Special Operations

Defense Department Honors Barbara Bush as a Military Advocate

Among the many people and organizations that remembered Barbara Bush after her passing, the Defense Department paid tribute today to the former first lady, who died April 17. She was 92.

“Mrs. Bush had many roles with great significance to many people,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said in a news conference today.
“To the military, she was a Navy wife, a ship sponsor and a devoted advocate of the men and women in uniform, whom she treated like family,” White said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bush family as they celebrate the life and memory of Mrs. Bush,” she added.
Sailors on the Bush-sponsored aircraft carrier USS George Washington and the carrier USS George H.W. Bush named after her husband, a former president and naval aviator, have a special connection to Bush.
“It was our privilege to have Mrs. Barbara Bush as the ship’s sponsor for the nation’s finest aircraft carrier,” Navy Capt. Glenn Jamison, commanding officer of USS George Washington, said in a Navy news release. Bush’s legacy will be long remembered by those who have served and will serve aboard USS George Washington, he said.
The commanding officer of the USS George H.W. Bush described Bush as a “truly remarkable person” and said the crew endeavors to proudly carry her legacy and enduring example of devotion to family.
“A strong and compassionate first lady, a devoted matriarch and champion of literacy, she graced our deckplates on multiple occasions and treated all who served aboard USS George H. W. Bush like her own family,” Navy Capt. Sean Bailey said.
He added, “She will be truly missed.”

The flags of both aircraft carriers were flown at half-staff until after the funeral for Mrs. Bush and then each of them will be presented to the Bush family.

To read the entire article from the Department of Defense, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

US Tries to Send a US Citizen Caught Fighting for ISIS to Saudi Arabia

The United States wants to send to Saudi Arabia a U.S. citizen who was captured on the battlefield in Syria last fall and is suspected of supporting Islamic State.

Lawyers for the American, who is identified only as John Doe in court papers, claim that would violate his constitutional rights and asked a federal judge to order the government either to charge him with a crime or to release him from U.S. military custody in Iraq.
On Thursday evening, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan barred the government from transferring him, just before the deadline. During a court hearing Thursday, Chutkan seemed skeptical of government arguments that the transfer should be approved quickly.
“I have a U.S. citizen here that has rights that have to be considered carefully,” Chutkan said, adding that the right to challenge detention by the government is the “bedrock of our legal system.”
James M. Burnham, senior counsel at the Justice Department, argued that handing over the suspect would amount to a release from U.S. custody, and therefore would end his legal case in U.S. courts.
“It’s not release if you’re simply giving him over to another jailer,” Chutkan told him.
The strange case of the mystery American could set new legal and diplomatic boundaries for the U.S. war on terrorism.
Although dozens of Americans were charged and convicted of seeking to join or providing material support to terrorist groups in recent years, only a handful were designated enemy combatants. Courts ruled they still had their rights as U.S. citizens.
In September, the man surrendered to a Syrian Kurdish militia backed by the United States and was delivered to the U.S. military, which declared him an enemy combatant and put him in a military prison in Iraq.
U.S. authorities allege that the man supported Islamic State but they have been unable to produce enough evidence to charge him with a crime.

The man was questioned by US intelligence agents after his surrender but the courts are blocking that testimony and it can’t be used against him. The ACLU is trying to secure the man’s release. He claims he went to Syria as a freelance journalist and was kidnapped by ISIS.

To read the entire article from Los Angeles Times, click here:

Photo courtesy AP

Could a Clash Between Iran and the US Troops Be Coming in Syria?

While both Iran and the United States have engaged in a war of words since the fall of the Shah, their enmity has never spilled over into open conflict. But now the two sides are increasingly moving in that direction as their forces are getting within close proximity to one another in Syria.

Tensions between Iran and the United States over Syria are at the highest they have been since the country’s civil war started in 2011.

While the two countries have repeatedly voiced indignation about the other’s presence in Syria, they have not reached the point of a military confrontation so far.
While the US has targeted fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad who have threatened its Kurdish allies and air bases, it has not directly attacked Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers, who command both pro-Assad militias and are embedded with Syrian military units.
Similarly, while Iran has warned the US against intervening in Syria, it has not instructed the groups under its sway to target the US.
In recent months, however, questions arose as to whether the US will continue its policy of non-confrontation with Iran in Syria.
Last month, US President Donald Trump appointed John Bolton, a trenchant critic of Iran, as his new national security adviser.
A George W Bush-era relic, best known as an advocate of the Iraq war, Bolton has reportedly lobbied Trump for a more aggressive posture on Iran.
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, also fueled concern about escalation when she said that preventing Iran’s entrenchment in Syria was one of the Trump administration’s top priorities.
Iran’s main regional rival, Israel, is said to have informed US intelligence officials before targeting Iranian positions in Syria, a sign of increasing cooperation between the two, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Militias backed by Iran for their part have vowed to target the US presence in Syria.
“What we are currently seeing is the most serious attempt by hawkish and conservative advisers to get the US directly involved in the Syrian war, an attempt that echoes Israeli concerns about US withdrawal plans from Syria,” said Joe Macaron of the Arab Center Washington, DC, further explaining that the hawkish position is not universally accepted.
“Trump himself and the Pentagon are resisting this temptation, Israel will most probably continue in the foreseeable future to fight its own battles against Iran.”

