Special Operations

“The Jungle Will Eat You Up” Ghana Jungle Warfare School

United States soldiers recently got the opportunity to visit Africa and attend the Jungle Warfare School in at the Ghanaat Achiase military base in Akim Oda, Ghana.

The small group of soldiers from the 1^st Battalion, 506^th Infantry went thru a 10-day course in late May to hone their jungle skills from their Ghana allies. The training incorporates counter-insurgency training in their curriculum.

More than 55 U.S. soldiers were challenged to survive in the harsh Ghanaian jungle during the ten-day course. The Ghanaian instructors equipped the students with practical knowledge specific to the local terrain and environment.
“How to adapt to jungle training is very difficult for them because their type of jungle in the U.S. is very different from the type of jungle that we have,” Codjoe said. “We have taught patrolling, which is a key to jungle training … [we] also taught them how to fight insurgents in the jungle terrain, how to combat guerilla[s] in jungle terrain, raid operations and attack on enemy camp operations.”
The American soldiers, performing the various squad and platoon level tactics, quickly realized the difficulty in navigating through the jungle and adjusting to the harsh, humid climate.
“We’ve always been prepared for Iraq and Afghanistan and desert environments, and even the mountainous environments, so this is like nothing we’ve dealt with before,” said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Hugh Smith, Delta Company’s platoon leader.
According to Ghanaian Sgt. Michael Agyemang, the school’s noncommissioned officer-in-charge, the U.S. soldiers, were determined to soak up knowledge from the expert jungle instructors. “It’s been a fast learning experience between me and the students; they are just fast. Anything you tell them, they just grab it at once,” he said.
A sign at the school reading: The Jungle is Neutral, was explained as the jungle takes no sides; it treats everyone within it the same way. Smith said the jungle training is beneficial.
“I think it’s definitely enhanced readiness,” he said. “I think coming to a different environment — a different terrain — that we’ve never really dealt with before and learning the tactics, learning how to move, learning how to navigate through the jungle has very much helped us in our readiness.”
U.S. soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment provide security during United Accord 2017 at the Jungle Warfare School at Achiase military base in Akim Oda, Ghana, May 26, 2017. Army photo by Sgt. Brian Chaney
Navigating the dense vegetation and uneven ground, as well as traversing waist-deep ponds and crossing unstable improvised bridges while watching for hidden dangerous wildlife challenged the American soldiers.

With US troops facing desert and mountainous conditions in the on-going wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, this training was a step in a different direction from the norm. It opened their eyes to another kind of fighting where the combat is much closer and the conditions very different.

To read the entire article from DOD, click here:

Photo courtesy US Army

Philippine Military Loses 11 Troops in Errant Airstrike

An errant airstrike by the Filipino Air Force that fell on their own troops and killed 11 men while injuring seven others on Thursday was confirmed in a statement by government officials. The incident occurred in a battle to retake the city of Marawi from insurgents from the Islamic State.

Delfin Lorenzana, Defense Secretary for the Philippines military said the deadly accident came about because of the “fog of war” and that a mistake was made.

The incident came during what was the first offensive deployment of fixed-wing aircraft in the nine-day operation, aimed at flushing out the Islamist gunmen who have defied expectations by clinging on through days of ground assaults and helicopter rocket attacks.
“Sometimes in the fog of war a lot of things could happen. Accidents happen, like this,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a news conference.
“It’s very sad to be hitting our own troops,” he added. “There must be a mistake somewhere, either someone directing from the ground, or the pilot.”
The Maute group has been a fierce enemy of a military with superior firepower and greater troop strength.
The government is concerned that the group’s brazen attack and its resilience could strike a chord with the Islamic State leadership in the Middle East and win its endorsement as its Southeast Asian affiliate.
The deaths of the soldiers takes the number of security force members killed to 38, with 19 civilians and 120 rebel fighters killed in the battles in Marawi over the nine days.
Lorenzana said militants who were Saudi, Malaysian, Indonesian, Yemeni and Chechen were among eight foreigners killed in the fighting, in what experts say is a sign the Philippines may have a major problem on its hands.

