Green Berets assigned to a 3rd Special Forces Group Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) crept forward and took control of the compound ahead of them. The American Special Forces soldiers moved in with Afghan soldiers assigned to the 6th Kandak Commandos, Afghanistan’s frontline counter-terrorism unit. The commandos were not tethered to any one region in Afghanistan […]

Col. Larry Perino, Col. Lee VanArsdale, and Command Sgt. Maj. Kyle Lamb recently sat down with the Modern War Institute at West Point to discuss the Battle of the Black Sea. They participated in Operation Gothic Serpent which the public is largely familiar with through the book and film “Black Hawk Down.” The interview contains […]

The Australian Federal Police raided Australia’s ABC news offices earlier this month, as well as the home of journalist Annika Smethurst. When searching the offices, they had a search warrant with two specifics names on it, journalists Sam Clark and Daniel Oakes. Clark and Oakes published a piece called “The Afghan Files” in 2017, based […]

One of the big takeaways from the disastrous 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran was that U.S. special operations units needed to work in a joint environment. Units need to coordinate and train together to develop their capabilities and ensure they function smoothly when deployed to combat. This is a lesson that […]

About halfway through the deployment, we got word that we were to prepare for a new recce mission, one that had special significance for the Ranger regiment. We were to recon the compound harboring the suspected Taliban leader who’d planned the Pat Tillman ambush, so that it could be assaulted by a Ranger strike force. […]

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing, members of the 75th Ranger Regiment have recreated the actions of their forefathers by scaling the cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc, overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy, France. On June 6th 1944, the Rangers landed on the beaches of Pointe Du Hoc […]

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was in Indonesia last week and met with officials in an attempt to normalize military-to-military relations between our nations. A particular area of contention is Indonesia’s Special Forces unit called Kopassus, which is accused of human rights abuses. Due to the Leahy Amendment, U.S. military forces cannot work with […]

The “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” video game series has always included scenes that are intentionally controversial. In “Modern Warfare 2,” one level sees the protagonist acting as an undercover operative in a Russian terrorist cell that raids an airport terminal and murders hundreds of civilians. The protagonist, played by the player of the game […]

I love reading about Special Operations history. It’s amazing what information can be found in published sources if you’re prepared to dig around. There’s a whole hidden history that can only be compiled by doing some deep research and really looking for sources. Thankfully, some former operators penned books that are well worth tracking down. Here […]

Four years ago, NEWSREP reported that United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) developed the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS)—a hardened exo-skeleton suit for special operators—and it was really a sham, but promising technologies emerged in the process. From 2015’s “TALOS: Special Operations Powered Armor or Just Another Boondoggle?” Initiated under Admiral William H. McRaven […]

I knew it was going to be one of those days the second we rolled outside the wire. It was midday, and a thick black column of smoke rose above the city from a fire somewhere in the urban sprawl. I was now the tactical commander for the lead Stryker in our convoy, meaning I […]

Some sharp eyes over at The Drive recently spotted a modification to the MH-6 Little Bird helicopter in a USASOC-released video. The footage shows the Little Bird configured with external pods designed for ferrying special operations soldiers to their targets, but underneath one can see a rectangular attachment that appears to be an additional fuel […]