Special Operations Appreciation Month (SOAM)

On behalf of Force12 Media, I’d like to applaud Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-MT) for introducing legislation in Congress today recognizing October as Special Operations Appreciation Month.

Our military are deployed and at war to a far greater degree than at any time in our country’s history.

This fact is the result of a fundamental shift that has taken place in the nature of global conflict.  I myself experienced this phenomenon firsthand.  For me and many others, it began on the morning of October 12, 2000 when, off the coast of Yemen, two men in a small motorboat killed 17 US Navy sailors, injured 39 more and incapacitated a billion dollar Navy destroyer – the USS Cole. 

Eleven months later, on September 11, 2001, this same enemy killed nearly three thousand people, injured countless others and wrought devastation beyond what most people could imagine possible on American soil.

With these and similar events, the days of large-scale conflict in which naval fleets and armored divisions clashed in massive battles disappeared.  We entered an era of asymmetrical warfare, what General Stanely McChrystal described as “networks fighting networks.” 

Almost overnight Special Operations Forces moved from providing secondary support missions to the forefront of global conflict. 

So, again, Force12 Media is proud to stand with Congressman Zinke in recognizing October as Special Operations Appreciation Month.  We offer our thanks to all the men and women and their families who served and continue to serve our country in the unique role of Special Ops. 

Force12 Media looks forward to pushing out some incredible content in October across all of our sites that pays homage to the Special Operations community, past, present, and future.