Afghanistan

There are some things that stand the test of time and Richard Gatling’s invention of the earliest days of the American Civil War has certainly fit that description. Gatling was an inventor who fashioned the first machine gun, although a different design by most standards. His basic design with many modern variants is still in […]

Reconnaissance Marines assigned to the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during a firefight with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, 2010. Each Marine division has its own Reconnaissance Battalion (1st Recon Bn, 2nd Recon Bn, 3rd Recon Bn, and 4th Recon Bn which is the reserve component of the Recon community).

In the span of fewer than two weeks, yet another Combat Controller (CCT) has earned the Silver Star for his actions in combat in Afghanistan. On November 22, Technical Sergeant Cody Smith received the Silver Star by Lieutenant General Jim Slife, the commanding officer of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), for his actions during […]

Acting upon the orders of the White House, the Secretary of Defence has fired the Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer over the ongoing debate about a controversial Navy SEAL’s right to remain in the SEAL Teams. According to an email statement given to the Navy Times, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman stated that Defense Secretary Mark […]

British Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, wait inside the belly of a Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron CH-53D Sea Stallion prior to takeoff during a troop extraction mission in support of operations, in southwestern Afghanistan, April 27. Coalition troops traveled to the Helmand River valley to interact with the local populace and […]

Two U.S. service members were reportedly killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday. The U.S. military has not provided any further details into the incident, but the Taliban have claimed responsibility through a spokesman that offered the Taliban’s version of events to reporters. The Pentagon refuted the Taliban’s claims however, saying that […]

U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Chris Grove, a Special Tactics combat controller assigned as the 720th Special Tactics Group superintendent, leads family members, friends and teammates in Memorial Pushups following his Silver Star Medal presentation ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Nov. 15, 2019. Grove was awarded the nation’s third-highest medal against an armed enemy […]

This article should start with the statement that this isn’t an attack on Major General Robert Scales at all. Scales recently wrote an intriguing piece on how to try to “bottle SOF” and make our United States infantry units in the Army and Marine Corps as good as our SOF operators.  Scales earned a Silver […]

Many of you will recognize the name, Heath Hansen. Hansen used to regularly submit some of his experiences to us; experiences which we gladly shared. He joined the Army in 2004 and became a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed in Afghanistan during 2005-2006 and in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. He was […]

 “Alive” is a documentary by award-winning director Stephanie Soechtig that focuses on five American soldiers, who were seriously injured during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Scheduled for general release on November 11 at 9:00 p.m. by Epix, the film is a fitting tribute to watch on Veterans Day.  SOFREP was given an exclusive first […]

President Donald Trump is expected to act on two court-martial cases that involved U.S. troops accused of war crimes. The two cases involve Former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who is serving a 19-year sentence, for murder, in Fort Leavenworth’s military prison. He ordered, in 2012, an enlisted soldier to fire on supposedly unarmed Afghan motorcyclists. […]

The recent raid of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria by members of the United States Special Operations Command was highlighted by the military, which stated that they had taken “information and material from the compound that will be exploited moving forward.” With terrorist organizations operating out of cells and using coded communications, […]