Two light military aircraft, SF260TP jets were positioned to strike, but the second one failed to hit its target and struck instead members of the 55th Infantry Battalion, Lorenzana said in a news briefing in Malacanang.

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photos courtesy Reuters

Will the US Policy of Annihilation and Humiliation Work?

The United States has shifted its focus from a war of attrition against ISIS and radical Islamism to one of annihilation and humiliation. Secretary of Defense James Mattis outlined the plan recently and he believes that this is a plan that the US and its allies can win.

But the big question is, will this plan work? History is basically against Mattis’ plan although the theory of destroying the enemy on the battlefield is always a prerequisite to winning a war. But against an enemy that melts away into the civilian population, it is easier said than done.

Mattis pointed to the battles for Mosul and Tal Afar as models for how these tactics will be implemented in other places. In both cases, forces on the ground, some with U.S. help, have surrounded IS targets to try to prevent Islamic State militants from retreating and foreign fighters from leaving the battlefield to return home. The forces then advance and clear these cities block by block, a hard task that takes time. This is what Mattis described as annihilation. The Islamic State’s greatest strength on the battlefield has been its ability to retreat and regroup, and the goal of annihilation is to destroy that strength. But this strategy comes with a high price. Iraq sent its best trained and equipped fighters into Mosul first, and casualty rates were reportedly around 50 percent for some units. The battle is about to enter its eighth month.
According to Mattis, this will be the blueprint for destroying the Islamic State’s caliphate, and the table is being set to apply this model on the de facto IS capital of Raqqa. Mattis is optimistic that IS will lose this fight, but even if this happens, the challenge will then be to prevent another group like IS from emerging.
This is where the humiliation tactics come in. In his interview, Mattis pointed out that the fight against the Islamic State is not just a military conflict. It is “a fight about ideas.” Mattis said the Islamic State’s recruiting and fundraising capabilities must be destroyed. The way to do this is to degrade the IS “message of hatred and violence” and any nation that would support it.
This is easier said than done. At multiple points in the interview, Mattis emphasized that the U.S. does everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, which he said differentiates the U.S. from its adversaries. On the simplest level this is true. The U.S. does not target civilians; the Islamic State does. But reality is more complicated. People who have lost loved ones in an accidental U.S. airstrike take no solace in the fact that the U.S. tries to avoid civilian deaths.

Mattis’ best hope is to get the US’ European and Middle East partners to completely buy into this line of thinking. If they do, and our partner nations do their part, then the plan has a chance of success until the next foe rises from the ashes.

To read the entire article from the Geopolitical Futures click here:

Massive Suicide Car Bomb Explosion Rocks Kabul, Scores Killed

Kabul, Afghanistan was rocked by a huge car bomb explosion in the diplomatic security area of the capital on Wednesday morning.

According to Afghani Ministry of Health sources, at least 80 were dead and 350 wounded with the majority of those being women and children. It was the worst terrorist incident in the country since the coalition drawdown of troops in 2014.

“The attack demonstrates a complete disregard for civilians and reveals the barbaric nature of the enemy faced by the Afghan people,” the statement continued. “It also highlights the hypocrisy of the enemy who claim that they only target Afghan Security Forces and Foreign forces, yet continue to cause death and suffering amongst innocent Afghans.”
The German Foreign Ministry said German embassy workers were wounded in the blast, and that an Afghan security official who had been protecting the building was killed.
The Taliban on Wednesday denied involvement in the bombing. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past.
The explosion occurred at the peak of Kabul’s rush hour when roads are packed with worktime commuters, Patta reports.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned American citizens to avoid the area of the blast and cancelled all its appointments for routine American Citizen Services for the day.
Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani’s office condemned the “cowardly attack in the holy Month of Ramadan targeting innocent civilians in their daily life,” while the U.S. Embassy Kabul Special Charge d’Affaires Hugo Llorens said, “This horrific and shameful attack demonstrates these terrorists’ complete disregard for human life and their nihilistic opposition to the dream of a peaceful future for Afghanistan. The terrorists, and those who provide them support in any form, deserve the utter scorn of all civilized people around the world.”
The Green Zone neighborhood is considered Kabul’s safest area, with foreign embassies, press bureaus, and government offices protected by dozens of 10-foot-high blast walls and guarded by police and national security forces.
The BBC said that one of their staff, driver Mohammed Nazir, had been killed in the attack and that four BBC journalists had been injured.

