Coalition SOF

IDF West Bank Units Using New Intelligence Methods To Combat Terror Attacks

After several attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank where the attackers were able to get away in the crowds, the IDF is revamping the way they do business to alert their troops to any suspicious activity by Palestinians in the West Bank.

There have been 16 Israeli soldiers or citizens killed in shooting or stabbing attacks in the West Bank during the past year but the IDF has also been able to stop other attacks before they occur.

This new system relies on both increased visual surveillance as well as analytics which will be connected in an operations control room. The information will then warn soldiers on the ground before a terror attack begins. The system is already being tested in the West Bank by the Samaria Regional Brigade.

The IDF is placing more surveillance cameras and other sensors around the West Bank, around areas of increased traffic like road junctions. The operations room personnel will use advanced computer algorithms to review the camera’s footage to identify any imminent threats. Soldiers will be alerted to risks through smartwatches and other wearable devices according to the IDF.

The Israelis are calling this development the “Digital Regional Brigade” and was a combined effort of the military’s intelligence, technology and ground forces units. In a released statement, the IDF said, “the system knows to identify… and prevent violent terrorist activities. In this way, it provides soldiers with a quick warning of an impending threat.”

In another development, the Israelis are putting together “mixed combat teams” during terrorist attacks in scenarios where the attackers flee and attempt to blend into the crowds, “which will help oversee large swaths of land during a manhunt.” These composite teams will consist of infantry, field intelligence, special forces, and other security services during terrorist incidents.

The Israelis are also beefing up their individual training before troops move into the West Bank. The training is designed to ensure that every combat soldier is able to make correct decisions under pressure and in a short period of time, such as overpowering an attacker at maximum speed. The infantry troops are getting advanced training in five areas that the IDF has identified as needing work:

improving shooting skills and hand-to-hand combat skills
“mentally” preparing troops for the types of threats they face in the West Bank,
Create a unified set of techniques that is most suited for operating in the region
improving training facilities
establishing division-wide standards and measurements to accurately assess effectiveness and success.

During the training, the soldiers will utilize virtual reality headsets to better simulate actual combat and terrorist situations that they’ll encounter including stabbing and shooting attacks, as well as Krav Maga and shooting courses. This is designed to speed up the response time for Israeli Defense Forces when they face an incident which will also not allow terrorists to get away.

The Israelis, in an attempt to diffuse other situations before they occur, have arrested 1000 Palestinians and confiscated 270 weapons this year. Security forces, including the IDF, police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), carry out nightly raids in the West Bank to arrest Palestinians suspected of violence against Israelis.

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy stated that the numbers are even higher with 1,600 Palestinians, including 230 children and 40 women, have been arrested since the start of 2019.

By using intelligence gathering, the IDF has been monitoring social media activity, and have arrested individuals who openly state their desire to carry out attacks and monitor social media networks especially like Facebook.

They’ve targeted underground weapons and bombmaking workshops, greatly reducing the number of weapons and illegal explosive devices that could end up in terrorist hands.

In related news, Israel keeps getting sporadic rocket fire aimed at it from Syria. Thus far, no one knows for sure if it is Syrian troops or Iranian proxies. But with each attack, the Israeli Defense Forces have been hitting back and hard with airstrikes. In a statement released by defense officials, the IDF stated the following:

“Last night, two rockets were launched from Syria to Israel, one landing within Israeli territory,” the IDF said. “In response, we struck a number of Syrian Armed Forces military targets. We hold the Syrian regime accountable and will firmly operate against any attempt to harm Israeli civilians.”

The Israeli counterstrike hit the area of the launches outside of Damascus and targeted a training facility for Iranian and Hezbollah forces, and an arms depot in the area of al-Kiswah.

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 14, Day 3

It is Tuesday, which means it is Leg Day at the gym followed by a 4-mile run. Start off with pull-ups, then squats, lunges and the Sled push/Fireman’s carry followed by a four-mile run.

Remember to stretch well and hydrate well during and after your workout.

UBRR Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x 10 Deadlifts

4 x Sled push heavier weight/ Fireman’s carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Spider-Man Planks

4-Mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Benjamin Church And the Beginnings of the Rangers in Colonial New England

While the majority of people associated with our Special Operations Forces consider Robert Rogers as the father of the Ranger Regiment, his troops weren’t the true first American Rangers, that distinction, which outside of historians in New England many people don’t know, falls to Benjamin Church.

Benjamin Church created the first true Ranger force, circa 1676, and then took an active role in leading his Rangers during King Philip’s War as well as in King Williams and Queen Anne’s War in the early 1700s.

Benjamin Church was an Englishman, although a colonist and was born in Plymouth Colony in 1639. He lived in nearby Duxbury, where he married Alice Southworth on the day after Christmas 1667.

Church was unlike many of his contemporaries and he was close to his Native American neighbors and according to many accounts from the day, adopted much of their lifestyle for living on the frontier.

Many of his fellow Englishmen rejected his embracing of the Native American ways. But after several successes in battling the Wampanoags, Narragansetts, and Nipmucks during King Philip’s War, they changed their tune.

Combining Two Distinct Cultures – A True Coalition Force:

Church trained his men and Native Americans in a true Special Operations sense, taking the tactics and some of the weaponry of the Native Americans and folding them into a true coalition unit that was successful on the battlefield.

When King Philip’s War broke out, the English colonial militia was at a disadvantage against their Native American foes. The Indian forces fought as small units and at times as individuals. The English colonists wanted to and tried to fight as large units.

