The Pic of the Day: The view from inside a spec ops helicopter

SSgt. Christopher Pherson, a flight engineer with the 8th Special Operations Squadron, performs grounded flight simulation tests on a CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft at Hurlburt Field. Ospreys are used for long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions for special operations forces worldwide.

Marine Special Operations Command: We Aren’t SEALs or Green Berets

Everybody wants to know what sets Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) apart from the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC). It’s a complicated question to answer. What’s more revealing and easier to address is: what traits does MARSOC share with USASOC and NSW? I’d like to focus on […]

Special Warfare Operator: The Air Force’s new SOF job opens up

The Air Force’s new Special Operations career field is about to launch. After years of planning and much deliberation, the long-awaited Special Warfare (SW) career field opens up on October 31. The Special Warfare (1Z) career field will now encompass four Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs), which is the nomenclature that the Air Force utilizes […]

The Video of the Week: Air Force EOD and Special Forces operators clear ISIS tunnel

As Turkey invades Northern Syria in an attempt to secure its southern border, deal with the Kurds, and relocate a few millions of people, it worth remembering why U.S. warfighters are in Syria in the first place. This video shows an Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician attached to a Special Forces Operational Detachment […]

Mortus Discriminatus: The day I almost died in Iraq

The year was just shy of 2008, it was two weeks until Christmas and I was a month into the winter rotation in Mosul, Iraq with the 5th Special Forces Group. My team and I were a part of a unit known as A/1/5 CIF, or the Commanders In-extremis Force, and we were young. A/1/5 was […]

Turkey attacks compound of elite US-led Kurdish counterterrorism unit

A compound that houses elements of the elite Kurdish Yekineyen Anti-Terror (YAT) unit was bombed by Turkish forces in the early stages of the invasion of Northern Syria. YAT is a counterterrorism unit created and trained to hunt down Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are training, advising, and operating with the […]

The Pic of the Day: Special Forces operator who pioneered HALO capability

According to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), “Special Forces Noncommissioned Officer and CIA officer Wilfred “Squeak” Charette (nicknamed after the squeak his jump boots made when he walked) who was a pioneer in the development of the High-Altitude Low-Opening (HALO) parachute capability. Charette participated in training the first HALO class from SEAL Team Two […]

Another one bites the dust: Al-Qaida chief killed in SOF raid

In the closing days of September, American and Afghan Special Operation Forces (SOF) conducted a raid that resulted in the death of Asim Omar, the leader of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). According to the Afghan intelligence agency, Omar and an additional six AQIS terrorists were killed in the raid. Among them was also […]

Pararescueman assigned to Tier 1 unit dies in training

On Tuesday, 8 October a Pararescueman (PJ) was killed during mountain rescue training in Boise, Idaho. Technical Sergeant Peter Kraines, 33, was assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing (24th SOW). In a press release, U.S. Air Force Colonel Matthew Allen, the commanding officer of the 24th SOW, said that “this […]

The Pic of the Day: The Air Force’s Tier 1 SOF unit

Members from the U.S. Air Force 24th Special Tactics Squadron (24th STS), Fort Bragg, complete helo, fast rope, and hoisting training during exercise Advanced Guard, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., April 14, 2014. Advanced Guard is a multimillion-dollar exercise spanning across the states to train special operators to conduct joint operations. The 24th STS is […]

Navy SEAL acquitted of murdering ISIS prisoner files for clemency

The legal adventures of Special Warfare Operator Chief Eddie Gallagher are far from over. Last year, the Navy SEAL was accused of obstruction of justice, attempted homicide, and murdering a teenage Islamic State detainee in Mosul, Iraq, during a combat deployment in 2017, among other things. After a legal saga that lasted for almost a […]