Sections

SpecialOperations.com

The Definitive Spec Ops Resource

THE DEFINITIVE SPEC OPS RESOURCE FOR FITNESS AND SELECTION

Admin

Trump to Address Troops, Announce Administration’s Plan for Afghanistan

President Donald Trump’s administration has completed plans on the nation’s plan for the ongoing war in Afghanistan and will announce his strategy on national television tonight at 9 p.m. His idea is to address the troops live at Ft. Myer, VA in Arlington just across the river from Washington, DC.

Trump held a conference on the subject of Afghanistan and South Asia with his national security team on Friday at Camp David. Their plan for the region is expected to increase the troop levels in the country by 3000-5000.

The Camp David meeting included Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who has said the Trump administration is close to finalizing a strategy for Afghanistan.

Options on the table include proposals to send roughly 3,000 to 5,000 more U.S. troops to a conflict that stretches back to the 9/11 attacks in 2001. More than 2,400 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan.

The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, has said several thousand additional troops are needed to help break the stalemate in the war against the Taliban, the Islamic State and other insurgent groups there.

Any additional U.S. and coalition troops would remain in a support role in Afghanistan, helping to advise Afghan forces, which have suffered high numbers of casualties in the fight against insurgents. The coalition is also providing limited air support for Afghan government forces.

Mattis and the President have differed on a proposal to turn the war over to US government contractors, but that isn’t expected to be in play at this point.

To read the entire article from The USA Today click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Ten Sailors Missing as Navy Ship Collides with a Tanker in the Pacific

The U.S. Navy had another ship collision in the Pacific on Sunday night and 10 of the sailors were missing. Five other sailors were injured when the guided-missile cruiser USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore.

The McCain’s hull was breached by the tanker causing severe damage and flooded several compartments including the crew’s sleeping quarters. Several sailors are missing and the Navy continues a search and rescue mission.

Following the incident, President Trump tweeted that his “thoughts and prayers are with our U.S. Navy sailors aboard” the U.S. warship.

Video shot during the search and rescue operation shows a large hole in the rear port (left) side of the American ship. It extends below the water line, which caused parts of the guided-missile destroyer to flood. Defense publication Jane’s said the hole appeared to be at least 10-feet in diameter.

The collision happened east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca — one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The warship collided with a 30,000-ton oil and chemical tanker more than three times its size.

Retired Navy Captain Kevin Eyer told CBS News that ships like the tanker do have radar, and “other sophisticated systems which they can use to identify ships around them. But beyond a certain point, you have dozens of ships within, perhaps, a five-square-mile box, all milling about.”

The search and rescue operation involves ships and aircraft from the U.S., Malaysia, and Singapore.

This is the second collision of a US Navy warship in the Pacific in two months. The USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship and the commander and members of the watch during that accident have either been relieved or disciplined.

To read the entire article from The CBS News click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Army Searching for Helicopter Crew After Crash in Hawaii

The Army is searching for a crew of a UH-60 helicopter after it went down during a training exercise about 2 miles off the Hawaiian island of Oahu, according to military sources.

The Black Hawk was part of a pair of helicopters taking part in normal night training on Tuesday night when it went down off the mostly uninhabited Kaena Point on the west side of Oahu.

The two helicopters were training between Kaena Point and Dillingham Airfield when communications were lost with the crew that went down according to the US Coast Guard.

Three helicopters, a Coast Guard cutter and response boat and the Honolulu Fire Department were among those responding.

The Coast Guard spotted a debris field near Kaena Point at 11:28 p.m. (5:28 a.m. ET), roughly 80 minutes after personnel at Wheeler Army Airfield in central Oahu lost communications with the helicopter.

Weather in the area is partly cloudy with winds of 15 to 25 mph and 2-foot seas.

The Army is adamant about this still being a search and rescue mission and wants to bring the airman back home safely. They’ve alerted residents in the area that if they come across any debris or wreckage that washes up on the beach, that they shouldn’t touch it and alert authorities.

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

Photo courtesy DOD

Military Chiefs Break with Trump, Denounce Charlottesville Racism

In a startling move, the leaders of the military broke with President Donald Trump and have denounced the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend.

Five of the military’s service chiefs representing the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and National Guard have taken to social media to condemn the white nationalists, the so-called alt-right rally where violence erupted between the white supremacist groups and the counter protesters on Saturday. One woman died after being run down by a car driven by a Nazi sympathizer and two police officers covering the rally also died when their helicopter crashed nearby.

The joint chiefs’ actions break with the military’s normal reticence of entering the political arena and their condemnation of racism and white supremacist groups stands in stark contrast with President Trump’s statements that blamed both all of the protesters for the violence that erupted on the streets of Charlottesville.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson’s shared his admonition hours later on Saturday night.

On Monday, the 82nd Airborne’s official account brought up World War II history to explain their impatience for Nazis.

