3rd Special Forces Group

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) – An Illustrious History

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) is one of the five active-duty Special Forces Groups (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 10th) in the U.S. Army. The 3rd SFG is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and its area of responsibility includes the area of operations of AFRICOM as well as the Caribbean Basin.

All Special Forces groups have a plethora of mission sets. Some of these include but are not limited to Direct Action, Special Reconnaissance, Counter-terrorism, Counter-insurgency, Foreign Internal Defense, Unconventional Warfare, Security Force Assistance, Information Operations, and Peace Operations.

Special Forces Soldiers are renowned for their ability to deploy in small teams, operate independently, and conduct their mission in austere environments.

The First Period of the 3rd Special Forces Group

Like many special operations forces, the Special Forces trace their lineage back to WWII. Several units laid the framework for Special Forces, among them the Alamo Scouts, Philippine Guerrillas, 1st Special Service Force, and the Operational Group’s Jedburgh Teams within the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

The Special Forces, otherwise known as Green Berets, came into existence in June 1952. At first, they consisted of only the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Soon after, a portion of the 10th split and became the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

The Special Forces training school was known as the Psychological Warfare School, later becoming the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) was first activated on December 5, 1963, at Fort Bragg, NC, and designated as a Special Action Force with the Middle East and Africa as an area orientation.

The members of the original 3rd SFG(A) were drawn from the existing Special Forces Groups with the exception of the 10th SFG (A).

In an acknowledgment of its origins, the beret flash colors of the 3rd SFG are yellow (1st SFG (A)), red (7th SFG (A)), black (5th SFG (A)), and white (Special Forces Training Group (A)). Likewise, the unit’s original motto was “From the Rest Comes the Best.”

The unit trained the armed forces of Mali, Iraq, Ethiopia, the Congo, and Jordan, in addition to supporting the Gemini 6 and 7 space launches in 1965.

During the war in Vietnam, the 3rd SFG also worked with and augmented the 5th SFG(A). During the early years of the war, SF A-Teams would deploy from all of the groups to Vietnam on TDY status. Afterward, the Army changed that and made it a permanent change of station and centralized all of the SF efforts under the 5th SFG.

In 1966, 3rd Group transferred assumed control of the 403rd Army Security Agency Special Operations Detachment and the 19th PSYOP Company over to 5th Group.

With the “Vietnamization” of the conflict, the 3rd SFG(A) was inactivated on December 10, 1969, and its members were transferred back to the other Special Forces Groups. One 3rd group officer who stayed in South Vietnam — Major George W. Petrie — was the first man on the ground in the Son Tay Raid on November 21, 1970, and later helped plan the Saigon evacuation on April 30, 1975, becoming the last SF soldier to leave the country.

The 3rd Special Forces Group Is Reborn

After nearly 21 years, the 3rd SFG (A) was re-activated at Ft. Bragg on July 1, 1990, with the majority of the troops comprising the group coming from the 5th SFG. The 2nd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd SFG were reactivated in 1991 and 1992, respectively.

3rd SFG’s new area of operation and responsibility initially consisted of the Caribbean and West Africa.

At the outbreak of the First Gulf War, the 3rd Group’s 1st Battalion was deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for three months. Its A-Teams carried out reconnaissance and sabotage missions into denied areas of Iraq and Kuwait.

In February 1991, the 3rd Group was tasked with securing and occupying the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City. The group also took part in the restoration of democracy in Haiti in 1994. During the late ’90s, the 3rd Group helped train forces in Senegal, Uganda, Malawi, Mali, Ethiopia, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

Global War on Terror

3rd Special Forces Group soldiers in Afghanistan — 3rd SFG troops in Afghanistan. (DVIDS)

After the events of 9/11, like all other Special Forces groups, the 3rd SFG became heavily involved in combat operations in Afghanistan. The heroism of the 3rd SFG’s soldiers was exemplary.

In the single largest awarding of troops since Vietnam, Lieutenant General John Mullholland, who led the 5th SFG’s initial deployment into Afghanistan in 2001 and was the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), said of the troops,

“As we have listened to these incredible tales, I am truly at a loss for words to do justice to what we have heard here, where do we get such men? … There is no finer fighting man on the face of the earth than the American soldier. And there is no finer American soldier than our Green Berets. If you saw what you heard today in a movie, you would shake your head and say, ‘That didn’t happen.’ But it does, every day.”

Staff Sergeant Robert Miller – Medal of Honor

On January 24, 2008, ODA-3312 was tasked with a combat reconnaissance mission designed to root out insurgent safe havens located in the ridges of the Chen Khar Valley in Afghanistan.

After finding an insurgent base empty, the SF team learned that a large group of insurgents was massing on a slope beyond the nearby river and preparing to ambush the combined SF and Afghan troops.

Miller fired on the insurgents with an Mk-19 grenade launcher until it broke down. Miller then grabbed a machine gun and immediately put down suppressive fire. When the firing ceased, Miller’s team leader, Major Robert Cusick, ordered Miller to take the point of a patrol up to do a battle damage assessment. Miller, Cusick, six other Green Berets, and a team of 15 Afghan soldiers crossed the river and climbed up the valley.

Miller moved forward with an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) when an insurgent, breaking free from some rocks rushed Miller. It was at this point that the valley came alive with over 200 insurgents pouring fire down on the exposed team. Major Cusick later compared it to being in the middle of a July 4 fireworks display. Miller killed the insurgent with his SAW and immediately laid down suppressive fire for the remainder of the team.

Cusick was seriously wounded with a gunshot to the collarbone area. Miller was hit in the torso but was able to spin around and kill another insurgent. But then he did what no one, American or insurgent, expected. He attacked.

Moving forward, he singlehandedly took on the enemy force with his SAW, which was highly visible due to the flash of the muzzle. Thus, it attracted an enormous amount of insurgent fire, so heavy, that the Americans reported that although he was close, Miller was impossible to reach.

Miller kept up the fire and moved on insurgent positions, eliminating them one at a time with a mixture of SAW fire and hand grenades. It wasn’t until his ammunition and grenades were expended that he was killed by rifle fire.

In October 2010, President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Miller’s parents.

Staff Sergeant Ronald Shurer – Medal of Honor

Ronald Shurer was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Shok Valley in Afghanistan.

Shurer was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and ODA 3336. In 2008, the unit was tasked with capturing a high-value target who was a part of the Hezebela Islami Gulbadin insurgent group. The mission took place in the remote Shok Valley in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan.

The team of Green Berets and Afghan commandos was whisked to the snow-covered ground along a frozen river next to a nearly vertical 60-foot cliff that they would have to climb. Then, through their imagery, the number of enemy troops in the area suddenly became much clearer.

