Afghanistan

Special Operations units to receive new dune buggy

Polaris’s government and defense business has been awarded a potential seven-year, $109 million contract from the General Services Administration (GSA) to build a light tactical all-terrain vehicle for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). This follow-on contract is for the Polaris MRZR Alpha, a new light tactical vehicle. The seven-year contract has a value of […]

The status of America’s forever wars in the Middle East

The Middle East continues to be a hotbed of violence and conflict. U.S. troops have been fighting, advising, and training in the region for almost 20 years. While there will always be U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East under the jurisdiction of the Central Command (CENTCOM), many are questioning how much longer the U.S. […]

Op-Ed: Are Generals Mattis and Petraeus patriots or revolutionists?

The following Op-Ed was written by Fred Galvin (USMC retired). Generals Mattis and General Petraeus collaborated and published the U.S. Army’s Field Manual 3-24 on counterinsurgency operations (COIN) in 2006; it later became Joint Publication 3-24. The publication contained the lessons the generals learned from nearly 19 years of operations in Afghanistan and 16 years […]

Army experiments with ground-based version of popular precision-guided munition

BAE Systems, one of the largest defense companies in the world, successfully tested a ground version of its popular Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS). First introduced in the early 2010s, the APKWS is able to convert unguided rockets into precision-guided munitions. BAE Systems achieved that conversion with the addition of a laser guidance kit […]

The Video of the Week: Delta Force operator speaks about his career in SOF

Retired Sergeant Major John “Shrek” McPhee served for over 20 years in the Army. All of his operational time was spent in Special Operations units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Special Forces Regiment, and Delta Force. He has has some interesting advice on SOF selections. You can follow him on his website.

German top Special Operations unit rocked by right-wing scandal

The top Special Operations unit of the German military has once again been rocked by a right-wing scandal. Last month, German law enforcement officers, in conjunction with the German military intelligence agency (MAD), raided the residence of a sergeant major who was assigned to the Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK), the Tier 1 Special Operations unit of […]

Unknown drones whack Iranian militia base in Syria

An Iranian proxy militias’ base, in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, was hit by airstrikes. The attack killed at least 12 militias, who were reportedly from Iraq and Afghanistan. This attack comes just a few days after an Iranian base in Misyaf was similarly wracked by airstrikes. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human […]

Air Force sergeant arrested for deadly IED ambush in California

An Air Force sergeant has been arrested and is facing murder charges for the death of one police officer and the wounding of two in an ambush that involved several Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), last Saturday in California. Sergeant Damon Gutzwiller, a deputy with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, was killed during the incident. […]

The Pic of the Day: A rare peek inside a Ranger armory

U.S. special operations service members conduct combat operations in support of Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan, February 2019. RS is a NATO-led mission to train, advise, and assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and institutions. An assortment of weapons can be seen inside the armory, including: M3 Carl Gustav recoilless rifles M4A1 carbines […]

Trump wants troops out of Afghanistan by election day

According to sources first referenced by the New York Times, senior military officials are going to brief President Trump, in the very near future, on several possible timelines for completely withdrawing American military forces from Afghanistan. The military is looking at one proposal, which is thought to be the president’s wish, for a complete withdrawal […]

Integrating Special Operations & paramilitary forces, an Indian perspective

Editor’s note: This article was written by Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch, a Special Operations officer in the Indian Army, and originally published on Mission Victory India. It offers an original perspective of affairs in Southern Asia and also a glimpse into the Indian Special Operations community.  The use of SF in conflict is as old […]

Where the Red Man Treads: Delta’s William “Chief” Carlson

William “Chief” Carlson came to Delta Force from one of the Green Beret groups around 1995. He was a Siksika warrior from the Blackfeet tribe of Montana. He was man whose reputation preceded him wherever he went in our community; no matter where you were at, there would be guys in your organization who had heard […]