Remembering Nathan Chapman, Green Beret/CIA KIA Afghanistan 2002

If it seems like the war in Afghanistan has gone on forever, perhaps it is because it has dragged on for an entire generation. The United States has been involved there for over 17 years and there seems to be no end game in sight. And the cost has been very high. More than 4000 […]

The HK416 A7: German special operations units select new rifle

The new year will bring a new rifle to Germany’s elite soldiers. In the upcoming months, the HK416 A7, which the Germans have designated the G95K, will be issued to the soldiers of the Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK) and sailors of the Kommando Spezialkrafte Marine (KSM). The standing order is for less than 2,000 new rifles, […]

Read outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis’ farewell to the troops

Late Monday night, as Americans were preparing to ring in the new year, Defense Secretary James Mattis was having a very different sort of evening. After decades of service, the former Marine general relinquished authority over the Pentagon to his former deputy secretary and current acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan. According to the Department of […]

January 1, 1962, The US Navy SEAL Teams Are Born

On this day in 1962 is the official date of the beginning of the United States Navy’s Sea, Air and Land Teams (SEAL) as President John Kennedy established the Navy’s Unconventional Warfare unit. SEAL teams are designed to conduct direct action missions from any environment. Although the official date for the SEAL Teams is in […]

Like it or not, Trump got it right on Syria

In 2013 MSNBC host Rachel Maddow authored a book titled “Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.”  The book explores America’s steady march towards perpetual war, one that has echoes of George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 in which propagandized citizens recite that, “we are war with Eurasia, we have always been at war with Eurasia.”  […]

Mattis to ring in the New Year by turning over the Pentagon at midnight on Monday

While Americans on the East Coast are toasting the arrival of the new year, current Secretary of Defense James Mattis will be on a conference call with Pentagon officials to turn over authority to Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Shanahan will serve as acting Defense Secretary until President Donald Trump appoints a new permanent replacement. […]

UK Security Minister warns of a ‘resurgent’ Al-Qaeda and the threat of new airline attacks

Almost two decades after the catastrophic 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda seems capable of mounting similar terrorist strikes involving hijacked airplanes. Despite the relentless pounding that the terrorist organisation has received at the hands of the U.S. and its international allies, the recent focus on the Islamic State (ISIS) appears to have given the arch-terrorist group the […]

Perfecting an Exoskeleton for SOF Needs To Happen Now

Today’s military is much more technology-based than in previous eras but while the high-tech gadgets make the soldier’s job easier and much more lethal on today’s battlefield, it also weighs them down more than ever before. The price of having the technology at their fingertips is that, while all of that gear works and is […]

The way forward for America’s Special Operations Forces

In a recent interview with West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, Mark E. Mitchell, the current Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, offered some great insight on the past and future of America’s SOF. Mitchell had commanded the 5th Special Forces Group and a Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq. He has […]