Heroes of U.S. Special Operations

Citadel ROTC Cadet Presented Award By Last Living SC Member of 1st Special Service Force

During an awards presentation for Citadel cadets, Cadet First Sergeant Neal Bultman, a senior political science major from Walker Michigan received the MG Robert T. Frederick Leadership Award. He attends the college on an ROTC scholarship.

The Citadel sends about a third of its graduates every year to the armed services as commissioned officers after graduation. What makes this year’s award so special was that Bultman was presented the award by South Carolina’s last living member of the 1^st Special Service Force also known as the Devil’s Brigade, Gordon Simms, 96, who served directly under Frederick.

Bultman, who serves as the Army ROTC unit’s first sergeant, has appeared on the Dean’s List seven times and the President’s List once during his time at The Citadel. The award is important, but what will make the day unforgettable for Bultman will be accepting it from the last remaining South Carolina member of the 1st Special Force unit from World War II. Gordon Simms USA (Ret.), 96, of Columbia, who served directly under Frederick, will make the presentation.
Simms was an original member of the American-Canadian strike force called 1st Special Service Force, also known as the Devil’s Brigade. It was a joint commando unit activated in 1942 under Frederick. Members received intensive training in stealth tactics, hand-to-hand combat, parachuting, amphibious warfare, rock climbing, and mountain warfare. The force was disbanded in 1944. Many American and Canadian military Special Forces units trace their heritage to this unit. Simms also once served as the president of the 1st Special Services Force Association.
To earn the Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick Award a cadet must successfully graduate from the Leader Development and Assessment Course, be compliant with his/her Army ROTC contract, and exhibit exceptional leadership ability and potential. Once eligible, a cadet is chosen by criteria including, but not limited to, grade-point average, Army Physical Fitness Test scores, land navigation scores, marksmanship, and participation on the Ranger Challenge Team.
“Having the opportunity to meet Mr. Simms is an absolute honor. I will strive to model my life, leadership, and devotion to country after his. Meeting him will add a great deal of meaning to this accomplishment,” Bultman said.

The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is 101 years old at the Citadel and over the past 10 years, 650 newly commissioned officers in the military were graduates of the college.

To read the entire article from the Moultrie News click here:

Photo courtesy The Citadel

USSOCOM Turns 30, Command’s Impact Continues to Grow

Thirty years ago, a small headquarters opened its doors for the first time. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was originally formed out of the debacle of the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission, Operation Eagle Claw in 1980.

From small beginnings in April 1987 at MacDill AFB, FL the Special Operations Command now encompasses 70,000 troops and a $10 billion-dollar budget. Special Operations Forces currently operate in over 100 countries being sent to all the hot spots in the world today.

Seeing the success of U.S. special operations, representatives from foreign militaries are traveling to Tampa to see how they can recreate such a powerful force. One that offers great bang for the buck — SOCom makes up just 2 percent of the U.S. defense budget.
The symbol of commando success is the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Yet every day, in ways unknown outside their secretive world, commando teams perform missions like building partner capacity and training foreign troops, hostage rescue attempts, humanitarian relief, tracking jihadi financing and coordinating efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction.
Unlike any other military combatant commands, SOCom has the authority to spend billions of dollars each year on equipment and services tailored for commandos — the SEALs, Army Delta Force, Green Berets and Rangers, and Air Force and Marine teams. To help speed things along, the command created SOFWerx, a research and development effort in Ybor City.
To help educate the force, SOCOm created the Joint Special Operations University, which opens a new building at MacDill next week.

Despite their many successes, the command is feeling the pinch of its own success. The force is being used so much that the operational tempo has become an issue. With so many deployments one of the former commanders worried that the force was “fraying around the edges.”

But the command will continue to expand its influence on 100 different stages in 100 different countries. The Special Operations forces of the US have the unique capability to synchronize US and Allied global counter-terrorism efforts, building allied forces capacity in the training and equipping of foreign forces, and to evolve as the situations change around the world.

To read the entire article from Tampa Bay Times, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Green Beret Appalachian Trail Walk and Fundraiser- Support the Regiment

“Never Leave a Man Behind”

The men of the Special Forces Regiment are doing a fundraiser for the Green Beret Foundation to help raise money by walking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. A group of retired Special Operators from SF Brothers (a Facebook group of SF soldiers) are putting teams together to hike from Georgia to Maine to support the cause.