In an interview with the media, LTC Kyle Walton, who was in command of the ODA, said the troops saw that “There were hundreds and hundreds of more compounds than we were able to see from our imagery.”

His unit came under machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire as they made their way through the valley. Another element of the team, trying to maneuver toward the target from a different location, also came under fire and was pinned down. Several of the troops were critically wounded.

Shurer, disregarding his own safety, charged up the mountain while under heavy fire. It took him an hour to reach the element of four critically wounded Americans and 10 wounded Afghan commandos. He returned fire killing several insurgents along the way.

Once he arrived at the wounded troops’ position, he stabilized four of them while being wounded in the arm and taking a bullet in his helmet.

“It felt like I’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat,” Shurer said later in an interview.

Shurer then aided a man who had lost a leg and continued to treat the wounded, while still fighting off the insurgents for several hours. He then aided in lowering three wounded men down a near-vertical 60-foot cliff while under fire.

Shurer’s actions saved the lives of every man who was wounded on that day.

For his actions, Shurer was initially awarded the Silver Star. However, in 2016, the Pentagon conducted a review of all medals awarded for valor since the 9/11 terror attacks. Shurer’s award was then upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He received the award from President Donald Trump on October 1, 2018, in a ceremony at the White House.

“For more than six hours, Ron bravely faced down the enemy,” President Trump said at the award ceremony. “Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions.”

Shurer left the Army in 2009. He joined the Phoenix office of the U.S. Secret Service. He was selected for the agency’s Counter Assault Team and assigned to its Special Operations Division in Washington, DC. Sadly, Shurer died of lung cancer in 2020, leaving behind a wife and two young sons.

Sergeant Matthew O. Williams – Medal of Honor

President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to MSG Matthew O. Williams in the White House for actions in Afghanistan. (White House)

Williams was a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant (18B) with ODA-3336, Special Operations Task Force 11, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. On April 6, 2008, the ODA was on a mission to capture or kill high-value targets of the Hezeb Islami al Gulbadin in Shok Valley, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.

Williams was part of an assault element consisting of several American SF and a larger Afghan commando force. The element was inserted by helicopter into a location in Nuristan Province. As they were moving up a mountain toward their objective, they were engaged by intense enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

The lead portion of the assault element, which included the ground commander, sustained several casualties and was pinned down on the mountainside. Meanwhile, Williams and the trailing portion of the assault element were forced to take cover as they began to also receive intense enemy fire. Insurgent fighters had the entire assault element pinned down.

“It was kind of quiet, then all of a sudden everything exploded all at once – machine gun fire, some RPGs started going off. [The insurgents] had some pretty good shooters and a lot of people up there waiting for us,” Williams said.

The Army’s narrative of the operation highlights Williams’s bravery on that day.

“After learning that the command element had received numerous casualties, he gathered the Afghan commandos around him while braving intense enemy fire and led a counterattack across a 100-meter long valley of ice-covered boulders and a fast-moving, ice-cold, waist-deep river.
After leading his commandos up the mountainside to the besieged element, Williams arrayed his Afghan commandos to provide suppressive fire to keep the insurgents from overrunning the position.
As Williams worked to defend his position, his team sergeant, Master Sgt. Scott Ford, was hit by a sniper round. Once again, Williams braved intense enemy fire to provide Ford first aid and moved him down the sheer mountainside to the casualty collection point.
Then, knowing the commandos and his fellow Soldiers were still in danger, Williams fought and climbed his way back up the mountainside, under enemy fire, to help defend the lead assault element, which still had several serious casualties to evacuate.
Upon reaching the lead element, he provided suppressing fire, killing several insurgents, before once again exposing himself to enemy fire in order to move to the element’s satellite radio and re-establish their communications capability. Williams then continued to expose himself to enemy fire as he assisted in moving the wounded down the mountainside to the casualty collection point.
After Williams reached the casualty collection point with three wounded Soldiers, enemy fighters began maneuvering to overrun their position, putting the lives of the wounded and those caring for them at risk.
Realizing the danger to the wounded, Williams again led the Afghan commandos in a counterattack and fought for several hours against the insurgents, keeping them at bay until helicopters arrived to evacuate the wounded.
Again and again, as the wounded were being evacuated, Williams exposed himself to enemy fire while carrying and loading casualties onto the helicopters. He then continued to suppress numerous insurgent positions by directing commando fires, which allowed the patrol to evacuate the wounded and the dead without further casualties.”

“That day was one of the worst predicaments of my life at that point, the experience from that has helped me through my whole entire career. Remain level-headed and focus on what needs to happen as opposed to what is happening,” Williams said.

Williams’s Silver Star was upgraded to the Medal of Honor and on October 30, 2019. It was presented to him in the White House by President Trump.

In addition to the awards listed above, CW2 Jason Myers and SSG Corey Calkins of the 3rd SFG were awarded the Distinguished Cross, the nation’s second-highest honor for valor.

During the Global War on Terror (GWOT), 3rd Special Forces Group troops have been awarded 56 Silver Stars, 183 Bronze Stars with Valor Device, and 239 Army Commendations with Valor Device.

Niger Ambush

In October 2017, a combined Special Forces A-Team (ODA-3212) from the 3rd Special Forces Group and Nigerien forces were ambushed by a numerically vastly superior insurgent force outside of Tongo Tongo, Niger. The ambush resulted in the deaths of four American Special Forces troops.

The Army, AFRICOM, and senior leadership tried to paint the picture that the ODA had “gone rogue” by submitting a false Concept of Operation (CONOP) to headquarters.

Nothing was further from the truth as the A-Team leader had several times requested that the mission be canceled as the team had no support element and was working on intelligence that had a two-hour window while the mission would be conducted over two days. But he was ordered to continue.

It wasn’t until Michelle Black, the widow of SSG Bryan Black, one of the four men killed in the ambush, conducted an investigation of her own that the entire story was uncovered. Her book Sacrifice, A Gold Star Widow’s Fight for the Truth recounts her pursuit of truth and closure.

Army Green Beret Awarded Second Distinguished Service Cross

Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Jason Myers was already walking in rarified air being one of the few recipients of a Distinguished Service Cross. Now, the Green Beret is the only active duty soldier to have been awarded the DSC twice.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the nation’s second highest award for Valor ranking just under the Medal of Honor.

Originally awarded a Silver Star for his actions, the Army went thru the records of several awards and recently upgraded them. Myers’ award has been one of those upgraded to his second DSC.

On March 27, 2010, then CW2 Jason Myers of ODA-3321 of the 3rd SFG(A) was awarded the first of his DSCs when rushed into enemy fire to rescue two Afghanistan police officers. Attacked by 75-100 insurgents, he took command of a bad situation and exposed himself to RPG and PKM machine gun fire to move forward to rescue the men.

