SpecOps

U.S. Confirms Higher Number of Troops in Afghanistan

The United States and the Pentagon have disclosed there are significantly more troops in Afghanistan than previously reported. Just a week after President Trump released a new strategy to end the war after 16 years, this report shows that the numbers of US troops to be much higher than previously thought.

According to Pentagon officials, there are 11,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, rather than the previously reported 8400 which was capped by the previous administration of President Obama. The majority of the US troops are Special Operations Forces that are tasked with training, advising and assisting local security forces battling jihadis loyal to the Taliban and Islamic State militant group (ISIS).

“This is not a troop increase,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said, according to Reuters. She added that the disclosure was an attempt by the administration to provide more transparency.
Military officials had previously hinted they were hiding the true number of U.S. personnel active in Afghanistan. Nearly 17 years after the U.S. first invaded to dislodge the Islamic government of the Taliban, which refused to give up Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Trump said he would no longer focus on nation building. Instead, the objective is simply “killing terrorists.”
Trump also said he would no longer provide troop counts or dates or locations of operations, noting that such information could end up in enemy hands. While the Pentagon did offer a troop count in Afghanistan on Wednesday, it declined to release the same figures for Iraq and Syria, where more than 7,900 U.S. troops may be battling ISIS alongside local partners, according to a report published last week by The Military Times. The Pentagon reports only 5,765.

The Pentagon is reporting that 503 Special Operations troops assisting the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish alliance, are in Syria, but other defense officials have said this could really be as high as 900. In Iraq, the Pentagon states that 5,262 U.S. soldiers are assigned there but that number may be as high as 7,000.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

U.S. Airstrikes Block Road and Strand ISIS Fighters in Syria

The United States condemned an “agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS” allowing hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families to be bused through Syrian territory controlled by President Assad to an area on the Iraq border. Later, US-led coalition aircraft bombed a road and vehicles in Syria on Wednesday in an effort to prevent those fighters from reaching Iraq.
Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, said in a statement that “the coalition cratered the road heading east between Hamaymah and Abul Kamal to prevent the further transport of ISIS fighters to the border area of our Iraqi partners, and struck individual vehicles and fighters that were clearly identified as ISIS.
“Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control,” the press desk of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve wrote in response to an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post. “ISIS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with, is not a lasting solution.”
The US-led coalition of around 70 countries has been fighting ISIS for three years and is on the verge of defeating the group in Iraq and also in its capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The US did not, however, hit the convoy which was carrying family members as well as ISIS fighter, something the terrorists knew would play into the decision. They did target fighters who were clearly identified.

The U.S. has refrained from any attacks west of the Euphrates River due to its “de-confliction” with the Syrian regime and Russia so that the respective air forces of the U.S. and Russia that operate in Syria do not come into contact. But by showing that the unacceptable move to bring ISIS troops into Iraq thru Syrian territory won’t be tolerated.

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

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 8.31.2017

Back to the gym on Thursday morning for a Chest and triceps workout to include some push-ups, sit-ups, and kip ups. Then a 5-mile run over varied terrain. Remember to stay hydrated and mark your progress down in your workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Bench Press

3 x 10 Dumbbell Flies

3 x 10 Dumbbell Incline press

3 x 20 Pushups

3 x 10 Kip Ups

3 x 20 Sit ups

3 x 20 Cable Push Downs (rope)

3 x 20 Dips or until muscle failure

5-mile run over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion

Iraqi Army Calls Fighting for Tal Afar Worse than Mosul, ‘Gates of Hell’

Iraq’s military forces are engaged in a fierce fight in the small town of al-’Ayadiya just outside of Tal Afar. Islamic State fighters have dug in to hold the small town where reports of the fighting being ‘multiple times worse’ that the battle for Mosul. One Iraqi officer, Colonel Kareem al-Lami, described the fighting at al-’Ayadiya as opening “the gates of hell”.

The Iraqi military took Mosul from the Islamic State in June but was forced to endure a long, bloody, house-to-house urban warfare with high casualties. Hundreds of IS fighters had dug in deep into houses and buildings and fighting to the death in many cases, making the progress slow.

Iraqi forces have in recent days recaptured almost all of the northwestern city of Tal Afar, long a stronghold of Islamic State. They have been waiting to take al-’Ayadiya, just 11 km (7 miles) northwest of the city, before declaring complete victory.
Tough resistance from the militants in al-’Ayadiya has forced the Iraqi forces to increase the number of air strikes, as well as bring in reinforcements from the federal police to boost units from the army, air force, Federal Police, the elite U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and some units from the Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week.

