US Drops Special Operations Near Raqqa, Cuts Off ISIS Escape Route

The US-led coalition has dropped both American and Syrian fighters behind the city of Raqqa in an effort to cut off the ISIS escape route out of the city. That’s an encouraging sign that perhaps the battle to drive out the insurgents from Syria is going well. According to reports from inside Syria, five helicopters, […]

What NOT to Do If You Want to Pass Selection

Passing Selection is the rite of passage for every Special Operations unit in the world. And that is why we’re here right? The courses are designed to be incredibly hard for a reason and a very good one. The operating environment that Special Operations many times must perform in is often extreme. Carrying a lot […]

Iraqi forces close on Mosul mosque as strike kills foreign militants

Iraqi army helicopters strafed and rocketed Islamic State positions inside Mosul’s Old City on Sunday as ground troops fought fierce street battles to close in on the strategic prize of the al-Nuri Mosque. An air strike by the U.S.-led coalition backing Iraq forces in their campaign to retake Mosul also killed six foreign militant commanders […]

SAS Gets ‘Kill List’ Of British Jihadis In Iraq

British SAS troops stationed in Iraq have been issued with a “kill or capture” list containing the names of up to 200 British terrorists fighting alongside ISIS. In a report by The Sunday Times, MI6, MI5, and GCHQ have furnished intelligence to the SAS operators in Iraq with target orders to eliminate British nationals who […]

US Army Stryker Vehicles Demo Laser Weapons

Stryker vehicles in service with the US Army have been in use for over a decade. Now the vehicle may soon have the ability to defend itself from unmanned aircraft systems using a laser weapon. US Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Forces Strategic Command recently demonstrated the Stryker’s ability to defend […]

Women on Special Operation Teams? No Easy Answer

Our military forces have been in combat non-stop since 9/11. They’ve shown that they’ve been equal to the task and have performed as we’ve come to expect from our armed forces. However, the on-going conflicts have seen increased leanings on our Special Operations Forces, who, despite being just a fraction of the overall force, are […]

Iraqi Special Forces are clearing Mosul in house-to-house fighting

The fighting for the Iraqi city of Mosul has become a close-quarters battle between hardened ISIS fighters and Iraqi special forces troops. The battle is now a no-holds-barred, house-to-house, street by street bloody affair as the Iraqis seek to drive the ISIS fighters out of the final large city of Iraq. ISIS had named Mosul […]

Iraqi Special Forces Are Clearing Mosul in House-to-House Fighting

The fighting for the Iraqi city of Mosul has become a close-quarters battle between hardened ISIS fighters and Iraqi special forces troops. The battle is now a no-holds-barred, house-to-house, street by street bloody affair as the Iraqis seek to drive the ISIS fighters out of the final large city of Iraq. ISIS had named Mosul […]

Syria government urges U.N. chief to avert ‘looming dam catastrophe’

Syria’s government urged U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to demand that a U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State militants stop targeting the Euphrates and Tishrin dams and surrounding areas “to forestall a looming catastrophe.” In a letter to Guterres and the Security Council, released on Thursday, Syria’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Mounzer Mounzer wrote that residents along […]

Nobody goes into a room like Delta Force: A CQB attitude primer

(Cover photo: my good bud Robert Horrigan, KIA in Iraq) Close Quarters Battle (CQB), or Close Quarters Combat (CQC) is to the effect about 75% (maybe higher) testicles, and then 25% technique. I don’t like to over complicate things, especially CQB, one of the most absolutely horrifying things a human may ever do. It is […]

‘Danger Close’ documentary of Special Ops debuts in Tampa

Television reporter Alex Quade has covered US Special Operations Forces numerous times in Iraq and Afghanistan and she earned the trust and respect of the troops who are normally distrustful of reporters and the media in general. Now she is telling their story with a documentary “Danger Close” that will premiere on Thursday night in […]

Exclusive: U.S. weighs deploying up to 1,000 ‘reserve’ troops for IS fight

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is weighing a deployment of up to 1,000 American soldiers to Kuwait to serve as a reserve force in the fight against Islamic State as U.S.-backed fighters accelerate the offensive in Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials told Reuters. Proponents of the option, which has not been previously reported, said it […]