Special Operations

SOFIC: Robots, rappelling, rifles, and Special Ops gadgetry

The SOFIC Conference is over and the turnout, especially on Tuesday, was heavy. The conference is a fantastic display of weapons, equipment and nice to have gadgets for the Special Operations Forces on not just the United States but others as well. While it is billed as a gathering for US personnel, there was a smattering of other countries uniforms as well.

If you are a guy that loves the latest in weaponry, communications, equipment, and virtual reality components as well, then SOFIC is like Disneyland on steroids. Except for these are toys for big boys, and you don’t need a CGI artist to make them come to life. These pieces of equipment are the real deal and it won’t be long until you see some of them come to life on CNN or Fox News…or if you are a subscriber on SOFREP.

It’s like a supermarket for Navy SEALs. A grocery store for Green Berets. A Costco for commandoes.
It’s a conference for military special operations forces and their gadgets, weapons and tools. The Special Operations Forces Industry Conference is held yearly in Tampa. Here, the U.S. Special Operations Command — the Tampa-based unit that oversees all of the nation’s elite military teams — shops for equipment.
Lantern-jawed Marines in camo mingle with computer geeks in chinos who run complex intel programs on the convention floor. Panels such as “Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit Sessions” are popular, and alphabet soup acronyms are common in casual conversation (“Are you going to the USSOCOM J-Code Directors Panel?”).
Outside the convention center, maritime displays of sleek boats with mounted weapons cruise by, and underwater drones surface.
Prototypes of new gadgets and gear are showcased. Robots, holograms, tanks, lethal weapons — it’s all on display.
Deep Trekker is a Canadian company that sells underwater drones. The small grey cylinders with cameras can be remote-controlled on land or in the water, and Sam MacDonald, president, says the device can dive down 150 meters — it’s great for hull inspection or contraband, checking out port security.
“We’ve also had it used in the Special Forces, for things they can’t really tell us a lot about,” she said.

While the keynote addresses were a bit slim this year, the conference is well-worth the time to go down to Tampa and take it all in. See you at the 2019 SOFIC conference.

To read the entire article from the Sacramento Bee click here:

Photo courtesy SOFREP

Flynn Allegedly Axed Military Plan While Receiving 500K From Turkey

The hits keep coming for the Trump administration. The latest report states former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn blocked a plan to take the Islamic state’s caliphate in Syria at Raqqa using Kurdish forces. This was while receiving more than $500,000 from Turkey to do lobbying for them. The Turks opposed the plan and consider the Kurds to be terrorists.

Flynn was fired by Trump in late February, but was registered in Washington as a lobbyist and was paid $530,000 before the November election.

Paperwork filed in March with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agent Registration Unit said Flynn and his firm were voluntarily registering for lobbying from August through November that “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”
The McClatchy news service reported that President Obama’s national security team asked for Trump’s approval on a plan to retake the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, because it was more than likely to be carried out under his presidency.
Timelines distributed by members of Congress show that Flynn told then national security advisor Susan Rice to hold off, delaying the operation for months.
Trump eventually approved the plan, but only after Flynn had been fired in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other white House officials about his ties to Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
It was only weeks later in March when Flynn disclosed to the Foreign Agent Unit Registration Unit of the Justice Department that he was paid for work that “could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Wednesday that Flynn informed Trump’s transition team that he was under federal investigation before he was hired.

The Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as the head counsel to investigate charges of undue Russian influence on the Presidential election.

To read the entire article from Fox News, click here:

Photo courtesy NBC

Russians Arming Taliban in Afghanistan Fight with the US

The Russians are supporting the Taliban in northern Afghanistan by sharing intelligence with the former leaders of Afghanistan and also by ferrying in weapons and equipment by helicopter and by boat. The later parts are denied by Russian government officials.

The head of the US Central Command, General Joseph Votel had stated earlier this year that the Russians are trying to peddle their influence and that they were sending arms and equipment to the Taliban forces in the north.

Moscow has openly stated that it has an intelligence-sharing relationship with the Taliban regarding the ISIS threat. But they have staunchly denied that the Russian military is aiding or arming the Taliban. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid also denied any Russian monetary or material assistance.
On Wednesday, the police chief of the northern province of Baghlan, Brig. Gen. Ikramuddin Sarai, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Russian and other foreign military advisers had arrived to support the Taliban amid heavy clashes. Similar reports surfaced last month in the southern province of Uruzgan, in which police chief Ghulam Farooq Sangari told Voice of America’s Afghan service that advisers — including two women dressed in doctor’s uniforms and guarded by four armed Taliban along with an Afghan translator — were in various locations. The accusation was denied by Russian officials.
However, another senior Afghan government security official told Fox News that they have solid, although classified, documents indicating Russia is supporting the Taliban through its ally Iran, under the rationale that they are trying to bring the terrorist group to the negotiating table to form a peace treaty similar to the one recently signed by militant group Hezb-e-Islami.
“Iran — a Shia country — has its advisers in the north,” an intelligence source told Fox News. “The small pockets of Shia in Afghanistan used to get attacked by the Taliban; now they are not harming them or forcing them to pay taxes.”

US intelligence has reported that Russian arms, were used to attack US forces in southern Afghanistan in southern Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan Provinces

To read the entire article from Fox News, click here:

Photo courtesy BBC

Israel Supposedly the Source of Trump/Russia Intel Flap

The decision by President Trump to share sensitive intelligence with the Russians that was provided by Israel has created another flap for the administration. Trump reportedly told the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak about an ISIS plot to attack airplanes using laptops.

That intelligence was provided to Washington via the Israelis and according to one former senior Israeli intelligence official and recruiter of assets for Israel’s Shin Bet security service has put the relationship between the US and Israeli intelligence services “in crisis”.

The revelation that Israel was the ally who provided the intelligence that Trump passed on to now threatens a diplomatic crisis with a longtime ally.
“Trump has made a crisis between Israeli intelligence and American intelligence,” the former official and recruiter tells Newsweek by phone. (He asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.)
The Israeli government tells Newsweek Trump’s visit to the country, in which he plans to revive the moribund peace process, will go ahead as planned. “We have a schedule, we have a plan and everything is going ahead, absolutely,” says Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, speaking over the phone from Israel.
But that trip could now become much more awkward. Some Israeli officials speaking to Newsweek were cautious about how the leak would affect relations, emphasizing its severity but unable to predict how the situation would play out between the allies.

Trump and Netanyahu spoke on the phone but according to Israeli sources, the conversation had to do with just Trump’s upcoming trip to Israel, which is still on. Israeli officials say the upcoming meeting between to the leaders could be awkward. And although Trump claims that no sources or methods were discussed, the Israelis differ.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Haaretz

Syrian Forces Claim to Have Taken Damascus Suburb

The forces of the Syrian Army have claimed to have taken parts of a Damascus suburb away from Syrian rebels.

Syrian state-run television has reported the Army has taken a major suburb on the east side of the city, driving out the rebels.

The opposition Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebels remain in control of parts of the Qaboun neighborhood, which along with Barzeh and Jobar, formed an arc from the northern to the eastern edge of Damascus.
The Syrian media report says the military recaptured Qaboun Saturday, as the evacuation of adjacent besieged rebel-held neighborhoods was underway.
If confirmed, this increases the government’s security belt around the capital and strips the opposition of another prized territory in the area. Rebels had held onto a number of neighborhoods on the edge of Damascus since the early days of the uprising, representing the most threatening opposition presence near the government’s seat of power.
The evacuation of hundreds of residents of the Barzeh and Tishreen neighborhoods began last week. They were bused out to a rebel-held province in the north following an agreement with the government, emulating previous successful evacuations in other besieged areas that were also criticized as forced displacement.

Meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish rebels have reportedly moved on the de-facto capital of the Islamic state, in Raqqa, capturing a cotton factory that is 2.5 miles, (4 kilometers) north of the city. Kurdish forces say that their plan is to move on Raqqa this summer.

They earlier had captured a strategic dam 25 miles, (40 kilometers) west of the city. There are reports that the markets in Raqqa have closed, giving speculation that the fighting is getting increasingly close to the city.

President Trump has vowed to aid the Kurdish rebels by furnishing them heavy weapons, which has angered the Turks who consider the Kurds terrorists.

To read the entire article on Fox News: click here

Russian Special Operations Forces Using the US as a Model

The Russian military has been paying attention to the United States use of and training of their Special Operations forces. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Russians are giving the US Special Operations Forces a big compliment.

The Russian are tailoring the use of their Special Operations Forces as well as their equipment after the US model. In many instances, the Russian soldiers are nearly indistinguishable from the US operators.

Like the U.S., the Russian military clearly sees how a small number of these specially-trained and equipped troops can have an outsized influence on the battlefield — particularly against poorly organized, commanded and equipped terrorist forces like ISIS.
On May 10, the Russian military bestowed high honors on 13 members of a special forces unit that reportedly killed 300 ISIS fighters in Syria — that’s an average of 23 EKIA per man.
And by the looks of this video from the Russian Special Operations Forces, Moscow’s commandos have taken a few pages out of Washington’s playbook. From their thumb-over-bore rifle handling, to their Multicam uniforms to their OpsCore helmets and red-dot optics, the Russian special operators have clearly learned the lessons of America’s anti-terrorism experience and applied it to their best trained troops.
“We had a good advantage in terms of armament and equipment, including thermal imaging sights,” one Russian commander said of his troops’ experience in Syria. “All this added to our success.”

The Russian Bear has been paying attention to the US’ involvement in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. They are convinced of the value of smaller, more versatile, Special Operations teams. And they’re becoming very adept at using their Special Operations troops in Syria. Their level of training and professionalism is rapidly improving. As a potential foe in a conflict down the road, they’ll be a very worthy adversary for any enemy.

To read the Business Insider entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of the Russian Defense Ministry

Airborne & Special Operations Museum to Honor K-9 Warriors

The Airborne and Special Operations Museum (ASOM) in Fayetteville, NC will be honoring a very important part of the Special Operations success in recent years by honoring the K-9 heroes of the military.

On May 29, the ASOM will pay tribute to the canine members of the Special Operations community with a Memorial Day service held in partnership with the Special Operations Forces K9 Memorial Foundation at noon.

“These truly daring and brave dogs often lead their soldier team-members in the most dire conditions to save lives and complete the mission,” said Paul Galloway, executive director of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation. “They’ve given their lives for their country, and we are grateful to be able to honor them on this special day.”
The special guest speaker for the event will be Laura Miller, who served as a veteran technician in the Army for 26 years. Miller is vice president of the SOF K9 Memorial Foundation, which she co-founded in 2010, and is the author of a children’s book, “How I Became a K-9 Commando.”
Following the ceremony, Miller will read from the book in the museum’s video theater. The book tells the story of a Dutch-born pup who becomes a special operations military working dog.

The military began the “K-9 Corps” 75 years ago, but after Vietnam, the use of dogs was curtailed for the mainly law enforcement type of operations. Dogs were used for bomb sniffing, drug detection and for the quelling of riots and/or protests.

Marine Corps Special Operations dog tries on his handler’s helmet prior to an operation. (Photo courtesy US Marine Corps)

But the rise of the use of dogs by Special Operations troops has made them a common sight on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. There are currently more than 2500 working dogs on duty with the military. Over 700 at any given time are deployed overseas.

These dogs are fiercely loyal, courageous and have saved many operators’ lives during the wars ongoing. Cry havoc…and let slip, the dogs of war.

To read the Fayetteville Observer’s entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer

US Intelligence Chief Warns of Deteriorating Security in Afghanistan

For the Trump Administration, facing a question whether to increase the US troop levels in Afghanistan, this can’t be good news. US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said on Thursday that even if the US and its allies increase their military aid to the war-torn country, the security situation there is still likely to deteriorate.

LTG Vincent Stewart, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s director, also testified before a Senate panel on Thursday that the situation is grim and that the US must do “something very different” in Afghanistan or else the Taliban will make new advances on the battlefield. He maintained that the current stalemate in fighting could then tip in the Taliban’s favor.

“The political and security situation in Afghanistan will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in the military assistance by the US and its partners,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said at the hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban,” Coats told lawmakers in presenting an annual assessment of threats to US national security.
US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for 16 years, making it America’s longest war, yet the situation there remains a stalemate.
The Taliban, which first emerged in the mid-1990s in southern Afghanistan, managed to conquer most of the country before its 2001 ouster with the help of a range of foreign jihadists, including Pakistanis, Saudis and Chechens.
But it has been on the rebound, Coates said, and continues to gain strength. “The Taliban are likely to continue to make gains, especially in rural areas,” said the US spy chief, adding that efforts to bolster local military have been less fruitful than hoped.

Under the original plan by the Obama Administration, the United States was to withdraw all its military forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016. Those plans have proven very premature as the security situation was deemed critical. The US still has 8400 troops on the ground with NATO forces adding an additional 5000.

President Trump is weighing whether to send as many as an additional 5000 troops into the fray to defeat both ISIS and the Taliban in the country.

To read the entire article from the Nation, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Special Operations Forces Focus on Advisory Role Paying Off

For the past decade plus, Special Operations Forces have been utilized heavily on the Direct Action, (DA) side of operations including Counter-Terrorism (CT) in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

But the pendulum is swinging back toward the traditional advisory role of SOF as the allies in Syria, Iraq, and in Afghanistan begin to improve militarily. The classic role of SOF is to train and advise foreign military units to do the bidding of the United States. While DA mission has always been and will always be a part of the SOF community, it should not be their main focus.

Now as these allies become more proficient, the onus goes on them to conduct these missions with US SOF support. And it is beginning to work.

After 9/11, however, SOF began to be used in more “precision, highly kinetic strike forces enabled by technology and linked through a digitally networked battlefield.” But by and large, the new counter-terrorism strategy in Iraq and Syria may prove to be something of a reset to SOF’s former tactics.
The number of SOF in Iraq and Syria has now reached about 10,000, giving them the means to provide “meaningful support to the variety of indigenous forces fighting ISIS,” Robinson writes.
Furthermore, SOF now accompany local forces to secure locations near the front lines. They no longer give tactical advice from distant headquarters, where they had to analyze operations through “the soda-straw perspective of drone feeds,” Robinson says.
This allows them to see local forces in action, and therefore give better advice.
For example, when SOF advisers provided assistance that galvanized to the 16th Iraq army division in East Mosul, they provided assistance that galvanized the unit.
Over the last year, SOF has increasingly provided more fire support. US Apache helicopters were first used in June 2016 to capture Qayyarah, which is now a staging base for coalition forces’ assault on Mosul. This base now has an ICU, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems set up to support the assault.

With the increased prowess of the fighting capabilities of our allies, it will allow the SOF operators of the US to take the training of the allied units to higher levels and will ease the burden of constant operations from USSOCOM.

To read the entire article from the Business Insider, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Turkey Threatens Military Action against U.S.-allied Kurds

The government of Turkey in response to the news that the Trump Administration is going to arm the Syrian Kurds with heavy weapons has threatened to take military action against them.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke to the media on Wednesday and said that the US and Turkey were having open discussions but was confident that the two sides would work things out.

Mattis also vowed that the US would help Turkey defend its southern border stating that it is “Europe’s southern border” as well.

“Turkey’s message to the Trump administration was that Turkey reserves the right to take military action,” said a senior Turkish official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Turkey has already conducted limited strikes against the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in recent weeks, but it could increase the tempo of those strikes, Turkish officials said. American officials have complained bitterly to Turkey, a NATO ally, about the airstrikes, which have targeted the principal U.S. partner in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State.
Any further military action could also potentially complicate the offensive on Raqqa, the Islamic State’s symbolic capital and its last major stronghold after the Iraqi city of Mosul, which is besieged by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. U.S. officials are concerned that Turkey could send forces into northern Syria and draw the Kurdish fighters away from the Raqqa battle.
Turkey views the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, as an existential threat. The YPG, which dominates a U.S.-supported force known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
In a news conference Wednesday, Erdogan said that Turkey’s “patience has ended” and that he hoped the United States would reverse its decision.
“We want to know that our allies will stand not with a terrorist organization but with us,” he said.

This puts the planned assault on the ISIS-held city of Raqqa in jeopardy. The US feels that the YPG group of Kurds is the best available unit to launch the attack.

In an attempt to allay Turkish fears, a Defense Department spokesman on Wednesday at the Pentagon said that any material given to the Syrian Kurds would be carefully monitored to “make sure that it’s being used for exactly the purpose that we intend.”

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

Photo courtesy Reuters