Air Force Special Operations

Afghan Special Forces Free Captives in Raid in Helmand Province

Afghan Commandos from the 7th Special Operation Kandak liberated more than 15 people from a Taliban prison in Now Zad village, Now Zad district, Helmand province. The nighttime raid also led to the detention of several Taliban and the removal of IED making materials. The Afghan SF also had support from NATO during the raid.

Several Taliban were also detained, and improvised explosive device-making materials were removed.
The rescued Afghans included four children under the age of 12 and two police officers, were taken to a secure location where they were screened before being released.
The special forces are known as the Afghan Commandos and have been working to liberate the country from Islamic State and Taliban forces. They deploy out of bases in Kandahar, Helmand, and Kabul.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said in a statement that the people rescued were all criminals accused of murder, robbery, kidnapping, and other crimes.

To read the entire article from the Washington Examiner click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

ICC Wants to Investigate US Military, CIA for War Crimes

United States forces are being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague as prosecutors there believe that there are sufficient grounds to believe that the US committed war crimes in Afghanistan in 2003-2004.

Prosecutors believe there was a “reasonable basis” that U.S. forces had tortured prisoners in Afghanistan and at Central Intelligence Agency detention facilities elsewhere in 2003 and 2004.

“Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture,” the prosecutors’ office, wrote. It added that CIA officials appeared to have tortured another 27 detainees.
The prosecutors’ office, headed by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, said it would decide imminently whether to pursue a full investigation.
Monday’s finding marks a significant step forward in the court’s decade-old examination of conflicts in Afghanistan and could draw a sharp response from a U.S. administration that is set to become less internationalist under President-elect Donald Trump.
“These alleged crimes were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals,” the report said. “They appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract ‘actionable intelligence.’”

The prosecutors believe that all belligerents including the Afghan government and the Taliban are also guilty of crimes against humanity as well. They specifically said that CIA sites in Poland, Romania, and Lithuania may have also been scenes of war crimes as this is where detainees were taken to and interrogated.

To read the entire article from Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 11.21.2017

Warmer day on Tuesday starts with Leg Day at the gym followed by a 4-mile run. Begin with pull-ups and towel pull-ups for those who don’t have access to climbing ropes. Then squats, lunges and the sled followed by a four-mile run

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 or Fireman’s carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Planks with Shoulder Touches

4-Mile run

Stretch well after completion

Kabul Investigating Taliban Use of Russian-made Night Vision Goggles

Defense officials in the Afghan government have admitted this week that Taliban militants have obtained night-vision equipment but would not confirm suspicions that the Russians are furnishing the Taliban with the equipment.

The officials said that an investigation is continuing on the matter of the potential game-changer of high-tech equipment being introduced to Taliban forces were actually provided by Russian contacts.

The New York Times on Monday reported that Taliban militants using sophisticated night-vision goggles killed eight Afghan police officers at a checkpoint near Farah, capital of the province of the same name in western Afghanistan.
That Taliban have access to high-tech weapons has been reported in the media for a while. But the recent allegations of Taliban receiving Russian-made equipment prompted the Afghan government to investigate how the militant group is able to get the technology.
Russian embassy officials in Kabul denied that Moscow has been providing military or financial assistance to Taliban, saying the allegations are baseless.
“This device [goggles] would be installed on rifles. It can prove very dangerous, because it enables its user to see a person at night like a person at daylight. They also have accuracy and precision. Hence, its danger is immense,” Atiqullah Amerkhail, a retired Afghan army general, told VOA.

The Russians, who invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and fought a long guerrilla war until 1989 are being criticized by Kabul for once again interfering with Afghan politics for opening up contacts within the Taliban.

The Russians however, state they are simply trying to restart stalled peace talks between the Taliban and the US-led coalition. US General John Nicholson the commander of US forces in Afghanistan hinted as far back as April that the US was aware of Russian arming of insurgents.

“We continue to get reports of this assistance. We support anyone who wants to help us advance the reconciliation process, but anyone who arms belligerents who perpetuate attacks like the one we saw two days ago in Mazar-e Sharif is not the best way forward to a peaceful reconciliation,” Nicholson said.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US-Backed SDF Deny They Allowed ISIS Fighters to Escape Raqqa

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed peshmerga fighters are denying reports that they approved a deal with the Islamic State last month to allow safe passage to hundreds of trapped ISIS and foreign fighters evacuating from Raqqa, the de facto capital of the so-called Islamic State in northern Syria.

The BBC on Sunday published a report, with photos purported to show the convoy that the SDF and IS made the agreement, with the blessing of the U.S.-led coalition, to allow hundreds of suspected IS fighters and their families escape from Raqqa.

The report claimed the deal enabled about 4,000 people, including hundreds of IS foreign and local fighters, to be evacuated by a fleet of trucks toward the border region in eastern Syria, and they then fanned out across the country and into parts of Turkey.
During an interview with VOA, U.S.-backed SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali described the charges as a “misrepresentation” of an attempt by local tribal leaders to open a safe route for civilians caught in the fierce fighting for the city, which came under full SDF control last month.
“What happened was an effort by Arab tribes and residents of Raqqa to evacuate 3,000 to 5,000 civilians, mostly children and women, trapped in the city,” Bali told VOA.
“This was not done secretly, but announced to the public at that time,” he emphasized.

While SDF claims “a few” IS fighters may have mixed in with the civilians, it contrasts sharply with the BBC version of events that included reports of trucks full of weapons and ammunition, and fighters openly threatening drivers.

