Category: SOF

In its quest for more effective close-air support (CAS), the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is turning away from the Air Force and is looking to purchase its own aircraft. According to a solicitation published on the U.S. government’s site, SOCOM is looking to set up a fleet of at least 75 armed overwatch aircraft. […]

On a Sunday morning of 2017, Ryan Larkin, a Navy SEAL with four combat deployments under his belt, committed suicide. He was just 29 years old. He was haunted by a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that was caused by repeated exposure to concussive blows and explosions. But the Navy and the Department of Veteran Affairs […]

The attacks of 9/11, which seem so long ago, caught the United States by surprise. There were some warning signs that were missed by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies but pointing the finger isn’t the purpose here. The last 16 years have seen our forces fighting a different kind of war, with a different […]

Amidst the rugged Radfan mountains and the political upheaval of 1964 Aden, the SAS faced treacherous tribal rebels, culminating in harrowing skirmishes and a stark reminder of war’s brutalities within Aden’s city limits.

After months of investigation, the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has finished its comprehensive review into the professionalism and ethical issues in the Special Operations community. The 69-page report found that Special Operations units are too focused on being lethal on the battlefield and deploy as much as possible. As a consequence, what might appear […]

The new optimization of the Special Forces Qualification Course is reducing the total training time to just 24 weeks to receive their Green Beret, raising doubts about the quality of the soldier being produced.

The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion was voted the fittest unit in the entire Marine Corps. To achieve this honor, the 1st Recon Marines had to beat not only the other Recon battalions but also the Marine Raider units. This is the second year that the Marine Corps is holding this competition. To win, a unit must […]

In the first three articles of this five-part series, you learned what it means to be Special Forces; how those warriors are found; and how they are groomed over time to allow them to accomplish the missions they are tasked with. In this article, I’ll explain why, even with great soldiers and great culture, there still needs to be […]

The pair of MH-60 Blackhawks roared past the target building. One of the birds came into a hover, and operators started fast-roping. Time was of the essence. They were supposed to have hit this target some minutes before. The ISIS cell leader that was inside might have already left. An MH-47 Chinook carrying the blocking […]

The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) appears to be short on active-duty operators, a report indicates. As 2019 faded away, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report that reveals a crisis in the making for the Air Force’s elite. Like almost every other Special Operations Command, during the last years, AFSOC has […]

So, there we were. It was late winter and we were doing helicopter insert/extract training, known as helocasting, in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water was somewhere around 45 degrees. It was cold enough that we were wearing our dry suits instead of wet suits. The dry suits we wore were essentially onesies, with […]

A Ranger medic who helped to save the lives of six of his comrades during a firefight from hell has been recognized as the USO Soldier of the year. Sergeant Ty Able, a combat medic assigned to 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, was part of a Ranger assault force that was going after a […]