The Green Beret Foundation is an organization that provides direct and continuous support to the Green Beret Community and its families. The Green Beret Foundation facilitates the transition of Green Berets and their families whether that transition is from wounds sustained in combat, illness, injury or “merely” from numerous deployments and/or retirement.

They provide Casualty Support, Extended Support, Family Support, and Transition Support for the Special Forces operators who have been injured in the line of duty. Over 800 Green Berets and 1000 families have received support from the foundation. And 90 percent of funds raised go towards their programs.

From the trail guide: The Appalachian Trail is about 2200 miles in length and runs from north Georgia to central Maine. It generally follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Trail is managed by a combination of the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It is maintained by a host of nonprofit organizations.

Sometimes called “The Long Green Tunnel”, it is mostly under the cover of trees. It can be very harsh in ascents, descents, and the rockiness of the trail.

Only a small percentage of those who attempt a thru-hike are able to complete the trail. (They never met a bunch of SF guys)

This is a great opportunity to get out and join a group of retired Green Berets from the SF Brothers group on Facebook and strap on the rucksack and walk with them a spell to show some support. If you can’t make it, you can donate to cause by giving what you can right here:

I’ve been in contact with an old 7^th SFG trooper, Will Melton, who has kindly passed on some pics of the brothers, hitting the trail with their rucksacks back on. You can’t ever keep good men down. Will and his dog Miss Jackie are taking on some 560 miles of the trail. Which is about 25 percent of the total length. That’s what you call an endurance march. Some 30-something years after the Q-course, Will is putting in what definitely qualifies as a “Long Range Movement.” Tip of the Beret for that!

Former SFers from SF Brothers gather at the start of the trail after a storm delayed the start

Will Melton and J.C. Hiett display the SF Regimental flag which will fly over the encampment on the way.

For you ruckers out there. Check out the schedule and attached spreadsheet on the website, you can see when the SF Brothers are passing by your area. You don’t have to join the hike officially but show some support and hike with them for a day or maybe a weekend. It is for a great cause and will be a heckuva lot of fun as well. One can only imagine the war stories being told around the campfires at night along the trail or in the huts that the Appalachian Mountain Club provides on the route.

As much as I hate the old ALICE pack (and said I’d never put it on again), I’m breaking mine out, and when the SF troopers hit the Massachusetts border sometime in late July, I’ll be trying to join them for a piece of the trail to show some support and join in on the fun. I thought about purchasing a better civilian model, but for a short duration, it is time to break out the old pain pill. We’ll have coverage on it right here.

For more information on the Green Beret Trail Walk click here:

Cover photo courtesy Green Beret Foundation, Other photos courtesy of Will Melton

Colonel James ‘Nick’ Rowe Assassinated on this Day in 1989

On this date in 1989, the US Army Special Forces lost a legend in its ranks. Communist guerrillas assassinated COL. Nick Rowe while on his way to work as a military advisor to the Philippine Army. Rowe had escaped a Viet Cong prisoner of war camp on New Year’s Eve 1968 while being taken to his execution.

After returning to the United States, Rowe developed the Army’s SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) School and training at Ft. Bragg, NC, largely based on his experiences.

He also wrote the best-selling book, “Five Years to Freedom” which told the story of his capture, and resistance to the Viet Cong before his daring escape.

Colonel Rowe was being driven to work at the Joint United States Military Advisory Group headquarters in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila, shortly after 7 A.M. when at least two hooded gunmen in a stolen car fired more than 20 bullets into his vehicle.
His driver, Joaquin Vinua, was wounded but was reported out of danger. Colonel Rowe was pronounced dead at a nearby military hospital. Communist Rebels Suspected
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Philippine officials said they believed the killers were Communist rebels. The rebels have threatened to attack American targets unless the United States closes its military bases in the Philippines and ends its support of the Philippine military’s fight against the insurgency.
In the fall of 1963, Colonel Rowe, then a first lieutenant in the Special Forces serving as an adviser to South Vietnamese irregulars, was captured by Vietcong guerrillas in the Mekong River delta.
He was held in jungle camps from which he tried repeatedly to escape. Word reached American intelligence officers that he was known to his captors as ”Mr. Trouble.” For much of his captivity, he was held in a bamboo cage and permitted to venture only 40 yards during the day. He busied himself chopping firewood and setting traps to capture small animals to supplement his diet of rice and fish.