The English built forts which protected them from Indian attack but were totally dependent on Native Americans to guide them to hostile villages when going on the offensive.

The English used flintlock and matchlock muskets, pikes, and swords while Native Americans used bows and arrows, spears and war clubs. Church expertly blended the two together. Having acquired land in Sakonnet, he learned the ways of life and warfare of his Wampanoag neighbors. He learned to speak their language which was a major plus in building relationships.

One of his close friends among the Native Americans was Awashonks, a female sachem of the Sakonnet Wampanoags.

During the early fighting in King Philip’s War, the Indian foes wouldn’t attack the forts that the colonists would occupy, but would then burn their homes, crops and slaughter the livestock in an attempt to wipe out their civilization. They’d attack small groups of colonists or individuals who would leave the forts.

Church volunteered to lead and create a special unit to fight the Indians by using their own tactics. He recruited colonists and Native Americans both and adopted the Native American tactics and melded them with some of the English.

He, like his Native American members of the unit, wore moccasins, used cover and concealment and conducted the war as irregulars, often working far in front of the other colonial militias to provide an early warning network.

But they were also adept at conducting raids and ambushes like their foes. During what was called “The Great Swamp Fight”, the Narragansetts had constructed a fort of their own at the edge of a large swamp. However, by late December, the swamp had frozen over and Church and his men expertly crossed the ice, fought their way into the fort, allowing more of the colonists to enter and take it.

Church advised the commander, General Josiah Winslow to rescind his order to burn it as that was the normal M.O. for the English. Church told him that the fort would offer protection and the wigwams would give the men shelter and food. Winslow ignored his advice and burned the fort to the ground, thereby killing many villagers who hid among the wigwams in the fort. Many more women and children died of exposure after being forced to flee into the swamp with no supplies.

In August of 1676, men (both English and Native American) of Church’s Rangers killed Metacomet, also known as King Philip thereby ending the conflict. In English custom at the time, Metacomet was beheaded, had his hands cut off and was drawn and quartered.

King Williams War, Queen Anne’s War:

After King Philip’s War ended, about a dozen years later, Benjamin Church would be embroiled in another war. Church led four different forays into Acadia against French-Acadians and Native Americans, the Abenaki.

In Queen Anne’s War, the Abenaki, supposedly after being provoked by the French-Acadians raided the Massachusetts town of Deerfield in late February of 1704. They killed several citizens and took over 100 as hostages and forced them to walk all the way to Montreal.

Church was approached by Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley and given a Colonel’s commission. He led another long foray in Acadia by conducting successful raids on Castine, Maine, St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Grand Pre, Pisiguit (present-day Falmouth and Windsor), and on Chignecto.

While Church’s Rangers didn’t have published standing orders that later characterized Rogers’ Rangers, from his writings after the wars, he had several principles that were characterized by several items that his units had as their philosophies. From Wikipedia:

Planning each operation in advance, not leaving anything to chance.
Ensuring that soldiers under his command were properly trained, fed, and equipped.
Building alliances with potential allies (i.e. Native Americans), who may have been overlooked or mistrusted by other commanders.
Not inflicting unnecessary damage or harm.
Using stealth and surprise to tactical advantage.
Understanding how a tactical operation fits in with strategic objectives.
Leading by example and from the front.
Maintaining communications with higher and lower echelons.

He was mentioned in the book, “Ranger Dawn: The American Ranger from the Colonial Period to the Mexican War”, by Robert W. Black. While Church and his Rangers are given but a few pages of mention, Black did write that Church and his men were carrying out tactics that Rogers made famous many decades later.

Church was elected as a representative of Bristol to the Plymouth Colony Legislature and lived in Little Compton where he died in 1718. He is buried in Little Compton Cemetery.

In 1992, Church was elected to the Ranger Hall of Fame and a bronzed Ranger Tab was erected on his tomb.

Illustrations: Wikipedia, a re-enactment of Rangers and English troops by the author

Special Forces and Entrepreneurship Can Make the Most of Any Bad Situation

“How the hell am I going to fill 1000 sandbags…and how did get myself into this mess?”

Sometimes life throws her curveballs at you and you have to do your best to sit back in the box and hit it the opposite way. And in doing so, you can take a bad situation and definitely make the most out of it.

Back in the day, the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua was a thorn in the side of the United States, especially the White House under President Reagan. And the U.S. was worried that the Sandinistas would be trying to spread their revolution (with outside help) to their neighboring countries.

And it was justified, with on-going bloody civil wars going on in El Salvador and Guatemala, Honduras had a latent insurgency issue and later we learned that the Nicaraguan government was preparing to aid that along.

While U.S. troop strength allowed in El Salvador was severely restricted and very few SOF troops allowed in Guatemala due to political issues, no such issue existed in Honduras at the time. And the U.S. always had a steady stream of conventional and SOF troops there.

Combat engineers were always building and improving roads, there was a slew of medical and dental units there helping the people. The U.S. constructed an airbase (Soto Cano) in Palmerola that is still in use today. And there were always a ton of 7th Special Forces Group troops on the ground. It always seemed like there was at least a company-sized element of six Special Forces A-Teams and a B-Team in the country at any given time. Many SF guys from that era would have half a dozen deployments to “Hondo” alone at that time, never mind deployments elsewhere.

