Special Operations is About People Not the Equipment They Use

Special Operations is About People Not the Equipment They Use

It is well-known fact inside our Special Operations Forces that being in one of the many units in the United States SOF has more to do with the operators being ‘special’ and not just the gear that they use to get the job done. But frequently the public gets wrapped around the ax handle with […]

Special Operations Legend Keller Gives Back to Vets, Police

Special Operations Legend Keller Gives Back to Vets, Police

A Special Operations legend among his peers has been on operations on all over the world. Bob Keller has been a Ranger, a Green Beret and now is in a non-named ‘secret unit’ in Special Operations Command. But he’s giving back to his peers and the law enforcement officers in his community. Keller is nearing […]

Special Forces Honor COL Bob Howard (MOH) With Building Dedication at Camp Mackall

Special Forces Honor COL Bob Howard (MOH) With Building Dedication at Camp Mackall

The Special Forces community in an act that many considered long-overdue, honored the memory of one its most decorated soldiers, Colonel Robert Howard by dedicating the central classroom to him at Camp Mackall. The Rowe Training Facility is where all Special Forces soldiers receive their classroom instruction when at Camp Mackall. And Howard spent nearly […]

Under Trump, Use of Contractors in War Zone Diminishing

Under Trump, Use of Contractors in War Zone Diminishing

Despite the wars in the Middle East showing no signs of slowing down, what is beginning to wane is the US government’s reliance on contractors to help. The Defense Department is using thousands of fewer military contractors in the early days of the Trump administration than at the end of the Obama presidency. With the […]

USSOCOM Elects Seven New Operators to their Hall of Honor

USSOCOM Elects Seven New Operators to their Hall of Honor

USSOCOM recently honored seven special operators by inducting them into the USSOCOM Hall of Honor located at MacDill, AFB on April 18th. They all received medals from U.S. Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, USSOCOM commander, and Sgt. Maj. Patrick McCauley, USSOCOM command sergeant major. Their respective names may not ring a bell for anyone […]

Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations

Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations

The images were stark and startling after the debacle at Desert One in Iran on April 24, 1980, 37 years ago today. An incinerated C-130 aircraft and six RH-53 helicopters left with bodies burned and strewn about spoke of the failure of the United States to rescue the 52 diplomats and Embassy personnel held in […]

Two Air Force Special Operators Receive Air Force Cross For Heroism

Two Air Force Special Operators Receive Air Force Cross For Heroism

On Thursday of this week, two US Air Force special operators, Chris Baradat and Keary Miller were awarded the Air Force Cross for valor at Hurlbert Field, FL home of the 24th Special Operations Wing. Both men had earlier received Silver Stars for valor a few years ago, but as the Air Force and the […]

Former Israeli Special Operations Commander Gadi Shefi Found Dead in Thailand

Former Israeli Special Operations Commander Gadi Shefi Found Dead in Thailand

The former head of Israel’s naval Special Operations unit has died while on vacation in Thailand. Gadi Shefi,76, died of an apparent heart attack in a hotel room in Pattaya, where he was found over the weekend. He had been missing for a week before his son announced his death Tuesday on Facebook. “At this […]

Haiti Wants to Revive Military Now that UN Mission Ends

Haiti Wants to Revive Military Now that UN Mission Ends

The Haitian army is seeking to rebuild itself, 22 years after it was disbanded during the period where soldiers and private militiamen killed thousands during the violence of the ‘90s. There was a power vacuum after the Duvalier family that ruled with an iron hand for many decades and was replaced by a freely elected […]

Doolittle Raid 75 Years Ago Was the Best Psychological Operation of the War

Doolittle Raid 75 Years Ago Was the Best Psychological Operation of the War

Seventy-five years ago, 16 B-25 land-based bombers took off from the US CV-6, the aircraft carrier Hornet and bombed Tokyo and other major Japanese cities. They did little material damage but the repercussions felt from their tiny pinprick against the Japanese homeland would have a far lasting impact later. Shortly after the debacle at Pearl […]

Boston Marathon Bombing 4 Years Later, Brought City Together, Not Apart

Boston Marathon Bombing 4 Years Later, Brought City Together, Not Apart

Four years ago, two brothers attempted to tear the city of Boston apart by planting two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, one of the cities’ most iconic events. The marathon, ran since 1897 celebrates the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the “shots heard ‘round the world” and the beginning […]

USSOCOM Turns 30, Command’s Impact Continues to Grow

USSOCOM Turns 30, Command’s Impact Continues to Grow

Thirty years ago, a small headquarters opened its doors for the first time. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was originally formed out of the debacle of the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission, Operation Eagle Claw in 1980. From small beginnings in April 1987 at MacDill AFB, FL the Special Operations Command now encompasses […]