Category: Expert Analysis

The head of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), General Raymond “Tony” Thomas III, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 4, 2017, and informed lawmakers and the public that the country’s elite special operations forces could not solve all of the world’s problems. “We are not a panacea,” said the Army General, former […]

“Free Pineland!” This is the cry many a prospective Special Forces student will hear during their final phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) that culminates in the premiere Unconventional Warfare (UW) exercise in the military, Robin Sage. After many months of training, in some cases over a year, prospective Green Berets put all […]

Read Part 15 HERE The 1990s brought good times and bad, with some Det K members being relieved for cause. But as one Det K soldier remarked about the time, “Keep your mouth shut, do some ‘hooah’ PT every day, and the world will keep turning is always my recommendation whenever an SF soldier finds […]

When training for the battlefield, an emphasis must be placed on lethality over nearly all else. A war-fighter must be trained to take a life while exposing themselves to the least danger possible in order to ensure his or her own survivability and increase the chances of completing one’s objective. Because SOFREP is a media outlet […]

On July 21st, 1969, human history changed forever.  With a single step, Neil Armstrong became the first human in history to set foot on another world; a feat man had dreamed of accomplishing since time immemorial. Only eight years prior, President John F. Kennedy assumed the responsibility of convincing Congress that sending a manned mission […]

Read Part 14 HERE Serving on a combat diver team in the mid to late 1980’s, Hand and his team mates would plan to static line parachute into the Team Spirit exercise but that never happened. Instead they helo-casted from a CH-47 helicopter in the ocean off the coast of South Korea with their Zodiac. […]

Iran’s recent failed ballistic missile launch from a submerged “midget” submarine has once again drawn attention to Iran’s military ties with another of America’s most outspoken opponents, North Korea. The failed missile test is said to have been Iran’s first with the Jask-2 underwater cruise missile, a missile design intelligence experts believe to be a […]

Read part 12 Here Fears of North Korean infiltrations continued, but by this time Det K and other Special Forces teams had been working with the Korean Special Forces for a long time. Gone were the Wild West years of the 1960s. By now, the South could stand on its own two feet and deter […]

Read Part 11 Here A second-order effect of the 12/12 incident was the Kwangju Rebellion of 1980. General Chun had by now taken control of both the army and the KCIA, and while high-ranking Korean military officers continued to make political maneuvers in smoke-filled rooms, relations with the United States had more or less stabilized—although […]

In recent months, the American THAAD missile defense system has garnered a great deal of attention, as its powerful radar array and kinetic projectiles are said to be capable of successfully defending an area the size of New Jersey from incoming ballistic missiles.  The United States has had a particular interest in intercepting inbound nukes […]

Taking care of yourself and your family is a continuous, ongoing process that requires you to constantly assess and reassess your security situation and needs.  In other words, one must be constantly thinking about how his or her own security needs are changing, and then one must adapt to the current threat environment. Take, for […]

Twenty-five people were arrested in Portland, Oregon on Monday after protests gathered in honor of May Day turned violent.  Police say they were forced to revoke demonstration permits after the crowd started throwing rocks, fireworks, and even Molotov cocktails at law enforcement gathered near the rally. Though May Day originated as a celebration of the […]