Iraq

‘A Warrior’s Path: Lessons In Leadership’ from an Army Delta Force operator

Robert A. Trivino’s book “A Warrior’s Path: Lessons in Leadership” introduces readers to the journey of a man who would reach the pinnacle of the U.S. special operations world after serving in the U.S. Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, 75th Ranger Regiment, and as an operational member of Delta Force, the Army’s most elite special missions […]

The Pic of the Day: Some nighttime range fun in Iraq

U.S. Army Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment (Charger Company), 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division fires an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Feb. 05, 2020. These drills are used to enhance base defense operations to provide better security for U.S. forces in Iraq.

His Navy SEAL son committed suicide, now he fights for his name

On a Sunday morning of 2017, Ryan Larkin, a Navy SEAL with four combat deployments under his belt, committed suicide. He was just 29 years old. He was haunted by a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that was caused by repeated exposure to concussive blows and explosions. But the Navy and the Department of Veteran Affairs […]

Thinking Before Shooting: Intelligence and Special Operations

The attacks of 9/11, which seem so long ago, caught the United States by surprise. There were some warning signs that were missed by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies but pointing the finger isn’t the purpose here. The last 16 years have seen our forces fighting a different kind of war, with a different […]

Chris Kyle: Navy SEAL, father, icon

Seven years ago yesterday, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was murdered. He was shot and killed, alongside his buddy Chad Littlefield, by Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine with serious mental problems. They had gone to a range to shoot some targets and unwind in an effort to help Routh battle his demons. Chris left behind […]

Canadian soldier serving in a Tier 1 SOF unit kicked out of the military for theft

A Canadian soldier assigned to the Joint Task Force-2 (JTF2) will be kicked out of the Canadian military for stealing equipment worth thousands of dollars. Last August, a military court had found Corporal Pedro Collier guilty of possessing stolen property. He received a suspended sentence and one-year probation. According to the Canadian publication Ottawa Citizen, […]

Gone too soon: Delta Force legend Robert Horrigan

I’m an idiot. How many times have I told myself not to chat up the owners of the corner kiosks for language training? Pick a kiosk that you don’t have to pass to get to and from your safe house; every time you pass, they will see you and wave you down to chat. If […]

The Mattis way of war

Former Secretary of Defence General James Mattis’s no-nonsense approach to life is well-known. Before and during his tenure as SecDef, he pushed for more focus on warfighting and less emphasis on senseless exercises and training.  Gauging by his time of military, and now public service, the Secretary of Defense appears to prefer logic, and not […]

The Pic of the Day: How Marines reinforce embassies

A Marine with Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security during an insert into a simulated embassy reinforcement at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Jan. 27, 2020. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of […]

Pentagon suspends weapon deliveries to Iraq, leaving Iraqi F-16 fleet in the air

The United States government has suspended weapon deliveries to Iraq following growing concerns about the ultimate fate of such exports. This comes after continued tensions since the assassination of Iranian command Qassem Soleimani in the country in early January. Particularly vulnerable is Iraq’s fleet of F-16s. The current pause impacts the country’s ability to find […]