This one deployment our Group decided to run had several teams from 2nd Bn., 7th SFG working with local Honduran units and our commander wanted to run several base station communication sites from the country, instead of back from Ft. Bragg. So, a bunch of SF radio operators (18E) from 1st Bn. were tasked to augment the Group’s Support Bn, and the Signal CO. to work in the base stations during this deployment.

Author and a high-speed, low drag supply vehicle in Honduras back in the day

We were starting one such base station in La Ceiba at the Honduran air base where they based their fighter aircraft (obsolescent Super Mystere) and then moving it after a few weeks up into the mountains, closer to the Nicaraguan border. So, during the time in La Ceiba, these SF radio operators would fall under the command of the Support Bn Staff. It was not a marriage made in heaven.

The sergeant major was… to put it simply a “Rick” with a silent P. He had a “do as I say and not as I do” attitude and was used to bullying the younger support guys…and girls. They had a gazillion rules that the A-Team guys never had to deal with in past deployments and it was soon apparent that heads were going to bump.

He instituted a “pass” system and a curfew with going downtown for everyone, except himself and his cronies. That didn’t fly with the SF guys. “Hey, that doesn’t apply to us, right?” LOL.

Well, after sampling some of the local nightlife in downtown La Ceiba and hanging out with a number of British schoolteachers from Belize, we arrived back at the base well after the established curfew. One of his little cronies made sure to rat us out…the little cockroach. However, we did beat the SGM back. Imagine that.

The next morning, he was going to make a big deal out of it and called us all in and said, we could be restricted to the base from our remainder of the time there (just a few more days thankfully) or fill sandbags for the Honduran base defenses. Most guys said screw it, they’d remain on base. Another guy and I opted for sandbag detail. Anything to get the hell away from those people.

So, we got a driver, a deuce and a half and 1000 sandbags. We told the driver to pack as many shovels as he had, which got a strange look but he grabbed about a dozen. The driver drove us to the far side of the base where there was a pit of clay that was as hard-packed as granite. “This is where our guys have been filling them,” he said. We laughed and told him we weren’t going to spend one minute there. Directing him out the back gate, we headed back down the highway in the opposite direction of town. After passing by some pineapple fields, we told him to take a dirt road to the right. After passing thru more fields and over a tiny bridge, we ended up on this tiny beach with the best bar you’d ever seen there.

On an earlier trip, one of the scuba team guys had shown this place. It had a fantastic place to dive and the bar was open on three sides that emptied right out on the sand. The driver couldn’t believe it. Nursing hangovers we ordered the hair of the dog from the young girl behind the bar while my partner spoke to her quietly in the corner. Then pulling a hammock out of my ruck, I strung it up between two poles on the open part of the bar and reclined with an ice cold Port Royal while my bud nursed a Salva Vida.

“What are you guys doing,” the driver asked? “Well, we’re going to chill out, catch about a 20-minute power nap and wait for the cavalry to arrive,” we said. About the time that the first beer was gone, the cavalry arrived.

Kids from the nearby village came flocking in, thinking the gringos were going scuba diving again and offering the use of their small boats and their services for whatever we needed.

We explained what we wanted to do, and they quickly agreed, we’d give them each two (2) MREs that we weren’t going to eat anyway. The two oldest kids were going to be foremen and oversee the entire operation. We gave them a five-minute class on how to properly fill sandbags. And just like in Selection, on how full they had to be. The two “foremen” would get five bucks each.

After watching this slew of kids quickly filling up the sandbags for a few quick iterations, my bud and I retired back to the cool shadow of the bar and the hammocks. “Yes, I’ll have another beer, thank you very much.”

In less than an hour, we had 250 sandbags filled. They were loaded on the deuce-and-a-half and we sent the driver back with strict orders to use the rear gate and bring back more cases of MREs. And most importantly, not to breathe a word of this to anyone.

Around noon the kids wanted to take a break for lunch. They planned on eating their MREs. We can do better, we said. The girl at the bar had already been forewarned and we arranged chicken sandwiches and a few burgers for all of them. We sat in the shade of the bar and got those kids sodas. Afterward, it time for a dip in the ocean. Punishment details are hell.

By 2 to 2:30 all of our sandbags were full, in truth, we didn’t have 1000, because they’d thought we wouldn’t be able to fill a 1/10th of those. Our driver asked if we should head back. “Hell no,” we answered. It was time for some MTT. He asked what that meant. “Max Tanning Time”, we answered. So until about four, we laid out in the sun, swam a bit more and bought the kids a coke. There were about half again as many MREs as promised and we said the heck with it. We told them to spread those out evenly as well. It was money well spent. We thought about scrawling on the side of the truck, “7th SFG Sand and Gravel”, but thought better or it. We used UW principles to beat the Pogues at their own game.

We headed back with the final load of sandbags, arriving back at the base where we unloaded the last of the sandbags into the huge pile that the guys had made. Our “pal” the sergeant-major strolled up and gave us a sneer like, “I guess I showed you!” and then glanced at the pile and knew something was up. We jumped down from the truck and smiled a “fuck you very much” look and headed for the showers, ice cold water that could wake the dead.

That weekend our C-130 came in to get us thankfully out of there. And not a moment too soon, but not entirely home free. We moved our base station gear to a B-Team that was famously known as “The Plantation”…ask any of the oldtimers what that was all about.

Little did we know that this was just the beginning. But that is a story for another time.

