The Pic of the Day: Polish SOF and SF operators on the door

U.S. Special Forces assigned to the U.S. Army 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), prepare for a static line jump out of the 352nd Special Operation Wing’s MC-130J Commando II, This event was part of a combined airborne operation with the Polish Forces, Dec. 3, 2019, near Krakow, Poland. Polish and U.S. SOF exercised together with […]

Is Russia unintentionally strengthening NATO?

A neutral country for decades, Sweden is edging ever closer toward NATO. In 2018, the Swedish government sent a booklet to almost five million families. Titled If Crisis or War Comes, the brochure included information and instructions on basic wartime survival and “total defence.” It also informed Swedes of other threats like climate change, cyberattacks […]

Operation Archery: British Commandos go wild

After the forces of Hitler’s Nazi Germany overran most of Europe in the summer of 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that the military create a force that could carry out raids against Nazi-occupied Europe. “Enterprises must be prepared, with specially-trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down […]

Naval Special Warfare to get its first female operators

Naval Special Warfare might be close to welcoming its first-ever female operators. Three female sailors are currently at various stages of the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) selection pipeline. SWCC is the primary maritime mobility component for U.S. Special Operations Command. The three SWCC candidates aren’t the only ones who have tried out for a […]

Stoner 63: Trumpet of the Navy SEALs

Once Eugene Stoner, designer of the AR-15/M-16 series of combat rifles, left Armalite Corporation in the early 1960s, he decided to design a unique weapons platform that used a common receiver around which a family of small arms could interchange. Such a commonality would enable it to transform into a rifle, carbine or light machine gun […]

The Pic of the Day: Pipehitters on their way to rescue Americans POWs

Special Forces soldiers and members of the Son Tay prison rescue force at the back of a C-130. Son Tay prison was located close to Hanoi and believed to contain a significant amount of American Prisoners of War (POWs). The military launched a raid to rescue them on November 21, 1970. The assault force engaged […]

NATO opens Spec Ops aviation school

Aviation and Special Operations go hand-in-hand. Whether it is rotary-wing or fixed-wing, SOF units have been using SOF aircraft to increase their effectiveness and lethality. Recognizing the lack of a dedicated SOF aviation program, NATO has decided to launch a training facility that aims to bring together the Alliance’s elite aviation units for training. The […]

No days off: Rucking early on Christmas morning

Before celebrating Christmas with the family today it was time for some exercise. I was up before the sun and since everyone was sleeping in as we had been out late visiting family on Christmas Eve, I decided to take advantage of the quiet time to get some rucking in…and to work off some of […]

The Pic of the Day: Christmas the SOF way

U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan watch the Afghanistan countryside from the tail of an aircraft after delivering bundles containing care packages, Christmas stockings and mail to soldiers stationed at a remote base in eastern Afghanistan.

Taliban IED kills American soldier in Afghanistan

Details are sketchy right now, but the Pentagon has acknowledged that an American soldier was killed on Monday in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already taken credit for a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province, where they claim the attack took place. They also tweeted a picture of the killed soldier’s ID card. The Pentagon doesn’t […]