French army spokesman Patrik Steiger stated that they have special forces operating in Raqqa province, as well as aircraft operating in the area said the coalition could not take action against the IS convoy because of concerns about civilian causalities.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 11.20.2017

We’re going to kick Monday and the new week off right, and we’ll do it with a UBRR preparation. Start off with pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups, and dips before a 5-mile run. Remember to stay hydrated and mark your progress in your workout log book.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 30 Sit-ups

2 x 30 Crunches

2 x 10, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

2 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure

5-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 11.19.2017

Sunday morning rucksack march. Do a quick warmup of pushups and sit-ups before heading out. Head out over varied terrain and try to go as fast as you can for 6 miles without running.

Stretch well both before and after the event. Remember to still push water during the march. Although the cooler weather is upon us now, the need for water doesn’t go away.

Training:

Warm up

1 x 20 Pushups

1 x 20 Crunches

6-mile Rucksack march over varied terrain with a 45-pound minimum. 90 minutes maximum. Exceed the standard without running and you’ll be in good shape.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 11.18.2017

It is a cold Saturday morning here so it is a perfect time to go to the gym for a shoulder and back workout. Towel pull-ups if you have no access to climbing ropes. Followed by a five-mile run. Log your numbers down in the workout notebook

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, rear

3 x 10 Barbell Dead Lift

3 x 10 Wide Grip Pull-ups

3 x 10 Towel Pull-ups

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Seated Bent-Over Delt Raise

3 x 10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

3 x 10 Arnold Dumbbell Press

5-mile run (40 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Veterans Suicide Epidemic Needs National Attention

Hardly a day goes by where someone on social media in our military circles publishes the sad news that another service member has taken his or her life. With so many of our veterans having ties across service lines and across the country, it hits home and hard.

There are about 22 veterans every day that are committing suicide. That number is far too high and we need to do better. One a day is too many, it has become an epidemic. And it needs national attention. Our veterans, who have sacrificed so much for us and in our name deserve no less than the best care that we as a country can supply.

It is really striking home in our Special Operations community. So many of the veterans from the SOF have a minimum of four combat tours under their belt and come home changed and in despair. They can continue to live and function in a combat environment, despite the danger every day. It is the transition to living back home that is the difficult part of this problem often with our veterans.

The Veterans Administration did a comprehensive study that was released in 2016 on veterans who had committed suicide. This long-awaited report, Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans 2001-2014, was one of the most comprehensive analyses of veteran suicides ever conducted.

Prior to 2006, the suicide rate for veterans in regards to age and sex was lower than the general population. But by 2014 that suicide rate for veterans was now 21 percent higher than the general population. Even worse still is stated in the report that veterans aged 18-24 who took part in contingency operations since 2003 have had their suicide rate increased by a staggering 359 percent.

One possible part of the issue is that the VA tends to over-medicate our veterans. From a piece in the Baltimore Sun about Veterans Suicides and the VA:

Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist of 48 years experience who testified at the 2010 congressional hearings on veteran suicides, told me “the kinds of issues that people deal with that result in their getting psychiatric drugs are not helped by psychiatric drugs, which can only harm the brain and make it more difficult to feel your feelings and to think clearly. They drug the veterans, hoping basically to stupefy them and make them passive so they won’t demand services. I think it’s a crime that those who are veterans, who have survived our wars, are being killed off by the pharmaceutical empire and its practices.”

A Navy veteran with PTSD who became disabled and suicidal after ingesting a veritable cornucopia of psychiatric drugs, most of them prescribed by VA docs, agreed. “The VA is there to get us all in the grave as fast as possible,” he said to me. “Instead of saying ‘have a shoebox full of medications,’ there should be a higher accountability.”

One other possible part of the issue is the very little decompression time that they face. They may be conducting combat operations on Monday and by the weekend taking their kids to the mall. And trying to cope with that they feel as the mundane, less-satisfying, less tangible issues of home life may be part of the answer.

Of course part of the problem is the type of soldiers that are selected for Special Operations, to begin with. SOF wants self-starters, self-reliant, assertive, enthusiastic team players. SOF operators have an extremely high degree of external focus and they must be able to make quick, accurate decisions while under a tremendous amount of stress. That type of personality is often the last to ask for help in anything.

The VA was very reactive to veteran suicide and perhaps has compounded the problem with overmedicating many of their veteran patients. Now they have some programs that are seeming to help. The services have their own programs and in Special Operations, each of them has multiple avenues for both active duty troops and veterans to reach out and get any help that they need.

Our veterans themselves have taken a more proactive approach to this. They’re much quicker to look after one of their own if they sense something is wrong. Are we all doing enough? No, but at least it appears that we’re heading in the right direction.

Suffering among veterans isn’t related to just the Global War on Terrorism or just with the US troops or actually anything news. The ancient Greek Sophocles wrote about Ajax during the Trojan War. Ajax was so overwhelmed by his combat experiences against the Trojans, he committed horrible acts upon returning home and later commits suicide.

We can all do our part and check on our closest buds and teammates and keep up with one another. We frequently know one another better than our families know us. It is just a small part of the puzzle but we are our own first line of defense. But hopefully, our elected officials, if they can stop trying to catch one another doing illegal acts or being serial sexual abusers can stop that long enough to pass legislation, good legislation to get our veterans the help and support that they need. One suicide a day is too many. 20 a day is an epidemic and has to stop.

If you are a veteran or the loved one of a veteran experiencing a crisis, call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, text to 838255, or chat online at veteranscrisisline.net.

Photos: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation 11.17.2017

Friday, that must mean its Leg Day at the gym but instead of a long run at the finish of that, we’ll substitute the Shuttle run in there, to work on your speed today. For those who don’t have ropes available to them in the prep, substitute the towel pull-ups.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

3 x 10 Pull-ups

3 x 10 Towel Pull-ups

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

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

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x 10 Dumbbell Lunges

3 x Weighted sled push or Fireman’s Carry

4 x 25-meter Shuttle Run

Stretch well after completion