Right now the Iranians believe that the U.S. position in Syria is untenable and while they’ve set their hooks deep in the Syrian regime, they know that open conflict with the U.S. is counterproductive to their long-term goals. But anything can happen.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo Syrian Army

Saudi Arabia in Talks With US to Deploy Troops to Syria

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has said the kingdom is in talks with the United States about sending some of their troops into Syria as part of a planned wider coalition consisting of Arab troops.

In his comments on Tuesday, Adel al-Jubeir said the deployment offer was “not new”, adding that Riyadh had previously proposed the idea to former US President Barack Obama.
“We are in discussion with the US, and have been since the beginning of the Syrian crisis about sending forces into Syria,” al-Jubeir told reporters in Riyadh during a press conference alongside Antonio Guterres, the UN chief.
“We made a proposal to the [previous] Obama administration that if the US were to send forces … then Saudi Arabia would consider along with other countries sending forces as part of this contingent.”
The kingdom announced its readiness to deploy ground troops in 2016 to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Syria.
While Saudi’s air force partook in the aerial campaign aimed at defeating ISIL from the very beginning in 2014, the Gulf kingdom stopped short of a full ground troop deployment.
“There’s great concern among leadership inside the [US] military about the ability of Saudi forces – just look at the war in Yemen that the US has been helping them fight with intelligence and refuelling,” said Culhane.
“There have been humanitarian catastrophes, numbers of schools and hospitals that have been hit, raising big concerns among human rights activists.”

The final question about this planned Arab coalition is whether the troops of the United States will remain in Syria. President Trump has made it clear that he wants to remove the 2000 U.S. troops and keeping them there would probably not be approved by the White House.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screenshot

New Marine Corps Amphibious Vehicles On Schedule and Under Budget

The Marine Corps planned next generation of amphibious assault vehicles is set to begin production and more importantly remains under budget.

The Marine Corps launched the program to replace its Assault Amphibious Vehicle, which was first fielded in 1972, with the Amphibious Combat Vehicle — billed as a better protected and faster way to carry troops from ship to shore.

Development costs are now an estimated $60 million below original projections of $810.5 million, a Government Accountability Office report found.
A protest to the Corps’ November 2015 selection of two contractor prototypes — BAE Systems’ SuperAV and SAIC’s Terrex 2 — caused a work stoppage that briefly delayed the schedule, but no further delays are anticipated and Marine officials are set to decide on which of the two it will order for its first batch of 30 vehicles in June.
The Marines want 208 new amphibious vehicles by 2022, with initial rounds of low-rate runs producing 30 vehicles in 2018 and 2019. This will outfit two of the Corps’ 10 amphibious assault companies.
Each vehicle was expected to cost between about $4 million and $7 million, according to a 2015 GAO report.
The GAO said it could not publicly say more about the manufacturing readiness or the technical performance of the vehicles since the two contractors were still in competition.
The new vehicle improves on the armor and land maneuver capabilities of the legacy AAV, with limited amphibious capabilities that will be addressed in a second round of manufacturing; however, Marine officials have said the initial vehicle is already close to meeting the second iteration’s requirements.
The first model, called ACV 1.1, won’t fully replace the 46-year-old AAV, which officials have called “nearly obsolete,” so the Marine Corps is also upgrading nearly 400 of its 1,060 vehicles to protect against threats such as roadside bombs at an estimated cost of $1.7 million per vehicle. The Corps plans to replace those upgraded AAVs by 2035.
The Corps plans to field nearly 500 of the program’s second model by 2026 to outfit four of the service’s 10 amphibious assault companies.
A third model, called ACV 2.0, is expected to travel at twice the old AAV’s water speed, allowing the Marines to launch from ships beyond the view of shore without the aid of landing craft to carry the vehicles.

The two prototypes that the Marines are looking at are produced by BAE Systems Super AV and has a three-man crew and carries 13 Marines or the SAIC Terrex 2 AV which carries a crew of three with 11 Marines. Both have V-shaped hulls and travel at 7 mph on the sea and 65 and 55 mph respectively on roads.

