Lockheed Martin secures $8 billion logistic support contract for U.S. Special Operations

On Friday, Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon announced that the security and aerospace company has successfully secured an $8 billion U.S. Defense contract to serve as global logistics support for America’s Special Operations Forces. It is not uncommon for the U.S. military to rely on contracts with private sector organizations for support services like warehouse […]

How I crashed my Army Special Operations Helicopter behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and what I learned about my crew in the process.

Flying with the United States Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the “Nightstalkers,” were some of the most rewarding and intense years of my professional Army career. These are the men and women who, when the President asks in hushed tones if we have the capability to fly specially adapted helicopters into the darkest corners of the […]

Remembering Green Beret 1LT Loren Hagen Medal of Honor Aug. 7, 1971

As the US involvement was winding down in Vietnam in 1971, there was still dangerous work being down by the Special Operations Forces working under the cover of MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group). This in the shadows unit was once active all South and North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos but as […]

The “Green Beret Affair” Project GAMMA, A Massive Snafu for the Army

During the war in Vietnam, the US Army Special Forces were headquartered in Nha Trang. During this time, the Special Forces troops had a close liaison with the CIA and the two organizations worked closely on many intelligence and special operations missions. Their most successful covert intelligence unit “Project GAMMA”, had its mission effectively shut […]

US Special Forces conducts search and rescue training

US Special Forces counter-terrorism missions in Syria and Iraq get a lot of media coverage, but Green Berets are deployed to over 100 countries on any given year conducting a range of operations as laid out in the unit’s Mission Essential Task List (METL) including everything from counter-proliferation to special warfare.  This past May, Special […]

Life in the Green Berets

Special Forces soldiers are grouped into 12-man Operational Detachment Alpha teams or ODA. In this manner, they are organized for unconventional warfare, the only unit in the military specifically designed to fight the type of counter-insurgency operations that America finds itself in today. Because of their task organization and inherent decentralization, each ODA has its […]

Roger Donlon Awarded Medal of Honor, Nam Dong, July 6, 1964

In 1964, the United States wasn’t yet fully immersed in Vietnam and our commitment at that time were just advisors. Roger Donlon was the Commander of A-726, a Special Forces A-Team from the 7th Special Forces Group. His team was placed in Nam Dong, a strategically placed village 30 miles west of Da Nang and […]

Revisiting the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Night Land Navigation Course

In previous articles, we’ve touched on the different aspects of land navigation. We’ve gotten a few questions and comments about night navigation which is the hardest part of land navigation because all your skills will be tested to the max in the hours of darkness. Rather than re-hashing the entire Land Navigation series of articles, […]

The press is getting it all wrong on Marawi and US Special Forces

The usual breathless media reports have emerged from the Philippines latest security crisis in regards to American Special Operations units present in the area.  To be sure, the siege of Marawi has spun into a serious attack which bares some resemblance to the 2013 siege of Zamboanga.  Philippine SOF units such as the Light Reaction […]

Jordanian soldier charged with murder for the slaying of 3 Green Berets

Three US Special Forces soldiers were murdered by a Jordanian gate guard in 2016 while working what is known as a IA or inter-agency job which sees Green Berets seconded to CIA projects, in this case the training of Syrian militia who will then infiltrate back across the border and engage in the Syrian civil […]

Jungle Boots | Footwear of the salty

Before the days of Salomon, Merrell, Oakley (all of which I own and love) and the endless list of boot options available to soldiers (at least in the SOF community), and the “after market” desert boots available to all, there was one venerable, unchallenged boot for the grunt. Few items conjure a nostalgia like seeing […]