Tag: SOF

U.S. and Thai Special Forces conduct a simulated urban search and rescue while training together in U-Tapao Thailand in September, 2019. The 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) is responsible for Asia. Thailand has been an old and staunch U.S. ally. This relationship became particularly important during the Vietnam War. American military bases on the country […]

The debut of the SOFREP Team Room cartoon feature depicts Managing Editor Stavros Atlamazoglou clad in flamboyant pirate attire leading his mob of writers, termed his “pirate crew,” forward into the resurrected SOFREP format. Against odds, “Charge!” he cries out in his native Greek language. Heavy-lift writer Alex “A-Blast” Hollings follows swinging from a (pirate […]

After nearly a year out east, I returned to California in January of 1994 with orders to report to HS-10, the helicopter training squadron in San Diego where I would spend six months learning the ropes before finally deploying as part of an operational squadron. But there were a few more hurdles to clear first, […]

Everybody wants to know what sets Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) apart from the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC). It’s a complicated question to answer. What’s more revealing and easier to address is: what traits does MARSOC share with USASOC and NSW? I’d like to focus on […]

The Air Force’s new Special Operations career field is about to launch. After years of planning and much deliberation, the long-awaited Special Warfare (SW) career field opens up on October 31. The Special Warfare (1Z) career field will now encompass four Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs), which is the nomenclature that the Air Force utilizes […]

With the death of Osama Bin Laden (OBL) at the hands of some secret squirrel frogmen in Pakistan, there came a nationwide interest in who killed OBL. The phrase “Navy SEALs” was quickly released to the public, whether via the White House or the Department of Defense. But it was those “subject matter experts,” including […]

A U.S. Air Force guardian angel team, assigned to the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, conducts close-range rifle training Feb. 21, 2018. The teams conduct training on all aspects of combat, medical procedures and search and rescue tactics to hone their skills, providing the highest level of tactical capability to combatant commanders.

During the Holocaust, it wasn’t just the Jews who suffered at the hands at the Nazis although they bore the brunt of the racism and extermination at the hands of the Germans and their allies during World War II. The Gypsies were also persecuted during the reign of Hitler and his henchmen. The Nazis at […]

There are undoubtedly many more lessons worth teaching your sons to help them become men. These are only 10, but they are a good place to start.

In the spring of 2000 our eighteen-month work-up concluded with an Operational Readiness Exam (ORE), conducted off San Clemente Island, in which a small group of us simulated a covert tagging and tracking op on an enemy vessel. There were some tricky issues with water currents on the way back in, and things got sketchy. […]

In this SOFREP exclusive interview, we sat down with Keith Nell, the Rhodesian Special Air Service operator who was assigned to hunt down and eliminate the terrorists responsible for what has been called “Rhodesia’s 9/11.” By 1978, the Rhodesian Bush War between ZIPRA and ZANLA communist terrorists had terrorized the local villages in the area. […]

A Green Beret assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) releases a tire after pulling it and moves to a barrier before he fires his M4 rifle during the four-stage run and gun event June 27, 2019, at Fort Bragg, N.C. The four-stage run and gun was an event held during the first annual 3rd […]