Rowe passed himself off as an engineer, knowing that as a Special Forces officer he’d be executed. He kept up the charade for many years until the Viet Cong received information from anti-war activists in the US that identified him as an intelligence officer.

Infuriated his captors were leading him to his execution when he overpowered one of his guards and escaped. Waving his mosquito net in the air at a passing group of US helicopters, he was nearly killed by the chopper’s machine gunner. But seeing his beard, he identified him as an American.

The Special Forces training compound at Camp Mackall, NC as well as the Special Forces obstacle course is named in his honor.

To read the entire archived article from New York Times click here:

Two Air Force Special Operators Receive Air Force Cross For Heroism

On Thursday of this week, two US Air Force special operators, Chris Baradat and Keary Miller were awarded the Air Force Cross for valor at Hurlbert Field, FL home of the 24^th Special Operations Wing.

Both men had earlier received Silver Stars for valor a few years ago, but as the Air Force and the DOD reviewed their actions, the awards were upgraded. It was the first time in history that the Air Force has awarded two Air Force Crosses on the same day.

Baradat received his award for actions in 2013 while serving with an Army Special Forces unit, while part of the 21^st Special Tactics squadron and directing air support during operations in the Sono Valley part of the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. He was credited with saving 100-150 lives both American and Afghan allies in the battle.

Chris Baradat receives his Air Force Cross at Hurlbert Field, Florida on Thursday.

“I don’t feel that I was doing anything above and beyond and heroic,” Baradat said shortly before being honored yet again in a historic ceremony in Florida. “I was doing the job that I was supposed to do.”
Baradat’s heroics are related to a battle in which he directed 13 500-pound bombs and more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition during three hours of intense fighting amid a mission to rescue allies trapped in a valley under Taliban control.
Miller, who served with the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, is credited with dashing through deep snow and heavy fire multiple times to care for critically wounded U.S. troops during a 17-hour battle against al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002.
Baradat, who left the Air Force last year and now lives in California, said he was not seeking medals during the fight on April 6, 2013.
“I was just concentrating on doing my job,” he said. “It was a very busy, hectic situation.”
According to accounts of the battle, Baradat put his life on the line even as members of the Special Forces team and Afghan commandos he was attached to shouted for him to take cover.

Miller, a pararescueman assigned to the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, was decorated for constantly running thru deep snow and heavy fire multiple times to care for critically wounded U.S. troops during a 17-hour battle against al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002.

Miller has since retired from the Air Force.

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

Photos courtesy US Air Force

Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations

The images were stark and startling after the debacle at Desert One in Iran on April 24, 1980, 37 years ago today. An incinerated C-130 aircraft and six RH-53 helicopters left with bodies burned and strewn about spoke of the failure of the United States to rescue the 52 diplomats and Embassy personnel held in Tehran, Iran.

The story began more than 170 days prior when on November 4, 1979, when Iranian militant students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took the diplomats hostage. Then President Jimmy Carter put into motion the plan that would use the US’ new hostage rescue force “Delta Force” into action.

The ultimate mission failure would generate much-needed lessons learned to pave the way for dedicated special operations air assets and a new Special Operations command structure that we know today.

So how exactly did this dark day in US Special Operations history change things for the better for the troops that followed?

The Plan:
Since no joint Special Operations Command existed at the time, the National Security Adviser, the Joint Chiefs, and the Secretary of Defense put together an ad-hoc task force to plan, and conduct the mission.

The staff planning began in November of 1979 and by early March they had what they considered a workable plan. It brought together members of four of the branches of service with personnel and units spread across the globe which would prove to be ominous.

Army Major General James B. Vaught was appointed Joint Task Force commander. The remainder of the officers assigned to lead the various components, including Colonel Charles A. Beckwith (Delta Force commander) to be the ground assault commander; Colonel James H. Kyle (USAF MC-130 special operator) to command the fixed wing contingent; and Marine Lieutenant Colonel Edward Seiffert to lead the helicopter force.

It was a very intricate and detailed operation and consisted of the following details:

On the night of D-1, six Air Force C-130s carrying 132 Delta Force operators, Army Rangers, and support personnel and additional helicopter fuel would fly from the island of Masirah, off the coast of Oman, more than 1,000 miles to Desert One.

The Hercules transports were to be refueled in flight from Air Force KC-135 tankers. Eight Navy RH-53Ds (Code named Bluebeards) would lift off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz, about 50 miles south of the Iranian coast, and fly more than 600 miles to Desert One.