;

Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, also rebuked racial intolerance in his statement, stating that it stood against the institution’s very foundation.

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

Photo courtesy DOD

Maduro Calls For Military Exercises After Trump’s Threat of Intervention

Despite insisting that he wants to meet with President Donald Trump and hold talks with him, Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro called for the military to hold exercises to counter the threat of armed intervention by the United States.

Trump’s proclamation that the country is going to “collapse into dictatorship”, has Maduro trying to rally support for a Yankee “imperialist invasion.” Vice President Mike Pence was in Caracas trying to allay fears and do damage control, promising a peaceful solution to Venezuela’s collapse.

The unpopular Maduro, struggling with a disintegrating economy at home and increasing diplomatic isolation abroad, has used Trump’s comments on Friday to reaffirm long-standing accusations that Washington is preparing a military attack.

“Everyone has to join the defense plan, millions of men and women, let’s see how the American imperialists like it,” Maduro told supporters, urging them to join the two-day operation on Aug 26 and 27 involving both soldiers and civilians.

Thousands of government supporters rallied in Caracas where they denounced Trump’s suggestion of a “military option” to resolve Venezuela’s crisis.

Trying to deflect the nation’s problems off of a series of disastrous socialist policies, Maduro played the Yankee card, trying to blame Trump and the US for the economic collapse of the Venezuelan economy. Once the richest nation in Latin America, now it is one of the poorest with thousands of people starving and fleeing for neighboring countries.

Two days ago Maduro appeared in front of a sign that read, “Fuera Trump de America Latina” which translates to “Trump go away from Latin America.”

To read the entire article from Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Chinese, US Generals Reach Deal to Reduce ‘Risk of Miscalculation’

Some of the top United States and Chinese military commanders have come to an agreement to improve communications between the two superpowers. Put in place to stop a potential powder keg from exploding into a shooting war, the pact will hopefully calm the tense standoffs on going in the South China Sea.

Representing the Trump administration, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui, met at the People’s Liberation Army headquarters in Bejing and signed this joint staff dialogue mechanism on Tuesday.

According to the US Department of Defense, the agreement will enable the two militaries “to communicate to reduce the risk of miscalculation.”

Such communications are especially crucial now, officials said, “as the region and world are facing the dangers of a nuclear-armed North Korea.”

Dunford, who is currently visiting Asia, said the United States and China “have many difficult issues where we will not necessarily have the same perspectives,” according to a Defense Department statement.

He added improved military contacts would reduce the chances of “miscalculation.”

Both sides have been using provocative tactics since neither recognizes each other’s claims in the region. The US sailed a destroyer into waters the Chinese claim as territorial and a Chinese J-10 fighter flew within 300 feet of a US EP-3 surveillance aircraft forcing the US plane to take evasive maneuvers.

To read the entire article from CNN click here:

Photo courtesy Joint Chiefs of Staff

Surveillance Detection, A Key To A Successful Protection Mission

(Today’s guest column from MSG (ret) Chuck Simpson, Green Beret and Certified Protection Specialist)

What is Surveillance Detection? The techniques employed by the Protection Team to deter, prevent or stop surveillance on the Principal or Detail Members. Who conducts surveillance?? Press/Paparazzi, Stalkers, Fans, Criminals, Terrorist and Corporate Intelligence Agencies, this is the short list.

What is surveillance? It is the systematic observation by covert or overt means of person or location by visual, photographic or technical means. We all know before we conduct an Operation of any type, regardless if it is Military, Police or even a Protection Detail, we conduct a Reconnaissance before any operation, which sometimes will require us to do Surveillance.  

Any operational/attack plan requires a gathering of intelligence on any targets, to be effective. The individual / Team gathers this intelligence by using surveillance over a period of time, which is done before conducting an Operation. Intelligence that the Surveillance Team, might or will be collecting, Identify the Security Team/Detail, assess strength and weaknesses, identify who has weapons and what type, identify vehicles (Armor/Un-Armor) (Level of Armor), Assess the mode of Operation of the Security Teams, Identify capability of the Security Team and Identify routines and pattern set by the target.

The surveillance team conducts this by using Foot Surveillance, Vehicle Surveillance, Static Surveillance and/or Technical Surveillance. Now, what is Surveillance Detection? They are the techniques employed by the surveillance team to deter, prevent or stop surveillance on the Principal or Team. Techniques, you may be using will be consist of a Surveillance Detection Route (SDR), Static Site/Fixed Point Site, and /or Convoy Method. And why we use these techniques, will be to determine surveillance status, in order to protect the Principal and to learn more about their surveillance Techniques/determine who is conducting the surveillance.

They are five (5) steps while conducting Surveillance Detection,

Step 1: Observe, the ability to take specific notice, recognize, and accurately describe someone or something. It is a skill, it is not a natural ability, needs to be learned and have to be improved with practice.

