Spec Ops selection prep: Boots and foot care 101

We always get some questions vis-à-vis about passing Selection and most of the questions center around rucking and the land navigation course. While each has their own challenges for the Selection candidate, you’ll have to utilize both together while passing land navigation as you’ll be conducting it with a rucksack on. While we encourage our […]

Making the big leap from high school to Special Operations

A good friend of mine is a career law enforcement professional here in New England and although we don’t hang out on a regular basis, whenever we run into one another we’ll stop and catch up. So weaving around a stoppage in the road a few weeks ago, I saw my friend trying to make […]

France reappraising military commitment in Mali after deadly helicopter crash

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, speaking on Thursday about the death of 13 French soldiers in Mali this week in a counter-terror operation, has ordered his military to assess its operations against Islamist militants in West Africa. Macron, in his first public address since the collision of two helicopters that killed 13 French troops […]

Mosby’s Rangers: The Civil War guerrilla fighters that were a thorn in the Union’s side

One of the best-known cavalrymen of the Civil War was John Singleton Mosby. He served under J.E.B. Stuart for the Confederacy during the Fredericksburg and Gettysburg campaigns and started his own cavalry unit, the 43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, which became known as Mosby’s Rangers, or Mosby’s Raiders. Mosby’s Rangers operated out of Middleburg, Virginia. […]

SOF truths with a twist: Good leaders can’t be mass produced

Opinion: Our Special Operations Command has been in the news these days for much of the wrong reasons. And with the number of questions we’ve gotten asking about the different Selection courses for SOF with an increasing number from potential officers, I felt it was time to address an issue. An increasing number of Special […]

Former Special Operator receives SEAL K-9

A former SOF operator received an unexpected gift during an event hosted by the Navy SEAL Museum. The SOF operator was presented with Silver during the Museum’s 34th Annual Muster and Music Festival that took place on November 8/9. Silver is a Special Operations Military Working Dog (SOMWD). “Working with our veterans remains a primary […]

The birth of the famous Gatling gun

There are some things that stand the test of time and Richard Gatling’s invention of the earliest days of the American Civil War has certainly fit that description. Gatling was an inventor who fashioned the first machine gun, although a different design by most standards. His basic design with many modern variants is still in […]

NATO activates new regional SOF command

In trying to increase its effectiveness and interoperability, NATO has created yet another mini Special Operations Command. In late October, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Austria (a NATO partner) signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC). Hungary, as the framework nation (i.e., the nation which launched […]

Heading to selection? Identify your weaknesses and take them on

This is for the young troops heading to Spec Ops Selection. It doesn’t matter if it is for the Ranger Regiment, Air Force Special Operations, Navy SEAL or SFAS. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Nobody does everything perfectly, well some very rare guys do, but even they started from somewhere.  When preparing for […]