Breaking: Iran shoots down US drone over international waters

An Iranian surface-to-air missile downed an American drone over international waters in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. This act of aggression follows in the wake of last week’s unprovoked damaging of two oil tankers by Iranian limpet mines. Navy Captain Bill Urban, CENTCOM’s spokesperson, said in a statement that “U.S. Central Command can […]

Iranian mines almost sink two tankers as US Navy responds

During the early morning hours of June 13th, two tankers came under attack as they traversed the Gulf of Oman. The Norwegian-owned M/T Altair and the Japanese-owned M/T Kokuka Courageous were damaged by what appears to be Iranian limpet mines. The discovery of Iranian mines in international waters has raised tensions in the area. According […]

US and Qatari commandos train for strong, swift response to security threats

In yet another show of force and commitment to the Middle East, more than 200 U.S. commandos participated in the annual Special Operations Forces (SOF) exercise Invincible Sentry 2019 in Qatar. The American special operators were joined by more than 400 Qatari commandos from the Joint Special Forces, the premier Qatari SOF unit, and Internal […]

Last of ISIS forces cornered in Syria, coalition’s final assault underway

The Islamic State’s (ISIS) reign of terror is about to end. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), primarily comprised of Kurdish forces, have cornered the last remnants of the terrorist organization in a small enclave. Baghouz, which is situated close to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, is the last remnant of territory under the […]

DoD report reveals significant issues with military intelligence

Earlier this year, the Department of Defense (DoD) conducted an investigation to assess the standards and communication processes of the different intelligence units in the U.S. military. More specifically, the DoD investigated all the geographic combatant command joint intelligence operations centers (JIOCs) and intelligence directorates. JIOCs are responsible for the planning, coordination, and integration of […]

US Navy 5th Fleet Commander found dead in Bahrain

Vice Admiral Scott Stearney, 5th Fleet Commander and Commander Naval Forces SOCOM, was found dead in his quarters in Bahrain. The message was related by Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, on his Twitter account as follows: “Team, it’s my sad duty to inform you that today the Secretary of the Navy and I […]

Obama or Trump: Who is the real ‘drone president?’

In his first two years in office, President Donald Trump has authorised 238 drone strikes against terrorist groups, surpassing his predecessor President Barack Obama. Despite his statements, Obama had been quite aggressive and eager to use armed drones as a foreign policy tool. Between 2009 and 2010, Obama authorised 186 drone strikes. Both presidents’ strikes have […]

Kurdistan representatives meet with US delegation to discuss the future of Iraq

A United States led delegation met with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani over the weekend. The meeting was to discuss what role Kurdistan will play in helping eliminate the last remnants of the Islamic State as well as how the will contribute to the formation of the new Iraqi government. The delegation was […]

Don McFaul: An unrecognized legacy

As I sat in church on Sunday morning, our Pastor asked the congregation if anyone had known a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice. Along with a few others, I stood. Yes, I have known several Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors, but one sticks out on this Memorial Day Weekend — the mission that claimed […]

The lingering question: Where is Bin Laden’s body?

I had planned on ignoring the recent passing of the anniversary of Operation Neptune Spear, not because the SEAL Team Six mission that killed Osama Bin Laden wasn’t important, but rather because so much has happened since then. So many other Special Operations missions have been executed since 2011 and many have made the ultimate […]