Later in November of 2011, Myers once again exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire by entering into a building to help rescue 15 hostages, also in Afghanistan.

About 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2011, Myers saw the insurgents attacking the district center. He notified the Afghan uniformed police, a special tactics team, and the Afghan National Army Commandos.

Moving toward the west gate of the compound, Myers’ team was attacked by insurgents with small arms fire and grenades. Myers, by this time already wounded by grenade fragments, was consulting with the wounded Afghan district police chief and learned about the hostages. He was also told the insurgents were wearing suicide vests.

Only after rescuing the first nine hostages did Myers allow himself to receive medical aid for his wounds. He then returned to the district center compound with a ladder to help rescue the remaining hostages. During this time the insurgents triggered a booby trap which injured six of the Afghan forces.

Myers helped evacuate the six wounded Afghan allies and helped with the clearing the remaining part of the building. During the pitched battle, five Americans were wounded, while three Afghan soldiers were killed while 11 more were wounded.

“He entered the main building three total times in order to clear it of all enemy fires,” said LTG Francis Beaudette, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, “All of this was done while sustaining shrapnel injuries and constantly under active enemy fire.”

“Jason has demonstrated on not just these two (Distinguished Service Cross Award) occasions but each and each every day he rolls out of the team room that he has the same fearless courage and unbending character of these men,” Beaudette added. “He’s going to continue to inspire others to protect the nation without fail, without fear and without equal, and we are incredibly proud of him today.”

Myers was surrounded by his family, friends, and fellow Special Forces soldiers for the second time being awarded the nation’s second highest award for valor.

Myers conducted an interview with the Fayetteville Observer after the ceremony and commented on the attack during November 2011.

“I’ve always been fortunate,” Myers said when asked about receiving the Distinguished Service Cross Award twice. “I’ve always been surrounded by the best officers and the best (noncommissioned officers) in the Army. And with multiple deployments to the same area, we knew the locals. We had a lot of rapport and these longstanding relationships with some of these people, so there was a lot of trust and history between us, the locals and the partner forces.”

Beaudette in his comments said that nearly 50 years ago, Green Berets sat in the same auditorium at the JFKSWC and were briefed on a dangerous plan to rescue American POWs in Vietnam. The mission he was referring to was “Operation Ivory Coast” where Green Berets under the command of Colonel Arthur “Bull” Simons flew deep into North Vietnam, just 23 miles west of Hanoi to get American POWs out of Son Tay Prison.

LTG Beaudette compared Myers’ actions to those who stood up and volunteered.

At Myers’ first award of the DSC, Admiral William McRaven, the then commander of USSOCOM summed it up arguably the best when taking into account the actions of Myers on these actions.

“The Green Beret isn’t just a piece of headgear; it is a symbol of all that is good and right about America. It represents the finest Soldiers ever to take the battlefield, he said.

“I want to thank you again for your incredible service to the Regiment, the Army and this great Nation. To the men of 3rd SFG, your reputation continues to grow. Your legacy will be found not in the wars that you fought, but in the men that fought them,” said McRaven. “You and the families that give you strength have earned the respect and admiration of an entire nation.”

Screenshot Photo and Video: DVIDSHub.net

AFRICOM Commander, “We Are Not Winning” Counter-terror War

Opinion: The recent comments by the commander of United States troops in the Africa Command (AFRICOM), MG Marcus Hicks are very sobering yet not really surprising. “I would tell you at this time, we are not winning,” Hicks said last week during interviews with Voice of America.

The general’s comments came during the large military exercise known as “Flintlock” last week was ongoing. Flintlock is an annual regional exercise among African, allied and U.S. counterterrorism forces, and has taken place since 2005. The U.S. has the lead in this annual training which this year has about 2000 commandos from about 30 countries taking part.

Held this year in Burkina Faso, Flintlock, although an exercise, belies the issue which lies barely beneath the surface. Burkina Faso is combatting an active Islamic insurgency from several terror groups aligned with al-Qaeda. The U.N. released figures that stated that over 100,000 citizens have been uprooted and over 150,000 children can’t attend school in the country due to the Islamic threat. And that is just a small part of the problem in the region.

The threat is growing from terror organizations like al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS) and their offshoots, as they try to spread their tentacles across the Sahel, sub-Sahara Africa. And the local nations are growing increasingly uneasy over how they see the United States reacting to this increasing threat.

The Trump administration is advocating pulling out troops, first from Syria and Afghanistan. And then from Africa. With a renewed focus on threats from China and Russia, the U.S. is switching its focus from counterterrorism to the big conventional battlefield. And it has the locals afraid.

Back in February, Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Alpha Barry told a security conference in Germany, “the threat is gaining ground. It’s no longer just the Sahel, it’s coastal West Africa and the risk of spreading regionally.”

Locally, the commanders know that their troops don’t have the training, numbers, and equipment to stand on their own. Worse, they see a U.S. pullout (the administration wants to reduce troop strength by 25% by 2022) before the threats from terror groups have been eradicated as a potential disaster.

With the U.S. scaling back operations and troop numbers in West Africa, terror groups are striking previously untouched targets. Moving from Burkina Faso thru Niger, insurgents are now actively targeting in the Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, and Ghana.

The United States has a relatively small footprint in Africa, with about 6000 troops and 1000 contractors at any given time on the ground. Of those about 1300 are Special Operations troops who provide training and advisory roles for the host nation forces.

The French have been doing the majority of the heavy lifting for the counterterror operations in the region. They keep about 4500 troops in the area and have been active in the areas of Niger, Chad, and Mali. In 2013, the French helped forces from Mali rout the al-Qaeda fighters from the north portion of the country.

Unlike the U.S., the French are staying. They received assurances from the Americans, however, that the U.S. will continue to provide intelligence, logistical and aerial refueling support in the region.

The United States has also pledged money to increase security forces in the region. AFRICOM increased spending to $242 million for the G5 Sahel Joint Force which consists of Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger, and Mauritania. The G5 Sahel Joint Force was first authorized in 2017 and combined the forces of these countries to improve security along their shared borders, improve cooperation and deployment of joint patrols to interdict the flow of terror groups and traffickers that currently cross their shared national borders with ease.

Meanwhile Gen. Hicks “would not recommend more drones or more advisers” presently, but said he wouldn’t advise reducing U.S. troop numbers in the region, either. However, he said that idea that the U.S. is leaving the area completely isn’t true. He characterized it as “a natural transition.”

“We’re trying to avoid as much as possible the kinetic activity that could eventually disenfranchise the people from the legitimate government,” he added.

The problem is that poverty and economic development go hand-in-hand with military problems and the host nations are not equipped to deal with. For now, in the interior of Burkina Faso, Muslims and Christians live alongside one another in harmony. That will never happen with an Islamist terror group gaining a foothold.

