Special Operations

The German Defense Ministry is going to dissolve the country’s top Special Operations unit over a series of right-wing scandals. According to an exclusive report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine, the Kommando Spezialkrafte (KSK) is losing at least one-quarter of its strength as troops suspected of right-wing extremism are either canned or suspended. The unit has […]

Special operations continued to develop and improve its hand-to-hand combat systems, from LINE to MACP.

The Combat Diver Foundation and the U.S. Military Freefall Association will be jointly hosting a virtual fundraiser to raise money for their respective causes. The “Jump & Dive Fundraiser” will take place on August 29. The event will include a livestream of the fundraising event, comments by notable Combat Diver and Military Freefall qualified leaders, […]

During the Vietnam War it became very clear that the U.S. military needed to revise their hand-to-hand training.

For most people, surviving the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Europe would be the defining moment of their lives. Men like Major General Sidney Shachnow aren’t most people. The Lithuanian-born Shachnow survived a forced labor camp and went on to join the U.S. Army, serve in Vietnam, and lead the Army Special Forces’ ultra-secret World War III […]

World War II saw the advent of modern special operations, and thus the need for special hand-to-hand fighting skills for special operators.

While intelligence is mostly known for its classified nature, a good portion of intelligence work is conducted using open source methods. OSINT, or open-source intelligence as it is referred to, is a valuable tool critical to any bit of analysis. A responsible intelligence analyst always takes into consideration the OSINT available. While it cannot (or […]

A wave of recent attacks in Afghanistan has left the Afghani government infuriated. Over the past week, the Taliban carried out 422 attacks in 32 provinces, killing a minimum of 291 Afghan security personnel and wounding 550 others. This marks the deadliest week in the country’s 19-year war, even as the Taliban reject the figures. […]

SOFREP recently published an exclusive piece covering the journey of the first female candidate set to graduate the Special Forces Qualification Course and earn her coveted green beret — an amazing achievement. Similarly, recent years have seen the services open their previously male-exclusive roles, including the opportunity to attend Ranger School and others, to women […]

Symbols are important. Civilizations, organizations, corporations, and even an individual’s identity are built on and around symbols. They communicate values, demonstrate principles, express aspirations, declare intentions, assert purpose, affirm origins, and galvanize solidarity. Symbols are powerful because they instill pride, evoke camaraderie, and spur individuals to strive harder in their pursuits. The proud graduates of […]

From the outset, the only hand-to-hand training given to most soldiers on both sides of the trenches involved the bayonet and the trench knife.

Earlier this month, the 75th Army Ranger Regiment permanently activated its newest battalion. The Ranger Military Intelligence Battalion (RHIB) is now one of the five battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the other being three infantry battalions (1/75, 2/75, 3/75) and a Special Troops Battalion. According to the 75th Ranger Regiment, the RHIB’s mission is […]