After refueling on the ground from the C-130s, the helicopters would carry the rescue force to a hideout in the hills about 50 miles southeast of Tehran., then fly to a separate hiding spot nearby and wait.

The C- 130s (code named Republics) would return to Masirah, being refueled in flight again. The next night, Delta Force would be driven to the United States Embassy in vehicles obtained by agents that were previously placed in-country led by CIA operatives including former Son Tay raider Dick Meadows.

A Ranger element would go to rescue the three American hostages held in the foreign ministry building. As the ground units were freeing the hostages, the helicopters would fly from their hiding spot to the embassy and the foreign ministry building.

Three Air Force AC-130 gunships were tasked to protect the rescue force from any Iranian counterattack and to destroy the three Iranian Air Force fighters located at the Tehran airport. The helicopters with the Rangers, Delta operators, and the hostages would fly the rescue force and the freed hostages to an abandoned air base at Manzariyeh, about 50 miles southwest of Tehran, which was to be seized and protected by a Ranger company flown in on C-130s.

The helicopters would then be destroyed and C-141s, flown in from Saudi Arabia, would then fly the entire group to a base in Egypt.

It was an extremely detailed plan and everything was based on timing and coordination between different units that had never worked together before.

OPSEC for this endeavor was so strict that the individual units assigned to the mission never worked together until the implementation order was given and the mission began. The training for the operation was highly decentralized and although each part of the rescue operation had rehearsed their portion of the mission, the fact that the different elements never worked together was a major factor in mission failure.

There was never a “dress rehearsal” of the mission and many of the issues found by individual components in training resurfaced on the actual mission.

One particular area of concern was the close proximity of the C-130s and the RH-53 choppers in the refueling portion of the operation. And in many instances, the two didn’t work hand-in-hand during training. This would later prove disastrous.

The number of helicopters needed as an absolute minimum was four but it was decided that the raid would not continue without six. Eight aircraft were tasked to the mission.

The Mission, ‘Murphy’s Law Sets In:
The mission began on the night of 24 April after President Carter gave the go-ahead on April 16.

The C-130s took off as planned from Masirah and headed into Iranian airspace for their refueling rendezvous with the helicopter force at Desert One.

At the same time, the helicopter force of eight RH-53Ds lifted off from the deck of the U.S.S. Nimitz heading for the Iranian coast about 50 miles away. This was when a series of events began to go wrong that ultimately doom the mission.

Two hours into the mission, helicopter (Bluebeard) 6 received a warning on its Blade Inspection Method, or BIM system, which indicated a possible impending rotor blade failure. The pilots landed immediately and were picked up by another helicopter. But they abandoned the chopper without the means of destroying it.

The C-130s flew into a sandstorm (haboob) a phenomenon common to the desert in the region. They were able to push on thru with little difficulty. They later hit another denser sandstorm but were unable to contact the helicopter pilots to give them a fair warning because communications were never established between the C-130s and the helicopters.

Bluebeard 5 began experiencing issues with their electrical systems while flying into the dust storm. Many of their navigational and flight instruments began to fail. With no way to ascertain their exact location, Helicopter 5 decided to abort the mission and return to the Nimitz. Later it was deemed that in 20-25 minutes it would have cleared the sandstorm and been able to proceed with the mission. The raiding task force was now down to the bare minimum six helicopters needed to conduct the mission.

The C-130s arrived at Desert One and began to ready refueling operations for the helicopters which were to arrive 20 minutes later. But due to the storm, they were late. Immediately problems arose because Desert One was on either side of a road.

A Ranger team and Delta operators set up security around the site and were immediately compromised. A bus full of Iranian civilians had to be stopped and detained as it was passing through, and a fuel truck was shot and destroyed with a LAW rocket when it refused to stop.

Arriving in ones and twos, all six helicopters were not on the ground at Desert One for an hour and a half. Right after shutting down its engines, Bluebeard 2 suffered a catastrophic failure of its hydraulic system, rendering it useless.

With no means of fixing it at Desert One, this left the team with just five operation helicopters. Could they have gone on with the barebones five? After consulting with Kyle and Seifert, Beckwith correctly decided that the mission would have to be scrubbed.

One thing the task force hadn’t rehearsed was an evacuation at Desert One. This is when the entire operation collapsed.

Disaster at Desert One:
When the decision was made to abandon the mission, one helicopter (Bluebeard 3) had to be moved to allow the C-130s to take off. Once aloft and hovering, the sand from the storm was blinding the Airman directing him and he began stepping backward. The pilot whose only frame of reference was the direction from the man on the ground thought he was drifting backward.