Photo of Golosón International Airport, La Ceiba (1987): Wikipedia

Looking For a Binge-Watching Series on Memorial Day? Look No Further

Memorial Day preparations and programs are all going non-stop this weekend. In our small bucolic town in Central Massachusetts, our schools have all put together very nice programs to honor those members of our country who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Our high school put together a nice program where the students researched town members who had been killed in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Global War on Terror. They then read a brief bio on each to hit home the high cost of our freedoms.

Our vets from the local Veterans Council, VFW, American Legion, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Cub Scouts, as well as local citizens, went into our local cemeteries, placed flags on all of the military graves recently. Then we placed wreaths on all of the monuments around town.

Our local Memorial Day ceremonies will kick off at 8:20 today. Once that is over, we’ll partake in the traditional Memorial Day activities by grilling some food outside while giving thanks to those who made this all possible.

One of the other traditional fares on Memorial Day is the War Film marathons that are always on television. We’ve compiled a list of our favorites in the past, however, this year, we’re going to recommend a mini-series to binge watch and if you can last thru the entire thing, it will take some time.

Ken Burns produced some outstanding mini-series on PBS, his one of the Civil War back in 1990 was a classic. He later did one on Baseball in 1994 that was another must watch. But the one we’re recommending everyone dust off on Netflix is his marathon documentary on World War II, simply called ‘The War’.

Burns made this one in 2007 and it took six years of research to put together. Critics panned it because they said he tried to make it sound like the United States won the war alone. That is hogwash, Burns just eschewed the big picture and focused on the regular small town people of four communities and how the war was seen and felt down in Waterbury, Connecticut, Mobile, Alabama, Luverne, Minnesota, and Sacramento, California.

I was out of the country when it first aired and I missed it. It was put on my list of things to see but I never got around to watching it. Recently we saw it on Netflix and binge-watched the entire 15 or so hours over one weekend. And we were glad we did.

At the end of World War II, Eric Sevareid had reported to the people of the United States what he saw during the war years but after the war was over, he felt like he …and others like him failed to bring the true cost of it home. He wrote:

“Only the soldier really lives the war. The journalist does not — war happens inside a man — and that is why, in a certain sense, you and your sons from the war will be forever strangers. If, by the miracles of art and genius, in later years two or three among them can open their hearts and the right words come, then perhaps we shall all know a little of what it was like — and we shall know then that all the present speakers and writers hardly touched the story.”

What Burns showed in this masterpiece of filmmaking was while we all get to know several small-town Americans during the seven episodes, there is nothing ordinary about any of them. This isn’t a glossed over, sanitized version of World War II but a true first-hand look at the ugliness and cost of sending an entire generation off to war.

Burns often shows the brutality and the gruesome nature of how the war was conducted. With some never seen before footage. Troops being starved and beaten on the Bataan Death March, Japanese troops being burned alive by flamethrowers, the awful scope, and brutality of the Nazi death camps.

The remembrances of Quinten Aanonsen, a farmer’s son from Luverne are particularly poignant. He wanted to learn to fly to escape the family farm. He became a pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt and as a close ground support squadron member, he saw up close what the awesome firepower of “the Jug” could bring on the enemy. He also watched many of his friends die. The girl he met while in flight school and their letters back and forth kept his sanity.

Two of the people who appear in the film have written books and they give a great look at the war in Europe and the Pacific. Paul Fussell was in the infantry fighting the Germans in France and Germany and his book “Doing Battle” was a definite page-turner. E.B Sledge from Mobile wrote the fantastic book, “With the Old Breed.”

“Something in me died at Peleliu,” Sledge wrote. “Possibly I lost faith that politicians in high places who do not have to endure war’s savagery will ever stop blundering and sending others to endure it.”

The film also shares the plight of Japanese-Americans who were uprooted from their homes and ordered to internment camps. Then asked to serve the very country that treated them and their families as the enemy.

The treatment of the blacks both in the war factories and in the military gets spared nothing either. One of the more telling moments was that of a black Marine who was wounded and transported to a hospital ship, the only black man on board. And the ship’s barber refused to cut his hair.

“The War” is marvelously filmed with some outstanding action shots, the personal stories are both riveting and at times both funny and sad. And the narration by Keith David, who did the older Navy recruiting films, is first rate.

Take the time to watch “The War” which Burns brilliantly put together and when you see one of those bent-over WWII vets today, shake his hand and wish him well. After all, “The War” is their story.

Photo of US Pilot Quinten Aanonsen: PBS

FN Unveils New 6.5mm Creedmoor Machinegun at SOFIC 2019

About a year ago, SOCOM announced that the Special Operations Forces would be upgrading their range capabilities by switching to the 6.5 mm Creedmoor caliber. This decision, the command stated, came after extensive testing.

SOCOM adopted a Barrett Sniper system that would replace their 7.62 mm sniper rifles with the 6.5 mm Creedmoor. The 6.5mm Creedmoor according to SOCOM, will double the hit probability at1,000-meters range, increases the effective range by half, reduces wind drift and has less recoil than the standard 7.62 mm.

Now at SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference) in Tampa this week, FN America is unveiling their latest prototype machinegun to also increase their effective range as well.

According to a release by the company, the prototype FN MK 48 Mod 2 6.5CM features the latest upgrades for FN’s series of light and medium machine guns:

A new, improved saddle for mounting lasers and lights
An adjustable stock for length of pull and cheek height
Improved, locking charging handle
Improved, double-notched sear
Improved handguard with 3-, 6- and 9-o’clock positions with an improved bipod
A more robust feed tray latch, ensuring the feed tray cover locks into place during reloads.

