SOF

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

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

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

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 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

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 […]

The Video of the Week: SOF CQB, Airborne Ops, Breaching, and lots more

B-roll Footage of Special Forces Operators conducting close-quarters combat, breaching techniques, airborne operations, and demolition and explosive training that was used to create a video in support of the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion Campaign at Fort Campbell, KY, on April, 15 2019.

December 1964: Roger Donlon was awarded the first Medal of Honor for Vietnam War

In 1964, the United States involvement in Vietnam was a much smaller undertaking than it would become just a year later. The total number of U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1964 was 23,000. They were still considered technically advisors to the South Vietnamese Army. Nevertheless, 216 Americans would die in combat that year against the […]

USASOC turned 29 years old this week

Time flies when you are having fun, or in the case of the United States Army Special Operations Command, when you are employed so heavily, the years, never mind the days and months fly by. In 1989, USASOC was activated and although it wasn’t that long ago, the world, as well as the command has […]

December 1773: The Boston Tea Party set Colonial rebellion in motion

On a cold December evening in December 1773, American colonists, members of the Sons of Liberty protested the British Tea Act by disguising themselves as American Indians and threw an entire shipment of tea from England into Boston Harbor. This political protest and the subsequent reactions of the English government, set in motion a series of […]

Another senior Guatemalan officer indicted for genocide

The senior Guatemalan human rights prosecutor, Judge Jimmy Bremer, has indicted another senior military officer for genocide and crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war.  Luis Enrique Mendoza Garcia, who was a senior operations officer under the former regime of General Efrain Rios Montt, will go on trial in March for his role in […]