As he inched forward the rotor blades cut into Republic 4 on the ground. The blades ignited fuel and ammunition and created a fireball that incinerated the two aircraft and killed eight of crewmen on both aircraft.

CPT Harold L. Lewis Jr.    USAF EC-130E A/C Commander
CPT Lyn D. McIntosh    USAF EC-130E Pilot
CPT Richard L. Bakke    USAF EC-130E Navigator
CPT Charles McMillian    USAF EC-130E Navigator
TSGT Joel C. Mayo     USAF EC-130E Flight Engineer
SSG Dewey Johnson     USMC RH-53D Crewmember
SGT   John D. Harvey     USMC RH-53D Crewmember
CPL   George N. Holmes    USMC RH-53D Crewmember

Now the remaining operators, Rangers and aircraft crewmen packed into the remaining C-130s for the flight home. They released the Iranian civilians unharmed but in their haste, the helicopters weren’t scrubbed for sensitive data.

The next day on April 25, 1980, President Carter went on television to announce the failure of the raid and to take responsibility for it and not to place blame on anyone.

Aftermath, Lessons Learned:
The Pentagon and the government immediately after the botched attempt began to formulate plans, and procedures to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. The debacle at Desert One helped usher in a far stronger, better trained, and infinitely better coordinated Special Operations Force that we see today.

During hearings with the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Sam Nunn who was the chairman asked Colonel Beckwith first what he learned from the mission failure and what his recommendations were to prevent this from happening again.

Beckwith shot straight from the hip, “If coach Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama put his quarterback in Virginia, his backfield in North Carolina, his offensive line in Georgia and his defense in Texas and then got Delta Airlines to pick them up and fly them to Birmingham on game day, he wouldn’t have his winning teams.”

To prevent future mishaps, he stated, “My recommendation is to put together an organization that would include Delta, the Rangers, the Navy SEALs, Air Force pilots, its own staff, its own support people, its own aircraft and helicopters. Make this organization a permanent military unit. Allocate sufficient funds. And give it sufficient time to recruit, assess, and train its people,”

The issue of Joint Warfighting Doctrine and cooperation was fixed with Goldwater Nichols Act and also the Cohen – Dunn amendment that ushered in the Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in 1987. The first unified command for Special Operations. And the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, ensuring that Special Operations units have the bureaucracy behind them. And SOF units finally got Title 10 authority which gave them the ability to procure weapons and equipment independent of the services budgets.

The Army took the lead in the new doctrine and created the United States Army Special Operations Command which placed an umbrella of troops including Delta, Special Forces, Rangers, Psyops and Civil Affairs units under one organization.

Perhaps the most significant change was the creation of their own aviation element Special Operations Aviation, including the 160^th Aviation Regiment (Nightstalkers).

Some of the tactics that were used in 1980 that were new such as flying blacked-out, landings using night-vision goggles, remotely illuminated landing strips and methods for seizing airfields, as well as satellite communications are all second nature now to special operators.

The Air Force created their own Air Force Special Operations Command, (AFSOC) and created search and rescue units CSAR, combat controllers, Special Operations Air Wings which included AC-130 gunships.

The Navy’s US Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM) consists of Special Boat Units and SEAL Teams including SEAL Team 6 (DEVGRU) who conducted the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

The Marine Corps finally joined SOCOM in October 2005 and created the Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC). The Marine special ops troops have renamed themselves the Raiders after their units of WWII.

While the Iran hostage rescue mission may have ended in failure, it opened the door a much better era for Special Operations Forces today. If the same mission was tasked to them today, there is no doubt, that the chances of success would be much higher.

Cover photo courtesy DOD

USSOCOM Elects Seven New Operators to their Hall of Honor

USSOCOM recently honored seven special operators by inducting them into the USSOCOM Hall of Honor located at MacDill, AFB on April 18^th.

They all received medals from U.S. Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, USSOCOM commander, and Sgt. Maj. Patrick McCauley, USSOCOM command sergeant major. Their respective names may not ring a bell for anyone who isn’t familiar with Special Operations but their bios reveal a veritable “Who’s Who” for the individual services.

