US and Qatari commandos train for strong, swift response to security threats

US and Qatari commandos train for strong, swift response to security threats

In yet another show of force and commitment to the Middle East, more than 200 U.S. commandos participated in the annual Special Operations Forces (SOF) exercise Invincible Sentry 2019 in Qatar. The American special operators were joined by more than 400 Qatari commandos from the Joint Special Forces, the premier Qatari SOF unit, and Internal […]

Jihadis who killed 4 Americans in Syria captured. What happens now?

Jihadis who killed 4 Americans in Syria captured. What happens now?

According to Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a number of jihadis involved in the killing of four Americans in Syria in January have been captured. On January 16, a suicide bomber detonated in an urban restaurant in the Syrian city of Manbij, where the Americans were attending a meeting with local dignitaries. The blast killed Chief […]

Chief Gallagher’s war crimes case expands to SEAL Team 6 operators

Chief Gallagher’s war crimes case expands to SEAL Team 6 operators

The war crimes case of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher just got more complicated as the Navy is expanding its investigation to SEAL Team 6 operators. According to warrant documents and emails leaked to the Navy Times, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is trying to determine if Chief Gallagher colluded with SEALs from the […]

Beards and axes: Canadian Army reactivates elite Assault Pioneers unit

Beards and axes: Canadian Army reactivates elite Assault Pioneers unit

The Canadian Army has decided to reactivate the Assault Pioneers in an attempt to increase the lethality of its infantry units. Known for their specialized training, different grooming standards (they are allowed to wear well-groomed beards), and their axes, Assault Pioneers are a mix of an infantryman and a combat engineer. Aside from the normal […]

Collusion? Navy Trying to Tie Gallagher Court-Martial To SEAL Team 6

Collusion? Navy Trying to Tie Gallagher Court-Martial To SEAL Team 6

The on-going court-martial of U.S. Navy SEAL Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher for killing an unarmed, wounded prisoner has taken a turn into uncharted waters. Gallagher, a very decorated SEAL with multiple deployments under his belt, is charged with stabbing to death a wounded prisoner from the Islamic State and then filming a […]

Rest Easy: Ranger assigned to secretive reconnaissance unit dies in free-fall accident

Rest Easy: Ranger assigned to secretive reconnaissance unit dies in free-fall accident

A Ranger serving with the secretive Ranger Reconnaissance Company (RRC) died in a free-fall parachute accident on March 15th. Sgt. 1st Class Ethan Carpenter was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Special Troops Battalion (STB). “Sgt. Carpenter was an exemplary soldier and Ranger leader, and a dedicated husband and father. He did the toughest jobs […]

Ranger assigned to secretive reconnaissance unit dies in free-fall accident

Ranger assigned to secretive reconnaissance unit dies in free-fall accident

A Ranger serving with the secretive Ranger Reconnaissance Company (RRC) died in a free-fall parachute accident on March 15th. Sgt. 1st Class Ethan Carpenter was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Special Troops Battalion (STB). “Sgt. Carpenter was an exemplary soldier and Ranger leader, and a dedicated husband and father. He did the toughest jobs well […]

End of an era: Pentagon to stop purchasing CH-47F Chinooks

End of an era: Pentagon to stop purchasing CH-47F Chinooks

In a small corner of the humongous 2020 U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget, among numerous procurement and upgrade projects, there’s notification that the DOD decided to halt the acquisition of the CH-47F Block II—the newest model of the venerable Chinook heavy-lift helicopter. The decision indicates the end of an era for the Chinook, as […]

End of an era: Pentagon to stop purchasing CH-47F Chinooks

End of an era: Pentagon to stop purchasing CH-47F Chinooks

In a small corner of the humongous 2020 U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) budget, among numerous procurement and upgrade projects, there’s notification that the DOD decided to halt the acquisition of the CH-47F Block II—the newest model of the venerable Chinook heavy-lift helicopter. The decision indicates the end of an era for the Chinook, as […]

British Army will be recruiting in Nepal for its newest specialist unit

British Army will be recruiting in Nepal for its newest specialist unit

The British Ministry of Defense plans to establish a specialist Gurkha unit to further enhance the combat effectiveness of the Gurkha Brigade. The 3rd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles will be a specialized infantry battalion with approximately 300 personnel. The new outfit will be responsible for conducting Foreign Internal Defense missions around the world. And there […]

No, the US isn’t abandoning the Kurds in Syria

No, the US isn’t abandoning the Kurds in Syria

“The Kurds have no friend but the mountains,” as the old saying goes. Yet there are few mountains in Northern Syria, where the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) formed a coalition with Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The […]

New defense budget includes unexpectedly large pay raise for troops

New defense budget includes unexpectedly large pay raise for troops

Starting from January 2020, military personnel are set to receive a 3.1% pay raise, according to President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2020 defense budget. If the proposal goes through Congress, it would mark the largest increase in pay in a decade. The last largest increase was 3.4% in 2009. Depending on rank and years of […]