The Video of the Week: Navy SEALs and Israeli SOF storm ship

Special operations forces assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, a component of U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, engaged in a continuous training cycle to improve specialized skills needed to conduct missions from sea, air, and land during exercise Noble Rose. Noble Rose is a bi-lateral Counter-Terrorism (CT) training exercise to enhance capacity, capability, and […]

The Afghanistan Papers: Lessons learned or lost?

The Washington Post spent a lot of time and made many of Freedom of Information Act requests to dig up what they hoped would shed some light on what we’re doing in Afghanistan, why we’re still there and whether it is worth the lives of 2,400 — and counting — American military members and the […]

Air Force releases more information on new Special Warfare career field

The Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has released more information about the incoming changes in the new Special Warfare career field. Launched this past October, Special Warfare is comprised of the Pararescue (1Z1), Combat Control (1Z2), Tactical Air Control Party (1Z3) and Special Reconnaissance (1Z4) Air Force Specialties. Previously these were separate career fields, […]

Landmark decision allows military members to seek medical malpractice

Green Beret SFC Richard Stayskal called it a “Christmas Miracle.”  The Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act with an 86-8 vote on Tuesday. However, inside the bill is a provision, initiated by Stayskal, which will allow service members who have been victims of negligent medical care to finally be allowed to hold the government […]

Special Forces and allied SOF honor their heritage

Established during the Second World War, the 1st Special Service Force (SSF) was a joint American-Canadian commando unit. It participated in all major combat operations in Italy and Southern France before being deactivated in 1944. Because of its formidable character and night-combat expertise the Germans nicknamed it “Black Devils.” The U.S. Army’s modern-day Special Forces […]

Land navigation refresher: Helpful Spec Ops tips when navigating

“…We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then is not an act but a habit” Aristotle One of the first questions we always get from any aspiring SOF candidate is, “What do I have to do to get Selected?” While it is a legitimate question, it is a bit simplistic. There is no one specific […]

Two Marine Raiders and Navy Corpsman charged with manslaughter over Green Beret death

Two Marines Raiders and a Navy Corpsman assigned to the 3rd Raider Battalion, Marines Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), are facing manslaughter charges over the death of Rick Rodriguez, a contractor and retired Special Forces operator, in Iraq in 2018. The three men, Gunnery Sergeant Joshua Negron, Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Draher and Chief Petty Officer […]

Selection in Special Operations? Learn to love your ruck

We always get good questions about how to pass some of the various selection courses. And while certain things will be looked at differently, many of the key attributes are going to be the same in the successful candidate in any course regardless of the branch or unit.  For today’s purpose, I’ll talk about SFAS […]

SOCOM is testing a ‘mind reading’ system that can help SOF troops conduct interrogations

In the Netflix series, “Daredevil,” superhero-lawyer Matt Murdock has an, arguably, unfair advantage over criminals in court: He can use his heightened senses to measure changes in a person’s biometrics like heart rate, perspiration and temperature. Over the years, he’s developed a pretty attuned understanding of how these physiological responses correlate with things like nervousness […]

Could a Spec Ops base in Syria be in danger of being overrun?

The presence of a small, but strategically important, Special Operations base inside Syria might be in jeopardy after Congress raised concerns about its security. Last week, Congress requested the Department of Defence (DoD) and the Director of National Intelligence Retired Vice Admiral Joseph Maguire, a former Navy SEAL, to assess the threat level of the […]