And while current training such as “Flintlock” provides valuable training for the troops in the region, commanders had to frequently check on active counterterror operations nearby. One area that the U.S. has increased its presence is in the realm of airstrikes against terrorist targets.

In Somalia alone, thus far in 2019, there have been 23 airstrikes against al-Shabab targets in Somalia, compared with just 47 in all of 2018.

With the threat increasing in Africa, the U.S. won’t at least for the near future, cut any additional troop strength there. But Special Operations personnel advising local forces and at the staff level will be needed along with economic and civic action reforms.

“We aren’t winning” the battle currently as Gen. Hicks has stated, but it doesn’t mean that the war is lost.

Photo: US Army

With Mattis Gone, SF Command Again Punishes SF CPT From Niger Ambush

Op-Ed: The handwriting was on this one right from the very start. The Army tried to lay the blame on the ambush of the American Special Forces troops in Niger on the commander and NCOs of the SF A-Team before the last body had even been recovered off the battlefield.

The Army had issued a letter of reprimand to Capt. Michael Perozeni soon after the ambush in Niger in 2017 that killed four soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group. Perozeni and other junior officers and NCOs were singled out for punishment and were thrown under the bus, while senior leaders skated.

Jim Mattis, who was the administration’s then-Defense Secretary, blasted the letter of reprimand given Perozeni stating that MG Edwin J. Deedrick, Commander of the 1st Special Forces Command was unfairly calling out Perozeni and other junior leaders for punishment in the ill-fated mission while senior officers have been spared any ill effects from the fallout.

While Mattis was Defense Secretary, not only was Perozeni’s Letter of Reprimand (which is a career ender), rescinded, Perozeni was recommended for a Silver Star. Now with Mattis out as SECDEF, the Army has re-instated a letter of reprimand for Perozeni.

LTG Francis M. Beaudette, commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command, has issued a letter of reprimand for Perozeni on January 16, for not performing proper pre-mission training before the mission that ended up with his team ambushed, leaving four dead and Perozeni and another SF NCO were wounded and five Nigerien soldiers were also killed in the attack. They wasted little time (just 15 days) from the time Mattis left his position to re-instating his reprimand.

Perozeni’s original letter of reprimand was issued for failing to ensure his team was adequately trained before working with the Nigerien troops prior to deployment. That in itself is very flawed, for Perozeni had command of the A-Team for just a few weeks prior to deployment. With the current state of CS (chicken-s**t) mandatory training, ODA’s never have enough time to do the amount of training required. And blaming a Team Leader who had just a few weeks to prepare is ridiculous.

But when the DOD did an internal investigation into the Special Force team’s actions, Perozeni was recommended for a Silver Star. Initially, ODA-3212 planned a daylong “civil reconnaissance” trip on Oct. 3, 2017, to meet with tribal elders in the African countryside.

This is where the story gets crossed, prior to leaving the base in Ouallam, Perozeni received an order for his team to conduct a kill-or-capture mission involving Doundoun Cheffou, an ISIS militant believed to be behind the kidnapping of an American in Mali, among other things.

The order was given by another Captain, the same rank as Perozeni, who was filling in for his superior who was on maternity leave. Perozeni made his objections known straight away, saying that his team had neither the intelligence nor equipment to carry it out. However, his battalion commander LTC David Painter who was based in Chad ordered the team to move forward with the mission. Painter, it should be noted, was also recently reprimanded as well, after having not been earlier. He was slated to command one of the Army’s new SFAB battalions in Afghanistan in the coming months and now that has been changed.

The mission was scrubbed due to weather and the Green Berets moved on with their original mission that had been planned. But enroute the team’s mission was changed again. They were ordered to go close to the Mali border where they were to collect intelligence on what was reported to be Cheffou’s desert camp.

The next day, after stopping in Tongo Tongo for water, the ODA felt that the village was attempting to stall them. After leaving the village they were ambushed by a numerically superior force with heavy weapons. Perozeni and SFC Brent Bartels were wounded in the ambush while SGT La David Johnson, SSG Bryan Black, SSG Jeremiah Johnson, and SSG Dustin Wright were killed during the fighting. Reportedly the ODA killed 21 of the insurgents.

The only member of the senior officers involved in the action from the 3rd SFG to go unscathed was the 3rd SFG Group Commander, COL Bradley Moses. He is currently the Chief of Staff for the Army’s Special Operations Command and is slated to soon become a Brigadier General.

Perozeni has been made a scapegoat…twice, when in fact, his actions more than merit his bravery during the action. He, Bartells and several Nigerien soldiers tried to flank the ambush on foot. Once he realized that the insurgents were much more powerful than originally thought, he ordered the men back to the vehicles.

He was wounded and thrown from the back of a truck. Bartels, already wounded, drove through fire to retrieve him. Perozeni did what every Special Forces officer is supposed to do in that situation. He tried to pick up the pieces and lead his team out of harm’s way.

So, now the Army is trying to reprimand Perozeni for his actions while putting him in for a Silver Star, the third highest award for valor in the U.S. military. The entire aftermath of a desperate battle by the Green Berets has turned into a fiasco. In the days immediately following the battle, the Army changed its story three times. At first, ODA 3212 was conducting “a recon mission”, then a training mission, and finally they conceded that it was a capture/kill high-value target raid. That should tell anyone all they have to know.

Then the Pentagon, in a 6000-page report on the ambush, the report blames the ambush partly on a culture of risk-taking, which is what Special Forces and all Special Operations units are in the business of.

Perozeni’s actions were not the cause of his soldiers getting killed on that day in October, and regardless of the fact that this reprimand was being placed only in his “local file” which is not supposed to follow him in his career, it is as wrong as rain. He and his team should be decorated, not reprimanded. The senior leadership fo SOCOM needs to step in and do the right thing here…and the troops are watching.

Photo: US Army

Green Beret Killed in Action in Afghanistan Identified

A Green Beret from the 3rd Special Forces Group was killed in action in Afghanistan on Tuesday. SFC Joshua Beale, age 32, died from wounds suffered by small arms fire on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations. Beale was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

News of the death of the Green Beret in combat came the day after a suicide bombing attack by the Taliban on an Afghan military base in the eastern Afghan province of Maidan Wardak which killed scores of members of the Afghan security forces.

This latest casualty came about a week after Ranger Sgt. Cameron Meddock died last week at a medical facility in Germany after being wounded by small arms fire on January 13 during a combat operation in Badghis Province, Afghanistan.

Meddock, 26, of Amarillo, Texas, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.

Beale was a from Carrollton, Virginia. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University in 2008.

He then enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2011. He attended Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training, and the U.S. Army Airborne School at Ft. Benning, GA. Beale then graduated in 2013 from the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) and was subsequently assigned to 3rd SFG(A).

