of the city has been taken. Their fighters on Monday were slowly recovering communication equipment and weapons used by the ISIS forces in their former command centers. After battling thru the western edge of the city, the […]

SEAL Team, CBS’ New Drama Series Does It Right in Pilot Episode

SEAL Team, CBS’ New Drama Series Does It Right in Pilot Episode

Sometimes it is a nice thing to be pleasantly surprised. CBS’ new drama series “SEAL Team” had its debut with the pilot episode Wednesday night and from the look of the first showing, they did it right. The good folks at CBS may have a long-term, viable hit on their hands if they can play […]

US Bombs ISIS Camp in Libya, 17 Terrorists Dead

US Bombs ISIS Camp in Libya, 17 Terrorists Dead

The United States conducted six airstrikes on an ISIS camp on Friday that killed 17 terrorists and destroyed three vehicles. The US Africa Command said in a statement that the strikes targeted an ISIS site about 240 km (170 miles) southeast of Sirte, once a stronghold of ISIS in the country. “The camp was used […]

Afghan President Says Trump’s Plan is Better than Obama’s

Afghan President Says Trump’s Plan is Better than Obama’s

Well, at least one Afghan President is behind President Trump’s plan. Current Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that he believes that U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategy to win the war in Afghanistan will work where his predecessor’s failed. That stands in sharp contrast to what former President Hamid Karzai said about Trump’s plan. […]

5th Special Forces Group, 21 September 1961, “The Legion”

5th Special Forces Group, 21 September 1961, “The Legion”

On this day in 1961, the 5th Special Forces Group Airborne, 5th SFG(A) was activated at Ft. Bragg, NC. A happy 56th birthday to “The Legion” and the men assigned to it both past and present. The 5th SFG was made famous by their exploits during the war in Vietnam but during the next generation, […]

Yanks at Arnhem, Jedburgh Team Claude Was Part of British 1st Airborne

Yanks at Arnhem, Jedburgh Team Claude Was Part of British 1st Airborne

When we discuss the battle in Holland during Operation Market Garden, we naturally think about the paratroopers of the U.S. and Britain trying to secure five bridges at Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem for the armor of the British XXX Corps to get into Germany and end the war early. Later they were trying to get […]

US Senate Approves $700 Billion Bill in Defense Spending

US Senate Approves $700 Billion Bill in Defense Spending

The Senate, by an overwhelming 89-8 vote, approved legislation that will authorize $700 billion in military defense spending that will honor the campaign pledge made by President Trump to rebuild the military that he said was degraded during the previous Obama administration. This $700 billion bill will put the U.S. armed forces on track for […]

Israel Shoots Down Iranian Drone Over Their Border with Syria

Israel Shoots Down Iranian Drone Over Their Border with Syria

An Israeli Patriot Missile battery shot down an Iranian-built drone over the Golan Heights on Tuesday, just hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly about concerns of Iranian and Hezbollah forces on the Syrian border with Israel. The Israeli military stated that the Iranian-built drone was launched from Damascus on a […]

U.S. Opens First Permanent Air Defense Base Inside Israel

U.S. Opens First Permanent Air Defense Base Inside Israel

In a historic development, the United States, for the first since its inception in 1948, has established a permanent military base in Israel. The US will send dozens of US Air Force personnel to man an air defense base inside the Israeli Air Force’s Mashabim Air Base, deep in the heart of the Negev desert. […]

Operation Market Garden Begins Sept. 17,1944, The Biggest Mistake of the War?

Operation Market Garden Begins Sept. 17,1944, The Biggest Mistake of the War?

On September 17, 1944, the Allies launched an operation they hoped would end the war in the west by Christmas. By the end of August 1944, the German army in the west was smashed and in full-retreat mode. After the Allies had come ashore at Normandy, they had to slug their way thru the thick […]

Homemade Explosives Training And Why it is Important to SOF

Homemade Explosives Training And Why it is Important to SOF

By now we are all aware of the horrible accident suffered by the cadre members and students at the JFK SWC (Special Warfare Center) on Thursday where the US Army Green Berets are trained at Ft. Bragg, NC. While the details are still sketchy, the class of prospective Special Forces Engineers (18C) were attending a […]