The company released a statement that said once the development is complete, existing MK 48 Mod 1 models, chambered for 7.62mm can be configured at the armorer level to the Mod 2 variant or newest caliber with the addition of the upgrade kit and barrel conversion.

The 7.62mm version has been in use by SOCOM since 2003 and the new 6.5mm Creedmoor version has about the same recoil as a 5.56mm. However, the 7.62mm version had some drawbacks including:

Losing accuracy after prolonged firing
Overheating
Carbon build-up which led to misfires unless cleaned frequently

If you are in Tampastan this week and would like to see the newest MK 48 Mod 2 6.5CM or FN’s other military firearms, conference attendees can drop in for a visit at booth 804 at the 2019 SOFIC Conference or visit fnamerica.com.

But it looks like that Special Operations Forces are getting upgrades to their machineguns and capabilities when using both them and their sniper systems. And this is with having to carry less weight and without sustaining any more recoil. A win-win for the operators.

Photo: FN America

10th Special Forces Group Troops Parachute into Normandy

Seventy-five years ago, thousands of American and British paratroops were waiting on the go-ahead to begin the airborne assault on Normandy during World War II. The airborne assault on Hitler’s Fortress Europe was expected to be a very bloody affair for the airborne troops which were expected to suffer grievous casualties in the opening days of the invasion.

The airborne troops would fare much better than expected but the Normandy hedgerows proved to be a terrible obstacle and the troops ended up in the line much longer than anticipated as the days after the invasion proved to be bloodier than was originally expected.

On Saturday, as part of the on-going 75th-anniversary celebration for the invasion to free the French people from Nazi rule, some 135 American Special Forces troops jumped into Normandy. Soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group jumped into the area surrounding Mont Saint-Michel from aircraft flown by the 352nd Special Operations Wing and the 86th Airlift Wing.

The town nearby Avaranches was one of the keys to the allied breakout from Normandy during Operation Cobra in late July 1944. The town turned out to greet the Special Forces troops who then laid a wreath at the monument dedicated to General George S. Patton Jr. and then had a ceremonial toast with the mayor.

The Special Forces troops were celebrating the and recalling the Jedburgh teams of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) which are the direct forefathers of both the Army Special Forces Groups and CIA. Jedburgh teams or “Jeds” as they were known back then, consisted of three-man teams dropped behind enemy lines to train, equip and advise local resistance groups.

It is fitting that the Special Operations community used the backdrop of Mont Saint-Michel to jump into Normandy. Back in 1944, one Special Operations trooper captured the abbey and town by himself.

In the summer of 1940, the Germans overran France and they took the abbey the day before the French government capitulated. They put up observers in the spire of the abbey which dominated the surrounding area. German troops were billeted in the town and they trained nearby for what was supposed to be “Operation Sea Lion”, the invasion of Britain.

But after the Battle of Britain, Operation Sea Lion was canceled and the Germans then changed their focus on holding onto their territory. They began to place fortifications all along the coast. In the area nearby they put up “Rommel asparagus” long poles with mines attached to the top to disable landing craft if they tried to pull up on the beach. Because of this, they banned fishing anywhere close to the coastline, putting more bad tidings upon the French citizens.

After D-Day, the Germans were fighting all along the Normandy coastline. And as the Allies finally began to push the Germans back after 6-7 weeks of intense fighting, they were streaming into the town as they retreated.

As Operation Cobra, was getting underway, troops streaming into the continent were part of Patton’s 3rd Army. They were the fresh troops who would become operational and do the open field running for the American Army once they punched a hole in the German lines.

On July 30, the newly arrived 4th Armored Division struck a critical blow, capturing the town of Avranches, effectively cutting off any retreat for German troops to the east and south of there. The American 6th Armored Division pushed westward toward Pontorson which was pinning the Germans along the coast.

Patton knew Pontorson well, having gone there with his wife before the first world war. He mentioned the town in his diary. On August 1, Third Army became operational and the breakout commenced with tremendous speed. Patton’s troops broke into the enemy rear and began to rout the Germans as they overran Brittany and pushed westward.

But a lonely private would make a big contribution to the effort. Private Freeman Brougher of the 72nd Psychological Operations Bn. was in a jeep with two war correspondents, one American and one British.

They raced down the open roads and were approaching the abbey when they stopped to ask directions from a French civilian. At first, the man was distrustful but once he realized that Brougher was not one of the hated Germans but an American soldier that all changed. The French people were delirious with joy. And the word quickly spread.

“They sprang from nowhere,” one of the war correspondents remembered. “No sooner did the magic words go around, ‘Les Americans,’ than folks came running from every direction.” By the time they reached the abbey, The small jeep had added two priests, three women, a fireman, and several other local citizens.

The Germans inside the abbey were exhausted and had nowhere to run, they surrendered to the lone private. The jubilant Frenchmen then took Brougher to the mayor’s house where he toasted with champagne, decked out in flowers and carried on the crowd’s shoulders where he was asked to sign the Town’s Golden Book, which records the list of the local nobility. Soon other Americans would arrive and Brougher would happily load up some prisoners on his jeep and get back into the war.

Brougher survived the war and would return to his life in Pennsylvania. He married and had two children and would return with them to Mont Saint-Michel in 1987 to show his family where his service took him and to revisit with the French people. His two children said he was called the “savior of Mont Saint-Michel.” Brougher passed away in 2003.

More can found on the freeing of Mont-Saint Michel here:

Photos: DVIDs, US Army

On This Day, Merrill’s Marauders Attack Myitkyina Airfield

After the U.S. troops had been driven out of Burma by the Japanese in 1943 during World War II, the Americans decided that they needed a “Long Range Penetration” mission behind Japanese lines. The plan was to disrupt and destroy the enemy’s supply lines and communications while attacking the enemy behind their forces while also trying to regain the Burma Road.

The call went out for volunteers for “A Dangerous and Hazardous Mission”. Over 3000 men answered that call, some from far-flung bases in Panama and Trinidad, but some veterans from New Guinea and Guadalcanal and elsewhere. Thus the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) was born. But they became popularly known as Merrill’s Marauders.

Less than a year later, the unit would conduct a long and dangerous mission over the mountains to take the important Japanese airfield at Myitkyina. This would benefit the supply aircraft that no longer had to fly over “the Hump” to ferry supplies to Kunming, China and allowed the Allies to construct the Ledo Road where supplies could also travel to Kumming.

Merrill Chosen as the Commander:

Frank Merrill didn’t look like a man whose job it was to lead a special operations force behind enemy lines, although he was a powerfully built man, he was plagued with a bad heart and bad eyesight. He had graying hair and smoked his pipe non-stop. He had little experience commanding troops but was a brilliant and unshakable leader.

Because he drove himself even harder than his men, they loved, respected and believed in him. The Chinese troops, part of General “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell’s command loved him nearly as much as General Chenault, commander of the “Flying Tigers.”

Merrill was born in the small town of Hopkinton, Mass. which is the starting point for the Boston Marathon. He tried unsuccessfully to get into West Point and then joined the Army as a private. Working his way up to Staff Sergeant, he was finally accepted to the U.S. Military Academy on his 6th application. He graduated and was commissioned as a cavalry officer.

Merrill spent time in Japan as an assistant military attache and learned Japanese while stationed there. He was assigned to the Chinese-Burma Theater just prior to Pearl Harbor and was with Stillwell on his long march out of Burma.

Merrill drilled his unit hard, working them for three months with Orde Wingate’s Chindits, the British unit that had already carved a name for them.

The 5307th was divided into three battalions and formed into six combat teams (400 per team),color-coded Red, White, Blue, Green, Orange and Khaki, two teams to a Battalion, the remainder formed the H.Q. and Air Transport Commands.

Originally the Marauders and Chindits were to serve together under Wingate’s command but Stillwell, a noted Anglophobe would have none of it. He wanted the 5307th for his own plans. His noted feelings and bitterness toward the British would later cost him and the mission dearly.

1000 Miles Of Trekking Across Burma:

The Marauders would soon be tested. Merrill’s men would trek across 1000 miles over the mountainous, nearly impenetrable jungle with no tanks or heavy artillery in the foothills of the Himalayas to attack the Japanese.

During the next four months, the Marauders would take part in five major and 30 minor engagements with the Japanese veteran 18th Division which had taken both Singapore and Malaya.

In their first action against the Japanese 18th Division, they moved to set up blocking positions at Walawbum 10 miles behind the Japanese lines. General Tanaka, commanding the Japanese forces, fearing that Stillwell was trying to encircle his forces, promptly attacked the Marauders.

The Americans beat back several bayonet attacks producing horrific casualties. The Japanese lost 650 dead and as many wounded. The Americans lost just 7 killed and 36 wounded.

In the south, Wingate’s Chindits were hitting Tanaka hard cutting the railway lines and forcing Tanaka to withdraw northward. After two months of near-constant fighting, the Marauders were reeling, many of them were already sick with malaria. But their biggest mission lay ahead…

Myitkyina Airfield:

The debate was arising over whether to try to take Myitkyina and the airfield there nearby. But Stillwell got orders from George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff to capture the airfield. The Operation was known as “End Run.”

Augmenting the Marauders, who were at about 50 percent strength due to casualties and disease were two Chinese regiments and 300 Kachin tribesmen who were led by the OSS. To get there, the men would be marching over an 8,000-foot mountain range and cover 112 miles just to get there.

Merrill, having just returned to duty after his second heart attack, was beside the men and encouraging them all the way. The going was so steep, muddy and treacherous, Merrill’s men would lose half of their pack animals, along with their necessary equipment.

Then nearly half of the men became sick with amoebic dysentery from drinking water from the streams after they learned, too late, that the Chinese were using the streams as a latrine.

After wiping out a small Japanese garrison at Ripong, 149 of the men came down with Typhus. Several of the men died including Colonel Henry Kinnison, one of the team leaders. The Marauders arrived on the night of May 16.

The next morning, the assault was led by Lt. Colonel Charles Hunter. The Marauders and two Chinese regiments snuck past the Japanese undetected and attacked the airfield from the North, South, and West. They took the Japanese completely by surprise.

Not only did the force seize the airfield but the Chinese troops also took a ferry landing on the Irrawaddy River. By 1530 hrs on the 17th of May, Merrill had radioed the code words “Merchant of Venice” which meant the airstrip was already set for taking in C-47 transport aircraft.

Lord Mountbatten sent Stillwell a message:

“By the boldness of your leadership, backed by the courage and endurance of your American and Chinese troops, you have taken the enemy completely by surprise and achieved a most outstanding success by seizing the Myitkyina airfield.”

The airfield seizure was considered a brilliant military move but the Americans lost a major opportunity. The town of Myitkyina had only about 700 Japanese troops. But Hunter was given no orders to take it. A fresh division, the British 36th could have easily been augmented to the Americans but Stillwell wanted no part of the British in this operation. It was a huge failure.

Rather than fill the first planes with arms and ammunition. Stillwell sent instead anti-aircraft crews and engineers to fix an airstrip that was already totally operational. By the time the Marauders’ 2nd Battalion attacked the town, the Japanese had been reinforced and now had 3500 troops, well dug-in. The attacks failed.

Disease now took out more Marauders than the Japanese did. Typhus, malaria, and dysentery reduced the force to about 200 effective riflemen. Stillwell scraped together more engineers and support troops who were totally green. The Japanese would hold on to the town of Myitkyina until late summer. By then, the Marauders were no longer an outfit. They were pulled out of the line finally in June and disbanded by August.

But by the excellent efforts of both the Marauders and the Chindits, the airfield at Myitkyina saved the transports from flying over the dangerous “Hump” into China. And with the Ledo Road complete, the 1100-mile supply route to Kunming was now open.

Merrill was promoted to Major General and was transferred to the Pacific Theater. He was the Chief of Staff of the 10th Army under General Buckner during the Okinawa campaign. Later he held the same position for the Sixth Army in the Philippines. He was present on the battleship Missouri for the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.

After the war, he was briefly the Deputy Chief for the military Advisory for the Philippines but a third heart attack forced him into retirement. He returned to New England and retired in New Hampshire where he was given the job of State Highway Commissioner by the governor. Merrill died of a fourth heart attack in Fernandina Beach, Florida on December 11, 1955. He was only 52 years old. He was buried at West Point next to General Stillwell per his wishes.

On August 10, 1944, the Marauders were consolidated into the 475th Infantry, which continued service in northern Burma until February 1945. On June of 1954, the 475th Infantry was re-designated as the 75th Infantry; here the men of Merrill’s Marauders became the parent of the 75th Infantry Regiment, from which descended the 75th Ranger Regiment of today.

Photos: US Archives

French Commandos Free Four Hostages From Terrorist, Two Soldiers Killed

An American citizen was among the four hostages that were freed from terrorists during a daring French Special Operations Forces (SOF) operation in Western Africa. French commandos took down the location in Burkina Faso which was considered a terrorist camp. Two decorated French commandos were killed in the operation which took place in the early morning hours of Friday morning.

At the time of the operation, it was believed that there were only two hostages, French nationals, Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas who had been kidnapped while on a safari in the Pendjari National Park in neighboring Benin. However, once the French SOF stormed the terrorist camp they found four hostages which included the American, one South Korean, and the aforementioned two French citizens.

“All our thoughts go to the families of the soldiers and to the soldiers who lost their lives to free us from this hell,” Laurent Lassimouillas said while meeting with President Roch Kabore.

The circumstances surrounding the other two hostages is unclear. The American citizen requested not to be identified for personal reasons. Both the American and South Korean hostages were women and had been held for 28 days. Neither the U.S. or South Korean government were apparently aware of their countrymen being held.

Four of the terrorists were killed, but two managed to escape in the fighting.

President Emmanuel Macron made a statement where he said the country, “bows with emotion and gravity at the sacrifice of our two soldiers, who gave their lives to save those of our fellow citizens”.

The French Ministry of the Armed Forces identified the two commandos killed in the operation were assigned to Commando Hubert, a naval SOF unit that is the French equivalent to U.S. Navy SEALs. The operators were identified as Petty Officers First Class (OR-6) Cedric de Pierrepont,32, and Alain Bertoncello, 27. The French Navy posted on their Facebook page that both men received numerous awards and recognition through their respective military careers, such as the Gold Level of the National Defense Medal.

Bertoncello’s parents, Jean-Luc and Daniéle Bertoncello, were interviewed by the media and said their son had wanted to join the navy since high school and that they were very proud of him.

“What he loved was the esprit de corps … he was doing what he wanted and he always told us not to worry,” they said during the interview. “They did what they had to do. For him it ended badly, for the others, it was a successful mission.”

Admiral Christophe Prazuck, the French navy’s Chief of Staff, issued a statement saying, “I admire their courage, I share the sorrow of their families and their loved ones.”

In a statement, the president of Burkina Faso, Roch Kabore, said that “the joint military intervention that allowed us to achieve these results shows our common engagement in fighting against the forces of evil.”

Intelligence reports state that the terrorists were enroute to Mali where they planned on turning over the hostages to the terror group Katiba Macina, an al-Qaeda affiliate.

“Once the hostages were in [Katiba Macina’s] hands it would have been impossible to rescue them,” Francois Lecointre, France’s army chief, said in a press briefing.

Islamic terrorism is on the rise in Burkina Faso, which has violence increase steadily since 2013. With militants spreading over neighboring Benin and Togo as well. Al-Qaeda offshoots are gaining ground in the area considering the porous border region of Mali and the abundance of weapons in Libya to the north.

The Sahel, the sub-Sahara region of Northern Africa has seen over 5000 people killed as it has grown increasingly unstable in recent years.

Florence Parly, the French defense minister, said, “Those who attack France and the French know that we will spare no effort to track them and take them out. We will never abandon our citizens.”

While no American troops were active on the ground during the operation, the United States did provide support in the form of overhead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Parly thanked American allies for their “precious support” in the rescue. In a statement released on Friday, she thanked “the Beninese and Burkinabe for their cooperation,” adding, “I salute the precious support of our American allies in conducting this operation.”