Beale also graduated from the Advanced Leader Course, Special Forces Sniper Course, and Army Ranger School. This was his fourth overseas tour and his third tour to Afghanistan. He had more than seven years of service in the Army.

His awards and decorations include three Bronze Star Medals, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge and Combat Infantry Badge.

Beale was posthumously awarded a fourth Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and the Meritorious Service Medal. He was posthumously promoted to Sgt. 1st Class.

“Joshua was a smart, talented and dedicated member of 3rd SFG (A) and the special operations community. He will be greatly missed by everyone who had the fortunate opportunity to know him. We extend our deepest condolences to his family for this tragic loss.” Col. Nathan Prussian, 3rd SFG (A) commander.

Beale leaves a wife and two children at Ft. Bragg, NC.

The US has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan with the majority of those forces serving in non-combat roles as part of the NATO-led “train and assist” mission, helping to train and advise local Afghan forces.

However, a smaller number of US Special Operations Forces participate in counterterrorism missions against international terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS as well as the Taliban.

Photos: US Army

A SF Soldier Dead, Two Marines, One Sailor Under Investigation

The news keeps getting worse and worse out of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), as yet another Special Operations soldier, retired Green Beret and contractor Rick Rodriguez was killed in Iraq, not in combat. But by the hands of our own troops. Two senior NCOs (Gunnery Sergeants) from the Marines and a Navy Corpsman are under investigation in the incident.

This latest black eye for SOCOM occurred on New Year’s Eve in Erbil, Iraq, which is the center of the Kurdish territory after a dispute in the post gym. The Marines and Navy troops are assigned to Erbil as advisors from a Marine SOF unit operating in Northern Iraq working with the Kurds and Iraqi forces in the area.

Rodriguez, a 20-year retired Green Beret was working as a contractor for Lockheed-Martin and supposedly was beaten by the men and left unconscious. He was airlifted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where he was taken off life support on January 4th after his wife and children flew from Ft. Bragg, NC and agreed to that.

Rodriguez was a very well-known and respected member of the Special Forces community and was always known as a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker or a hothead. His most recent posts on Facebook would also point to that as well. He would frequently post pictures from his workouts as a place of refuge and for his peace of mind. One recent post had this: “This makes sense to me. This right here. This place. This sanctuary. This quiets the thoughts. Calms the nerves. In here I feel like my old self,” he wrote in his Facebook post.

Lockheed Martin released a statement where they said that the company “was saddened to learn of the loss of one of our employees, who was fatally injured while supporting Special Operations Forces within the Operation Inherent Resolve area of operations in a noncombat-related incident.”

They added, “We are supporting the Naval Criminal Investigation Service as they conduct an investigation into the circumstances of his death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we are committed to supporting them during this difficult time.”

The Navy’s NCIS would only confirm that this latest incident was under investigation but declined to give any details. MARSOC gave the typical no-informational statement, saying, “MARSOC is providing all requested support to investigators as they look into this incident,” MARSOC spokesman Maj. Nick Mannweiler said. However, the Marines and the Navy Corpsman were not being detained and are still on duty in Iraq.

There have been multiple sources reporting that “there were a lot of witnesses.

This investigation is the latest of several ugly incidents stemming from deadly misconduct among the U.S. Special Operations community. Back in November, two Navy SEALs and two Marines were charged with murdering Army SSG Logan Melgar, who was strangled in his apartment in Mali in 2017. The SEALs and Marines in that case also were charged with involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, hazing, and burglary. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment or potentially the death penalty.

In two other cases, a Navy SEAL and an Army Green Beret are under investigation for murders of ISIS or Taliban combatants. Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward R. Gallagher, 39, has been charged with premeditated murder and other offenses in connection with the fatal stabbing of a teenage Islamic State prisoner under his control in Iraq in 2017, as well as with the shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians.

Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn after he allegedly told the CIA interviewers while applying for a job at the agency, that he had killed a Taliban bomb maker in 2010. The Army Criminal Investigation Command investigated, ending with Golsteyn receiving an official reprimand and having his Silver Star and Special Forces tab revoked.

The case was later reopened after Golsteyn appeared on Fox News in 2016 and claimed he killed the man due to a concern that he would target Afghans who were assisting U.S. troops.

This was after the Commander of SOCOM General Tony Thomas issued a command internal review after several cases of the command running amuck with severe cases of misconduct and an aura of entitlement that is permeating the force.

“Left unchecked, an eroded values system threatens to erode the trust of our fellow comrades, our senior leaders, and ultimately the American people,” GeneralThomas wrote.

“A survey of allegations of misconduct across our formations over the last year indicate the USSOCOM faces a deeper challenge of a disordered view of the Team and the Individual in our SOF Culture.”

“No component or command has escaped this trend and all of us will feel the disproportionate and negative impacts of these incidents on our missions and people,” Thomas wrote.

And it hasn’t just been U.S. troops as elements of the Australian Special Operations Forces have been under investigation for murder as well as other war crimes.

Photo: Facebook

Former Green Beret Maj. Mark Golsteyn Charged With Murder of Taliban Suspect

A former Army Green Beret has been charged with murder and conspiracy for killing an alleged Taliban bomb-making suspect. The bomber had allegedly planted an IED that killed two U.S. Marines that were fighting with the Green Berets in the Afghan town of Marjah. Reportedly Major Mark Golsteyn and another soldier shot and killed the suspected bomber and then destroyed his remains.

This case, which happened in 2010 has been dragging on for nine years. The US Army Special Operations Command spokesman Loren Bymer said that on Friday that “sufficient evidence exists” to warrant charges against Golsteyn. Originally this story came to light in a polygraph interview that Golsteyn did with CIA officials as part of a job interview.

“Major Golsteyn is being charged with the murder of an Afghan male during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan,” Bymer put out in a statement.

According to Army Times, Bymer stated that Golsteyn has been recalled to active duty and is under the command of the USASOC headquarters company. An intermediary commander will review the warrant of preferred charges to determine if the major will face an Article 32 hearing that could lead to a court-martial.

That commander has 120 days to make that decision.

Golsteyn had been placed on voluntary excess leave, an administrative status for soldiers pending lengthy administrative proceedings, Bymer said. He is not being confined at this time.

“I think he’s been betrayed,” his attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told Fox News on Friday after he was interviewed on his client’s actions. Golsteyn is facing the death penalty if convicted of murder in this case.

Golsteyn, a captain at the time, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 with 3rd Special Forces Group. During the intense Battle of Marja, an IED planted on a booby-trapped door killed two Marines and wounded three others who were working with the 3rd SFG ODA-3121.

