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US Exclusive: SOFREP Interviews ROK/US Navy SEAL Ken Rhee About His Recent Deployment to Ukraine

I think if I had to do it all over again and I got to choose, I’d be Ken Rhee.

He pretty much checks all of the boxes for being a 21st-century badass superhero, except being able to take flight under his own power. And rumor is, he’s working on that one.

Rhee in Ukraine taking a brief break in the action for a photo op. Photo courtesy of Ken Rhee

While preparing for my interview with Ken, I quickly discovered that he’s a massive celebrity in South Korea, where he was born. His YouTube channel, ROKSEAL, has almost 800 thousand followers. In a recent interview with Korea Now, the host described him as “The most famous personality in South Korea.” Damn, I thought, “Who is this guy, and what has he done?”

I was asked to interview him because he recently returned from a deployment to Ukraine with the International Legion.

This is a screenshot from an age-restricted YouTube video. If I had posted the actual video, all you would have seen is a big gray block with the word “age-restricted” on it. I’ll add the link below. Ken is on the left, and his buddy driving the car has a head laceration (don’t worry, it was superficial, he’s fine). They are leaving a building in Ukraine where they were taking accurate artillery fire. Video courtesy of YouTube and ROKSEAL.

If you haven’t already heard of Ken Rhee, I figured I’d start your introduction to him the same way I received mine; through this YouTube video. Go watch the first couple of minutes of it; I’ll wait. Oh, just so you know, it contains some blood and NSFW language; viewer beware. Ken would later tell me that’s the closest he’s been to dying. It was one of those situations where if you were over by where you were taking a piss two minutes ago, you’d be dead now. This footage seems to be straight out of an action movie, but I assure you, it’s quite real. To add to the drama and suspense, their vehicle (obviously not military) broke down while they were under small arms fire. Such was the experience of LT Ken Rhee fighting with the International Legion in Ukraine.

But I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.

Ken was born in South Korea and came to the United States at an early age, where he attended school up to and including graduating from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). He found out during his application to the US Naval Academy that he was not a US citizen. Can you imagine that? One day finding out suddenly that you were not the American you always considered yourself to be? His parents explained to him that since he was born in South Korea and they had never applied for US citizenship for him, he was South Korean.

“Fine,” he thought. He had always wanted to join the Navy; now, he’d be joining the South Korean (the Republic of Korea, or ROK) Navy. In 2007 he did just that, was commissioned as an officer, and became a ROK Navy SEAL. After multiple deployments for the ROK, he had the opportunity to attend BUD/S in the US Navy, where he was a member of class 294. Following BUD/S, he attended SQT and was awarded his trident. To my knowledge, he’s the only man to have ever completed both grueling SEAL programs. A true international badass.

I hope you enjoy reading the SOFREP interview with LT Rhee as much as I did talking with him.

Rhee and his team in Ukraine. Image Credit: LT Ken Rhee

SOFREP: Some of our readers watched your latest video where you were in Ukraine, and the driver of your vehicle had a nasty-looking head laceration. 

LT Rhee: Yeah, he cracked his head open pretty good.

SOFREP: Was he alright?

LT: Rhee: Yeah, he was maybe out of it for maybe two, three weeks. He got surgery, but then he was back in the game after that…so it wasn’t too bad.

SOFREP: They [the readers] wondered how bad that guy was injured; some didn’t realize that superficial head wounds tend to bleed that much. Once he realized he was OK, he wanted a souvenir pic of it. 

LT Rhee: (laughs) I think he was pretty out of it; he had a concussion.

SOFREP: You grew up in the States, right?

LT Rhee: I did. So, I was born in South Korea, but I grew up in the States. Elementary school, Junior High School, High School…all the way to college. I went to VMI, Virginia Military Institute.

SOFREP: I understand that after you graduated, you went back to Korea. 

LT Rhee: After I graduated from VMI, I went back to Korea, joined the Navy, went through officer candidate school (OCS), got commissioned, and became a Korean SEAL. Then I did a couple of deployments in Somalia. Then after these deployments, I had an opportunity to go to US SEAL training…US BUD/S…I applied for that and did that. I think it was about two weeks before graduation, the commander of BCT at the time, he came up to me and said I was hand-selected for SQT, which is SEAL Qualification Training. So I actually got to go through the entire SEAL pipeline. BUD/S, the junior officer training course, and SQT. It was pretty much a two-year pipeline…I got pinned, then I came back to Korea.

SOFREP: So you were actually a member of the US military and Korean military concurrently? 

LT Rhee: Yeah, in a way. So I got to go through Korean SEAL training and US SEAL training. So, I have two tridents.

SOFREP: You’re probably the only one. I’m not aware of anyone else who’s done that. 

LT Rhee: Yeah, I believe that I’m the only foreign officer that was able to able to go to SQT, not just the only foreign officer, but the only foreigner, enlisted or officer, I was the only one who was able to go to SQT.

SOFREP: Did you ever deploy with the US SEALS? 

LT Rhee: No… uh, actually, in a way, I did in Ukraine because there were a few team guys there…US team guys.

SOFREP: I remember hearing in the interview after the combat footage on the YouTube video that your government, the South Korean government, wasn’t letting people go to Ukraine. 

LT: Rhee: That’s correct; it’s against the law to go to Ukraine.

SOFREP: Has anyone come after you for that once you got back? 

LT Rhee: (smiles) Oh, yeah, I had 15 cops waiting for me. So, we landed and were taxiing to the door. Before the door opened, there was an announcement that everyone on the plane had to stay seated; no one could get up. Once the door opened, all these dudes started pouring into the plane. They came up to my seat, showed me their badge, and said, “It’s time to go.”  I counted them and thought, “you sent 15 suits after me; I wasn’t going to make a run for it.” (laughing). But they didn’t put handcuffs on me. They questioned me and told me that because we still have COVID restrictions in Korea, I’d have to be self-isolated for a week, and I would get my investigation after that.

SOFREP: And you had a torn ACL at the time, so you really weren’t going anywhere. How’s that doing now?

LT Rhee: I was first diagnosed at the Ukrainian military hospital, and they said it was ACL tears and I got checked in Korea when I got back, and my Korean doctors are saying that I tore my meniscus…in both of my knees. So, I’m going to go through surgery in mid-July, and fortunately, it’s not going to be a very big surgery; they’re 100% that I’ll get better, back to my feet within a few months. That was ultimately the reason I ended up leaving the country and coming back to Korea.

SOFREP: How was the medical care you received in Ukraine? 

LT Rhee:  In Ukraine, especially on the front lines, there aren’t any adequate hospitals. Even on operations, there’s pretty much no MEDEVAC or CASEVAC plan…so, medically, it’s really tough out there. The biggest military hospital would be in Kyiv; even in that hospital, I noticed that their operating rooms aren’t very sanitary because there are so many operations being conducted there. Obviously, they’ve been overloaded because of the war. It’s a tough situation.

SOFREP: So, how long were you in country? 

LT Rhee: I was in country for approximately three months.

SOFREP: Do you plan on going back after your knee rehab? 

LT Rhee: Yeah, that’s the plan. After my whole situation in Korea, I’m not sure how that’s going to work. I’m going to try to request permission now that we have a new President and a new administration…the atmosphere is a lot different now. We’ll see. I can’t be certain for now, but personally, yes, I’d like to go back. I have my teammates…I talked to one of them today; he’s a former agency guy and a former Green Beret, and he’s like, “you need to come back out here, you know,” and I’m like, yeah, man, I miss it. (smiling broadly) I do want to go back. So, we’ll see what happens.

