US SOCOM

Air Force Special Operations Drops “MOAB” on ISIS Tunnel Complex

US Air Force Special Operations aircraft used the largest conventional bomb ever dropped by the United States military, targeting an ISIS bunker complex in Afghanistan on Thursday evening at 1800 hours local time.

The aircraft used was a specially designed MC-130 Combat Talon cargo plane, where the bomb, a GBU-43B MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Burst), also nicknamed the “Mother of all Bombs” was jettisoned out the tail of the C-130. It is too large to drop from a conventional bomb bay door.

The bomb targeted an ISIS complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. It was in this province where an American Green Beret of the 7^th Special Forces Group was killed in action just last week.

The massive, 11-ton, parachute deployed GBU-43B is the largest conventional air dropped weapon ever employed by the U.S. military. The “MOAB” produces shock, overpressure and blast effects equal to tactical nuclear weapons without residual radioactive fallout or the political ramifications associated with nuclear weapons.
The GBU-43B MOAB is deployed from a specially adapted MC-130 Combat Talon II using a system of rollers and a deployment sled. The bomb is attached to the deployment sled then pulled from the rear cargo ramp using a drogue parachute. Once pulled out the back cargo door of the MC-130 the sled falls away from the 30-foot long bomb. The bomb uses guidance wings and a system of stabilizers to maintain consistent ballistic flight trajectory and control its descent rate for more precise guidance. The MOAB uses a satellite guidance system along with internal gyros. GPS target coordinates are initially slaved from the launch aircraft then programmed into the weapon prior to release in close proximity to the target. Once released at medium to high altitude depending on target stand-off requirements the weapon uses its internal GPS for its terminal guidance to the target.
The GBU-43B is primarily intended to produce an “overpressure” or localized barometric shock wave effect to neutralize its target. The 9,500-kilogram bomb uses 18,700 pounds of H6 explosive, a combination of RDX explosive made of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine, conventional TNT explosive used in commercial dynamite and aluminum powder. The high-energy H6 explosive is made in Australia according to sources and is also used in concussive weapons such as mines and depth charges to produce a similar overpressure effect.
The shock wave generated by the massive release of energy from the explosion is transmitted through the air and into solid objects such as reinforced bunkers and cave complexes. This often results in their collapse. U.S. military officials also note a significant psychological impact to the employment of the GBU-43B MOAB because of its massive blast and the ability to produce a large mushroom-shaped cloud in certain atmospheric and terrain environments mimicking the appearance of a nuclear strike. There is no radioactive component to the GBU-43B.

President Trump praised the military for their hard work and dedication but said he didn’t give the order, that was given by the Commanders on the ground in the theater. It also sent a subliminal message to North Korea, who’s army is constantly tunneling under the territory of the South that this weapon could be used there as well.

Democratic leaders in Congress, not surprisingly lamented the use of the MOAB wondering about civilian casualties and how many people would be driven to ISIS over this. One has to ponder how many “civilians” work and live in ISIS tunnel complexes, however.

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

Photo courtesy US Air Force

“Will You Give Us Our Whisky Now?”

On the bloodiest day of battle in American history, the Battle of Antietam, also known as the battle of Sharpsburg in September 1862 was the first major battle fought on Northern soil. The armies of Robert E. Lee and George McClellan faced off in a see-saw battle that saw a combined 22,000 casualties in one day. But one never knows what particular small incentive will motivate their troops…

Many Special Forces senior NCO’s and Officers used to conduct “Staff Rides” and revisit Civil War battlefields and discuss the battle, tactics, the decision-making that went into each and how the lessons learned were subjects that we could remember and process for the military of today. One such trip was to Antietam and a small part of the battle was of particular interest.

The Union Army of the Potomac aggressively attacked Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in a series of assaults after McClellan with a lost copy of Lee’s operational plan, waited too long to take advantage of the audacious Lee’s plan to split his force.

The first four hours of the battle raged back and forth across the cornfield of a farmer, David Miller was indecisive. The Federal troops finally broke thru Lee’s center in an area called the Bloody Lane. But late arriving troops of A.P. Hill’s division from Stonewall Jackson’s corps, fresh from Harper’s Ferry stemmed the Union tide and forced the battle into a draw.

But it stopped Lee’s advance into the North as he retreated across the Potomac the next morning on September 18, 1862, his army of 38,000 men had suffered 10,318 casualties. McClellan’s army of 75,000 had failed thru overcautiousness on the part of their commander had failed to crush a vastly numerically inferior opponent. McClellan’s army suffered 12,401 casualties. All of this in a single day.