For his actions during the deployment, Golsteyn earned a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor. Later, an upgrade for his medal was approved but never given for a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor just beneath the Medal of Honor.

However, due to his CIA polygraph where he admitted killing the Taliban bomber, CIA officials turned the results over to Army CID (Criminal Investigation Command). Although the resultant Board of Inquiry resulted in no charges filed against Golsteyn, it was ordered that he be stripped of his Silver Star and his Special Forces tab, given to Green Berets at the end of their training. It further ordered that he be given a General Discharge under Honorable Conditions.

The Board of Inquiry found no evidence that Golsteyn committed no Law of Armed Conflict violation, they found him to culpable of Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer.

While investigating the bombing in the Marjah marketplace, Golsteyn and his men found bomb-making materials nearby. Local tribal leaders brought in a tied up suspect that they identified as the Taliban IED bomber. Without enough evidence to hold the suspect much longer, Golsteyn told the polygraph examiners that he feared that the Taliban would take retribution against the tribal leaders and their families who were seen to be working with the Americans.

They made the decision to eliminate the Taliban. They took him off base, shot and killed him and then burned his body in a pit where the U.S. destroyed classified documents. His remains have never been found.

Then during a November 2016 and interview with Fox News, Golsteyn again admitted that he had killed the Taliban bomber, who had been captured by American troops, found with bomb-making material and then released.

“There are limits on how long you can hold guys,” he told Fox News for a news special that they produced on the war and our troops.

“You realize quickly that you make things worse. It is an inevitable outcome that people who are cooperating with coalition forces, when identified, will suffer some terrible torture or be killed.”

Asked if he killed the man, Golsteyn said, “Yes.”

That interview can be seen here:

That prompted the Army to open its second CID investigation into Golsteyn.

CID offered immunity to two SF soldiers to testify against Golsteyn but they refused to talk.

The two Marines Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary and Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson, who had been working with Golsteyn’s A-Team are the forgotten ones in this case.

But the parents of one of the slain Marines believe the charges ludicrous.

“I think that’s crazy,” said David Kleinschmidt, stepfather of victim Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary.

“I don’t understand why they are bringing this up again,” Kleinschmidt told the New York Post on Friday.

“We were in a war — and things happen in war,” he added, “personally, I think they should just drop [the charges] … I’m glad the guy is dead.” McQueary’s mom said her heart goes out to the family of the former Green Beret. “I’m sure his family has to be stressed out beyond belief,” the mom said of Golsteyn.

“And my heart goes out to them.”

Ashley Johnson, the sister of killed Marine Larry Johnson was also, not surprisingly on the side of Golsteyn. “He, from what I read, is a hero and did what he had to do. I believe at a time like that, you wear your heart on your sleeve and I think it’s what anyone with a heart would do,” she said.

While soldiers who worked with Golsteyn told Army Investigators that they doubted that the Captain would kill an unarmed insurgent, it seems he wasn’t popular with senior officers in his chain of command.

“I have a hard time believing that such an incident ever occurred,” a senior medic in his unit told CID in December 2011. “I further find it hard to believe that Matt Golsteyn would do that. The only reason I could possibly conceive him doing something like that is if he felt his men’s lives were at direct risk.”

But a Lieutenant Colonel in Golsteyn’s chain of command differed and told CID that often Golsteyn was insubordinate and would act with a sense of impunity. According to CID, this LTC stated when asked by investigators if he believed Golsteyn capable of murder, he essentially threw him under the bus. “I would hope not, the colonel stated but “would not doubt it either because of the captain’s attitude,” the investigator wrote.

When the Marines returned from the mission that their comrades were killed and wounded, Golsteyn was there as they reentered the compound. He produced a bottle of whiskey (which is forbidden in a combat zone) and toasted the fallen Marines. That small act went a long way with bringing the SF men and Marines closer but infuriated Army brass for drinking alcohol in a war zone. The fact that the Army was more concerned with a toast to killed Marines rather than removing a Taliban bomber speaks volumes to several Special Forces veterans.

Golsteyn has at least one member of Congress on his side, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter Jr. (R.Calif.), a Marine veteran and frequent critic of the Army secretary.

“Major Matt Golsteyn is an American hero, and his experience calls to attention another hero, retired General James Mattis and something he said: ‘There are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot.’ I know you agree that a known Afghan bomb-maker with the blood of American service members on his hands fits into that category,” the congressman wrote to Army Secretary Eric Fanning and Gen. Mark A. Milley, Army chief of staff.

Hunter said: “Golsteyn is an American hero — a true warrior, in fact. Why the Army is hell-bent on destroying a combat hero’s career is truly astonishing. I’m confident that Army CID has more important things to [do] than investigate Golsteyn again, and you both have the ability to fix this stupidity.”

In a handwritten note, the former Marine said, “Gentlemen, come on! This is a joke. I’m sure you have more important stuff to do. This is getting old.”

This brings to mind a case of similar circumstances back in Vietnam that was known as the “Green Beret Affair” where a suspected Vietnamese double-agent who was responsible for the death of several agents was killed and dumped into the ocean.

And now President Trump says he’ll review the case, “At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Military hero,’ Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas,” Trump said on Twitter.

This will likely make this case a politicized event …for better or worse.

Photo: DOD

Mattis, Thomas Trying to Set The Record Straight on Niger

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is calling out the senior leadership of the Pentagon and Africa Command for placing all of the burden of the ill-fated Niger mission where four Special Operations soldiers were killed on the team leader and the most junior officers and NCOs while absolving the higher command of any blame, despite the evidence to the contrary.

The Special Forces A-Team from the 3rd SFG was ambushed by numerically superior Al-Shabab terrorists who are loyal to the Islamic State. ODA-3312 fought valiantly for five hours but lost four soldiers. Two Green Berets and two support soldiers who were accompanying the A-Team on the mission.

Now, Mattis is ensuring that unlike most goings-on at the Pentagon, that senior leaders are going to be made to pay for the gaffes, regardless of how much they sanitized their own after-action report.

Africa Command (AFRICOM) initially tried to place all of the blame on the Special Forces ODA commander, Captain Michael Perozeni, despite evidence to the contrary. The CYA version of events from Africa Command didn’t stand up to the smell test.

In the largest loss of life for the U.S. military in Africa since the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” mission in Somalia — top military leaders continue to battle over who should be held accountable while continuing to cover their own actions.

Jack Murphy for NEWSREP posted a piece nine months ago that was both highly critical of the sanitized after-action review that changed the story of what exactly the Special Forces team was doing in Niger on the day in question and how the senior officers were totally absolving themselves of any responsibility.

At first, the mission ODA 3212 was conducting was described as a recon mission, then a training mission, and finally they conceded that it was a capture/kill high-value target raid. It seems inevitable that they would be out of touch — the headquarters for Africa Command (AFRICOM) isn’t even in Africa, it is in Germany. For senior military officers, the lesson here will be to institute a deeper level of micromanagement, contrary to the de-centralized manner in which Special Forces is designed to operate. The potential political risk of an unconventional warfare campaign does not level out in the minds of senior officers and politicians. None of them wants another Benghazi on their hands.

The Special Forces team was ambushed in the southwest region of Tongo Tongo, along the Niger-Mali border and 130 miles north of the capital city of Niamey. Tongo Tongo is a hot zone of jihadist activity. Many with ties to al-Qaeda have created the bulk of what is known as al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM).

The Special Operations Command commanded by Army Gen. Tony Thomas, which includes Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and other American Special Operations troops has complained that the SOCOM warriors have been singled out for fault. He has also leveled criticism that Pentagon leaders are protecting United States Africa Command, which oversees missions across the continent.

Thomas sent a memo to Mattis back on October 1st and blamed a bad relations climate between Africa Command and the last commander of American Special Operations in Africa, BG Donald C. Bolduc, as one reason for the failed mission. This was published by the NY Times which said that the internal tensions had “hindered the ability of commanders, at both levels, to understand, communicate, assess and mitigate risk as events transpired” in October 2017.

We highlighted the mitigate risk comment since one of the things that Africa Command put in the initial report was that they blamed the mission failure on “risk-taking, a culture that is deliberately cultivated in Special Operations.” Which is patently ridiculous. Special Operations troops routinely conduct highly sensitive and dangerous missions. The commanders of the SOF teams know the risk that is involved. They are the ones at the tip of the spear.

And yet, CPT Perozeni, the ODA commander, was singled out for having “mischaracterized” the mission to superiors as a trip to meet with tribal leaders, not a counterterrorism effort. Which was completely untrue. Perozeni correctly reported that he did not have the necessary equipment, air support or intelligence to safely and successfully conduct the mission.

But his Battalion Commander LTC David Painter ordered him to continue even though he was in Chad and not even in Niger. Perozeni by all accounts performed very bravely during the five-hour long firefight. He tried to hold things together despite having some totally unreliable host nation troops who mostly cut and ran during the action, leaving the Green Berets alone to slug it out with much heavily armed troops.

Perozeni was wounded in thrown from the back of the truck that he was riding in. His driver SFC Brent Bartels was also wounded in the fighting but still turned around and picked up his commander.

Senior Army officers in a video conference with Mattis last week were incensed at Africa Command and some with Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., for allowing Africa Command, whose leader, Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, is also a Marine, to conduct the investigation on itself by appointing General Waldhauser’s own chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., to conduct the probe.

Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Army chief of staff who has been appointed by the President to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Mark Esper, the Army secretary; Owen West, the military’s top civilian Special Operations policy official; and Paul C. Ney Jr., the Pentagon general counsel all were present. General Thomas called in from his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Mattis has listened so far and the letter of reprimand for Perozeni has been rescinded. The only senior officer to receive a letter of reprimand thus far is MG Marcus Hicks, the head of Special Operations forces in Africa, who was already planning to retire. LTC Painter was told by General Deedrick that he would be receiving a letter of reprimand.

MAJ Alan Van Saun, Captain Perozeni’s company commander, wasn’t in the country at the time of the ambush, he was home on paternity leave, but was reprimanded by AFRICOM. His reprimand cited insufficient training of his unit, this week received a permanent letter of reprimand which essentially ends his career.

Although the Pentagon will continue their investigation now, General Thomas has decided to set the record straight on the battle. In recent weeks General Thomas flew to Fort Bragg, N.C., where ODA-3312 is stationed, to ensure that the award citations were being prepared for the team members.

While at Fort Bragg, General Thomas asked if SSG Dustin Wright, who was killed trying to rescue a wounded comrade who eventually died, was eligible for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award. He has personally interviewed some of the participants, read thru their statements in the after action review and watched the helmet cam video that the soldiers were wearing during the ambush.

Photo: DVIDS

Local Hero, Special Forces NCO Eric Emond Killed in Afghanistan IED Attack

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

The United States Special Operations Command had three of their commandos killed in an IED attack in Afghanistan on Tuesday. The bombing killed Captain Andrew Patrick Ross, 29, of Virginia, Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, 25, of Pennsylvania and Sergeant First Class Eric Emond of Fall River, Massachusetts who all died after the vehicle they were in was struck by an improvised explosive device in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan.

Ross and Emond were Green Berets from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (3rd SFG) and Elchin was an Air Force a special tactics combat controller, embedded with the Special Forces A-Team directing close-air support aircraft, and delivering destructive ordnance on enemy targets.

It has been a bloody, costly week for our Special Operations forces, last week Sergeant Leandro Jassos of the 2nd Ranger Battalion was killed on an operation, also in Afghanistan where he may have been shot by friendly fire from Afghan commandos who are trained and advised by our Special Operations Forces.

But up here in New England, the loss of Emond struck a particular tough chord with the people. First, he was a local, one of them and graduated from Durfee High School in the tough town of Fall River, Massachusetts about 50 miles south of Boston.

Emond was a veteran of 21 years of service. He joined the Marine Corps and was a Scout Sniper during the Marines first incursion into Afghanistan 17 years ago. He later got out joined the Army and became a Green Beret. He was on his seventh combat tour when he was killed in action this week.

Back in 2009, Emond was severely wounded by an RPG in an ambush in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province. As he struggled to get healthy enough to pass a medical board, he was back home in Boston in 2010 when he and a few other combat veterans helped get the United States’ first Iraq/Afghanistan War Memorial built in Boston’s seaport. It is an obelisk and plaque that lists the name of every one of the troops killed during the wars.

Sadly enough, Emond’s name will now be added to the memorial that he helped to make happen.

The war memorial project raised over $2 million dollars in private funds as well as state grants. The entire project was entirely organized by local veterans like Emond. The Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Foundation is now dedicated to providing support to Gold Star Families and educating schoolchildren about their sacrifices.

One hard-boiled Boston Police sergeant, Michael Brown worked with Emond on the war memorial. Brown was also a Marine who fought in Iraq. He had this to say about the Green Beret. “When I tell my kids stories about bravery and courage, it’s going to be guys like Eric Emond I’m talking about,” he told reporters.

“You’re injured, you fight to get back, you keep going forward,” Brown said. “That’s real courage. They keep going back and back for a country that seemingly has found other things to put on the front page.”

Massachusetts Fallen Heroes director Dan Magoon, who also fought in Iraq, said that “He (Emond), was instrumental in getting this off the ground,” Magoon said. “The mission has come full circle. All we can do now is honor his legacy and support his family.”

“He was an unbelievably caring man,” Magoon said. “He cared about this country, he cared about his service, most of all, he cared about his wife and his kids — his family.”

