CIA Flashback: The true value of a foreign agent in the President’s circle

What is the true value of a foreign power placing an agent in the president’s circle? The obvious answer would seem to be the potential to steal highly classified information and pass along the nation’s most intimate secrets. But in a Halloween speech [PDF] more than 30 years ago, then-CIA Director William Casey offered a different […]

SOF Pic of the Day: Marines & Airmen take the beach

A U.S. Marine and Airman perform scout swimmer training during Marine Special Operations School’s Individual Training Course, March 24, 2017, at Key West, Fla. For the first time, U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen spent three months in Marine Special Operations Command’s Marine Raider training pipeline, representing efforts to build joint mindsets across special operations […]

SOF Pic of the Day: A rare glimpse of the Night Stalkers in the light of day

“The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment’s mission is to organize, equip, train, resource and employ Army special operations aviation forces worldwide in support of contingency missions and combatant commanders. Known as Night Stalkers, these Soldiers are recognized for their proficiency in nighttime operations. They are highly trained and ready to accomplish the very toughest missions […]

US forces capture key militant from the 2012 Benghazi attacks

On Monday, the White House announced that U.S forces captured have Mustafa al-Imam in Libya. Al-Imam had been linked to the attacks on U.S. personnel in Benghazi on September 11, 2012–the infamous battle at the embassy and CIA annex that claimed the lives of four Americans: Ambassador Chris Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith and former […]

SOF Pic of the Day: Marine Raider helocast training

Marine Special Operations School Individual Training Course students helocast from a U.S. Navy SH-60 Seahawk Helicopter, March 23, 2017, at Key West, Fla. For the first time, U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Airmen spent three months in Marine Special Operations Command’s Marine Raider training pipeline, representing efforts to build joint mindsets across special operations forces. […]

US Military bashes UK over potential cuts

It’s not often that you hear your greatest ally bashing your money choices. But that’s exactly what British Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials heard from US military officers. “As the UK continues to diminish and as the Royal Marines, in particular, take a hit, I think that our view of what we will be able […]

The history of US Psychological Operations: Psychological warfare abroad

As we discussed in Part 3, the domestic home front became a battle for ideas and slogans as the Roosevelt administration pushed the nation to get ready for war. FDR established the Office of Coordinator of Information (COI), based on the directions of Colonel William Donovan. Col Donovan spent considerable time with British officials, and […]

Who betrayed Anne Frank? Former F.B.I. agent reopens a cold case

Hiding from the Gestapo in a secret annex of her father’s warehouse in Amsterdam during World War II, Anne Frank heard a little knock on the wall. She could not be sure who or what it was, and it frightened her. She was right to be scared: Just months later, on Aug. 4, 1944, the […]

Across the Fence: Bright Light rescue mission with James Shorten

[Editor’s Note: In the eight-year secret war fought by Green Berets during the Vietnam War across the fence in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam from 1964-1972 under the aegis of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (SOG), no mission was more dangerous than a Bright Light Mission. Heavily-armed SOG recon teams […]

SOF Pic of the Day: Rangers in Afghanistan

Rangers from 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, operating in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, 13 February 2012   Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons   See what it takes to earn the coveted title of Ranger in the video below:

Office of bad ideas: Yes, nuclear landmines were a thing

Nuclear weapons experts and analysts set themselves in a tizzy last week after NBC News reported President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a tenfold increase in America’s nuclear arsenal. Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis strenuously denied the story, the NBC reporters stood by it and that’s pretty much where it landed. But amid the flurry, the following […]

SOFREP Exclusive: Medal of Honor Recipient James McCloughan

Specialist Five James McCloughan’s Medal of Honor citation, like all Medal of Honor citations, will drop your jaw to the floor. A 23 year old combat medic in the middle of Vietnam, he braved heavy fire to move an injured casualty to safety and was wounded by shrapnel before saving two more. He went on […]