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 […]

Best of SOFREP: Sex, lies, and Asia

I sat there in the cafe, drinking my too-foamy latte. The beans had been burnt, no surprise there. I added honey to override the crap taste. It was raining, as it was prone to do this time of year. The chill of the early November Autumn was working its way into the air. Just before, […]

Trump administration blackens one of the five eyes

On Thursday, May 25, 2017 the United Kingdom announced that they will cease sharing intelligence information as a result of the latest leak by the United States in the investigation into the Manchester bombing incident on Monday, May 22nd. Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, stated that investigation has been “compromised by the leaks and we can’t […]

The Russians are using ‘a new style of attack’ against France’s frontrunner candidate

A hacking group linked by cybersecurity experts to Russia’s military intelligence apparatus has begun taking aim at France’s centrist presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro said in a report published on Tuesday. On March 15, the group — known as Fancy Bear, Pawn Storm, Sednit, APT28, Sofacy, or STRONTIUM — began registering […]

Never underestimate your opponent

I retired 180-A, Special Operations Technician and spent the majority of my Special Forces time working in Central and South America. I earned a CIB in Operation Desert Storm prior to my retirement in 1992 and was a member of the coveted P.I.G Team, also known as a “Green Light” Team in 7th SFG. I […]

Understanding Jihadis: Lessons From the Al Qaeda Training Manual

If you’re looking for some light reading or to get on one of the NSA’s watch lists, this is your opportunity.  Below is a link to Al Qaeda’s renowned training manual, affectionately referred to as the “Manchester Documents,” for your reading pleasure.  While by no means a new document, the intent here is to have […]

Are the CIA and Donald Trump slipping into a Russian designed civil war?

A recent CIA briefing given to the Senate indicating that the Russian intelligence services sought to manipulate US elections to favor President Elect Donald Trump has ignited a firestorm across the political spectrum, however, it also signals something far more perilous: a brewing civil war between the incoming president and what will be his primary […]

Lindsay Lohan turned out by intel services or just a useful idiot?

You thought you would never see the day, a SOFREP article about Lindsay Lohan.  Believe me, I never thought I would be writing one.  While celebrity gossip is not exactly our purview, once in a while you catch of whiff of something that just doesn’t quite smell right.  Case in point: Lindsay Lohan becoming a staunch […]

Trump, Hillary, and the dangers of off the books intel sources

According to recent reports, President elect Donald Trump has been turning down the intelligence briefings that the intel community provides to incoming presidents to prepare them for the job.  Instead, Vice President elect Mike Pence is getting the intel briefings just about every day.  When questioned on the matter, Trump’s campaign manager said, “I can’t […]

Defense Clandestine Service: HUMINT compliment to National Intelligence

The Military wants its spies that can go where traditional ones cannot. The world is becoming flush with proxy wars and fewer permissive environments. The world saw how potentially cumbersome GRS attached to American spies can be during meetings in “13 Hours.” But, they also felt the lack of tactical and situational awareness those spies […]

US spies ‘are playing catch-up big time’ against Russia

And during the time it takes to train and shift the US’s intelligence capabilities against Russia, the US remains greatly outnumbered by Russian operatives.

“The counterintelligence operation that [Moscow] runs against the US Embassy measured in the thousands,” Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor and former US ambassador to Russia, told the Post. “It always felt, especially sitting in Moscow, of course, that we were in a counterintelligence and collection battle that was an asymmetric fight.”

CIA Director John Brennan recently addressed Russia’s “exceptionally capable and sophisticated” infiltration abilities.

“I think that we have to be very, very wary of what the Russians might be trying to do in terms of collecting information in a cyber realm, as well as what they might want to do with it,” Brennan explained on CBS.

U.S. intelligence challenges for our next Commander-in-Chief

Why is this important? The intelligence community deals with such a large amount of data, you can’t always assume people who have the “need to know,” and who should have access to the data, have seen all of the available information on any topic. The challenge of the intelligence professional is to rapidly sort through all of the data in order to develop usable intelligence analysis, enabling decision makers and warfighters to make informed decisions. Depending on the scenario, these decisions sometimes have to be made within minutes. Sometimes seconds.

Think of someone shoving you into a room filled with thousands of puzzle pieces, and then telling you to put it together in a few hours.