SOFREP: From our end, we’re hearing that the Russians are pretty jacked up, there are morale issues, resupply issues, and troops are abandoning their posts and refusing to go back. Nothing seems to be happening to them as a result. Have you seen this? 

LT Rhee:  Well, morale is definitely bad, and I saw that first hand. I’ve worked with the Ukrainian Navy SEALS, the 73rd Center, and on the last operation where we were working together, they caught a few Russians. And what Russians are telling us, the prisoners, they were saying that a lot of them are deserting and there’s a full-scale operation with the Russians trying to find their own deserters (laughs) So, that’s how bad it is. In terms of equipment and weapons, they definitely have good weapons out there, but they also have the sh*tty side as well. Because Russia is so big, and their military is so huge, you’ll see both sides.

I remember being told before going to Ukraine people were telling me, “Oh, their training isn’t very good, their technology sucks,” and whatever, but when I got there, I’ve seen some good fighters. I’ve s en some good planning on their part as well, and I saw the part they weren’t very good at. But, for the most part, I think their strategy has definitely changed after losing Kyiv, Bucha, and Irpin. So, they definitely brought in new officers to change up their strategy, to change up their tactics…and it’s getting tough now.

SOFREP: Why do you think they have retreated to the eastern part of the country to regroup instead of trying to take everything at once? 

LT Rhee: Yeah, they realized it was just too tough…they did a lot of cowboy sh*t at the beginning of the war, and they got all the way to the outskirts of Kyiv and were almost successful at it, too; that’s the scary thing. But I think they realized that the Ukrainian fighting spirit it’s strong. So the  thought, “We can’t do this; we’re just stretched too thin.” So they pulled back, concentrated most of their forces in the east, and in the south, near the Black Sea, and they definitely changed up their strategies because they were taking a lot of losses.

On the Ukrainian side, especially the US…the international community, they’re coming together…they’re helping the war effort. You’ve got the International Legion like I was part of; you have advisors like me going in there and working with the Ukrainian Special Forces. So, I think it’s really pissing off the Russians. But I  don’t believe the Russians will be successful in taking over the country, that’s for sure. I think they’re going to have a tough time even gaining more ground…but we’ll see. What I m worried about is that people are starting to forget about what is going on right now…the war is dragging out; it’s going on for a while, and people are not interested in the war anymore, which could result in the international community not helping as much. But, at the same time, the Ukrainians, they are losing soldiers. They have about 200 soldiers dying each day, so if their numbers are going down and people are not interested in the war, then that might be catastrophic in the future.

So, I’m what I’m trying to do out here in Korea is let people know that there’s still a lot of fighting going on. Ukrainians, they still need all the help they can get. The international community needs to support the war effort, so that’s one of the things I’m trying to do.

SOFREP: Do you think the international aid is being put to good use? All the weaponry that has been sent? 

LT Rhee: Oh, yeah. It’s helping tremendously. My unit got to use the Javelins that were sent over. I know the howitzers they were coming over as I was doing my last operation, and they’re helping a lot. I mean, it’s actually changing the tide of the war. So, I  hope that they continue to go to Ukraine, and it’s not just the Javelins or the howitzers…I know switchblades went in as well. I was just talking to my former teammates who utilizes switchblades very well, and they were able to get a lot of good kills with them.

So hopefully that kind of support…you know the humanitarian support is very important as well, the water, the food, the MREs and all that stuff, but the main [thing] would be the weapons, and I hope that doesn’t stop, especially from the US because they can’t send troops over officially, so, what can they do? Continue with the arms. That’s gonna really change the tide of war.

I’m really grateful to the US as well; most of the International Legion are Americans most of my teammates were Americans, so the US definitely has a foothold in Ukraine; it’s pretty crazy. I think most of the Legionnaires are American or British.

SOFREP: We really don’t hear a lot in the mainstream media about individual US citizens getting involved in the fighting. You’ll hear about the occasional SF guy taking early retirement, and then a few weeks later, he is on a plane to Ukraine, but that’s about it. 

LT Rhee: Oh, yeah, there are guys like that. You’ve got a whole bunch of guys. You’ve got guys from the 75th Ranger Regiment, from the SF Groups, from the SEAL teams, from JSOC, from the Agency…It’s the same with the British side as well, SAS guys, paratroopers, good bunch of guys.

LT Rhee’s team taking out some bad guys. Image Credit: LT Ken Rhee

Everyone here at SOFREP thanks LT Rhee for taking the time to talk with us about his experiences in Ukraine. We wish him the best with this surgery and hope that he realizes his wish to get back out there in the action again.

You can keep track of him on his Instagram account here.

The Al-Qurayshi Raid In Syria, What We Know So Far

The planning for this raid would have begun months ago, most likely involving signal intelligence, a fancy word for tracking the target’s use of cell phones by him or known associates.  From there the noose would tighten in terms of his exact location.  Once that was worked out to a reasonable approximation, assets on the ground would then do the leg work of surveilling the location to assure the target was present there.

The intelligence gathered would include knowing how many persons lived there, their comings and goings and who visited the compound and where they went afterward.   Photos and video from every angle would be taken and operatives would even go as far as walking past the building or attempting some ruse to gain entry to determine the layout, like a city worker checking for a gas leak or other inspection of some kind.

ISIS leaders know the U.S. is looking for them so they go to great lengths to keep their locations concealed, like bin Laden did, they often take up residence in plain sight hoping to blend in with the local population.  Theirs is an existence not unlike being in a prison of their own making, living in near-complete isolation from the outside world.  Al-Qurayshi was said to never leave the inside of his residence on the third floor except to bathe.

From there, a model would be built of the compound including the surrounding buildings in several scales to plan the method of approach and assault.  A realistic mockup in full size would also be made to allow the operators to practice assaulting the building over and over until they know its layout is cold.

Current reports state the attack began at approximately 0100hrs with the arrival of some 50 helicopters(We don’t believe this number is accurate at all, there aren’t that many in the theater) from a base said to be in the region.  Since the location of the village is only about 20 minutes from the border with Turkey and the administration stated that it deconflicted with several nations before the raid we imagine the raid may have begun from Turkey, or U.S. forces egressed to Turkey after the raid or perhaps both.

Before the raid witnesses claim to have heard a loudspeaker telling inhabitants of the target house to evacuate any women or children and surrender.  Witnesses stated that a family exited from the ground floor. Upon landing the raiding force engaged in what was said to be an hours-long gun battle with those inside the second and third stories and with members of a militant group that heard the battle and tried to intervene in some manner with two of them being killed.

The DoD claims that during the fight, Al-Qurayshi detonated an explosive vest or belt inside the third story killing himself and his wife and two children. Photos taken by a photographer for Getty of the building itself seem to support these claims as the debris is blown outward, the lower floors are not collapsed and there is an apparent lack of fire damage that would accompany a strike by a missile or bomb from an aircraft.

(Photo by Izzeddin Kasim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

During the raid, one of the helicopters suffered a mechanical malfunction and was diverted to a landing area safely. It was destroyed on the ground by the raiding force.  Pictures of the destroyed aircraft identify it as a UH-60 Blackhawk in common use and not the kind of special helicopter used in the Bin Laden raid in Pakistan.

Generally, raids like these do not last two to three hours, but the downed helicopter would have added to this time.