One of the more curious pieces of the battle took place on the south side near Antietam Creek at the site of the Rohrbach Bridge. Constructed in 1836, it was a 125-foot long, three-span concrete bridge. McClellan gave Gen. Ambrose Burnside orders to take it.

Burnside, still smarting after McClellan took away some of the troops under his command, delayed in implementing the order but sent a brigade to take it. But the terrain on the other side favored the defense with high ground dominating the approaches and the ridgeline opposite. The road to the approach of the bridge paralleled the creek, putting the troops in easy view of the enemy. And the road itself funneled into a depression between the high ground on both sides.

The Confederates under the command of Henry “Old Rock” Benning with a third of the men easily held the bridge for three hours. There has been much debate for the past 150 years over whether the creek was easily forded in several places farther up and down stream. Either way, the Union was intent on taking the bridge and pushing forward.

After two failed attempts, Brigadier General Edward Ferrero was given the task, and he brought up his brigade consisting of the 51^st Pennsylvania, the 51^st New York, the 21^st Massachusetts and the green 35^th Massachusetts. During the march to Antietam, the men from Pennsylvania had their liquor rations taken away from discipline problems on the march.

Ferrero a former dance instructor and a teetotaler addressed the men.

“It is General Burnside’s special request that the two 51st’s take that bridge. Will you do it?”

A Pennsylvania soldier called out:
“Will you give us our whisky, Colonel, if we make it?”

“Yes, by God!” yelled Ferrero. ‘You shall have as much as you want, if you take the bridge.’ He added that he would see to it if he had to send back to New York to get the whisky and pay for it out of his own pocket.

Despite, wild inaccurate and wasteful shooting by the men from Massachusetts, the troops made it the end of the bridge where they were pinned down by accurate fire from the other side of the bridge.

Colonel John Hartranft and the men of the 51^st Pennsylvania were stalled and took cover, using fence rails wherever they could. Ferrero, watching from a distance grew impatient and dispatched an aide to find out why the bridge hadn’t been taken.

Hartranft, hat in hand, raced to the mouth of the bridge with his colors.His men rallied, but the 12-foot-wide roadway across the bridge grew clogged as individual soldiers halted to shoot at Rebel snipers in the opposite treetops.

The fire from across the bridge grew silent. Benning’s troops were tired and running low on ammunition. Just then the 51^st New Yorkers, who had indeed forded the stream and flanked the Georgians of Benning.

The bridge was jam packed with troops trying to cross, stopping to shoot at individual Rebel sharpshooters and men bringing wounded back. The Union had finally taken the bridge but the amount of time that it had taken had once again dashed any hopes of turning Lee’s flank.

By the time they were reorganized and moving, A.P. Hill’s division crashed into them and sent them reeling back again. An opportunity to crush Lee and his army was lost. The battle ended up being a draw, but with Lee retreating back to Virginia, it gave President Lincoln the chance to issue his Emancipation Proclamation soon after.

And the men of the 51^st Pennsylvania? They got their whisky.

Photo courtesy Andrew Gardner

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.14.2017

Our favorite day of the week, Friday and Leg Day at the gym. The weighted Sled push helps build up power and speed. The lighter weight dumbbell squats build up endurance. Continue to prep for the UBRR.

Training:

3 x 10 Pullups

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

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

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x Weighted sled push

30 x “V”ups

3-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Bergdahl Court-Martial Date Set Back, No New Date Set

The scheduled court-martial of SGT Bowe Bergdahl is slated to take place at Ft. Bragg, NC and will be the subject of intense media scrutiny. But the US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) has shelved the expect start of next week.

While no new date for the trial has been set, a hearing is scheduled for May 5, also at Ft. Bragg.

Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy by endangering the safety of a command, unit or place. He could face life imprisonment if convicted of misbehavior before the enemy.
He walked off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was subsequently held by the Taliban for five years.
Charges were served to Bergdahl on Dec. 14, 2015, following an Article 32 preliminary hearing on Sept. 17 and 18, 2015, at Joint Base San Antonio.
In the latest motions, prosecutors filed a motion last week to request declassification for seven documents they plan to use during the proceedings.
The documents — all focused on an operation from July 9, 2009 — include pre-mission planning for the operation, eyewitness accounts during the operation and a summary of an Army investigation into the operation.

After Bergdahl’s desertion or capture by the Taliban, his battalion initiated a search for him. In the ensuing action, six members of his unit were killed. Bergdahl claimed to have gotten lost on a patrol and became separated from his unit. However, unit members have testified that there were no combat operations scheduled for the night that he disappeared. The next morning his gear was found neatly folded with just his compass missing.

Bergdahl had written his parents telling them his disillusion with the war and talked openly about walking to Pakistan.

His lawyers have filed several motions to the judges asking them to dismiss the case and use the campaign words of President Trump as grounds for dismissal as Bergdahl’s rights of due process have been violated.

Bergdahl remains on active duty at U.S. Army North at Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He is under no pre-trial confinement.

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

Photo courtesy DOD

British, Swiss Doctors Testing Doxycycline in Treating PTSD

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) is an acronym everyone is familiar with these days. As troops subjected to prolonged combat in multiple locations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere show the world the grim reminders the toll it takes on the human psyche.

It isn’t anything new, just the name has changed. In World War I, it was known as “shell shock”. In World War II and later its name changed to “combat fatigue”. What hasn’t changed is that is a debilitating disease that affects between seven to eight percent of all adults at one point in the lives. Among the veterans of the recent conflicts in the past decade, those numbers are nearly doubled.

Now doctors at the University College of London and the University of Zurich are trying to break ground in treating PTSD by using a very common antibiotic, doxycycline.

One of the head researchers, Dr. Domenik Bach said “Learning to fear threats is an important ability … helping us to avoid dangers. (But) over-prediction of threat can cause tremendous suffering and distress in anxiety disorders such as PTSD.”

The hope is that the doxycycline will block matrix enzymes, proteins that the brain uses to form memories, which may prove effective in blocking an overactive fear memory. It won’t erase them but suppress them.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that between 7–8% of the adult U.S. population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, yet there are certain career sectors that possess a demonstrably increased incidence of PTSD among their practitioners. For example, data from the National Center for PTSD suggests that 11–20% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans will suffer from PTSD in a given year. Additionally, a recent report issued by the International Association of Fire Fighters states that 20% of firefighters and paramedics have PTSD.
While soldiers and first responders are but two—albeit sizeable—slices of society, they accurately demonstrate the extent to which stigma negatively affects the successful diagnosis of PTSD. Both are not only gritty professions whose members are routinely subjected to repeated psychological trauma, but are industries in which stoicism in the face of carnage has been effectively institutionalized.
In a recent episode of PBS NewsHour, retired Green Beret, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Rodriguez highlighted both the inherent barriers to PTSD diagnosis and the acute need for new diagnostic technologies. He stated, “At that time, I didn’t think I had it. Bought into the stigma. But if there was a tangible test, I think it would make it easier on the patients, but — because it will validate it. You know, like if someone has leukemia, no one ever says, you don’t have leukemia.”

It is thought that the testing for the researchers will take several more years before the treatments are ready for actual testing on soldiers returning from war. But the answers may be found in a simple solution in the guise of a common antibiotic.

To read the entire article from The Big Think, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Don’t Get Lost! Practical Exercise With Modified Resection

In our previous Land Navigation article, we talked about Resection, which is invaluable at finding your exact location if you’re unsure of where you are but can see and identify points in the distance.

As you’ll remember Resection is the method for finding your exact location on a map by determining the grid azimuth to at two or more well-defined locations that can be pinpointed on the map. For greater accuracy, the desired method of resection would be to use three or more well-defined locations.

We spoke about the three methods but I received an email from a prospective Special Operations candidate named Jim who was confused about what constituted a Modified Resection problem and how one would use this method effectively.

Good question Jim, here is a scenario that can and does frequently happen. You’re moving along on your azimuth through wooded but fairly flat terrain with few terrain features but enough foliage to keep you from seeing very far in the distance.

You cross a large linear terrain feature, a road, a creek bed or in my case for the purpose of our practical exercise today a railroad line. Now if you are close to your point, you could be to the left or the right of where you need to go. If you can see a point in the far distance, you can shoot an azimuth to it and pinpoint your exact location.

Now we’ll revisit the exact sequence for pinpointing your location using the modified resection method we spoke about the other day.

Modified Resection Method:

The modified method is the least preferred method but is useful in certain situations. If you’re not certain of your exact location but are located on a linear terrain feature such as a road, creek or similar body of water, this can pinpoint your position.

Orient the map using a compass and/or by terrain association.
Locate a point in the distance that can be easily identified on the ground and on the map.
Determine the magnetic azimuth from your location to the distant known point.
Convert the magnetic azimuth to a grid azimuth.
Convert the grid azimuth to a back azimuth, using the add or subtract 180 accordingly depending on the degrees.
Using a protractor, draw a line for the back azimuth on the map from the known position back toward your unknown position.

Your location is where the line on the map crosses the linear feature. Determine the grid coordinates to the desired accuracy, for our purposes an eight-digit grid coordinate.

For our video demonstration, practical exercise, we were moving along our azimuth and came across a railroad track. Just barely visible in the far distance is a wind turbine that sits high upon a hilltop. Once we are able to locate the wind turbine on the map, we take an azimuth, using our compass, and determine the grid azimuth.

Then we draw a back azimuth using the “more than 180 degrees subtract 180 or less than 180 degrees add 180” rule and draw a line on our map. Where the line intersects the railroad line is our exact location.

If this were close to our point during a Land Navigation course, this would be a prime attack point as you’d have a very good place to search for the point. However, if you’re still far from your point, it is a great place to check your exact location and ensure that you’re heading on the correct azimuth.

Check out the short video and see how it works out. Thanks for the question Jim and if anyone else has any more questions, feel free to email me [email protected] or at my Twitter account @SteveB7SFG

Photo courtesy of DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.13.2017

UBRR training day followed by a ruck march. Are you keeping a log of your times on your runs and rucks? And with the warmer weather upon us, you should be paying much stricter attention to hydration during the rucks.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 20 pushups

3 x 20 sit ups

3 x 20 crunches

3 x 20 dips or until muscle failure

3 x 20 side planks

4-mile rucksack march (45-pound minimum) over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion

Bin Laden’s Head Had to Be Reconstructed After Take Down, Book Says

The former Navy SEAL that had reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in the raid on the terrorist leader’s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan has said that the dead terrorist’s head was so disfigured by the shooting that it had to be pressed back together for proper identification.

Robert O’Neill, the SEAL Team 6 commando penned, ‘The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Bin Laden’, in which he claims that it was he, who pumped three shots into bin Laden and that it disfigured his head to be almost unrecognizable.

Much of criticism leveled at O’Neill has been centered around the Special Operations Forces strict code of silence. But the events that unfolded in May 2011 in taking out the world’s most wanted terrorist needed to be told.

O’Neill, in his book, makes the gruesome claim that Osama’s head was so severely destroyed by his gunfire that it had to be pressed back together for identification photographs.

In O’Neill’s version, he was trailing five or six other SEALs climbing the stairs to the compound’s second floor when Osama’s son Khalid appeared on the half-landing with an AK-47.

O’Neill kept his hand on the point man’s shoulder. The two were alone on the stairway, convinced that whoever was on the third floor was strapping on a suicide vest for an explosive last stand.

O’Neill recounts that finally, he decided to take action.

He squeezed the point man’s shoulder, the signal to charge and then burst past the curtain.

The point man tackled two screaming women to the floor.

Bin Laden stood near the bed, his hands on the shoulders of the woman in front of him. She was later identified as Amal, the youngest of his four wives, the report said.

“In less than a second, I aimed above the woman’s right shoulder and pulled the trigger twice,” O’Neill writes.

“Bin Laden’s head split open, and he dropped. I put another bullet in his head. Insurance,” he writes.

After the flight back to Afghanistan, the team positively identified bin Laden and the US government released the information from the raid. O’Neill’s book differs from an earlier one written by Mark Bissonnette called “No Easy Day”

To read the entire article from NDTV click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Drug Use Among Navy SEALs A “Staggering” Problem

The Navy SEALs are battling a problem with not only with combatting terrorists in faraway lands but from within. The stress of continuous combat operations and deployments is resulting in a large number of operators being kicked out of the teams due to drug use.

CBS News on Tuesday ran a report that drug use amongst the SEAL teams was rampant and much higher than the rest of the fleet. They interviewed three SEALs, one active duty and two retired and they all stated the problem is growing and the chain of command is working to stop it.

“People that we know of, that we hear about have tested positive for cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, ecstasy,” said a SEAL. “That’s a problem.”
How prevalent is drug abuse in the SEAL teams?
“It’s growing,” said one SEAL. “The drug use, it’s growing.”
Last December, as an e-mail shows, the SEALs halted all training and ordered a safety stand-down because of the drug problem.
“I feel like I’m watching our foundation, our culture erode in front of our eyes,” said Capt. Jamie Sands, the commander of 900 SEALs based on the East Coast.
Sands had been on the job for just three months and already five SEALs had been kicked off the teams for using drugs.
“I feel betrayed,” Sands said. “How do you do that to us? How do you decide that it’s OK for you to do drugs?”
Every SEAL under his command was required to attend this meeting or else watch it online. In response to our request, the Navy released an edited version of the video.

The Navy has said that it will begin urinalysis testing while the teams are deployed, something that they haven’t done before in an effort to curb illegal drug use. However, some SEALs speaking to CBS stated that they hadn’t been drug tested in years.

To read the entire article from CBS News click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Rucking Through Varied Terrain, Maintaining the Pace Tips

We’ve been revisiting some of the posts we’ve made earlier and are getting out and doing refresher exercises, getting some land navigation and other tasks in. This one will deal with everyone is SF’s favorite pastime …Rucking.

Everyone has their own tips of the trade and the vast majority of them are good. The main thing is that you have to find what works best for you. What I’m doing here is just giving you the benefits of my own experiences and hopefully, they’ll work for you. They did for me.

I recently got an email from Sean T. who asked a good question about rucksack marching and specifically in how the load was packed. He wrote, “I’ve read numerous articles about how the load of your rucksack should be distributed over your hips. I’m having issue [sic] with rubbing on my hips and low back pain. Is it because I’ve packed the weight too low?”

I take it from Sean’s message that he took the “distribute the weight over the hips” bit to mean that he was packing his load down low. No, and it is a common mistake among beginners and people carrying heavy rucks for the first time.

Your weight should be packed up high between the shoulder blades. If your ruck has radio pouch up high, that is where the sandbag or weight plates belongs. I prefer sandbags because it will mold to your pack and back and doesn’t have any sharp edges that can rub you on a ruck.

The guys over at GoRUCK sell some nice molded plates that will do the trick and they take all the guess work out of it. But like I said, I prefer the sand routine but use whatever works for you. In the video below, I have a 45-pound bag in my small ruck that I use for short hikes that we take with us.

We covered boots at length in our earlier article. I have several broken in pairs that I take on hikes depending upon the conditions. For the purposes of this exercise, I wore my heavier duty Merrell Sawtooth boots. We had a bunch of rain that dropped over an inch overnight and it was still misting out there on the day we did the video. Later we got another inch plus. The trail was muddy, very deep in places and the Sawtooth’s deeper tread pattern was probably a bit better for that day.

Water and staying hydrated is very important even on a day where it is a bit raw out and is raining on you. You’ll still sweat and dehydration is a killer. On this particular day, although it was raining a bit, we still drank constantly, keeping the hydration level up.

The trail we used is a closed loop so it was up-down with very little flat terrain involved. When rucking it is best to lean forward and getting the arm swing going from side to side rather than a typical running type swing back and forth.

When it comes to increasing speed, I don’t recommend that you run with a rucksack on your back while in training. They’ll be times in your selection course or the qualification course that you’ll have to make up time or want to pick your pace, especially on the downhill slopes. At those times, you’re going to have to do what you must, but for training purposes don’t do it. Learn to increase your speed without running. Running with a ruck will hurt your knees and back…take it from the guy with two arthritic knees.

I like to lengthen my stride on the downhill slopes, some guys will tell you the exact opposite. Again, find out what works for you and stick to it. But the bottom line is, don’t resort to running to increase your speed. You’re going to have to learn to ruck quickly without running sooner or later, and there’s no time like the present.

The standard is a 15-minute mile pace to pass the courses, you should be aiming to go lower than that. We were keeping a 14:30 pace on our practical exercise video, which means we’ll have to step it up as well. Back in the day, I used to maintain a 13-minute per mile pace which would bring myself in with around 20-25 minutes to spare on a 12-miler.

On one certification 20-miler at Ft. Bragg, our team maintained a 13-minute mile pace for the entire length of the course and that was with two 7-8 minute breaks built in to change socks and catch a breather. Of course, since the movement wasn’t considered tactical and was mapped out along a road, our communications supervisor strapped a boom box atop his rucksack and we rocked to AC-DC and Metallica. Much better than the sound of boots scuffling for 20 miles. We ended up with the best time in the battalion that night…the staff when learning of the music…were not amused. Always look for an edge, right?

If anyone else has any questions, feel free to send them along to [email protected] and I’ll be glad to answer them and we may use it in our next video.

Photo courtesy of US Army