Iraqi commanders are having to deal with a determined enemy who is dug in deep into an urban environment and is willing to make them pay for each building taken. The progress will be slow as they must deal with a street fighting exercise in bloody warfare. The Iraqis are planning of using artillery and air strikes to push the Daesh (Islamic State) out of the area.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 8.30.2017

Wednesday is Hump Day of the week, so we’ll head to the gym for a back and shoulders workout and then head out for a 5-mile ruck march. Remember to stay hydrated while on the march and mark your progress in the workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Lat Pull downs, behind the neck (go as heavy as possible)

3 x 12 Lat Pull downs, front

3 x 10 Deadlift

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

5-mile Ruck sack March (45lb minimum) the standard is 75 minutes. We’ll be aiming to do better than that.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 8.29.2017

Tuesday morning is time to go back to the gym to work on pull-ups and rope climbing preparation as well as Leg Day. Go heavier with the sled push to build up some explosion and it will definitely help with the rucksack marches. If you don’t have access to climbing ropes, (which my gym doesn’t) then do the towel pull-ups.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Towel pull ups 10 reps

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

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

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

“Why Do You Use the Upper Body Round Robin” In Physical Prep?

We get email and tweets via social media all the time and most of them are great questions that we get about preparatory training for Special Operations Forces. And we’ll normally answer a private message with one in kind. But at times if there is a really good question, especially one that we get from more than one reader, we’ll address it in a post like today.

The question posed to us, and more than just a few times was, “Why do use the Upper Body Round Robin Test, UBRR to focus on for candidates in your Special Operations Forces (SOF), Physical Training workouts? More than one guy asked this so we’ll address it. And since the military is testing candidates on the three-event PT test, shouldn’t the training we’re putting out there, be preparing the successful candidate with passing that test rather than the UBRR?

It is a good, legitimate question and we’ll try to answer it as clearly as possible. The answer lies in a couple of parts.

#1 It is a Poor Test For “Functional” Fitness for SOF: Although the three event PT Test is what the military uses to test a candidate’s physical fitness, we think it is a poor test to gauge someone’s overall fitness. What some call “functional fitness” isn’t served by this at all. And I can give a specific example of how.

I was levied for SWC (Special Warfare Center) and reported right after coming home from a deployment to Honduras in my old unit. On that last trip there, I got dysentery from some bad food/water and got really sick. After dropping about 25-30 pounds and dealing with the “screen door trots”, I arrived at SWC probably in the worst shape of my life. The schoolhouse assigned me to Selection where as soon as I arrived, we were to take the PT Test and then go thru Selection.

Despite being weak and having no stamina, (ask anyone who’s ever had dysentery), I scored a 295 on the PT Test in the 17-21-year-old age bracket (only a 95 on the run), because that is how the cadre were tested. Regardless of age for Selection cadre, we were tested on the 17-21 bracket. It took another 3-4 weeks before I finally started to feel like myself again, and this was while having to go thru Selection. We went thru the course as it didn’t exist when the cadre there graduated from the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course). And we all had to go thru Selection although already tabbed before working there as it was a requirement. Although according to the Army, I was physically fit, my functional fitness for SF was crap until I got feeling better.

So yes, the standard Army PT test isn’t a good gauge for functional fitness, that is #1.

#2 The UBRR is a Much Better Fitness Indicator Overall: This is the reason we’re prepping right? To get into Special Ops? And if you want to be the best, you have to train like the best. The UBRR is a very tough test that will gauge a person’s fitness level overall and takes into consideration upper body strength as well as endurance and cardio.

The UBRR was designed by Ed Bugarin and some of the other operators from Delta Force many years ago. These Delta operators were into fitness and decided to come up with a physical fitness test for themselves that would incorporate total body fitness. That is how the UBRR was born. The test will measure, upper body strength, endurance, cardio as well as core fitness.

The UBRR test consists of nine events.

Bench Press– 80% of your body weight, 6 repetitions minimum, no time limit
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 3 points

Pushups– 40 push ups is the minimum, 1-minute time limit.
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 2 points

Sit-Ups– 40 sit-ups is the minimum, 1-minute time limit.
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 3 points

Pull-ups– 6 pull-ups is the minimum, no time limit.
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 3.5 points

Dips– 10 dips is the minimum, no time limit.
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 2.5 points

Rope Climb– Member must climb a 20-foot rope while wearing a 20lb vest. No time limit.
Pass/Fail

Kipp Up– 6 Kipp Ups is the minimum, no time limit.
Each additional repetition above the minimum is worth 3.5 points

Shuttle Run– 25 meters shuttle run, done 4 times, 24 second time limit.
Each full 0.1 second under the maximum is worth 2 points.

