Op-Ed: The Special Air Service, the Punisher, and political correctness

Op-Ed: The Special Air Service, the Punisher, and political correctness

British media reports state that Special Air Service (SAS) operators were ordered to remove all Punisher patches and other similar insignias from their kits. SAS received the removal order after military VIPs visited the unit’s headquarters in Hereford, saw the skull-like emblems on troopers’ combat kits, and considered them controversial. The rationale behind the decision […]

The politics behind Navy SEAL Gallagher’s war crimes trial

The politics behind Navy SEAL Gallagher’s war crimes trial

Two U.S. congressmen penned a letter to President Trump on behalf of Special Warfare Operator Chief Officer Edward Gallagher, asking that he directly intervene in the court-martial proceedings of the Navy SEAL. U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL sent the request in an obvious attempt to turn a military trial into […]

Navy SEALs air dirty laundry during war crimes trial

Navy SEALs air dirty laundry during war crimes trial

The ongoing trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher over alleged war crimes is shedding light on the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community and its cultural practices. With the trial in full swing, more details are emerging about SEAL Team 7’s Alpha Platoon deployment in Iraq in 2017. Chief Gallagher’s arrest seems to have originated by […]

AFRICOM involved in capture of suspected leading member of Islamic State

AFRICOM involved in capture of suspected leading member of Islamic State

United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has helped capture a suspected leading member of the Islamic State, Khalifa Al-Barq. The arrest took place in the former Islamic State stronghold city of Sirte, Libya on the 30th of January, 2019. Residents in the city have taken to social media claiming U.S. troops took part in the operation. A […]

Prosecutors Grant Immunity to Seven SEALs in Gallagher Case

Prosecutors Grant Immunity to Seven SEALs in Gallagher Case

The military court-martial trial of Navy SEAL Edward Gallager took a surprising turn on Friday during the motion hearing phase. The Navy’s prosecutors have granted seven Navy SEALs immunity to testify for the prosecution at the upcoming trial Gallagher, a chief special warfare operator alleged to have murdered a wounded teenage ISIS combatant by stabbing […]

Army finally releases official history of the Iraq War, and the conclusions are damning

Army finally releases official history of the Iraq War, and the conclusions are damning

After many years of waiting, the Army has finally published its official history of the Iraq War. The authors of the two-volume history are retired Colonels Joe Rayburn and Frank Sobchak. Their comprehensive study, which amounts to around 1,300 pages, begins with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and concludes with the withdrawal of troops […]

Real cost of Afghanistan and Iraq wars may be $6 trillion

Real cost of Afghanistan and Iraq wars may be $6 trillion

It’s common knowledge the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost the American taxpayer an exorbitant amount of money. The U.S. government’s lack of transparency to determine the true expense fuels wild speculations. So far, estimates vary between $1 and $2 trillion. Since there are so many different agencies and departments involved makes it even […]

7 Navy SEALs granted immunity to testify against Chief Gallagher

7 Navy SEALs granted immunity to testify against Chief Gallagher

In a further development of the trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, seven Navy SEALs who served in the same platoon have been granted immunity to testify against their teammate. Chief Gallagher has been charged with four different violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Gallagher, more specifically, is accused of murdering […]

Watch: Footage of Syrian Su-22 being shot down by a US Navy Super Hornet in 2017

Watch: Footage of Syrian Su-22 being shot down by a US Navy Super Hornet in 2017

According to the Pentagon, the first U.S. air-to-air engagement since 1999 took place in June of 2017 only after Syrian loyalist forces attacked U.S. backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the village of Ja’Din, southwest of Raqqa.  After a SU-22 dropped bombs near the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet immediately moved to […]

SAS Hits Back Hard Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria

SAS Hits Back Hard Against ISIS Terrorists in Syria

The SAS got a bit of payback this week it seems. The British special operations unit earlier this week hit an ISIS-controlled village in eastern Syria. And in doing so, they dispatched 20 of ISIS fighters as they ran from the battlefield, scurrying away in vehicles. While the British make it a point not to […]

Breaking: FBI arrests three men in Michigan over links to ISIS

Breaking: FBI arrests three men in Michigan over links to ISIS

The three men were arrested Monday afternoon for “conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS),” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. The men face a jail sentence of up to 20 years for the conspiracy charge. […]

Accountability, discipline, and leadership: How to solve ongoing issues in Special Operations

Accountability, discipline, and leadership: How to solve ongoing issues in Special Operations

In a recent interview with the Cipher Brief, Retired Brigadier General Craig Nixon discussed ongoing problems in the Special Operations community and provided useful insight. During his 29 years of service, General Nixon served as the Director of Operations for both the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which is […]