Step 2: Recognize, you will be able to recognize surveillance, but using the technique of Time, Distance and Chane of Directions.

Step 3: Confirm, by multiple sightings, using time, and distance.

Step 4: Report, WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW (did the surveillance detection team notice them)

Date (including the day of the week). Time and Place surveillance detected

Number and descriptions (including dress) of the surveillance.

Make, model, color, identifying anomalies, and, if possible, the license number of any vehicles involved. Any equipment noted.

Step 5: Analyze. Once the security detail is finished for the day, the detail will meet with the other team members and discuss what each team member has seen during the detail.  

Three major elements you will use to detect surveillance will be:

  • Time, what times did you detect surveillance
  • Distance, where did you detect them, in different locations
  • Change of Direction, how many turns did they take with you, through multi-turns.

The Protection Detail will use different security methods designed to aid in the detection of surveillance on an individual or premises. This involves two distinct methods related to surveillance detection support:

The Static method: The selection and use of static locations along a vehicle or foot SDR to detect surveillance operating against a Principal. These locations should provide a maximum range of observation, normally incorporated into the principal’s route. The principal and detail follow a prearranged route on a precise time schedule past static sites. The observer at the static site will signal the Protection Detail in a positive or negative manner along the route. A Static Site should only be used to enhance the security of the Principal and only if the environment permits. All Persons occupying a Static Site should be trained in Techniques of Surveillance Methods.

The Convoy method: A colleague follows a Principal and Protection Detail in a vehicle, and/or on foot to detect possible surveillance.

Weaknesses:

— Tied to the Principal.

— The team moves with the Principal/Detail.

— The team operates in the open.

DO NOT try to lose surveillance, because we want to:

— Identify the surveillance.
— Learn all we can about them.

Thank You, Stay Alert, Stay Safe!!
Charles “Chuck” Simpson, C.P.S
Protect Consultant Inc.
[email protected]

Hezbollah Dismisses US Sanctions, “US Will Not Damage the Resistance

Increased United States sanctions of the Iran proxy of Hezbollah does not worry the group at all. The leader of the Lebanon Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the Trump administration’s sanctions cannot harm it.

Nasrallah spoke on television to mark the anniversary of the end of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel said, “The American administration, with all available and possible means, will not be able to damage the strength of the resistance.”

Nasrallah said Lebanon was being subjected to intimidation and threats over Hezbollah – which is part of the Beirut government but classified as a terrorist group by Washington – and alleged that Lebanese officials had been told that Israel could launch a war.

European and American officials had warned them “during diplomatic meetings and international visits … if you don’t do this, Israel will launch a war on Lebanon, and if Hezbollah doesn’t do this, Israel will launch a war on Lebanon”, Nasrallah said. He did not spell out what had been asked of Lebanon or Hezbollah.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a well armed Shi’ite movement, have risen this year. Nasrallah has played down the prospect of a war while simultaneously warning Israel against a conflict.

Last month the United States Congress introduced legislation to increase sanctions on Hezbollah, who President Trump called “a menace”, by putting pressure on banks doing business with it, and restricting the ability to raise money and recruit.

Lebanese officials have worried that these sanctions will hurt their banking industry.

To read the entire article from Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Mattis Suggests Transgenders May Continue to Serve

With the Trump White House has still not provided the Defense Department the necessary policy guidance on transgender persons serving in the armed forces, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told the press, that DOD was continuing to study the issue. That statement hints that transgender military members may be allowed to continue to serve despite President Trumps’ announcement to ban their service back in July.

“We are going to study the issue,” Mattis said to the press on Monday at the Pentagon.

“The policy is going to address whether or not transgenders can serve under what conditions, what medical support they require, how much time would they be perhaps non-deployable leaving others to pick up their share of everything. There’s a host of issues and I’m learning more about this than I ever thought I would and it’s obviously very complex to include the privacy issues which we respect,” Mattis said.

“I am waiting right now to get the President’s guidance in and that I expect to be very soon,” he added.

Trump announced his plan to ban transgender service members on Twitter last month. The move took the Joint Chiefs of Staff by surprise, and the Pentagon has said it is awaiting an official order from Trump before making a policy change.

The White House still hasn’t sent any guidance to the Pentagon on the issue and Mattis told the press that the guidance issued by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Joseph Dunford in July still stands.

Dunford wrote in a memo “no modifications to the current policy until the President’s direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidelines.” “In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect,”

Trump when questioned by the media last week, stated that by banning transgender troops, he was, “doing the military a great favor.”

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Op-Ed: When Espionage Pays, Chelsea Manning Steps Out for Vogue

Vogue Magazine recently did a feature including a photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz on Chelsea Manning, who they’re touting as a hero. “Chelsea Manning Changed the Course of History. Now She’s Focusing on Herself” and it is eye-opening and would be comical if it weren’t so serious. Hero? Hardly, she’s fortunate she’s not still in Leavenworth where she was serving her sentence.