The award recognizes individuals who have served with distinction within the special operations forces community. This year’s inductees were U.S. Army Lt. Col. Herbert Avedon, U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Bruce Brandewie, U.S. Army Capt. Wade Y. Ishimoto, U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Harry McCommons, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Michael A. Pelaez, U.S. Army Col. Christopher E. St. John, and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph R. Ulatoski
“There is no better example of valor and professional excellence for today’s SOF than the seven honorees with us today,” said Thomas. “Their actions, spirit and example serve as an inspiration for the seventy thousand of us who serve in United States Special Operations Command and especially the eight thousand who are forward deployed in over eighty countries right now.”
The seven newest inductees will join an elite group of 55 other special operations warriors who have been inducted into the Commando Hall of Honor since its inception in 2010. Past inductees come from all four branches of service and have served in every conflict since World War II.
“It’s very humbling and I am very honored to receive this award,” said Ulatoski. “Receiving this award has made me think back to all of those people I have served with, those are the people who are really responsible for me receiving this award.”

The seven operators or commandos as the headquarters said in their article, have had service spread out from World War II, Korea, Vietnam right up until the present day operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and a hundred places in-between.

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

Photo courtesy USSOCOM

Oldest Merrill’s Marauder MG Milton Pitcher Dies at 100

The oldest surviving member of the famed Merrill’s Marauders has passed away at the age of 100. Major General (retired) Milton Pitcher died on Easter Sunday at his home in Virginia.

During World War II he served as a communications officer in the famed unit during their battles in the Chinese/Burma theater against the Japanese.
Following his service in the China, Burma India Theater, Pilcher served as an assistant signal officer with the Second Army in Tennessee, and in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in the Pentagon until relieved from active duty in 1946. Pilcher served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a USAR School Director and then as a member and later commander of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command located at Georgetown University from 1946 to 1968.
He was in the Executive Office of the President of the United States for 11 years, from 1949 to 1960.
He was promoted to brigadier general in 1966. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, Department of the Army, and promoted to major general in 1968. Pilcher was appointed commander of the 310th Field Army Support Command, Washington, DC in 1972 and served until retirement in 1974.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit, and recognition as a Distinguished Member of the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, and the Civil Affairs Corps Regiment. He received the AUSA award for distinguished service in 1995.

The Marauders, officially known as the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long-range, special operations, jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-East Asian theater of World War II, or China-Burma-India Theater (CBI).

They were famous for the 100 km (62 miles) trek through the mountainous jungle along with Chinese troops to capture Myitkyina airfield before disease brought the unit to its knees. Their distinctive unit crest is now worn by the Ranger Regiment.

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

Photo courtesy DOD

Air Force Combat Controllers the “Under the Radar” Special Operators

When one talks about Special Operations Forces or operators in the US we immediately think of Navy SEALS, Delta Force Operators, Green Berets and MARSOC Raiders but the almost forgotten member of the SOF fraternity are the USAF’s Combat Controllers.

They are usually a part of most of the missions you’ll see the above-mentioned units in, especially the Direct Action missions where close air support is nearby. But these troops do more than just call in the airstrikes, they can provide command and control and direct air traffic in remote areas, setting up airfields, and take an active role in the mission. They’re very versatile, well-trained in HALO, Combat Diver (SCUBA), and fast roping.

Having worked with the men of the scarlet beret, I can attest that they’re excellent troops and don’t get the credit that they deserve. So how do these operators who fly under the radar get trained? Let’s take a look at the two-year training cycle for CCT.

To begin with, this is always one of the Air Force’s most critically under strength career fields. There are only about 500 Combat Controllers on the books so they truly are a minority in the Air Force. Their training consistently washes out close to 80 percent of the men seeking to wear the scarlet beret.

Selection: Their Selection Course is just two weeks but it stresses the candidates to the max and identifies the right ones that will go on to the Combat Controller Operator Course. Some of the events that candidates must pass are push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, a 1.5-mile run, 500-meter swim, 4-mile ruck march, and an obstacle course.

Something the Air Force does to help the candidates prepare for Selection is to send would-be Controllers a 26-week training guide to help them get ready. About half or 50 percent of the candidates fail to meet the standards for Selection

Combat Controller Course: Once successfully passing Selection, the students will move to Keesler AFB, Mississippi for the meat and potatoes portion of their training. It lasts about four months and consists of intense physical training on the beaches with running in soft sand, sprints, firemen’s carries, buddy drags, and burpees to simulate real-world combat scenarios.

The rest of their days in the classroom are spent learning to be air traffic controllers alongside other airmen. The direct different airframes, run tower operations and are certified by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) as air traffic controllers at the end of the course. But for the Combat Controllers, this is just the first step.

Then their off to Ft. Benning, Georgia for the Army’s Jump School. The three-week course gets them ready to leap from aircraft using static line parachutes and infiltrate denied areas by using aircraft.

Survival Training at Fairchild AFB, Washington follows. The two-week basic survival course teaches airmen the rudimentary lessons of surviving in the wilderness in the case of an aircraft crash in a remote area or being cut off from friendly forces.

The controllers then go thru an intense 13-week Combat Control portion of their training at Ft. Bragg/Pope Air Field, North Carolina. Here they get their ground training in. Patrolling, land navigation, demolitions, communications, and fire support are among the myriad of training skills that they will learn and be tested on.

At the successful conclusion of their training at Pope, the airmen will don the scarlet beret and be considered combat controllers. But they still aren’t considered ready for deployment yet.

The airmen have passed the course but before they go out on deployments they must first attend Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The training, which lasts from 12-5 months is intense and puts them in every conceivable condition that they may face in combat. They face different phases of training, ground, water, employment and full mission profile.

The full-mission profile is as close to real combat as the Air Force can replicate in the United States. During this phase of their training, certain controllers will be further tasked with learning HALO training at Ft. Bragg/Yuma, or Combat Diver in Panama City, Florida as additional methods of infiltration.

After all this training, they get sent to one of their operational units. There, the airmen of the CCT are likely to be sent individually to augment a SEAL or Delta Force team, a Special Forces A-team or a Ranger unit that is deployed in harm’s way. The Air Force has awarded seven Air Force Crosses for heroism since the Global War on Terror (GWT) began in 2001. Combat Controllers have been awarded five of them.

Photo courtesy of US Air Force

A Tough Week for Special Forces Illustrates Sacrifice That Are Still Made Daily

This week has been a tough one for our Special Operations Forces. Yesterday we learned of a pitched firefight with ISIS terrorists in Afghanistan that resulted in two soldiers’ deaths and another being wounded. Then later the news was released of a former actor turned Green Beret sergeant in Ft. Lewis, Washington took his own life.

These incidents both illustrate the tough nature of the job and illustrate that the sacrifices made every day by our forces never stop even when they come back from the fighting that is permeating the Third World today.

On Wednesday, the two U.S. troops that were killed and one wounded were taking part in a raid against ISIS in the same area of Afghanistan that the US dropped the MOAB, officially known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast but known as the “Mother of All Bombs. They were partnered with Afghan Security Forces and got into a heavy firefight.

What is known at the present is that both men were seriously wounded and evacuated to a hospital but that both men died en route. The other operator was slightly wounded but his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening and he reportedly remained in the battle.

Their enemies were an offshoot of the terrorist organization also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria called Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or “ISIS-K.”

“The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly, it is not without sacrifice,” said Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and NATO’s Resolute Support mission.

“On behalf of all U.S. forces and our coalition partners, I offer our deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and fellow service members of our fallen comrades,” added Nicholson.

The soldiers’ identities haven’t been released yet pending notice to the families.

The other news released yesterday was Army Special Forces Sergeant Michael Mantenuto died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Ft. Lewis, Washington. In another in a tragic case of suicide, Mantenuto became another statistic in an all-too-familiar pattern of depression taking our soldiers.

Mantenuto was widely known from the 2003 film “Miracle” about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and he portrayed Jack O’Callahan in the film opposite Kurt Russell. He appeared in a couple of other films before enlisting in the Army in 2010.

He went through the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) in 2013 and graduated as a Special Forces Communication Sergeant. He deployed in the US’ war on terrorism, Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against ISIS. He was a K-9 dog handler with the 1^st SFG(A) as well as a communications sergeant.

He was lauded for starting a Youth Hockey Program for kids at Ft. Bragg all while attending the “Q-course” or SFQC. He also started a substance abuse program there. He was 35 at the time of his death and left a wife and two children

Our warriors face so many challenges and dangers in the war on Terrorism. And for many of them, the return home doesn’t necessarily mean an end to the terror and depression that war can cause. The number of veterans committing suicide every day is an astounding 22.

The three deaths this week in the Special Operations community exemplify the sacrifice our warriors make on a daily basis and the dangers that are inherent within our career field. While the units will close ranks and continue the mission, we also won’t forget their sacrifice. Because the cost in human lives is very expensive.

Photo courtesy of DOD