The Taliban denied involvement in the blast that destroyed more than 50 cars and blew out windows in shops and restaurants around a huge area, up to half a mile of the city.

The entire article and interview from CBS News can be found here:

Photo Courtesy of Reuters

Noriega Surrendered to Rock in Panama Invasion 1989

Panama’s former dictator Manuel Noriega died in prison this week at the age of 83. Few, outside of his inner circle of military officers will shed a tear for the man who ruled Panama with an iron hand before his undoing by US forces during “Operation Just Cause” in late December of 1989.

With his military shattered and running out of options. Noriega sought refuge in the Papal Nuncio, the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. Many of his officers and cronies were already arrested and put on planes to Miami to answer to drug charges.

Rather than staying in relative peace and quiet, Noriega was blasted by rock music, loud rock music, around the clock as the US tried to force him to give up. The soldiers playing the music began taking requests from troops coming in from the field.

The favorites included “Welcome to the Jungle,” by Guns N’ Roses, “Wanted Dead Or Alive,” by Bon Jovi, and “The End” by The Doors.
After several days on the run, Noriega was allowed to enter the Vatican Embassy on Christmas Eve. And on Christmas Day, the radio station broadcast only Christmas music.
But with requests streaming in, the U.S. effort ramped up after the holiday.
On Dec. 27, “someone who identified himself as a member of the PSYOPS [Psychological Operations] team from Fort Bragg [N.C.] called to tell us what they were doing with their loud speakers,” the military report said.
U.S. Gen. Maxwell “Mad Max” Thurman had ordered speakers placed as a “musical barrier” around the perimeter of the Vatican Embassy and turned to full volume.
Noriega was reportedly partial to opera. What he got was “Panama,” from Van Halen, “Danger Zone,” from Kenny Loggins, and “Refugee,” courtesy of Tom Petty.
And remember, this was the ’80s. So the strongman also got an earful of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” though that may have been intended more for Noriega’s hosts at the embassy.
As the standoff dragged on for days, the playlist became part of the story.
Not everyone was happy with the military’s approach, including the White House, and the music was stopped after several days. President George H.W. Bush’s national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, said afterward that he thought the use of high-volume music was “undignified.”
On Jan. 3, 1990, Noriega surrendered to the U.S. forces, though not until after he’d been treated to a version of “I Fought The Law.”
Noriega was flown to Miami, tried and convicted of drug trafficking, and spent nearly two decades in U.S. prisons.

The entire musical interlude while waiting for the disgraced strongman to surrender placed a surreal, farcical quality on an operation and short war that never needed to happen. Noriega’s blustering caused the deaths of far too many Panamanians, the exact number may never be known as well as 23 Americans.

The entire article and interview from NPR can be found here:

Featured Photo: AP

Russian Plane Crash Leaves 1 Dead 4 Injured

ABC News is reporting that a Russian military aircraft has crashed in the southern area of the country leaving one crewman dead and four more injured.

The Antonov AN-26 transport crashed as it came into land after a training flight at Balashov airbase in the Saratov region and then burst into flames after hitting the ground according to Russian Defense Ministry authorities.

The surviving crew were being treated at a nearby military hospital, some for serious injuries, Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s equivalent of the FBI, said in a statement.
There had been four pilots and a cadet aboard the plane, the statement said.
The Investigative Committee said it appeared the crash may have been caused by the failure of one of the plane’s engines but that it was still investigating. The Committee said it had opened a criminal investigation into the incident, examining whether flight rules and preparations for it had been properly followed.
The AN-26 is a Soviet-era transport plane, still widely used by the Russian military.
In recent years, Russia’s air force has suffered a series of deadly crashes, mostly caused by technical failure. Last summer, Russia grounded around 300 of its Su-27 fighter jets after a fatal crash. In 2015, it also grounded its fleet of long-range Tupolev Tu-95 bombers that serve as part of the country’s nuclear deterrent after one of the Cold War-era planes caught fire.
Aviation experts have blamed the crashes in part on Russia’s ageing fleet of military aircraft largely constructed under the Soviet Union, but note the uptick in accidents has also coincided with increased activity by the Russian air force in the past two years.

The Russian’s aging fleet of aircraft and the increased operational tempo is not a recipe for stopping this kind of accident. With their increased presence in many parts of the world, the Putin government will have to start putting more money in their aircraft industry to upgrade their inventory.

To read the entire article from ABC News click here:

Photo courtesy ABC News

Army Standing Up New “Security Force Assistance” Brigade, Shake and Bake SF?

The US Army is moving forward with their new Security Force Assistance Brigades and has published the requirements that will be needed to be selected and are offering a $5000 bonus for any of the soldiers that re-enlist for the new unit.

Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley has stated that he wants to field the newest Brigade by October 2017 to advise and assist partner nations with their security force capabilities.

The 529-man Brigade will field officers and NCOs and while the Army falls short of calling it an “elite unit”, they’ve instead taken to calling this a “premiere assignment.”

“Our EP (Enlisted Personnel) and OP (Officer Personnel) divisions have been busy identifying Soldiers that meet all of the stringent requirements outlined by Gen. Milley, and then making the necessary phone calls to pitch the SFAB to them,” said Lt. Col. Corey Brunkow, HRC Enlisted Personnel Management Division Infantry Branch Chief.
“We’re looking for branch qualified noncommissioned officers. That is, we’re looking for former squad leaders as Staff Sergeants, and former platoon sergeants as a Sgt. 1st Class to fill advisor roles which will broaden their horizons and experiences in the Army,” he said.
Basic qualifications include an 85 or better Defense Language Aptitude Battery for primary advisors, a minimum of 240 or 70 points in each event on the APFT, possess a secret security clearance, and maintain a deployable status.
In addition, a Soldiers Physical Profile Serial System, or PULHES as it is commonly referred to as, must be 111221 with only a minor inability in the hearing and ears, and eyes portion.

The training for the SABs is slated to cover six weeks and then the units will be deployable. The Army says it hopes to have six of the SABs fielded by 2024.

This isn’t anything new, the Big Army has been trying to chip away at the FID mission of Special Forces for the past 30+ years. While there should be some conventional military deployments to support the FID mission and ease some of the burden on SF, this isn’t it. Trying to squeeze over a year’s worth of training into six weeks and make a shake and bake Special Forces group isn’t going to work.

And in the process, they’ll rob the conventional Infantry and Armor units of their experienced NCOs and officers. But again, this isn’t particularly new. It will be interesting to see how long this will last before conventional commanders ask to pull the plug because of the drain on their own leadership.

To read the entire article from the US Army website click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Navy SEAL Dies in Parachuting Accident Over Hudson River

A member of the US Navy’s parachute team, the “Leap Frogs” consisting of Navy SEALs died on Sunday afternoon after his parachute failed to deploy adequately.

This tragedy struck just after noon on the Hudson River during a Fleet Week demonstration jump in front of thousands of spectators. The Navy has not yet identified the deceased sailor pending notification of next of kin.

The accident occurred a few minutes after noon near Liberty State Park, a large New Jersey park across from Manhattan where thousands of people a year catch ferries to the nearby national treasure.
The parachutist, whose identity was not immediately released, was a member of an elite Navy parachute team called the Leap Frogs, a Navy spokesman said. The cause of the parachute malfunction is under investigation.
“I’m terribly saddened,” said Nancy Malinowski, a Cranford, New Jersey, resident who was in Liberty State Park and knew something had gone wrong when she saw a parachute with nobody attached to it descend behind a building.
“I don’t think 90 percent of the people there were aware,” Malinowski said, describing a gathering in the park that included food trucks, a Navy band and lots of small children. “Everybody was out there to support the military.”
She said the parachutist was among four who drifted down from high in the sky from two helicopters. One of the parachutists descended with a large American flag.
In a release, the Navy said the parachutist was rescued immediately from the water by U.S. Coast Guard personnel who were standing by in vessels to support the aerial demonstration that featured the coordinated parachute jump. Local fire department personnel who were also on standby responded as well. The Navy said the parachutist was pronounced dead at Jersey City Medical Center at 1:10 p.m.
The Navy said the identity of the victim would be released after family notifications were completed.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, and I ask for all of your prayers for the Navy SEAL community who lost a true patriot today,” said Rear Adm. Jack Scorby, commander of the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic.

The “Leap Frogs” had promoted the jump and event with a Facebook post on Sunday morning telling New Yorkers “New York City look to the skies at 12:00. We’ll be jumping into Liberty State Park today for Memorial Day Weekend and in celebration of Navy Fleet Week.”

The parachute team is slated to perform at Sail Boston 2017 and at Navy Week in Pittsburgh. Other performances this summer include Minneapolis, Chicago and Salt Lake City, Utah. It isn’t yet known if this accident will curtail any scheduled appearances pending an investigation.

To read the entire article from the Washington Times click here:

Photo courtesy US Navy

North Korea Fires Scud Ballistic Missile into the Sea of Japan

The North Koreans are it again, test firing a Scud-type ballistic missile that successfully launched and landed in the Sea of Japan off Korea’s east coast. This was the latest in a series of missile tests that the reclusive, belligerent nation has conducted in recent weeks.

This latest test unleashed a protest from Japan who stated that the missile landed in their exclusive economic zone. President Trump, returning from a weeklong trip overseas was briefed on the situation. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke on television about the latest developments and was asked what a conflict in Korea would be like answering, “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes”.

The missile was believed to be a Scud-class ballistic missile and flew about 450 km (280 miles), South Korean officials said. North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.
Monday’s launch followed two successful tests of medium- to long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
North Korea likely showing its determination to push ahead in the face of international pressure to rein in its missile program and “to pressure the (South Korean) government to change its policy on the North”, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said.
It was the third ballistic missile test-launch since South Korea’s liberal President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage with the reclusive neighbor in dialogue.

The Russians called for restraint in the area while Pyongyang’s protector, China, in a statement to the UN’s Security Council that the council’s resolutions had ‘clear rules’ and urged the North Korean government to follow them.

In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, China stated, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back on the correct track of peaceful dialogue.”

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy BBC

Iran Wants Military Base in Syria Near Israeli Border

The civil war in Syria has been a bloody affair and if the Iranian government gets its wish, the bloodshed will spread beyond the Syrian borders. With the defeat of the Islamic State in Syria, Iran wants a military base in southern Syria along the border with Israel and Jordan.

The move would be to weaken US influence in the region, eventually forcing the United States out and then opening up another avenue which to attack Israel and the Jordanians, one of the US’ closest allies in the region.

“A permanent Iranian military base in Syria, potentially near the border with Israel or Jordan, would increase Iran’s operational capacity to inflict serious damage against two of our closest allies in the region,” Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
That warning points to the strategic significance of the Syrian civil war, beyond the importance of defeating the Islamic State. Trump’s team has authorized an intense barrage of airstrikes on ISIS, while opening the door to cooperation with Russia; a senior State Department official recently attended a peace talks summit between Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition forces that was led by the Russians. But Russia is propping up Assad in partnership with Iran, which means the defeat of ISIS could inaugurate a new phase of regional rivalry.
Roskam and Deutch have a similar concern. “Iran is actively working to establish a permanent military presence in Syria,” they wrote Tillerson. “The Islamic Republic seeks to solidify its access to the Mediterranean Sea by building a permanent seaport and constructing numerous military installations throughout the country. A permanent Iranian military presence in Syria would greatly harm U.S. interests in the region and decrease the likelihood of reaching a political agreement to end the Syrian civil war.”

Nothing good can come from the Iranians having a permanent military presence in Syria. Attacks against Israel and Jordan would soon follow and the region can ill-afford that bloodshed to escalate.

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

Photo courtesy Getty Images