During the early morning hours of October 31, 2020, members of the US Navy SEAL Team 6, also known as DEVGRU (Development Group), carried out a dramatic hostage rescue operation in Northern Nigeria to recover the kidnapped American citizen named Philip Walton. According to reports, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supplied the intelligence that led to the More »
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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 More »
Niger Report Slams Troops’ Complacency, Lack of Training for Ambush
The classified Pentagon investigation concerning the death of four U.S. soldiers in Niger last October during an ambush placed the blame squarely on the unit and listed a list of shortcomings including complacency and a lack of training. Citing a culture of “excessive risk”, low-level commanders took shortcuts to approve operations — with at least one More »
Niger Agrees to Grant Authority to U.S. Military to Arm Drones
Reports from CNN earlier this week are saying that the government of Niger has granted the US military the authority to arm its drones in Niger. US military officials had been seeking the authority to arm its drones for months prior to the ambush of a US Special Forces unit that left four soldiers dead. More »
Congress Claims No Knowledge of US Troops in Niger Prior to Ambush
In a typical Washington dance known as the “Potomac Two-Step”, anything that goes right will have a hundred fathers, but if anything goes wrong, that operation is an orphan. Several members of Congress are now claiming this week they had no idea the U.S. military had a presence in Niger after four troops from the 3rd Special More »
Heating Up of Africa, Requires Beefing Up Intelligence Requirements
On Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, of the Senate Armed Services Committee announced in a press briefing that the United States will be looking to increase U.S. Special Operations counter-terrorism missions within Africa. This bit of welcome news comes on the heels of an operation that cost the lives of four members of the 3rd SFG More »
White House Chief of Staff Kelly “Stunned” Over Trump Criticism
In another turn of events from earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Thursday he was “stunned and broken-hearted” over the comments that Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) made after President Trump called the widow of a soldier who was killed in Niger two weeks ago. Kelly came to the aid of More »
“What Were Green Berets Doing in Niger?” – Their Job
This hasn’t been the best of weeks for the United States. We had the largest mass shooting in our history in Las Vegas and then news came out that a Special Forces team, from the 3rd Special Forces Group working with local troops from Niger, were ambushed and suffered four dead in the firefight. There More »