Special Forces and allied SOF honor their heritage

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

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 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

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

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?

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 […]

Operation Red Dawn: Saddam Hussein captured December 13, 2003

Operation Red Dawn: Saddam Hussein captured December 13, 2003

On the evening of December 13, 2003, in the small Iraqi town of ad-Dawr outside of Tikrit, elements of Task Force 121, and the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Hussein hid in a spider hole and was found by a Delta Force operator. The operation was named after the […]

Deadly attack on Niger military base leaves at least 73 dead

Deadly attack on Niger military base leaves at least 73 dead

At least 73 Nigerien soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in western Niger, according to reports from the Ministry of Defense.  The attack took place at the military base at Inates, along the southwestern part of the country, which borders Mali. Defense Minister Issoufou Katambe said that the troops had been […]

Benjamin Church and the beginnings of the Rangers in Colonial New England

Benjamin Church and the beginnings of the Rangers in Colonial New England

While the majority of people associated with our Special Operations Forces consider Robert Rogers as the father of the Ranger Regiment, his troops weren’t the true first American Rangers, that distinction, which outside of historians in New England many people don’t know, falls to Benjamin Church. Benjamin Church created the first true Ranger force, circa […]

Learn how to prepare for cold weather prior to Spec Ops selection

Learn how to prepare for cold weather prior to Spec Ops selection

Because most of our military bases are in the southern United States, one area that can be neglected, especially when preparing for Special Operations training is cold weather training.  It is surprising how many young people who enter the military don’t know or understand the basics of cold weather preparation. First some of the basics; […]

German Tier 1 SOF unit infiltrated by neo-Nazis

German Tier 1 SOF unit infiltrated by neo-Nazis

German military counterintelligence has discovered several potential neo-Nazis in the country’s Tier 1 Special Operations unit. According to German media reports, the Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK), an equivalent to Delta Force and the British Special Air Service (SAS), has been infiltrated by neo-Nazis. At least one operator has been kicked out of the unit and two […]

Selection Prep: Push yourself hard and then ramp it up more

Selection Prep: Push yourself hard and then ramp it up more

Over Thanksgiving I was looking with friends and family at the webpage of GoRuck. One of my friends was looking for a challenge to push himself for this upcoming spring, so I recommended that he check out GoRuck’s events.  “Why in the world would someone do this for fun? And why would you ever sign […]