About 150 yards from the main house was a garage building that was hosed down with a heavy weapon of 30mm caliber by our estimation.  This suggests the presence of at least one Apache attack helicopter.  This building may have contained vehicles that the targets might have used to escape in. They appear to have entered the aluminum rolling doors of the building at a flat angle which points away from them being fired by an Ac-130H gunship orbiting over the raiding force.

 

We looked at Flight Tracker and found what appears to be the air support for the raid. We believe the tracks show a least one drone in orbit over the area and perhaps four F-16s flying close air support for the mission.  They are stacked between 20,000 and 22,000 feet.

Speculation abounds over which Special Operations Unit conducted the raid or whether it was done by an elite unit belonging to a foreign country like Iraq’s CTF or the Jordanians.  We believe that if any coalition forces had been part of the raid President Biden would have given them due credit in his announcement.  SEAL Team Six is unlikely because they generally operated in Afghanistan while CAG or Delta Force has Syria as their bowl of falafel when it comes to special operations directed at high-value targets. Given the location of the raid and a few other markers, we estimate that CAG or Delta Force conducted this very successful raid.

The fact that this raid occurred in a country wracked by civil war with various Islamist militant groups all vying for control and the urban environment that the raid took place in, killing the target without any fatalities reflects very highly on the people who planned and executed the mission.

Well done.

ISIS Leader al-Qurayshi killed in US Special Forces Operation in Syria

US President Joe Biden confirms that US Special Operations forces under US Central Command have killed ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, during a counterterrorism mission in Idlib, northwest Syria. The terrorist, also known as Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, took over the terrorist organization in 2019 after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in an operation conducted by the US Army’s Delta Force in Syria. He was said to have killed himself with a bomb when the US Forces were closing in on his house.

This report comes after ISIS has been trying to rebuild itself by trying to attack and control a prison in northeast Syria in an attempt to release over 3,000 ISIS incarcerated members, including high-ranking officials. Ten days of gunfire ensued between the ISIS fighters and the US-backed Kurdish forces resulting in a win for the Kurds. However, 120 Kurdish fighters were killed, and 374 ISIS fighters perished during the assault.

US intelligence pointed toward a two-story house in western Syria was the hideout of al-Qurayshi, a town near the border of Turkey. Reports have shown that the hideout’s top floor was destroyed, with the ground floor also partially collapsing. Blood could be seen on the remaining structure after the raid was conducted.

It was reported that no US military personnel was killed during the raid. However, Syrian news outlets are claiming that 13 were killed, including four children and two women, quoting members of the Syrian Civil Defense called the White Helmets. US personnel had warned the people within the house before firing. A resident witnessed a man speaking Arabic talking through a megaphone saying women and children should evacuate the area.

The building was said to be occupied by several individuals, apart from al-Qurayshi, who were also suspected to be ISIS members. It was said that a widow and her son lived on the 3rd floor, while the widow’s brother lived on the second floor with his wife and children. They were killed during the raid, with the third floor being destroyed.

A report from ABC News confirms that civilian casualties were not from US forces. The explosion that killed said civilians came from an explosive device in the control of the targets, which would signify a malfunction with the explosive or a suicide attempt upon knowing the US forces were closing in.

Reports have also surfaced that a US helicopter used in the mission had broken down during the execution of the raid and was said to be mechanically unrepairable during that time. US Special Forces blew up the aircraft on the ground.

President Joe Biden, who was observing the raid with Vice President Kamala Harris in the situation room, was said to be very pleased about the result of the raid. The success of the assault is also impressive as the Idlib province is known to be a haven for extremists and was hard to execute missions in. The killing of al-Qurayshi in Atmeh has effectively decapitated ISIS until a successor is named.

DELTA Force Doc – Can You Save The Hand?

He ought to be screaming in pain

After two years of working at Fort Bragg, NC, as a Clinic Director, I was approached by the secret DELTA Force organization. They asked me to apply for the job of the unit’s Command Surgeon. “Surgeon” is a military title given to physicians of any specialty when assigned to a medical command and staff position in the military. As a family physician, I was invited to become the senior medical advisor to the commander.

I was recruited in part because of my past special operations experience as a Navy SEAL. I accepted the position and reported to the Deputy Commander’s office for my initial brief.
“Doc,” pronounced the intent colonel. “I’ve done the job of every officer on my staff, except yours. I can never do your job, but I consider it essential to our command’s success. I want you to provide the best medical care in the military to my staff and their families. I’ll expect you to ask for what you need to accomplish this, and when you ask me, I will approve it every time. I’m not qualified to argue with you, so if you say we need it, you’ll get it.”

That promise was never broken. Our clinic building was expanded and renamed in honor of unit medics killed in combat. Then we opened the doors to family members. We added a dental clinic, provided obstetrics care, and began delivering the children of unit moms. I delivered forty-four babies for these families. When I return now for reunion gatherings, there is always a mom or dad that regales me with stories of their children that I delivered. Good times.

Challenging patients frequently presented themselves because of the constant training with live weapons, explosive ordinance, parachuting, and aviation operations.
“Eagle down,” came the message to my secure phone. “There has been an accident in the field with an explosive injury to a hand. He’s en route to the hospital now,” finished the voice on my secure phone.
“Roger that. I’m on my way. Give me his name, please.” The name was passed, and as many times before, I drove above the speed limit to the emergency room. I arrived soon after the casualty did and was met by the nurse, who expected me.
“Hello, Doctor Adams,” she breathed. “Your patient is in room three. He may have lost his hand.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “How is he doing?”

“Sir, I have to be honest with you. He ought to be screaming in pain. His hand is almost completely gone! But he is just looking at it, while we clean it, and asking if we can save it. Who is this man?” She finished in awe.
He’s the definition of someone special. “He’s made of different stuff,” I replied.

When I got to the room, he was looking at his hand. Most of the soft tissue was gone. The bones of his fingers were mostly there, but he could not move them. There were burned edges of flesh visible down to the wrist area. I had been briefed en route, by the medic on the scene, that the squad was conducting simulated combat building clearance operations. He had pulled the pin on a flash-bang grenade to throw forward. Instead of the standard three-second delay, it had detonated instantly in his hand. A flashbang grenade produces a brilliant, eye-blinding flash of light and heat, with a loud explosive noise, but does not produce shrapnel. It is used to disorient attackers before entering a room.
The orthopedic hand surgeon arrived almost immediately after we called him. He took a careful look and directed us to move to the operating room. He would be better able to determine the extent of the injury with the patient under anesthesia. Our patient insisted on a local nerve block so he could listen and watch.  Who were these men, and where do we get them?
A few months later, after they had fitted him with a new functional artificial hand, he came to me and requested to be medically cleared to freefall parachute again.

Breach! Photo; SOFREP

Where do these men come from?

The next week the same orthopedic medical team was back in the operating room. During building assault training, a rope rappelling rig had failed, and my new patient had slid down a four-story building. He had landed feet first onto the ground and performed the best parachute landing fall he could. His feet took the brunt of the fall, absorbing the impact of full body weight, weapon, and backpack. He had broken almost every bone in his two feet. We were passing stainless steel wires from the tip of each toe back towards the heel as we manually pushed bone fragments back in line.

“Bob, I hate to hang black crepe here,” stated the concerned surgeon. “These wires pass through the smooth cartilage of every joint in his toes and feet, and this creates a type of joint arthritis that will probably make it impossible to run again. Walking will be painful for a long time.”

“Thanks, Kurt,” I replied, concerned. “I’ll let the boss know.”
That afternoon, after seeing our patient tucked in and stable, I went back to the unit and passed the same prognostic information to the commander.
“Really, Doc?” he responded. “I know you’re telling me what the book says, but I’ll suggest something different. He’ll be running in six months,” he predicted, smiling.

“You just don’t know yet what these men are made of,” he concluded.
Six months later, I watched him run by the clinic and wave.

 

Dr. Bob Adams is a graduate of the Naval Academy and then BUDs and becoming a Navy SEAL.  Then, off to medical school to become a physician as a civilian again.  Bob joined the Army as a doctor and became the Delta Force Command Surgeon.  He retired as a Colonel in the Army.   Doctor Bob has written several books, including, Sword and Saints and an autobiography of his time in both the Navy and the Army.

Gary Beikirch, Green Beret, Medal of Honor, Dies of Cancer at 74 

Green Beret and Medal of Honor recipient Gary Beikirch has died. He was 74 years old.

His daughter Stephanie announced Beikirch died shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Special Operations community has lost two of its heroes over the Christmas weekend. SEAL Team Six’s first commander Richard ‘Dick’ Marcinko, passed away on Christmas evening at 81.

The National Medal of Honor Museum released a statement on Beikirch’s passing.

“Gary was a true American hero. He displayed extraordinary courage on the battlefields of Vietnam and dedicated his life to encouraging and inspiring generations of Americans. As a counselor and man of deep faith, Gary touched and changed thousands of lives. The impact of his uplifting influence will be felt for years to come as his goodness lives on in those who know him. We offer our deepest sympathies to his family as they, together with America and the Medal of Honor community, grieve an amazing man.”

Beikirch with President Nixon and his mom at the MOH ceremony. US Army photo

On April 1, 1970, Beikirch showed incredible bravery during an attack on his Dak Seang A-Camp. He was exposing himself repeatedly to enemy fire to treat wounded comrades, despite his own serious wounds that President Nixon eventually awarded him the Medal of Honor. But his wartime service would haunt him upon returning home to the United States.

Beikirch was born on August 29, 1947, in Rochester, New York. After successfully completing two years of college, he withdrew from school to enlist in the Army to become a Special Forces trooper and go to Vietnam.

In August of 1967, he attended and successfully completed Basic and Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Dix, NJ. That was followed by the Airborne Course at Ft. Benning, Ga. Beikirch then attended the Special Forces Qualification Course at Ft. Bragg, NC. After that, he completed the Special Forces Medical Sergeant Course and was shipped to Vietnam.

Beikirch deployed to Kontum Province, Vietnam, in July 1969. During his deployment, he was the medic for Detachment B-24 of the 5th Special Forces Group, assigned to the remote Montagnard village of Dak Seang in the central highlands of Vietnam. The camp was very remote, about 3 miles from the Laos border.

Beikirch, in an interview later, said that due to his affinity to the Montagnard people, he “went native,” living with the mountain people, and went days at a time without speaking any English. The SF A-Team with 12 men had about 500 Montagnard “strikers” who the Green Berets trained. The remainder of about 2300 personnel in the camp were civilians, mostly families of the men who were being trained and led by the Americans.

It was a strategy that worked well for the Americans Special Forces A-Teams. The Montagnard strikers fought much harder when their families were inside the isolated A-camps.

Beikirch in an official Army portrait. US Army photo

On April 1, 1970, three regiments of North Vietnamese troops numbering 10,000 began shelling Camp Dak Seang, intent on taking the camp. The North Vietnamese artillery pounded the camp, and Beikirch was wounded when shrapnel from a 122 mm rocket bruised his spinal column, he could not stand or walk.

The NVA artillery rounds hitting the camp had caused several casualties among the camp’s defenders. Unable to move on his own, Beikirch had his two Montagnard medical assistants carry him around the camp under heavy, intense fire to treat the wounded American and Vietnamese defenders.

Beikirch, with complete disregard for his own safety, moved out into the open while everyone else around him was ducking and hiding from the artillery. The “Bac-Si,” or doc as the tribesman called him, went down to the aid station where he assisted the other American medic until he collapsed.

Coming to, he urged the medic to help him up, where his Montagnard medics carried him from place to place in the compound. He then would help them get to the aid station. His love for and loyalty to his Montagnard partners was reciprocated. One of his tribesmen medics,  Dao, covered Beikirch with his own body at one point during the shelling getting killed in the process. He was just 15 years old.

Beikirch again refused treatment and continued searching for other casualties until he collapsed again. He said the last thing he remembered was the sight of a helicopter coming in. “And then I remember these hands, picking me up and throwing me into the chopper,” he said. The medics onboard the helicopter immediately stuck IVs in Beikirch, telling him he would be okay.

He was taken to Pleiku, then to Japan, and then finally to the Valley Forge Medical Center, where he remained for six months, recovering from his injuries. He exited the army and went back to college, majoring in pre-med after his experience, but the country wasn’t a great place for Vietnam veterans, especially the college campuses.

Spat on and called a baby killer, Beikirch had enough. He took off for the White Mountains in New Hampshire. His hair grew long, halfway down his back. He was living in a cave on Mount Washington as a hermit when he came down into town for supplies. He was told to wait for a call that evening.

“Is this Gary Beikirch who served with the 5th Special Forces in Vietnam?” the person asked. When Beikirch said that it was, he was told that he was being awarded the Medal of Honor. “It was things I was trying to forget,” he said. “It all came back.”

For his gallantry during the battle of Dak Seang, President Nixon awarded Sgt. Beikirch the Medal of Honor in 1973. He didn’t go out to celebrate that night. He stayed in his hotel room. The feelings of unworthiness and the horror of war flooded back to him. For many years, Beikirch didn’t participate in many of the other events that veterans and other Medal of Honor recipients participated in.

Beikirch in later years conducting an interview with the American Legion. YouTube photo

But as time passed, he became more at peace with it and frequently said that the Medal isn’t about him or anything that he did but represents men and women who value something so strongly that they are willing to die for it and be willing to defend our country for it. He became a counselor and helped thousands of others in his later life. 

It is, he said, a valuing of something greater than self.

Beikirch’s other awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star Medal; Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart Medal with one oak leaf cluster; Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Vietnam Campaign Medal; Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with silver star; Combat Medic Badge; Parachutist Badge; and Vietnamese jump wings.

Medal of Honor Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Sgt. Beikirch, medical aidman, Detachment B-24, Company B, distinguished himself during the defense of Camp Dak Seang.

The allied defenders suffered a number of casualties as a result of an intense, devastating attack launched by the enemy from well-concealed positions surrounding the camp. Sgt. Beikirch, with complete disregard for his personal safety, moved unhesitatingly through the withering enemy fire to his fallen comrades, applied first aid to their wounds, and assisted them to the medical aid station.

When informed that a seriously injured American officer was lying in an exposed position, Sgt. Beikirch ran immediately through the hail of fire. Although he was wounded seriously by fragments from an exploding enemy mortar shell, Sgt. Beikirch carried the officer to a medical aid station. Ignoring his own serious injuries, Sgt. Beikirch left the relative safety of the medical bunker to search for and evacuate other men who had been injured. He was again wounded as he dragged a critically injured Vietnamese soldier to the medical bunker while simultaneously applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to sustain his life.

Sgt. Beikirch again refused treatment and continued his search for other casualties until he collapsed. Only then did he permit himself to be treated. Sgt. Beikirch’s complete devotion to the welfare of his comrades, at the risk of his life, is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit on him, his unit, and the US Army.

Beikirch’s interview with the Medal of Honor Society can be seen here:

Mike Wimmer: The Real Tony Stark Working For Special Operations?

In an age of rapidly changing technology, where tech becomes obsolete almost as soon as it hits the shelves, staying on top of the wave is the only way to keep from being rolled over. Mike Wimmer is doing a good job of riding that wave.

Mike Wimmer is an American entrepreneur. He has some exciting ideas on artificial intelligence the US government is interested in. His achievements include being Valedictorian at his high school graduation, starting two tech companies, having membership in Mensa, Congressional briefings, and being coined by the United States Special Operations Command’s (USSOCOM) directorate of science and technology. Did I mention he’s 13 years old?

Mike Wimmer, Entrepreneur. (Photo from nexterainnovations.com)

Real (Young) Genius

About the same age you and I were learning not to finger paint with the contents of our diapers, Mike was learning trigonometry. While we were playing with Hot Wheels cars, Mike was too, developing computer algorithms to recognize his Hot Wheels. At the same age, I was standing against the wall, too nervous to ask a girl to dance at Homecoming; Mike was signing contracts with USSOCOM. Where did I go wrong?

Oh, wait, I didn’t. I spent long years reaching this point, where I could tell you about Mike Wimmer, the cool things he is doing, and how expertise like his is how the US military is stepping into the new millennium. We each have our roles in this life. Mike’s role is different than mine. Or yours. Or most everyone else.

Global Shift to Technological Warfare

In recent articles, the SOFREP team has brought you more information about the future of artificial intelligence in warfare. Technological leaps in global warfare have brought China to the top of the news cycle. Russian hackers appear to have access to nearly every network on the planet (and beyond). Every military branch and office within the US government has a cyber operations division. Globally connected systems are here to stay.

Real-time cyber attacks, including information on the attack’s origin, type, and target, as well as the attacker’s IP address, geographic location, and ports being utilized, are displayed on the Norse attack map on the 275th Cyberspace Squadron’s operations floor, known as the Hunter’s Den. The squadron is one of four squadrons compromising the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group of the Maryland Air National Guard at Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Md., Dec. 2, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.)

That is what makes people like Mike Wimmer so important in the future of the US. Wimmer seems to innately understand how systems work, how to get the most from them, and how to tweak them to get new results.

DEFENSEWERX and SOFWERX

Wimmer is a participant in USSOCOM’s SOFWERX events. SOFWERX is a collaborative effort between USSOCOM and DEFENSEWERX, a “facilitator” between the DoD and private firms. DEFENSEWERX acts as an intermediary, taking the needs of the government and linking them with companies that are most likely to deliver or at least rise to the challenge. SOFWERX is the Special Operations-driven platform for DEFENSEWERX.

Mike has been invited to attend numerous SOFWERX events in the last few years, along with engineers and programmers from around the country. These events are in the same spirit as the Wright Brothers or the Mercury Space program. Many intelligent people from disparate backgrounds come together to “throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.” The idea is to gather perspectives from numerous viewpoints, looking for ways to use what we already have in innovative ways.

“Playing War”

Participants are given a scenario concerning planned operations (simulated), broken into groups, and told to brainstorm ideas on how to proceed. Limitations are set regarding communications availability, clandestine vs. overt, and the like. Then, free reign. What can intelligent people from all walks of life, skill sets, and areas of expertise come up with to defeat the scenario? Once a way forward is decided on, each team decides on one idea to pitch to SOCOM leadership. If accepted, some of these ideas will proceed to prototype and possible deployment in real-world scenarios.

Ryan Lynch, a SOFWERX special operations forces technician from the Mobile Technology Repair Complex, mills a metal plate at the SOFWERX Foundry in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 6, 2018. In addition to custom equipment fabrication, the foundry supports service members through prototyping and repair. SOFWERX is an open collaboration facility successfully bringing hundreds of non-traditional partners together to work on some of the U.S. Special Operations Command’s most challenging problems. (Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Barry Loo)

Mike Wimmer is familiar with most aspects of SOFWERX. He has been part of multiple Innovation Foundry projects, invited to (and coined at) Rapid Prototyping events, and recently attended an Artificial Intelligence in Small Unit Maneuvers (AISUM) tech gathering. He briefed on ideas for an AI-driven natural language translator for use in hostile or denied environments. Apparently, USSOCOM likes what he has to say. Wimmer was coined by the directorate of science and technology not once but twice, once in 2019 and again in 2020.

Superheroes Are Real

Mike has been called “The Real Tony Stark,” and it’s easy to understand why. Not only is he involved in future warfare, but he is also actively involved in robotics, artificial intelligence applications, and the internet of things (IoT). IoT is the increasing number of peripherals and mobile devices populating many desks and pockets that interact with the internet. Mike’s start-up Reflect Social looks for ways to combine our interaction with social media platforms across the IoT, making it easier for individuals to stay connected.

With the growth of cyber-warfare, integrated artificial intelligence, and our increasing connectivity, innovations from people like Mike Wimmer are the future of warfare. If a 13-year-old can see a different, better way to operate, sign him up.

US Shoots Down Iranian Drone Flying Over Base In Southern Syria: Will The US Retaliate?

The U.S. military intercepted and shot down a small drone that was believed to be threatening a U.S. base in southern Syria Tuesday, just weeks after the same base was attacked by drones and rocket fire. It is believed to have been launched by Iranian proxy militias in the region. 

Capt. Bill Urban, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that two drones or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were tracked entering the airspace around Al-Tanf Garrison on Tuesday evening. “As one of the UAS continued its course deeper into the Al-Tanf Deconfliction Zone, it was assessed as demonstrating hostile intent and was shot down,” Urban said.

The drone was taken down by an air-to-air defense system. The second small drone turned and left the area. No casualties or damage to the facilities were reported. 

The al-Tanf base is in a strategic area near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders that includes the strategic M2 highway that enables Iranian-backed militias to travel all the way from Tehran to southern Lebanon. The U.S. troops at the base train Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight against ISIS fighters in the region.

Now the question remains, will the U.S. respond to this latest threat to U.S. troops and facilities in the region, or will there be more of the threats of retaliation with little action taken? 

Iranian drone during an army exercise dubbed ‘Zulfiqar 1400’, in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman, Iran, in November. Iranian military photo-release

This is the second attack in weeks at al-Tanf. In an October 20 attack, five so-called “suicide drones” attacked the base, followed by rocket fire that damaged facilities at the base but resulted in no casualties among the U.S. troops. Thanks to a timely warning by Israeli intelligence, American troops were able to take cover, a big reason why there were no casualties. 

In that attack, the five drones crashed into the base. However, only two of the drones carrying a mixture of high explosives, shrapnel, and ball bearings exploded. The other three drones were examined and identified as being made in Iran. There was no doubt regardless of who was behind the attack when Iran proclaimed the attack as “a major success” and threatened more attacks would follow. 

The Iranian government denied any involvement, claiming that there was no proof of Iranian involvement. However, a site run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the strike was a response to the U.S. allowing Israeli attacks on “resistance” forces in eastern Syria. Militia commanders, it said, concluded that they “must pull the teeth of the snake.”

American officials were reluctant to disclose further details of the attack. The Pentagon carefully worded the report as to not specifically accuse Iran, which may be due in part to politics. Direct accusations against Iran could derail talks to restart The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal with Iran, which the Biden administration has made a priority. 

After the October 20 attack, Captain Urban characterized it as “coordinated and deliberate” and threatened that the U.S. would respond “at a time and place of our choosing.” Now, nearly two months later, more threatening actions have occurred, and U.S. lives were at risk.

Damage to U.S. al-Tanf base in Syria after drone/rocket attack on October 20. Aurora Intel photo

American officials told the New York Times a month ago that Iran attacked al-Tanf as a result of Israeli missile attacks on weapons warehouses in Syria but was reluctant to attack Israel for fear of retaliation. So, they did the next best thing —  conduct a drone and rocket strike against the Americans. That is the part of the situation that Washington needs to examine much more closely.  

The Iranian proxy militias, now calling themselves the “Allies of Syria,” were reluctant to respond to Israel directly. They knew that the Israeli response would come quickly and be massive. That is what deterrence is all about. So they attacked an American base. Why? Because they didn’t fear any retaliation because the current administration is dead set on getting the JCPOA reinstated, even though Iran has long since exceeded the nuclear limits set by the agreement. 

That isn’t deterrence but shows what adversaries perceive as weakness. And that perceived weakness can result in more attacks on U.S. bases and personnel. Washington ignored the October 20 attack to entice Iran back to the negotiating table. This latest air incursion on al-Tanf will only embolden our adversaries further. 

After the chaotic and horribly conducted withdrawal from Afghanistan, the U.S. resolve has been called into question. And this is just another test of the American resolve or lack of it. 

“Operation Greif” German Special Operation During the Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944, when two Panzer armies, comprising most of the German armored reserve, crashed into a lightly defended sector of the American lines in the Ardennes Forest. 

The overly ambitious plan by Adolf Hitler was to split the American and British armies in two and race to the port of Antwerp. Hitler’s generals knew the plan had zero chance of ever succeeding. While the Germans made big gains in the opening days, punching a “bulge” deep into the American lines, tremendous resistance at the Elsenborn Ridge in the north and Bastogne in the south slowed the advance to a crawl. 

One of the other ambitious parts of the German plan was “Operation Greif.” It is a German special operation designed to seize bridges over the Meuse River, destroy American ammunition and fuel dumps, and reroute Allied units by having German soldiers posing as American troops while wearing American uniforms.

Operation Greif was commanded by SS Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Otto Skorzeny, who was already known as “the most dangerous man in Europe.” The actual accomplishments of Operation Greif were few. However, the panic that Skorzeny caused among the Allies on the Western Front was vast and continued for several months afterward. 

Skorzeny – The Ultimate Nazi Special Operator: 

Otto Skorzeny was born in Vienna in 1908. He lived in a lower-middle-class family in Austria, although his forebears originally came from Poland. While pursuing an engineering degree, Skorzeny developed a fearsome reputation in the dueling societies that gave him the characteristic scar on his cheek. He fought in at least 15 duels. 

In 1938, during the German unification with Austria, Skorzeny came across Nazi roughnecks trying to kill Austrian President Miklas. He stopped them, and soon word spread in Germany about the 6’4 Austrian who possessed the makings of a fighter that they could rely on. 

When war broke out in 1939, Skorzeny joined the Waffen SS and fought with distinction on the Eastern Front after the invasion of the Soviet Union. He was wounded in the head by shrapnel and sent to Berlin to recuperate and became a staff officer. 

While there, he worked on concepts to create a German unconventional commando unit. He led the training and was named the commander of the unit. In 1943, he led the daring commando raid in Italy at the Campo Imperatore Hotel, a ski resort at Campo Imperatore in Italy’s Gran Sasso massif, high in the Apennine Mountains. His mission was to rescue Benito Mussolini, who had been deposed and held prisoner. 

Skorzeny’s men landed by glider in a dangerous move on top of the mountain and captured all 200 guards without firing a shot. In just 10 minutes, Mussolini was freed, and Skorzeny accompanied Mussolini to Germany for an audience with Hitler. 

Hitler personally selected Skorzeny to lead Operation Greif (which means Griffin in German). The word went out to all German units calling for volunteers that could speak English and knew American slang. At this point in the war the German Army may have been running short of English speaking troops or those that did speak English weren’t all that keen to “volunteer” for a risky operation, the result was that Skorzeny’s unit did not draw nearly enough English speaking troops as he had hoped. Skorzeny would end up with only ten men who spoke English like native speakers. In desperation, Skorzeny would send some of his men to POW camps holding American prisoners to brush up on the English.

This later proved to be a fatal flaw in Operation Greif, 

The Plan: 

Skorzeny’s men (the 150th Panzer-Brigade) were split into teams with a demolition group responsible for blowing bridges, ammo, and fuel dumps, a reconnaissance element reporting enemy troop movements, and a lead commando group who would be in charge of cutting telephone wires, disrupting enemy communications, and reversing road signs. The concept of the plan was for Skorzeny’s men to wear American Army uniforms employ captured U.S. jeeps to go behind U.S. lines and sow chaos and confusion.  Skorzeny’s men knew that under the rules of war if they were captured by the Americans in these uniforms they would be summarily executed.  There was also the very real risk that they would be shot at by their own side as well if they came back into contact with SS troops who mistook them for actual American soldiers in the fog of battle.

Getting the necessary uniforms, weapons, and equipment was a huge issue. So was the procurement of American tanks and other vehicles. The Germans disguised Panther tanks to resemble American M-10 tank destroyers since only one Sherman tank was available. 

His men were assigned to the 1st SS Panzer Corps under the command of Joachim Peiper. His men were to follow the Panzers into battle and then break off and surge ahead to their different targets. Peiper would later face war crimes charges for the massacre of eighty-four American prisoners at Malmedy.

German Panther tank camouflaged to appear to be an American M-10 tank destroyer. Photo; US Archives

The Operation: 

The Battle of the Bulge began in the early morning hours of December 16. Following a massive artillery bombardment, the heavy German units easily cut through the thinly defended American lines. Confusion on the American side lay supreme as they were caught completely unprepared. The road net soon became a tangle of combat units rushing to meet the Germans being met by rear-echelon support units caught in the offensive trying to get back to the rear of the fighting where they could support the counterattack. These units were generally artillery, quartermasters, field hospitals, and the like.  The narrow, two-lane roads were jammed.

Skorzeny’s men were easily able to infiltrate the American lines in the confusion of the early hours of the battle. One of his units was able to drive right into an American-held town and scout out all defenses. On the way out of town, he redirected an American convoy of armor and supplies to a different road. Two of his other units misdirected Allied convoys of supplies and reinforcements. They added to the general chaos among the Americans in the early hours of the battle. 

But the Allies soon learned that German soldiers were operating in American uniforms and sent out a warning to check out the identification and behavior of any suspicious troops. It was here that Skorzeny’s men accomplished far more than they did on the ground. Near panic ensued as GI checkpoints were posted everywhere. 

Troops initiated questions about American sports, celebrities, and slang as a means to ferret out Nazi infiltrators. General Bruce Clarke of the 7th Armored Division was held after telling MPs that the Chicago Cubs were in the American League. British Field Marshall Montgomery was briefly held when he said he “had no idea” who won the World Series. 

Rather than impede Skorzeny’s actions, this overreaction only caused to slow down the Allied response behind their lines and caused far more confusion than the threat itself. One of his men was captured by the Americans and under interrogation made up a story that Skorzeny was en route to Paris to kidnap General Eisenhower. Thus the Allied HQs became a fortress with tanks, machine guns, and troops posted everywhere. According to Eisenhower’s naval aide, Captain Harry Butcher, “He is a prisoner of our security police and is thoroughly but helplessly irritated by the restriction of his moves.”   Several actual U.S. soldiers were killed at check points by jittery guards who suspected they were Skorzeny’s men. One sharp-eyed sentry figured out that the forged identity cards the Germans were using had corrected the misspelled word “Indentification” used on the actual U.S.-issued ID cards. Anyone caught with an ID with the corrected spelling of “Identification” was arrested.

With the stiffening American resistance, soon the Germans knew that the offensive would fail in its ultimate goals, and the 150th Panzer-Brigade was withdrawn by the end of December. Out of the forty-four men Skorzeny sent behind U.S. lines in disguise, just eight were lost. As the initiative in the battle shifted back over to the Americans, the Germans still behind U.S. lines changed back into their German uniforms and slipped across American lines again. The Allies were particularly fierce in the treatment of German soldiers caught in American uniforms. Many were caught, imprisoned, and then executed. 

German troops caught wearing American uniforms during Operation Greif are executed by firing squad. Photo; US Archives

But the search for Skorzeny in Paris continued until February. 

As the war ended, Skorzeny was tried for war crimes but was exonerated on all charges. One charge that nearly stuck was one of improperly wearing US uniforms. But a witness for the defense, F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, a former British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent, testified that the Allies had done the exact same thing. He was acquitted. Although he was still held in a POW camp awaiting a de-Nazification hearing, Skorzeny escaped. He later worked as an adviser to Egyptian President Nasser and even the Mossad, helping track down German rocket scientists working for the Egyptians. Skorzeny died of cancer in 1975.

Although Operation Greif never accomplished its stated goals at the outset of the operation, the confusion and panic it caused among the Allies was a success. It ultimately proved to be a successful special operation by the Germans in their failed offensive.

First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA to Avenge 9/11- Review

Looking for the Perfect Christmas Gift or Reading Material? Look No Further

Award-winning author Toby Harnden has crafted an incredible story of the first Americans to enter Afghanistan immediately after 9/11. His book, “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA to Avenge 9/11,” was initially slated to be released on the 20th anniversary of the U.S. involvement. Still, during his detailed 17-month research into putting this book together, the Afghan government collapsed, and the Taliban returned to power once again. 

Harnden was granted some incredible access to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) employees, some of whom are still in government service. All of their stories and remembrances make for compelling reading. But as Harnden said, sometimes the best stories are the true ones. And this one is fantastic. 

 

The Plan

The story begins on 9/11 when the members of al-Qaeda hijacked the planes and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the one aircraft that was crashed into rural Pennsylvania. America is shocked and on its heels, reeling after ignoring some intelligence reports that the terrorists intended to bring death to America. Signals and intelligence were missed or not shared. 

President Bush convened his National Security Council on September 13, and the Pentagon revealed that they had no war plan for Afghanistan. CENTCOM commander General Tommy Franks told the president it would take months to build up enough conventional troops for an invasion. CIA Director George Tenet turned the meeting over Cofer Black, an experienced Agency hand who had spent many years in Africa. The CIA’s plan was to infiltrate small numbers of Agency linguists and paramilitary officers along with some Green Beret A-Teams (ODAs) into Afghanistan to link up with the Afghan resistance, warlords from the Northern Alliance. Black sensed that President Bush wanted his pound of flesh. 

“When we’re through with them, they will have flies walking across their eyeballs,” he said. 

The President pondered for several seconds before asking, “Cofer, can we really do this?” Black stared back at the President for several seconds for theatric effect and said there wasn’t a doubt in his mind at all. Bush responded with, “That’s what I’m talking about. Go get ’em.” 

And in the early days of the war, the successful ones, the CIA, would run the war effort. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seethed over this. He later dragged his feet over any assistance until the military took over the war, pushed thousands of troops into the country in a mission completely opposite of what had worked, and ultimately turned the effort into a “goat rope.” 

For an avid reader of all things OSS/SOE from World War II, the mission was a throwback and a fantastic legacy of those who paved the way for the organizations that became the CIA and Special Forces. 

 

The Team

Team Alpha, David Tyson, and Mike Spann (top row far right). Photo courtesy of Toby Harnden

The book centers around “Team Alpha,” an eclectic group of Agency employees who entered Afghanistan on October 17, just a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Much of the book centers around CIA agents David Tyson and Mike Spann. They joined Northern Alliance warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who in a SOFREP podcast said the warlord was “straight out of central casting.” 

Dostum was known as a thug. A brutal, bloodthirsty type whose own men were terrified of him. But, he was also quite shrewd. He could adapt to situations at the drop of a hat, like anyone who had survived the bloody politics of Afghanistan for so long could. 

Tyson was an Uzbek linguist, which was invaluable as he had the ability to communicate easily with the Northern Alliance. The key to taking the country was taking the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. A precursor to the fall of Kandahar, Kabul, and the collapse of the Taliban government that occurred on Nov. 17, 2001.

The CIA/Green Beret team had built a great rapport with Dostum in a very condensed period of time. Much faster than is preached at “Robin Sage,” the SF UW exercise that every SF NCO and Officer must pass. The commander of the A-Team, Captain Mark Nutsch of the 5th Special Forces Group (5th SFG), and Tyson built a great relationship of trust with Dostum. 

Dostum (white horse) with Northern Alliance fighters and U.S. troops. Photo courtesy of Toby Harnden

 

The Fortress

Rumsfeld was still trying to convince President Bush that all of the CIA’s efforts were stalled. But once Mazar-I-Sharif fell, he insisted that the war couldn’t be won with just Captains and Sergeants and started sending Colonels and Generals, who Harnden says were not needed nor appreciated. Dostum was told in short order that instead of Nutsch, he’d now deal with Nutsch’s battalion commander LTC Bowers. He, in turn, would be replaced with a two-star, Rear Admiral Bert Calland, the SOCCENT commander. 

The Green Berets were pulled out from Team Alpha, and the military was pushing in green troops with no clue as to what was still going on. Before the country was even taken from the Taliban, the Pentagon was focused on stability operations. 

Mike Spann and David Tyson find “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh in the throng of al-Qaeda prisoners at Qala-i-Jangi. Photo courtesy of Toby Harnden

During this time, Tyson and Mike Spann headed to the Qala-i-Jangi fortress outside Mazar-i-Sharif to interrogate hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters, who had supposedly surrendered, including U.S. citizen John Walker Lindh. But the al-Qaeda fighters had smuggled weapons, grenades, and suicide vests into the fortress. 

They then started a violent uprising while Spann was interviewing a prisoner with dozens around him. As they rushed him, Spann killed numerous al-Qaeda fighters before being hit from behind. The prisoners then overwhelmed Spann before killing him with a pistol. Tyson attempted to get to his friend, but the sheer numbers of prisoners rushing him prevented that, despite the fact that he killed perhaps dozens. 

Tyson made it a temporary safe spot in the compound with German journalists. Other American CIA, Green Berets, conventional troops, and a small contingent of British SBS (Special Boat Service, Britain’s equivalent to Navy SEALs) began an effort to rescue Tyson and Spann (who was considered missing) from the fort. The amount of detail and the personal accounts of the men who fought at Qala-i-Jangi is some riveting reading. 

 

The Break Down

Harnden’s book is a fantastic read as he interviewed nearly all of the major players in the early, heady days of the Afghanistan invasion before the Pentagon and State Department turned it into a nation-building sh** show and tried to build a country based on our own model that would never work in Afghanistan. 

Dostum, the pivotal warlord who was instrumental in the success, was pushed to the side and quickly ostracized by the government, especially the State Department. Harnden traveled to Afghanistan a year ago to interview the former warlord who was blocked from visiting the U.S.

“I was the one who fought against and defeated the Taliban in 2001,” Dostum said. “My soldiers were killed and wounded, but I was left behind and received nothing. If the Americans had listened to me, they would now have the upper hand on the battlefield and at the negotiation table.” 

“I have no issue with CIA,” he says. “They never let me down. But US diplomats have not allowed me to act against the Taliban.” 

 

The Page-Turner

If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the reader in the household or want to spend hours on end curled up in a chair with a great book, then pick up “First Casualty.” It is extremely well-written, meticulously researched, and an absolute page-turner. 

It was a story that needed to be told, which is why the CIA was so helpful with Harnden in arranging for nearly all of the involved people to be interviewed. It is a story about personal sacrifice and incredible bravery and resourcefulness. But most of all, it is a story about “what could have been,” but like what occurred in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal, to quote Charlie Wilson, “we f***ed up the end game.” 

Army-Navy Game 2021, Keys to the Game And Key Matchups

The college football season can’t begin the bowl season and playoff without first the traditional Army-Navy game. This year is set for December 11 and will be held at MetLife Stadium with a CBS broadcast starting at 3 p.m. eastern time. 

One of the oldest rivalries in college football, the two service academies will meet for the 122nd time, with the Naval Academy holding the edge 61-53-7. It is a streaky rivalry; the Navy won 14 in a row, many by a wide margin from 2002-2015. However, Army has won 4 of the last 5 contests, including a 15-0 shutout last year at West Point. 

Army (8-3) – has already clinched its second straight Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, a three-way competition between Army, Navy, and Air Force. Navy lost to Air Force 23-3 in September. The Black Knights then beat Air Force in O.T. in November. 

This Black Knights team is one of the best that Jeff Monken has fielded at West Point. They are a Top 20 scoring team and a Top 20 defense. Army averages 301.2 yards per game and over 5 yards per rush with their ground game. 

Navy (3-8) – will miss a bowl game for the second year in a row under head coach Ken Niumatalolo and their third losing season in four years. The offense, specifically their scoring offense, has been an issue, especially earlier in the season. 

While the Midshipmen have a potent running offense of their own averaging 228.7 yards per game, their passing attack has been woeful, totaling only 599 yards on the season. The Navy QBs have attempted 91 passes and completed 44 but have been sacked 29 times. 

 

Every year, the two teams wear customized uniforms just for the game. This year, the Army is honoring Special Forces. They will be wearing the SF crossed arrows around their neck and have a patch of Task Force Dagger and where an Army name tape would go on a camouflage uniform. They’ll have the SF motto “De Oppresso Liber,” as well as the Special Forces crest on the crown of their helmets. 

Army’s Special Forces themed football uniforms. US Army Photo

The Navy’s uniform this year will be honoring the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet. The Navy’s website says about the uniforms, “Using one of the most famous naval career paths as an inspiration, the 2021 ‘Fly Navy’ uniform highlights classic American symbolism and the most utilized multirole fighter jet in aircraft carrier aviation, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet… the Super Hornet will remain the backbone of the carrier air wing well into the future.”

Navy’s F-18 themed uniforms. US Navy photo

So, let’s look at some of the key matchups:

 

When Army Has The Ball – Advantage Army:

The Black Knights running game is their bread and butter, and it all funnels through QB Christian Anderson, a dual-threat QB who is the team’s leading passer and the second leading rusher with 519 yards, an average of 5.9 yards per rush, and six touchdowns. Army’s leading rusher is running back Tyrell Robinson, who has carried the ball 89 times for 582 yards (9.9-yard average), with a long of 87 and three touchdowns. Army has four players with over 400 yards rushing. 

The Black Knights throw the ball even less than the Midshipmen do, having only passed 85 times but have nearly double the yardage (1030 yards) with 10 TDs and 3 INTs. Army QBs have only been sacked six times. Their biggest threat in the passing game is Isaiah Dalton, who has caught 18 passes for 384 yards (21.3-yard average) with 3 TDs. 

But it comes down to the running game. Neither of these teams is going to air it out; they live or die by the running game. Army’s rushing attack was superb in 2021, rushing for 3313 yards, a 4.9 yard average with 43 rushing touchdowns. If the Navy is going to keep this a game, they have to slow down the Army’s rushing attack. 

Army’s rushing attack was #2 in the FBS. US Army photo

That will require a total team effort, but their big guy at stuffing the run is #54, linebacker Diego Fagot. In the past three years, he has 11 tackles for a loss in 2021 and has 34 TFL. The Middies need a huge game from him on Saturday. However, their rush defense has been good, allowing just 131.6 yards per game. 

Army has averaged scoring 35.5 points per game, while Navy is allowing 29.6 points per game. If the Knights get anywhere close to that, it may be another long after for Navy. 

 

When Navy Has The Ball – Advantage Army:

The Midshipmen have a good running game of their own, pounding the rock for 229 yards per game. Navy has two good fullbacks who can carry the pile, the chew, and the clock. Isaac Ruoss has carried 157 times for 608 yards (3.9-yard average) with 5 TDs. Carlinos Acie has carried 57 times for 546 yards (9.6-yard average), with two TDs. 

Navy’s QB is Tai Lavatai, who has completed 54.5 percent of his passes with 5 TDs and 2 INTs. But he has a penchant for being sacked a lot, as have all of Navy’s QBs. Lavatai has also rushed for 309 yards on 150 rushes (just a 2.1-yard average), with 5 TDs. Navy’s most productive receiver is Chance Warren, with 10 receptions for 157 yards and 3 TDs. He has also been productive in the running game with 242 yards and a score.  

The Midshipmen need their big FBs to keep Army’s defense on the field. Army has allowed only 103.7 yards per game on the ground. And like Navy, they have a big run stuffer, junior linebacker Andre Carter II. Carter is a big, athletic 6’7, 250-pound outside linebacker who has played outstanding for the Knights. A year ago, he was playing around 260, but this year, he lost some weight to improve his speed and conditioning. This year, he doesn’t have to come out as much. Carter has logged 15 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and an interception. 

This one, like every year, comes down to who can be more physical, control the tempo and the line of scrimmage, and most importantly, finish drives by running the football. The Army is favored by 7.5 points. The over/under for this one is just 33, and it tends to go with the under every year. 

The Navy will be looking to pull a big upset on Army this year. US Navy photo

But this one has a little different vibe to it. Although, as the old saying goes, “you can throw out their records” for this huge rivalry game, Army has a superior unit this year. Look for it to be close for a half and then the Black Knights ground game to eat the Navy up. Army 24-10

This rivalry is unique in that upon graduation, all of the players then join the same team. Some of the Army troops may find themselves in a tough spot somewhere in the world, and a Navy pilot will fly ground support missions for them. That’s where the rivalry may be bitter on the field but is full of respect off of it. 

Go Army, Beat Navy.