To read the entire article from Stars and Stripes, click here:

Photo courtesy BAE Systems

Bolton Wants to Build Arab Force in Syria to Replace the US

President Trump’s new national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo are among those pushing to build a coalition of Arab military forces that could replace US troops in Syria and serve as a stabilizing force in the region once ISIS is defeated, according to official sources.

While convincing nations like Saudi Arabia to join the cause is sure to come at a price, the Trump administration is considering an offer that includes putting a compelling reward on the table, a source close to the White House told CNN.
A similar concept was initially floated in 2013 as part of the Obama administration’s anti-ISIS strategy, but the idea of establishing an Arab force aligned with US interests recently picked up new momentum after President Donald Trump declared that he wants to withdraw US troops from Syria and have other countries “take care of it.”
Specifically, the US is pursuing contributions from Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help counter Iran in Syria by filling the void should the US significantly reduce its footprint in the country.
A source close to the White House told CNN on Tuesday that despite initial concerns that Trump would withdraw from Syria in the very near term, discussions have shifted toward developing a transition plan and that the administration is continuing its push to enlist the help of several Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
This source also confirmed that Bolton recently called Egypt’s acting intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, to gauge whether his country would be willing to contribute to the effort, a detail previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally would formally acknowledge their standing as a strategic military partner with the US on the level of key allies like Israel, South Korea and Jordan.
“Major non-NATO status is a real feather in the cap of many nations … in a sense it would essentially cement the US as the guarantor of Saudi security for the foreseeable future,” said Nicholas Heras, a Middle East Security Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

If the Arab nations did agree to this proposal, they’d still probably require logistical support and targeting data from U.S. satellites. So while U.S. boots wouldn’t necessarily be on the ground, the financial responsibility would still be a cross to bear for Washington.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Jacksonville City Inspector Posts Apology after Military Flag Flap

After a video confrontation between a Jacksonville, Florida city inspector and a customer in a local business went viral, a flap over the display of military flags became a national story. The Jacksonville city inspector apologized on social media Monday for a controversy that she sparked when she issued a warning citation to a business for flying military flags — which she said was a code violation.

It wasn’t all, the city inspector then belittled the same customer who happened to be a combat veteran saying he did nothing for the country.

Melinda Power later removed the Facebook post, but screenshots of it continue to be circulated on social media.
Power came under fire after she cited Jaguar Power Sports on the city’s Westside for flying flags on its roof that represent each branch of the military. The rooftop display also includes two United States flags and a Jacksonville Jaguars flag.
Employees at the business said a customer overheard Power issuing the warning, which told the business to correct the violation or risk “prosecution for the offense.”
The customer, who is a military veteran, got upset, and a confrontation between the two was captured on surveillance video.
Employees said Power insulted the customer after he told her he almost lost his life serving in the military.
She gets in his face this close and says, ‘You did nothing for this country,'” store employee Katie Klasse said.
In her Facebook post, Power described the incident differently, saying she thought the customer had asked, “Do you know what I did?” And that she responded, “Nothing.”
She said after that, tempers flared, and she admitted: “I should never have been unprofessional and disrespectful period. Sincerely apologize.”
Power also said in the post that her father, husband and son-in-law have all served in the military and that she has “the utmost respect for the military.”
Mayor Lenny Curry stepped in after word of the confrontation and the warning citation that prompted it reached his office.
Curry said Monday night that he has directed city staff to treat military flags the same as the U.S. flag when on display.

Power and her immediate supervisor have been suspended, per the Jacksonville mayor’s office. The managers of Jacksonville Power Sports then tore up their warnings in a follow-up post on social media.

To read the entire article from News 4 Jax, click here:

Photo courtesy Screenshot Jax 4 News

Theresa May: Russia and Syria Are Blocking Evidence of Gas Attack

Using the ridiculous excuse of “Security Issues”, the Russians and Syrians are blocking the efforts of the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) to gather evidence are actively trying “to conceal the facts” of the latest chemical weapons attack, according to the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May.

“The Syrian regime has reportedly been seeking to conceal the evidence by searching evacuees from Douma to ensure samples are not being smuggled from this area, and a wider operation to conceal the facts of the attack is underway, supported by the Russians,” May told the British House of Commons on Monday.
May aired that accusation after the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced that a team of investigators had deployed to Syria, only to be barred from the site of the attack due to “pending security issues.” The role of the OPCW investigators has been a central part of the debate between Russian and western diplomats over the last several days, as Russia denied that any gas attack had taken place and tried to forestall western airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“It would be possible to make greater efforts on the ground to establish now what has happened in Douma if Russia and the regime were not blocking the opportunity for the OPCW to go to the site, and if efforts were not being made by the regime to ensure that material from the site is not available for that sort of analysis,” May added.
Russian officials maintain that the United Kingdom faked the apparent evidence for the latest attack, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians and injured hundreds more, and then rushed to attack Assad before the OPCW investigation could take place.
“We do not think that these reports could be falsified on this scale,” she said. “The opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs. [ISIS] does not even have a presence in Douma, and the reports of this attack are consistent with previous regime attacks.”