The French military had been tracking the terrorists for several days since their two citizens were abducted in the national park in Benin on May 1.

French commandos launched a mission on May 7, inside Burkina Faso where they gathered vital intelligence on the hostage-takers who were thought to be heading for the Mali border and turn over the hostages to an al-Qaeda affiliate.

French and American intelligence officials tracked them via drones until the terrorists stopped in the desert. This gave the French commandos the opportunity they were waiting for.

“It was an extremely complex operation, with extremely demanding timings,” General Lecointre said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Romania for a meeting with fellow European leaders, approved the mission Thursday night. This prompted the 20 French commandos to deploy nearby by helicopter far enough away so that the sleeping terrorists wouldn’t hear them.

The commandos approached in silence under the cover of darkness, where they got past a guard and to within just a few meters of the four tents where the hostages were being held before finally being detected.

Out of concern for the hostages, the commandos ‘went inside without opening fire’, the French Chief of Staff said. “The commandos went inside the shelters without opening fire,” he said.

In the short ensuing firefight, two of the French commandos were killed at close range, four terrorists were also killed and two escaped.

“We are grateful for the safe recovery of hostages, including an American, during a recovery operation in Burkina Faso,” said Tibor Nagy, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. “I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the French soldiers killed during the operation,” he posted on Twitter.

A memorial service for the French soldiers killed in the raid will be held on Tuesday.

Photos: French Navy

Army Green Beret Awarded Second Distinguished Service Cross

Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Jason Myers was already walking in rarified air being one of the few recipients of a Distinguished Service Cross. Now, the Green Beret is the only active duty soldier to have been awarded the DSC twice.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the nation’s second highest award for Valor ranking just under the Medal of Honor.

Originally awarded a Silver Star for his actions, the Army went thru the records of several awards and recently upgraded them. Myers’ award has been one of those upgraded to his second DSC.

On March 27, 2010, then CW2 Jason Myers of ODA-3321 of the 3rd SFG(A) was awarded the first of his DSCs when rushed into enemy fire to rescue two Afghanistan police officers. Attacked by 75-100 insurgents, he took command of a bad situation and exposed himself to RPG and PKM machine gun fire to move forward to rescue the men.

Later in November of 2011, Myers once again exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire by entering into a building to help rescue 15 hostages, also in Afghanistan.

About 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2011, Myers saw the insurgents attacking the district center. He notified the Afghan uniformed police, a special tactics team, and the Afghan National Army Commandos.

Moving toward the west gate of the compound, Myers’ team was attacked by insurgents with small arms fire and grenades. Myers, by this time already wounded by grenade fragments, was consulting with the wounded Afghan district police chief and learned about the hostages. He was also told the insurgents were wearing suicide vests.

Only after rescuing the first nine hostages did Myers allow himself to receive medical aid for his wounds. He then returned to the district center compound with a ladder to help rescue the remaining hostages. During this time the insurgents triggered a booby trap which injured six of the Afghan forces.

Myers helped evacuate the six wounded Afghan allies and helped with the clearing the remaining part of the building. During the pitched battle, five Americans were wounded, while three Afghan soldiers were killed while 11 more were wounded.

“He entered the main building three total times in order to clear it of all enemy fires,” said LTG Francis Beaudette, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, “All of this was done while sustaining shrapnel injuries and constantly under active enemy fire.”

“Jason has demonstrated on not just these two (Distinguished Service Cross Award) occasions but each and each every day he rolls out of the team room that he has the same fearless courage and unbending character of these men,” Beaudette added. “He’s going to continue to inspire others to protect the nation without fail, without fear and without equal, and we are incredibly proud of him today.”

Myers was surrounded by his family, friends, and fellow Special Forces soldiers for the second time being awarded the nation’s second highest award for valor.

Myers conducted an interview with the Fayetteville Observer after the ceremony and commented on the attack during November 2011.

“I’ve always been fortunate,” Myers said when asked about receiving the Distinguished Service Cross Award twice. “I’ve always been surrounded by the best officers and the best (noncommissioned officers) in the Army. And with multiple deployments to the same area, we knew the locals. We had a lot of rapport and these longstanding relationships with some of these people, so there was a lot of trust and history between us, the locals and the partner forces.”

Beaudette in his comments said that nearly 50 years ago, Green Berets sat in the same auditorium at the JFKSWC and were briefed on a dangerous plan to rescue American POWs in Vietnam. The mission he was referring to was “Operation Ivory Coast” where Green Berets under the command of Colonel Arthur “Bull” Simons flew deep into North Vietnam, just 23 miles west of Hanoi to get American POWs out of Son Tay Prison.

LTG Beaudette compared Myers’ actions to those who stood up and volunteered.

At Myers’ first award of the DSC, Admiral William McRaven, the then commander of USSOCOM summed it up arguably the best when taking into account the actions of Myers on these actions.

“The Green Beret isn’t just a piece of headgear; it is a symbol of all that is good and right about America. It represents the finest Soldiers ever to take the battlefield, he said.

“I want to thank you again for your incredible service to the Regiment, the Army and this great Nation. To the men of 3rd SFG, your reputation continues to grow. Your legacy will be found not in the wars that you fought, but in the men that fought them,” said McRaven. “You and the families that give you strength have earned the respect and admiration of an entire nation.”

Screenshot Photo and Video: DVIDSHub.net