Greg Kelly, a Boston firefighter and fellow Green Beret who is the co-founder of the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes and once served in the same task force as Emond in Afghanistan in 2009, said, “He’s a great American. He served his country his entire adult life. He served his community. He was doing something he loved. He died doing something he loved.”

“He was a soldier’s soldier, a marine’s marine,” Magoon told local television reporters. “He wore two different uniforms throughout his whole adult life serving this country and he cared more about other people than himself.”

Andrew DelRossi Biggio told Boston 25 News that he met Emond while interning at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in 2009 while Emond was rehabbing from his brain and spinal injuries and the two became close.

“We became friends,” DelRossi Biggio said. “For a year straight, we worked with other veterans in the state creating organizations that are still running today, helping to memorialize veterans from the Commonwealth who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“He didn’t have to go back in the Army after he was wounded,” DelRossi Biggio said. “He chose to. Now three more tours later, he sacrificed his life for us.”

“He motivated me. I looked up to him,” DelRossi Biggio added.

His awards and decorations include three Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, two NATO Achievement Medal, four Afghanistan Campaign Medals, Army Good Conduct Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, two Overseas Service Ribbons, National Defense Service Medal, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantry Badge, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist’s Badge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Meritorious Service Medal.

He is survived by his wife Allie and three young children at Ft. Bragg, NC.

The Mali Green Beret Murder Case is a Stain on All of SOF

The murder case of SSG Logan Melgar of the 3rd Special Forces Group (3rd SFG) is another tough scenario for the SF Group’s soldiers to bear. The unit lost four of its members in a deadly ambush in Niger and then to find out that one of its finer NCOs was murdered in US Embassy housing while stationed in Mali was worse. But worst of all was the fact that SSG Melgar wasn’t murdered by terrorists but reportedly at the hands of his fellow US Special Operations warriors from the Navy SEALs and Marine Corps Raiders. That is a stain regardless of the outcome of the court-martial on all of SOCOM that won’t soon fade.

While we’re not going to argue the merits of the case, this much is clear. Melgar shared an apartment with two members of SEAL Team Six, operators identified as Petty Officer Adam Matthews and Petty Officer Anthony DeDolph. Both SEALs admitted to breaking into Melgar’s room while he was asleep. Melgar died of asphyxiation and DeDolph has admitted to putting Melgar in a chokehold. The SEALs stories have changed several times which raised red flags which triggered a further investigation.

Last week, the military has said that they are charging the two SEALs and two Marine Raiders who are still unnamed with felony murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, burglary, hazing, and involuntary manslaughter in the strangulation death of Melgar in June of 2017. A preliminary hearing is set for December 10.

How this came to be is still a source of speculation but the military has obviously found enough evidence to proceed. Melgar was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Mali as part of a six-man intelligence cell in support of counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda’s local affiliate, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The Daily Beast had a source with knowledge of the situation stating that Melgar was put off by the unprofessional behavior of the two members of SEAL Team Six.

The two had several lapses of operational security, bringing prostitutes to the safe house in the capital of Bamako. Worse, Melgar reportedly found evidence of the two skimming cash out of the operational fund to recruit informants about illicit Islamic activity in the area. Melgar reported his concerns to the chain of command. That had to have gotten back to the SEALs.

On the night of June 4, 2017, Melgar was invited to an Embassy party but the other four members had not. That, according to the Daily Beast was the final straw. They decided to plan an attack on him later that evening. According to the source, they planned for hours.

The SEALs went to the place where the Marines were staying for duct tape to restrain him. Shortly before 5:00 a.m. they kicked open his door, used the duct tape and then DeDolph put Melgar in a chokehold. When they saw he wasn’t breathing, they covered their tracks by doing first CPR and then a tracheotomy. They took him to a French hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Here is where the stories began to come apart. The story in the DB stated that the SEALs then began a coverup which included returning “to the safehouse, they engaged in a cover-up, according to several witnesses—including cleaning up evidence and coaching witnesses. The charge sheet accuses the members of the conspiracy with “providing a false timeline of events to the Navy chain of command,” and “purposefully” left out the duct tape when making their statements on Melgar’s death. They as well allegedly “disposed of the alcohol” they kept in the shared Army-Navy quarters and lied to investigators.”

The same sources told the DB that the SEALs filed two operational reports of the incident and this is where things began to go awry. In one report, the Navy operators said that the men were wrestling and Melgar was drunk. But Melgar didn’t drink alcohol and blood alcohol levels taken during a toxicology report showed zero in his system.

And the report that the men were just “playfully wrestling” left out that the SEALs used the duct tape to restrain him. Plus DeDolph as an MMA fighter knows the difference between when a chokehold would incapacitate another fighter or do serious harm.

This incident will have long-lasting implications. The very nature of Special Operations Forces and units like JSOC is the fact that all of the units in all of the services have to have one another’s back. And the trust factor to watch out over one another has to be supreme in SOF.

Melgar’s widow Michelle, was briefed on this case twice in the past month, first in Norfolk, Virginia and later again at Ft. Bragg, NC. While she declined to address specific aspects of the case, she uttered support for the prosecution but also feels that she doesn’t want to cause a rift between the Special Forces and SEALs and Marine Raiders.

“While I have faith that the military court will handle this situation in the best possible way, I also understand that the mission continues,” she said. “Our men must work well together, and we need to support them in doing so.”

She reiterated much the same feelings in a statement that she released to NEWSREP. “I fully support SOCOM, NCIS, and the prosecutors. It is important to me that we continue to support all of our Special Operators and their efforts to work together. The actions of these individuals is not a direct reflection on the organizations themselves. I am grateful for the continued support that SOCOM has shown me and my family throughout the investigation.

The U.S. Special Operations Command’s (SOCOM) spokesman, Navy Captain Salata said the command honored Melgar’s memory and kept his loved ones in its thoughts. He pledged unity among the U.S.’ elite forces that probably none of them are feeling right now.

“We will not allow allegations or substantiated incidents of misconduct to erode decades of honorable accomplishments by the members of U.S. Special Operations Command. Ours is a culture of professionalism and accountability, which prides itself in being a learning organization that uses critical self-examination in a relentless dedication to improvement,” Salata said.

While all of what Salata said is absolutely true, it takes only one incident such as this one to erode what decades of dedicated Special Operators have accomplished. The command has a lot of work to do in this regard. The services have their jobs cut out for them in regards to this incident. They will have to tread very carefully here. The troops will smell B.S. in a second. But they must get everyone pulling in the same direction again.

Trust is very hard to build and it can be lost in a split second. Even if these charges are proved false, the damage has been done. And the losers are everyone in the SOCOM community.

Photo of Logan Melgar and his father: US Army