Naval Special Warfare to get its first female operators

Naval Special Warfare might be close to welcoming its first-ever female operators. Three female sailors are currently at various stages of the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) selection pipeline. SWCC is the primary maritime mobility component for U.S. Special Operations Command. The three SWCC candidates aren’t the only ones who have tried out for a […]

No days off: Rucking early on Christmas morning

Before celebrating Christmas with the family today it was time for some exercise. I was up before the sun and since everyone was sleeping in as we had been out late visiting family on Christmas Eve, I decided to take advantage of the quiet time to get some rucking in…and to work off some of […]

The future of Pararescue

This year has been monumental for the Air Force Special Operations community. Early in 2019, the Air Force announced the creation of a new Special Operations job: Special Reconnaissance (SR) replaced and improved the outdated Special Operations Weather Technician (SOWT) specialty. Then, in the Spring, the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) announced that its […]

Air Force releases more information on new Special Warfare career field

The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has released more information about the incoming changes in the new Special Warfare career field. Launched this past October, Special Warfare is comprised of the Pararescue (1Z1), Combat Control (1Z2), Tactical Air Control Party (1Z3) and Special Reconnaissance (1Z4) Air Force Specialties. Previously these were separate career fields, […]

Pararescuemen recognized for valor under fire

The Air Force’s Special Warfare community continues to cement its reputation as one of great communities that are force multipliers whenever they go and fight. Two Pararescuemen (PJ) received the Silver Star for valor under fire in two separate deployments to Afghanistan. The first PJ to be recognized was technical Sergeant Gavin Fisher, assigned to […]

‘You are not forgotten’: Former SEALs search for their fallen forefathers

Special Operations warfighters live and die by the ‘No Man Left Behind’ motto. The operational environment that SOF teams find themselves in, that is working in small numbers and behind enemy lines, makes adherence to that motto even more important. A paragon example of the determination of SOF units to leave no one behind, dead […]

Operation Red Dawn: Saddam Hussein captured December 13, 2003

On the evening of December 13, 2003, in the small Iraqi town of ad-Dawr outside of Tikrit, elements of Task Force 121, and the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Hussein hid in a spider hole and was found by a Delta Force operator. The operation was named after the […]

First female officer completes rigorous Navy SEAL selection process

A female officer has completed the rigorous initial selection process necessary to become a Navy SEAL officer — the first female to accomplish such a feat. Although the female officer successfully completed the SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection (SOAS) program, she wasn’t chosen by the board because she hadn’t picked the SEAL career field as […]

JSOC General who commanded the Delta Force ISIS raid now in charge of Army SOF

The officer, who commanded the Delta Force raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, is now in charge of all Green Berets. Last month, Major General John Brennan replaced Major General E. John Deedrick Jr at the helm of the 1st Special Forces Command. The 1st Special Forces Command oversees the seven Active […]

No more SEALs: Navy pauses expansion of SEAL Teams

A proposed expansion of the SEAL Teams has been put on hold by the Navy leadership over concerns that it could jeopardize the operational effectiveness of the Navy’s elite. Senior Navy leaders believe that the Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) isn’t ready to withstand an expansion — that is, a healthy productive expansion — since […]

Benjamin Church and the beginnings of the Rangers in Colonial New England

While the majority of people associated with our Special Operations Forces consider Robert Rogers as the father of the Ranger Regiment, his troops weren’t the true first American Rangers, that distinction, which outside of historians in New England many people don’t know, falls to Benjamin Church. Benjamin Church created the first true Ranger force, circa […]