For those of you who don’t remember who Chelsea Manning is, back in 2009 the then Bradley Manning, a specialist in the U.S. Army was stationed in Baghdad. He leaked thousands of documents to Wikileaks in 2010 after trying to approach both the Washington Post and the New York Times to turn over classified documents.

After being rebuffed by both the Post and Times, he began to correspond with Wikileaks on social media on both the IRC and Jabber platforms.

The entire story began in January 2010, Manning downloaded 400,000 documents in what later became the Iraq War Logs. Just three days later, he downloaded an additional 91,000 documents which were referred to as the Afghanistan War Logs. Manning then burned them to a CD which was labeled “Lady Gaga” which would get thru any cursory security inspection. He then downloaded the documents to his personal computer.

The next day, Manning wrote to the Washington Post offering to turn over the classified documents with a message that was later recovered.

Items of historical significance of two wars Iraq and Afghanistan Significant Activity, Sigacts, between 0001 January 2004 and 2359 31 December 2009 extracts from CSV documents from Department of Defense and CDNE database.

These items have already been sanitized of any source identifying information.

You might need to sit on this information for 90 to 180 days to best send and distribute such a large amount of data to a large audience and protect the source.

This is one of the most significant documents of our time removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare.

Have a good day.

Manning, January 9, 2010″

Manning then copied the documents to an SD card in his camera which he planned on taking with him back to the United States on leave. While back in the US, he contacted a Post reporter who didn’t seem interested. The Times didn’t return a phone call so Manning then sought out Wikileaks. He then transmitted all of the documents to Wikileaks on February 3, via the TOR platform.

After returning to Iraq, Manning didn’t know if Wikileaks had received the original 500,000 documents but sent them a diplomatic cable from the US Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland which was posted on their website immediately. He then posted two videos, one, an airstrike in Baghdad and the other from Afghanistan. Later over a two-week period between late March and early April 2010, Manning downloaded 250,000 diplomatic cables and uploaded them to Wikileaks’ Dropbox. During this time he was actively chatting with someone he believed to be Julian Assange.

In late April, Manning sent a letter to his direct line supervisor, MSG Paul Adkins stating that he was suffering from gender disorder and included a picture of himself dressed as a woman. Adkins kept the information private and didn’t discuss nor share any information within the chain of command for fear that the picture would end up being disseminated in the unit.

Manning was busted from Specialist to PFC after he had an altercation with a female member of his unit and punched the other soldier, Specialist Jihrleah Showman in the face. Manning began a series of chats online with a known hacker Adrian Lamo and admitted being the person behind the leaks. Lamo thought that the leaks that Manning had admitted to were endangering lives and went to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division or CID.

Manning was arrested by CID on May 27, 2010. After return to the US, he was held at the Quantico, Marine Corps base. On Feb. 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of the charges he was facing. Manning’s trial began on June 3, 2013. Manning was convicted on July 30, on 17 of the 22 charges, including five counts of espionage and theft, and an amended version of four other charges; however, he was acquitted of aiding the enemy. Manning was sentenced to 21-35 years in prison at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, reduced to PVT, E-1. forfeiture of all pay and allowances and given a dishonorable discharge.

Manning made a statement to the court prior to sentencing saying,

I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I’m sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. … At the time of my decisions, I was dealing with a lot of issues.”- Manning

On January 26, 2017, President Obama commuted all but four months of Manning’s sentence. During his time in prison, Manning came out fully as a transgender and was now referred to she.

When Manning was released, she had no job, no money and few prospects. But she became a poster child for the far left as if her gender identity issues made her behavior not only ok but of the heroic variety. A GoFundMe page was set up for Manning.

My how times have quickly changed. Some of our sources report that she’s living in a very expensive area of the New York City with professional security when she steps out.

In the Vogue piece, the magazine commented on her apparel that she was wearing that they described as:

dressed with a mixture of straightforward elegance and function: a casual black sleeveless Marc Jacobs dress with playful paisley lining, a small purse from The Row, Borderline boots by Vetements x Dr. Martens”

Do a quick check online at the cost of those items. Coupled with a Tribeca apartment and a security detail and it would seem espionage against your own country does pay.

Manning isn’t a hero nor worthy of any respect for anything she did. She admitted to hurting the United States and the people she served with. But hey, these are different times we live in. Because she’s transgender, that makes it all perfectly fine with some folks. And you’d think she’s laying low these days and trying to blend into the woodwork. Most convicted felons do. But these are different times we live in.

She’s now an active social media maven, where she lectures the rest of us on how smart she is on national issues.

To quote Yakov Smirnoff… “What a country.”

Featured image courtesy of Wikipedia