5 Mile Run/Ruck– 5-mile run, 40-minute time limit.
Every full 5-second increment under the maximum time is worth 2 points
5-mile ruck, 75-minute time limit. 45-lb rucksack, not counting water.
Every full-time increment of 15 seconds under the maximum is worth 2 points.

As soon as an individual finishes one exercise, he must start the next exercise in no more than 1 minute.
There is only one common standard for all age groups.
Only one attempt is allowed per participant at each station
In order to pass the UBRR, participants must achieve the following:
Pass all of the events with at least the minimum score, and receive at least 1100 total points from all the events combined. For those with trouble with math in figuring out your score, there is an online UBRR calculator that will figure out your score for you.

This is a much tougher test to measure total physical fitness and is much more in tune in what will be required for SOF members. A failure of any part of the test is a failure overall. The fact that there is no sliding scale for age groups is interesting in the fact that, when members are in the operational units, they are all expected to be able to do the same job regardless of one’s age.

#3 If You Can Pass the UBRR, The 3-Event PT Test Will Be a Breeze: Ask any operator or former SOF and they’ll tell you the 3-Event PT test is a joke for actively gauging fitness for SOF members. But until each of the individual services change the current format for the 3-Event PT Test to that of the UBRR for their Special Operations Forces, then we’re stuck with it.

But that doesn’t mean you have to set your standards low. Set out to get 1300-1400 in the UBRR, then achieve it and you’ll smoke the 3-Event PT Test, that we can guarantee. Somebody once wrote that the difference between a normal man and a warrior is that a normal man looks at everything as either a blessing or a curse. And a warrior looks at everything like a challenge.

Approach your workouts and your physical preparation like any other challenge. Better yet, approach it like you are the third monkey on Noah’s Ark and it is beginning to rain.

‘Dogs of War’ Getting Increasingly Harder to Come By

The U.S. military has sent countless dogs to serve alongside soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere since Sept. 11. They have become a valuable member of the troops working in some of the toughest battlefields in the world. With increases in technology, including constructing mannequin dogs, the Pentagon is ensuring many more of them will make it home.

At any given time, there are about 1,600 Military War Dogs (MWDs) are either in the field or helping recuperating veterans. That’s approximately one dog for every three U.S. soldiers currently in Afghanistan.

These animals are, however, an increasingly precious resource. With terrorists targeting public transportation and tourist sites all over the world, global demand for bomb-sniffing dogs has surged. Canines with finely trained noses now fetch $25,000 and up on the open market, where border patrol units, the State Department, and private security firms go for canine talent. Even the war on bedbugs scoops up some of the best noses in the business. And that’s just U.S. demand.
So, out of necessity, the Department of Defense is buying up lifelike canine mannequins to better train medics that care for furry soldiers when they fall. Since these dog dolls hit the market in January, the Pentagon has purchased about 80 of them from TraumaFX, an Atlanta-based unit of defense contractor KForce Government Solutions Inc. The company, which employs Hollywood movie designers, is bidding on an additional six proposals at the moment.

While the demand for war dogs is increasing both in the war theatre as well as at home, the pipeline for getting trained dogs in the field is very limited. A well-trained dog cast somewhere around $42,000 before it is ready to get out in the field and the training lasts about four months.

That’s why buying the dog dummies are valuable assets for veterinary services that are assigned to care for them when they are hurt in the line of duty.

To read the entire article from Bloomberg, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 8.28.2017

Happy Monday, we’ll do prep for the UBRR (Upper Body Round Round) by doing a small Pretest on the Pushups, Sit-ups, Crunches, and V-Ups two times. Go thru the entire cycle and then do it again and see where your fitness level is. This will lead to our article later on this morning perfectly.

Ensure your form is very strict with the push-ups as that are how those are graded. We’ll follow with the shuttle run. Hydrate well and remember to stretch out after the workout.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1-minute, Crunches

2 x 1-minute, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure (no time limit)

10 x 40-meter shuttle run

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 8.27.2017

We’ll kick off things today with our Sunday morning rucksack march. A warm up of pushups and planks followed by a fast paced 5-mile ruck march with a 45-pound minimum to start the day right. The ability to carry a rucksack is of paramount importance in Special Operations. Remember to stay hydrated throughout the ruck and to ensure that you have at least two pairs of boots broken in for the course.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Side Planks

5-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. Try to keep your pace better than the standard. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion