What Makes a Successful Special Operation Forces Candidate?

“…We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then is not an act but a habit” Aristotle One of the biggest questions we get here at SpecialOperations.com and over at SOFREP for the aspiring SOF candidates is, “What do I have to do to get Selected?” It is a legitimate question if a bit simplistic. There […]

Basic Training Will Be A Breeze by Following Some Simple Steps

A friend is leaving in a matter of days for basic training, followed by Airborne School and then on to one of our Special Operations Units where, hopefully, after he navigates the Selection and Assessment courses, will get qualified and serve as a member of one of our very best units in the force. But […]

SOF Backpack Nukes

Though it sounds like the plot of a movie the reality is that select Army engineer, Special Forces, Navy SEALs and select Marines were once trained to employ backpack nukes. The scientists of Los Almos Scientific Laboratory created the W54 atomic warhead in the late ‘50s.  It was one of the smallest nuclear warheads ever […]

The MG-3: The Old Wolf That Still Growls

By the end of the First World War, rifle caliber machine gun could be defined in two categories.  One was the tripod mounted water-cooled Maxim/Vickers series, of German and British origin whose effectiveness was best used in static or fixed positions along with plenty of support.  The other was the relative newcomer, the air cooled […]

Canada’s Special Operations Regiment (CSOR)

Canada’s Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) is a battalion-sized unit under the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Though it is a relatively young force in the world of Special Operations, coming to fruition in 2006, CSOR can trace its history back to the famous Canadian/U.S, 1st Special Service Force, better known as the “Devil’s Brigade,” which […]

The day the British SAS defied their government to rescue their own: Part One

19 September 2005 Basra, Iraq The British soldiers couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Before them, on a TV screen, sat two of their own, faces bloody from beatings, being paraded on Iraqi TV. The announcer read in Arabic that they were being charged with the murder of an Iraqi policeman, were held in Basra, […]

Prepping For Selection, the Right Way is the Only Way

This is the time of year when the Selection courses are in full swing and the guys…and gals who want to be part of Special Operations units are deciding to get ready and give it their best shot at becoming members in the best fraternity in the world. The US military has embraced Special Operations […]

Why the Rangers Scaling Cliffs at Pointe du Hoc 75 Years Later is Important

The message that members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion of today carried forth to the few…and dwindling survivors of the original assault on Pointe du Hoc from 75 years ago was respect. They re-enacted the climb up the cliffs made by their forebearers on that fateful day in 1944 and it wasn’t an easy slog […]

SOE Agents Paved the Way For D-Day, Remembering Violette Szabo

The preparation for D-Day on the Allied side took a couple of years of meticulous planning, training, the massing of troops and then intense coordination with air, sea and land forces as well as coordinating the French resistance. The British Special Operations Executive (SOE) was the driving force behind infiltrating agents into occupied France, setting […]

Book Review – “Murphy’s Law” And the Truth Will Set You Free

I always balk at when someone I know writes something and I’m asked to give an opinion on it. As my circle of friends has grown smaller, I have erred on the side of caution, not wanting to hurt any of my friends’ feelings. Jack Murphy has never had that problem. Jack has been on […]

IDF West Bank Units Using New Intelligence Methods To Combat Terror Attacks

After several attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank where the attackers were able to get away in the crowds, the IDF is revamping the way they do business to alert their troops to any suspicious activity by Palestinians in the West Bank. There have been 16 Israeli soldiers or citizens killed […]