US SOCOM

US May Increase Troop Levels in Yemen But Not Special Operations

In a surprising move, the Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has asked the White House to reverse the Obama Administration policy on restrictions on U.S. military support for Persian Gulf states engaged in a prolonged war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Mattis sent a memo to National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster and spelled out that the “limited support” for a combined Saudi Arabian, United Arab Emirates offensive geared at retaking a key Red Sea port will help defeat “a common threat”. But Mattis does not foresee adding more Special Operations Forces to the mix.

The administration is in the midst of a larger review of overall Yemen policy that is not expected to be completed until next month.
But the immediate question, addressed by Mattis’ memo and tentatively slated to come before the principal’s committee of senior national security aides this week, is whether to provide support for a proposed UAE-led operation to push the Houthis from the port of Hodeida, through which humanitarian aid and rebel supplies pass.
The Pentagon memo does not recommend agreeing to every element of the Emirati request. A proposal to provide American Special Operations forces on the ground on the Red Sea coast “was not part of the request [Mattis] is making,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning and the review.

Yemen’s population centers have been hit hard during the conflict with an estimated 10,000 civilians killed in the fighting. Worse, the surviving population is close to starvation.

Yves Daccord, Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned that an extended battle for the port city would “put even more pressure on the population” and could tip the country into greater humanitarian crisis.

The Saudis and other have been withholding aid for the area around Hodeida which has further made a bad situation worse. The Gulf States were critical of the Obama Administration’s reluctance to aid in the Yemen conflict seeing it as a weakness toward Iran. Now President Trump, who was critical of the Obama policy may change it.

To read the entire article from The Chicago Tribune, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Army PAO SGT Faces QMP Over Flap for Trying to Secure Information

In a SNAFU of epic proportions, an Army PAO SGT is facing being forcibly removed from the service for trying to safeguard classified information. SGT Ricardo Branch was serving in the PAO office of the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Night Stalkers).

Members of the Night Stalkers were to visit the Boeing aircraft company site in Mesa Arizona back in 2014. Boeing scripted a press release stating the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment was the unit that carried the Navy commandos from SEAL Team 6 in to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He sent his commander a private email on the Army .mil server that basically alerted his boss that the company should remove that line as the Department of Defense (DOD) had never acknowledged that.

A higher up in the chain of command saw the email thread and alerted Army intelligence that a breach had occurred. He was ordered home and was facing a court-martial for the crime of actually trying to safeguard information.

The irony of the entire episode is that President Obama visited Ft. Campbell after the bin Laden raid and publicly thanked the 160^th Night Stalkers for their role in the raid.

Offered the choice of a court-martial or nonjudicial punishment (Article 15), Branch opted for an Article 15 and was reprimanded. He was then transferred to Korea where he took up editing a newspaper for the troops.

But with the Army downsizing right now, Branch’s Article 15 showed up for the Army’s Quantitative Management Program (QMP), which immediately put him up for separation after 13 years of service. The QMP looks for any black marks on a soldier’s record.

“I love the Army,” he said. “I like my job. The reason I’m so in love with the Army is I’m a career soldier. I’ve done three tours in Iraq. I’ve survived cancer twice. The Army is my career. It’s what I know. It is my life. My dad was a soldier. My brother’s a soldier. My grandfather was a soldier. I like telling the Army story because I’m a writer. That’s what I do.”
In recent months, Sgt. Branch’s cause has been taken up by a former Army judge advocate, Jeffery Addicott, who directs the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Addicott represents, pro bono, military personnel he believes are unjustly prosecuted.
“At a time when President Trump is calling for the buildup of our military, and rightfully so, it is ironic that the Army is seeking to jettison a dedicated, three-time Iraqi War veteran,” Mr. Addicott told The Times.
“In my professional opinion as a JAG officer with 20 years in service and having tried over 150 cases, they would have not brought this to a court-martial if he had turned down the Article 15,” Mr. Addicott said. “There is no way the government would get a conviction, particularly based on the fact that President Obama had already released the information to the public. If they did bring it to a trial, Sgt. Branch would exercise his right to demand a jury, and they would never get a conviction.”

Branch is appealing the decision and attempting to remain in the Army. Based on the public airing of the raid by President Obama, it is crazy to think that Branch’s situation has ever reached this level.

To read the entire article from The Washington Times, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Passing BUDS, Interview with Thomas Rosehaley Pt. 3

Thomas Rosehaley is a busy man these days. When he’s not flying across the globe working as a personal security professional, he’s back at home keeping on top of his medical training, which is his bailiwick. He had just arrived back in the states but was not getting much free time. “I’m diving tomorrow in Monterrey Bay and then have a Med class at Folsom Prison, I’ll call you on my way home from there,” he said.

In the first two parts of the interview, we talked about his background, growing up in LA and how he entered the Navy. Then we moved on to the beginning of his Navy training and on to Hell Week.

Once the candidates passed Pool Comp, they moved on to the LAR V rebreather, which is a different kind of diving altogether. “The amazing thing today is, how far technology has progressed when you can go to Long Beach today and buy a LAR V for about $8-10 grand,” Rosehaley said. Back then that was a classified piece of equipment.”

“Dive Phase was two months and is the bread and butter of the Naval Special Warfare guys,” he said. That is where they’re trained on dive searches, underwater recon, navigation, he recalled diving at Coronado and crossing over to 32^nd St. and trying to identify ships and compartments from under the water. Planting fake explosives on drive shafts of ships. This training evolved from the first underwater demo teams from WWII.

After Dive Phase the candidates move to San Clemente Island where they’re trained on the finer aspects of demolitions. Shaped Charges, C-4, even the old haversack charges that the old frogmen used. They’re also trained on weapons, small unit tactics and patrolling.

His class 202, finished with 26 sailors some of whom were picked up from other classes due to a minor injury or issue. Most of those who failed did so because they couldn’t handle the mental aspect of the training.

“Look there’s no way you can adequately prepare yourself so that the course is a breeze, it is a total lifestyle change,” he said. Due to his Sea Cadet training with the briefest of glimpses on what he’d face in Coronado, he tried to prepare himself physically as best he could.

He ran the streets barefoot, trying to toughen his feet up. Rosehaley was an accomplished competitive swimmer and played the tough sport of Water Polo. “My water skills were definitely as good as I could be prepared for. I grew up surfing on the Los Angeles coast.”

Some candidates were just not comfortable in the water which for a sailor wanting to become a Navy SEAL is unconscionable. “The water is our bread and butter,” he said. “That is what we see as home. The water is our safe place and if you aren’t comfortable in the water, you need to try something else.”

Rosehaley said the guys who weren’t comfortable in the water before arriving didn’t last long. And told the story about “the Beehive” which reflects his point perfectly. At this point, there were still over 100 students in the course. Everyone is in the pool so it is crowded and ready to get more so.

The author and Rosehaley while escorting a client family on a trip thru the Middle East and Africa.

“The instructors just start pushing everyone into the center of the pool,” he recalls. “Everyone is trying their best to stay calm but the students being pushed inward into ‘the Beehive’ begins to take its toll,” he said.

Students are shoulder to shoulder trying to stay afloat and it takes just one guy to panic and grab the guy next to him and try to use him for support and it sets off a chain reaction. In just a matter of seconds, it turns into what Rosehaley remembers as “a fight for your life.”

Rosehaley who was among the most comfortable in his class in the water remembers that the panic that ensued was contagious. Rosehaley just decided to hold his breath and stay calm. He recalls that he was being kicked in the face and being held down and as he says, “your body’s willingness to stay alive wins out.”

He remembered it akin to being trapped under moving ice, and it was a dog-eat-dog situation and the instructors kept at it until students began to quit. “Too many guys were in no way prepared for this and it is mostly mental.”

Rosehaley then surprising finished his Navy career abruptly in 1997 and moved on to further his medical career until the second Gulf war when he came back as a contractor working in Iraq. He had his share of hair-raising experiences there but none close to what he experienced in Haiti.

Sent in as security and medical support for a CBS film crew, aftershocks still racked the country. The guests at the hotel had to sleep on the pool patio because it wasn’t safe to remain inside. He and another medic began a triage, treating the numerous injured locals at the back of the hotel.

He’s still a security professional and has traveled the world with many high-profile clients. I used to chuckle when I’d see his picture of People, US etc, working with a certain female singer who has been plastered all over the magazines you find in the aisles of supermarkets and Wal-Mart.

We had the pleasure of working together for a security company Thomas Dale & Associates based out of Los Angeles, in the Middle East watching over a family of clients who traveled, frequently taking many of their friends. Later, we worked on a film crew down in Mexico, where there was never a dull moment. But that’s a story for another time.

He’s a devoted follower of the Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, (word to the wise, don’t wrestle with him) and after a recent trip to the Middle East, he had a stopover in Jerusalem, Israel. That night he found a gym and was wrestling Orthodox Jews that were half his age. “It was wild,” he said.

“Visually seeing the guys with their traditional long curls and dressed up in a gi was off the wall. I loved it,” he added. That fits him to a tee.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.27.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR by taking a practice test but without the rope climb event as most will not have access to one.

Training:

Pushups – 1-minute time limit as many as you can do correctly, minimum 40
Situps – 1-minute time limit as many as you can do correctly, minimum 40
Pullups – minimum of 6, no time limit
Dips – minimum of 6, no time limit
4 x 25-meter Shuttle Run, maximum of 24 seconds
Bench Press – 80 percent of body weight minimum 6 no time limit
Kip-ups – minimum of 6 with a 1-minute time limit
5 Mile Run or 5-mile Ruck – The run to be completed in 40 min, ruck 75

Stretch well after completion

Grading scale:

Pushups +2 pts for each rep above minimum.
Situps +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Pullups +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Dips +2 points for each rep above minimum.
Bench Press +3 points for each rep above minimum.
Kip -ups +2 points for each rep above minimum.
Shuttle Run +2 points for every 1/10^th of a second under minimum.
Run +2 points for every 15 seconds from 35-30 minutes.

You can check your score at the website here:

‘Raise the Black’ Green Berets Raise Money For Fallen Iraqi CTS Comrades

Former Green Berets who selected, trained, and fought alongside the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are watching with pride the fighting is doing in Iraq while trying to drive ISIS from the country. And now some of the Special Operations soldiers are trying to help the families of their fallen comrades by raising money for them.

The Golden Division, as the CTS unit is called is among the best units in the Iraqi army and is doing a lion’s share of the fighting to retake Mosul. The SF operators who trained them are proud of their achievements but know how costly the battle has become as hundreds of their former charges have died in battle.

Now they’re starting a GoFundMe page that will alleviate the cost of Iraqi families of losing loved ones. The SF soldiers led by Loren Schofield and Bryan Myers kicked off the idea and are selling flags, bumper stickers and T-shirts to raise money for the CTS families.

The CTS program, which recruited Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, was stood up in 2004 as the U.S. military grappled with the insurgency in Iraq.
“Special Forces soldiers selected, trained, mentored, fought with and died alongside the CTS,” Myers said. “It is the biggest success story to come out of Iraq.”
The commandos mainly battled Sunni insurgents, but also played a lead role in a 2008 offensive against Shiite militias. When ISIS invaded in 2014, CTS commandos held Iraq’s largest oil refinery for months while the rest of the Iraqi military retreated in disarray.
“Most Americans think the Iraqi army are cowards,” Schofield said. “But (CTS) stood in the breach and held the line against ISIS.”
In the last two years, the commandos led the battle to retake Ramadi and took part in operations in Hit, Rutbah and villages along the Euphrates River. The Golden Division was also the first Iraqi force to break through ISIS lines in Fallujah last year.

Much too often, the focus for our country is very short and many of our allies have been abandoned in the past. These two Green Berets are making sure that these allies know that they won’t be forgotten.

To read the entire article from The Washington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy GoFundMe

Parents say their Green Beret son was murdered and want answers

Three members of the 5^th Special Forces Group who were conducting weapons training for the Jordanian armed forces were killed in November when re-entering a base they had left and entered many times in the past.

The Jordanian government has ruled the deaths “a tragic accident” where a member of their military, M’aarek Abu Tayeh fired from point blank range killing two of the SF soldiers right in front of a guard shack as the troops re-entered the base after conducting range operations in the morning.

A third Green Beret was killed in the ensuing gun battle with Tayeh before a fourth, armed with just a Glock handgun, emptied his pistol at Tayeh who was seriously wounded in the exchange.

Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar said in a statement that Tayeh responded to shooting from the Americans.

“Abu Tayeh was tasked with swift response,” Kawar said, and fired toward the source of what he took to be gunshots coming from the Americans, “who in turn fired directly at Abu Tayeh, believing he was targeting them.”

The FBI has analyzed video footage from the incident and deemed that the Americans followed what had been normal procedure when entering and leaving the base. The families of the killed Americans believe that the soldiers were murdered and want answers from the Jordanians.

Earlier this month, Chuck Lewellen and fathers of the other fallen Green Berets spoke at the National Press Club in Washington. They want an apology from Jordan, and they’ve called for a suspension of aid to the country until that happens.
“The government of Jordan lied to the world, immediately claiming that our sons failed to stop at the gate,” James R. Moriarty told the press club. “When the FBI confirmed the video showed that to be a lie, the Jordanians then claimed there had been an accidental discharge by one of the Americans. This was also proven to be a lie.
“The American public is told Jordan is our ally. Jordan has never accepted responsibility nor has a Jordanian official ever explained what truly happened.”

The families want answers and the Jordanians to clear their sons of any wrongdoing, which the video and the FBI investigation played out. However, the Jordanian government is sticking to its story, (the third now) that Tayeh acted appropriately and was responding to a threat from the Americans.

Jordan has been a staunch ally of the US in the region and although terrorism has been ruled out by the host government, and they cited Tayeh’s 14 years of service, for the families, there is the legitimate question in their minds as to what happened and why.

To read the entire article from The Olympian, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Passing BUDS, Interview with Thomas Rosehaley Pt. 2

In Part 1 of our interview, we spoke about how he ended up in BUDS right after high school, and the initial training he went thru right up until he made it to his training at Coronado. His initial class of about 160 was sliced down to 46 before the class even made it to Hell Well and was further reduced to 26 after that 5 ½ day experience.

But if you think that was the hardest part, think again, he said the next portion of the training, during the Dive Phase actually had some of the more difficult moments.

“The course is designed to demoralize you at first,” Rosehaley said. “Their thought process is we’re going to break you down, test your mettle and then…slowly build you back up.”

“You really have to suck it up, and the instructors are constantly in the background encouraging the guys to quit, looking for any weakness. At that point, you just narrow your focus,” he said. “There were times my only focus was to survive until dinner.”

We both laughed because everyone has been there at one point or another. Rosehaley added, “then at night, as you are hunched over your creamed corn, you find the resolved to go one more meal, one more day. It gets reduced to that at times.”

After Hell Week, he said the sailors got a week where there was a bit of recovery where the candidates got a chance to regain some strength and grow back the toenails that were lost during Hell Week.

But then it was right into the Second Phase, the Dive Phase. That consisted of one week with an introduction to SCUBA which many of the candidates had never dove before. And then they’d roll into LARV Rebreathers which Army SF guys will remember as the Draeger system.

“Pool Comp is to the second phase what Hell Week was to the first phase,” he remembers. “It is a brutal, and yes brutal assessment of your underwater, open circuit and SCUBA abilities, he said.

The candidates once again are beaten down by the instructors in very tough conditions. Rosehaley stated that most of the training is conducted in just 9-12 feet of freshwater in the CTT (Combat Training Tank). So what was the purpose of the beating underwater I asked? “Well, more than anything the instructors want to see that you won’t panic underwater when things go wrong and frequently can. And the beatings were equated to coming ashore in very rough surf.”

So what happens underwater during the toughest parts of this? “Well, your mask will be ripped off, you may get a shot to the face with your regulator in your mouth, you’ll lose one if not both of your fins and they may try to untie your weights, all fun stuff,” he said.

Rosehaley recalled one instructor stretching his dual line gas line and tying an overhand knot in it which effectively blocked his air supply. He said that candidates have to keep their wits about them, remove the tanks and restore the air supply while maintaining their depth. “Pool Comp is a tough challenge and many of the guys who made it thru Hell Week didn’t have what it took there,” he said. “It was a life-changing experience.”

In should be remembered from the first part of the interview that the training he was going thru, some of the toughest in the military or anyone’s military for that matter was done when he was just months removed from high school. It isn’t often that men pass that course after having a few years of military experience. To do it right out of high school is quite an accomplishment these days.

In our final segment of the interview, we’ll talk about finishing out BUDS training, one terrifying sequence that he remembers and what life has been like post-Navy for Rosehaley. Including working for some high-profile celebrity clients and working as a professional security detail for a Hollywood film in Mexico.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.25.2017

Today we’ll hit the legs hard again and then rest on Sunday. More reps on the legs today, as we’ll get ready for the Rifle PT squats, that everyone loves so well.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

First, head into the gym:

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

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

3 x Hungarian Lunges 20-15-12 reps light weight

3 x 10 Pull-ups

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 25 Push-ups

30 x “V” ups

6-mile rucksack march with 45-pound minimum

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.24.2017

Training:

Shoulders and Chest Day in the gym, all of this will help with the UBRR

3 x Lateral Raises with a Dumbbell (reps 20-15-12)
3 x Military Press Dumbbell (reps 20-15-12)
3 x Front Raises Dumbbell (reps 20-15-12)
3 x Bench Press 80% body weight for as many reps as you can do
3 x Incline Bench press
3 x Dumbbell Fly’s
3 Mile Run in 24 minutes or less

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Gala to Feature Naval Special Warfare Deputy Commander

The Global Special Operations Forces Foundation is holding a networking reception among Special Operations professionals in San Diego on April 5^th. San Diego is home of the Navy’s and Marine Corps Special Operations Commands and will feature a keynote speaker, Captain Keith Davids, the Deputy Commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command.

Davids a graduate of BUDS/SEAL Training Class 177 in 1991, will speak about the path of future operations for the command. The affair is expected to draw attendees from not only the US Special Operations professionals but from several of our allied countries forces as well.

This San Diego networking reception was a logical addition to the Global SOF Foundation’s event calendar. The greater San Diego area is home to several SOF commands, including Naval Special Warfare Command (NSW) and units from Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). The abundance of active and retired members of the military has led many defense-focused businesses, small and large, to root themselves in San Diego. These factors, coupled with the views and weather, made Coronado Island the prime location for a networking reception.
As Global SOF Foundation President Stu Bradin said at the Global SOF Symposium in February, “GSF events are all about connecting people.” While GSF receptions are focused heavily on networking opportunities, this event will also feature a keynote speaker. Capt. Keith Davids, the Deputy Commander of NSW, will provide remarks to the audience, focusing on NSW’s approach to the future of special operations

Retired LTC Bradin created the foundation after his retirement from USSOCOM to connect and convene the global Special Operations Forces (SOF) community at multiple annual events across the United States and Europe. They hold multiple symposiums during the year both in the US and in Europe.

To read the entire article from the IT Business click here:

Photo courtesy DOD