This latest sham by the Russians and Syrians is the typical maneuver. Cry foul, block an independent investigation and try to erase any evidence before claiming the attacks were staged.

To read the entire article from the Washington Examiner, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Latest Airstrike Against Syria Appears to be the Israelis

The Syrians were evidently hit with another airstrike early Tuesday morning as Syrian state-run television was airing reports of an Israeli missile attack.

Syrian media and locals reported air strikes and Syrian air defense rockets being launched in response in the early hours of Tuesday morning. According to initial reports, the strikes may have targeted Al-Sayrat airbase and rural Homs, as well as areas around Damascus.

Days after US-led airstrikes hit Homs and Damascus on April 14, Syrian Twitter accounts blamed Israel for alleged strikes on Tuesday morning. The first reports emerged around 1:30am. Al Sura Media claimed fighter jets had targeted Syria’s T4 airbase, where Iranian troops are alleged to be present.
Syrian state television showed pictures of a missile that was shot in the air above the base.
State television did not mention three missiles that were fired at Dumair military airport, northeast of Damascus, that pro-Iranian Hezbollah’s media service reported were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.
Opposition sources say Dumair airport is a major air base used in a large-scale military campaign waged by the Syrian army with Russian firepower that regained eastern Ghouta, a rebel enclave on the outskirts of Damascus.
On Monday Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem warned that Iran and Israel are nearing open war as tensions are very high in Syria.
Syria’s Sana Ajel news claimed anti-aircraft units responded to an attack in Shayrat airbase near Homs. That was the same airbase the US struck in 2017 in response to a chemical weapons attack at Khan Sheikhoun.
Reports of strikes at Shayrat airbase and areas south of Damascus were dismissed as rumors by some commentators online. Syria’s regime is gearing up for a battle with ISIS in Yarmouk in southern Damascus, and some said that the sounds of missiles might be related to that conflict.
However, Al-Mayadeen and other pro-regime channels showed video of a strange light, which they claimed was part of the airstrikes, hovering in the sky.

The Pentagon has declared there is “no US military activity near Homs at this time”.

It added: “We do not have additional details to provide.”

To read the entire article from the Jerusalem Post, click here:

Photo : Syrian television screen shot

Hometown of “Black Hawk Down” MOH Operator To Plan Memorial

The town of Lincoln, Maine is teaming with the Special Forces Charitable Trust to build a memorial dedicated to the men who died in Somalia in 1993.

Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart were forever immortalized when they made the fateful decision to stay and fight, defending the injured soldiers at the site of a crashed U.S. military helicopter in Mogadishu in October 1993.
Nearly 25 years later, officials want to memorialize the two soldiers and the other 17 troops who were killed during Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia with a new memorial in Gordon’s hometown.
Gordon and Shughart served with the Fort Bragg-based 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, better known as Delta Force. They volunteered to protect the crash site and fought off attackers until they ran out of ammunition.
They were posthumously awarded the nation’s highest combat decoration, the Medal of Honor, for their efforts to protect the lives of American troops while sacrificing their own during a battle that has become known as “Black Hawk Down” thanks to a popular book and movie by the same name.
The pair are also the namesake of schools on Fort Bragg.
In June, the Special Forces Charitable Trust and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon Medal of Honor Memorial Fund will team up in Gordon’s hometown of Lincoln, Maine, for a memorial 5k run/walk aimed at raising money for a new memorial that will include a full-size bronze statue of Gordon on a five-foot granite base that will feature his Medal of Honor citation and the names of all of the American soldiers killed in Somalia in 1993.
The memorial, once complete, will be the only one of its kind that honors all of the soldiers lost in Mogadishu in 1993, according to officials.
It will be placed in a Veterans’ Park in Lincoln. It will be created by artist Douwe Blumberg, who also created the Horse Soldier monument in New York City and the Nevada State Veterans Memorial in Las Vegas.

The planned 5K race will take place in Lincoln, however, if anyone who would like to donate and run the race on their own, they can register online and even receive a finisher’s medal.

For more information and any questions about this event or the planned memorial, go to specialforcescharitabletrust.org/upcoming-events/.

To read the entire article from Fayetteville Observer, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia