SOF

Chinese Launch Aircraft Carrier a Sign of Increased Power In Asia

The Chinese have launched the country’s second aircraft carrier, but the first to be manufactured domestically as they grow in power and look to project it more and more in the region.

The unnamed carrier should be operational by 2020 and for now, will continue to be outfitted in the port city of Dalian. With tensions running high around North Korea with the US, the Chinese will be looking to counter the US at every turn.

The Chinese have one operational carrier, the Liaoning, which was a Soviet-style carrier that the country bought from the Ukraine and has refurbished. While technologically not on par with their US counterparts, it carries 50 aircraft and can be a formidable weapon.

The sight of a bottle of champagne hitting the bow of a new Chinese-built aircraft carrier will worry many.
Western military intelligence will be poring over the television footage. For them it’s not emotional: cold calculations are being made.
They see a not quite finished vessel, a few years from full service, partly based on Soviet-era design.
It’s technologically inferior to the ten aircraft carriers being used by the United States Navy – but there’s no doubt that it’s a big step for China.
China’s aircraft carrier programme is a state secret, but it’s hard to imagine this country being satisfied with two of them.
The US says all options are on the table to remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons – and it is using the USS Carl Vinson battle group to press the point.

The carrier’s launch was attended by Fan Changlong, the vice-president of China’s central military commission. It will be powered by conventional propulsion rather than nuclear. And according to Chinese military sources, the carrier will carry the Chinese J-15 aircraft which are based on the Russian SU-33 design. They are rumored to be a “semi-stealth” variant.

To read the entire article from The BBC click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Special Forces Honor COL Bob Howard (MOH) With Building Dedication at Camp Mackall

The Special Forces community in an act that many considered long-overdue, honored the memory of one its most decorated soldiers, Colonel Robert Howard by dedicating the central classroom to him at Camp Mackall.

The Rowe Training Facility is where all Special Forces soldiers receive their classroom instruction when at Camp Mackall. And Howard spent nearly his entire life in helping to train, lead and inspire Special Forces Green Berets.

His son, Robert Howard Jr. was on hand for and helped dedicate the building to his father’s memory.

Bob Howard in Vietnam with MACSOG operators prior to a mission.

The event, organized by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, was attended by Howard’s family and more than 100 current and former Special Forces soldiers.
Many had stories about Howard, who was wounded 14 times during nearly five years of combat in Vietnam, earned a battlefield commission and was thrice recommended for the nation’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, in the space of a little more than one year.
He was awarded the medal once and also received two Distinguished Service Crosses, a Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal for Valor with three oak leaf clusters and eight Purple Hearts, among many other awards and decorations.
Howard spent 36 years in uniform, officials said. He worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs following his retirement from the Army in 1992 until 2006. He died Dec. 23, 2009, at age 70, following a battle with cancer.
“Contemporaries describe him running alongside an enemy truck one night, tossing a claymore mine into the back among the startled enemy and detonating it,” said Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
“They describe a time he saw two (Viet Cong) on a motorbike throwing a grenade at a group of soldiers,” Thomas said. “He grabbed an M-16 from a startled security guard, calmly dropped to a knee to shoot one of the (Viet Cong) and then chased the other one half a mile to shoot him, too.”
Howard’s fitness and toughness was legendary, Thomas added while relating how — as a company commander in a Ranger Battalion — Howard was known to casually pick pieces of shrapnel out of his arm as he ran without slowing down.
“There have been too many books and movies of late about special operations, but the Col. Bob Howard story almost defies a movie script and his character would be right out of central casting,” the four-star general said.

There are so many stories about Howard and his toughness but he wasn’t all about himself and although a proud man was a very humble one. He touched so many soldiers’ lives and the most amazing thing about him were, all of the stories are true.

Why there isn’t a movie made about him yet is a good question. It truly needs to get done. But in the meantime, all would-be Special Forces soldiers will walk into the classroom that bears his name.

To read the entire article from The Fayetteville Observer click here:

Photo courtesy US Army

A Tough Week for Special Forces Illustrates Sacrifice That Are Still Made Daily

This week has been a tough one for our Special Operations Forces. Yesterday we learned of a pitched firefight with ISIS terrorists in Afghanistan that resulted in two soldiers’ deaths and another being wounded. Then later the news was released of a former actor turned Green Beret sergeant in Ft. Lewis, Washington took his own life.

These incidents both illustrate the tough nature of the job and illustrate that the sacrifices made every day by our forces never stop even when they come back from the fighting that is permeating the Third World today.

On Wednesday, the two U.S. troops that were killed and one wounded were taking part in a raid against ISIS in the same area of Afghanistan that the US dropped the MOAB, officially known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast but known as the “Mother of All Bombs. They were partnered with Afghan Security Forces and got into a heavy firefight.

What is known at the present is that both men were seriously wounded and evacuated to a hospital but that both men died en route. The other operator was slightly wounded but his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening and he reportedly remained in the battle.

Their enemies were an offshoot of the terrorist organization also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria called Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or “ISIS-K.”

“The fight against ISIS-K is important for the world, but sadly, it is not without sacrifice,” said Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and NATO’s Resolute Support mission.

“On behalf of all U.S. forces and our coalition partners, I offer our deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and fellow service members of our fallen comrades,” added Nicholson.

The soldiers’ identities haven’t been released yet pending notice to the families.

The other news released yesterday was Army Special Forces Sergeant Michael Mantenuto died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Ft. Lewis, Washington. In another in a tragic case of suicide, Mantenuto became another statistic in an all-too-familiar pattern of depression taking our soldiers.

Mantenuto was widely known from the 2003 film “Miracle” about the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and he portrayed Jack O’Callahan in the film opposite Kurt Russell. He appeared in a couple of other films before enlisting in the Army in 2010.

He went through the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) in 2013 and graduated as a Special Forces Communication Sergeant. He deployed in the US’ war on terrorism, Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against ISIS. He was a K-9 dog handler with the 1^st SFG(A) as well as a communications sergeant.

He was lauded for starting a Youth Hockey Program for kids at Ft. Bragg all while attending the “Q-course” or SFQC. He also started a substance abuse program there. He was 35 at the time of his death and left a wife and two children

Our warriors face so many challenges and dangers in the war on Terrorism. And for many of them, the return home doesn’t necessarily mean an end to the terror and depression that war can cause. The number of veterans committing suicide every day is an astounding 22.

The three deaths this week in the Special Operations community exemplify the sacrifice our warriors make on a daily basis and the dangers that are inherent within our career field. While the units will close ranks and continue the mission, we also won’t forget their sacrifice. Because the cost in human lives is very expensive.

Photo courtesy of DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.28.2017

It’s Friday, so that means it is Leg Day at the gym this morning. The weighted sled push will build power and the squats build overall muscle and core strength as well as in your legs. After the leg muscles are good and tired, head out for a three-mile run to finish your workout.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

3 x 10 Pullups

3x 10 Towel Pullups

3 x Front 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

3-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Bail Raised for Veteran and Soldier in Killing of PTSD Therapy Dog

The ugly story of an Army veteran and active duty soldier boyfriend shooting the girl’s PTSD therapy dog has had more twists added to it. The couple filmed the shooting of the PTSD therapy dog and could be heard giggling on it as the animal was shot five times.

Cumberland County prosecutors then asked for and received additional bail restrictions placed on both. Marinna Rollins a medically retired veteran and her boyfriend Jarren Hang are accused of shooting Rollins’ PTSD therapy dog after telling friends on social media that they were finding it a new home.

Heng is an active duty soldier in the US Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg.

Rollins, 23, and Heng, 25, both of the 5600 block of Netherfield Place, have each been charged with cruelty to animals and conspiracy, arrest documents said.
Heng was arrested Monday evening and Rollins was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Arrest documents said Rollins attempted to avoid apprehension by the Sheriff’s Office.
Bail for Heng was initially set at $5,000 and at $10,000 for Rollins.
However, Reaves successfully advocated for each of their bail to be increased to $25,000 while they came before District Court Judge Toni King at 2:30 p.m. at the Cumberland County Detention Center.
Rollins joined the Army in February of 2014, according to a spokesman with the Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox. She served as a multimedia illustrator in the Army and spent time in South Korea.
A friend, who asked not to be named for fear of her safety, said Rollins got into many arguments with fellow soldiers and higher-ups during her time in the Army.
“She made up a lot of stories,” the friend, who served with her in the Army, said.
Rollins medically retired from the Army in January of 2017, according to court documents.

Heng may face additional scrutiny from the Army and the Special Operations Command since Rollins is married and her husband is stationed in Korea.

This is the kind of story that is an outrage to dog lovers as well as ordinary people. The individuals to perpetrate and act like this have to be sick. And one must wonder what kind of PTSD is suffered by media illustrators, but that story may eventually come to light as well.

To read the entire article from the Fayetteville Observer click here:

Photo courtesy AFP

“Israeli Missile Strike” Hits Damascus Airport in Syria

The Syrian city of Damascus was hit by missile strikes at dawn on Thursday morning and according to the official news source SANA, warehouses and a fuel tank were damaged. The Israelis reported conducted the missile attack at the Damascus airport.

But according to Syrian rebel forces, the missiles struck an arms depot used by Hezbollah. Hezbollah and its main source of support, Iran, are backing the government forces of Assad and are considered by Israel to be their worst enemy.

The Israelis issued a statement in which the said that the explosion was “consistent” with its policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah. But their statement stopped short of claiming responsibility for the strikes.

The Israelis according to Haaretz said ‘Hours before the blasts, which took place at 3:25 A.M., two Iranian 747 cargo planes, an Iranian Ilyushin il-76 and a Syrian Ilyushin il-76 landed in Damascus, according to the flight radar tracking site Flightradar24.com. The flights were both military and commercial, all taking off from Tehran, Iran.’

Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.
Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: “I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel’s policy to act to prevent Iran’s smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don’t want to elaborate on this.”
“The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act.”
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports.

With the Russians reportedly strengthening the Syrian air defenses after the US cruise missile strike earlier this month, there were questions on how Israel would act. The Israelis hit Hezbollah targets since the civil war began.

An earlier attack this month destroyed 100 missiles destined for Hezbollah. But the Syrians launched missiles at Israel earlier this month as well. One of them was intercepted by Israeli missile defense systems.

The Israeli’s and Benjamin Netanyahu have made it clear that they’ll continue to hit any Hezbollah targets as they see fit.

To read the entire article from BBC click here:

Photo courtesy AFP

Air Force Combat Controllers the “Under the Radar” Special Operators

When one talks about Special Operations Forces or operators in the US we immediately think of Navy SEALS, Delta Force Operators, Green Berets and MARSOC Raiders but the almost forgotten member of the SOF fraternity are the USAF’s Combat Controllers.

They are usually a part of most of the missions you’ll see the above-mentioned units in, especially the Direct Action missions where close air support is nearby. But these troops do more than just call in the airstrikes, they can provide command and control and direct air traffic in remote areas, setting up airfields, and take an active role in the mission. They’re very versatile, well-trained in HALO, Combat Diver (SCUBA), and fast roping.

Having worked with the men of the scarlet beret, I can attest that they’re excellent troops and don’t get the credit that they deserve. So how do these operators who fly under the radar get trained? Let’s take a look at the two-year training cycle for CCT.

To begin with, this is always one of the Air Force’s most critically under strength career fields. There are only about 500 Combat Controllers on the books so they truly are a minority in the Air Force. Their training consistently washes out close to 80 percent of the men seeking to wear the scarlet beret.

Selection: Their Selection Course is just two weeks but it stresses the candidates to the max and identifies the right ones that will go on to the Combat Controller Operator Course. Some of the events that candidates must pass are push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, a 1.5-mile run, 500-meter swim, 4-mile ruck march, and an obstacle course.

Something the Air Force does to help the candidates prepare for Selection is to send would-be Controllers a 26-week training guide to help them get ready. About half or 50 percent of the candidates fail to meet the standards for Selection

Combat Controller Course: Once successfully passing Selection, the students will move to Keesler AFB, Mississippi for the meat and potatoes portion of their training. It lasts about four months and consists of intense physical training on the beaches with running in soft sand, sprints, firemen’s carries, buddy drags, and burpees to simulate real-world combat scenarios.

The rest of their days in the classroom are spent learning to be air traffic controllers alongside other airmen. The direct different airframes, run tower operations and are certified by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) as air traffic controllers at the end of the course. But for the Combat Controllers, this is just the first step.

Then their off to Ft. Benning, Georgia for the Army’s Jump School. The three-week course gets them ready to leap from aircraft using static line parachutes and infiltrate denied areas by using aircraft.

Survival Training at Fairchild AFB, Washington follows. The two-week basic survival course teaches airmen the rudimentary lessons of surviving in the wilderness in the case of an aircraft crash in a remote area or being cut off from friendly forces.

The controllers then go thru an intense 13-week Combat Control portion of their training at Ft. Bragg/Pope Air Field, North Carolina. Here they get their ground training in. Patrolling, land navigation, demolitions, communications, and fire support are among the myriad of training skills that they will learn and be tested on.

At the successful conclusion of their training at Pope, the airmen will don the scarlet beret and be considered combat controllers. But they still aren’t considered ready for deployment yet.

The airmen have passed the course but before they go out on deployments they must first attend Special Tactics Advanced Skills Training at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The training, which lasts from 12-5 months is intense and puts them in every conceivable condition that they may face in combat. They face different phases of training, ground, water, employment and full mission profile.

The full-mission profile is as close to real combat as the Air Force can replicate in the United States. During this phase of their training, certain controllers will be further tasked with learning HALO training at Ft. Bragg/Yuma, or Combat Diver in Panama City, Florida as additional methods of infiltration.

After all this training, they get sent to one of their operational units. There, the airmen of the CCT are likely to be sent individually to augment a SEAL or Delta Force team, a Special Forces A-team or a Ranger unit that is deployed in harm’s way. The Air Force has awarded seven Air Force Crosses for heroism since the Global War on Terror (GWT) began in 2001. Combat Controllers have been awarded five of them.

Photo courtesy of US Air Force

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.27.2017

A Chest and triceps workout in the gym to include some dips and kip ups followed by another 5-miler with the ruck. 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 rucksack march (45-pound minimum) over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion

Oldest Merrill’s Marauder MG Milton Pitcher Dies at 100

The oldest surviving member of the famed Merrill’s Marauders has passed away at the age of 100. Major General (retired) Milton Pitcher died on Easter Sunday at his home in Virginia.

During World War II he served as a communications officer in the famed unit during their battles in the Chinese/Burma theater against the Japanese.
Following his service in the China, Burma India Theater, Pilcher served as an assistant signal officer with the Second Army in Tennessee, and in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in the Pentagon until relieved from active duty in 1946. Pilcher served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a USAR School Director and then as a member and later commander of the 352nd Civil Affairs Command located at Georgetown University from 1946 to 1968.
He was in the Executive Office of the President of the United States for 11 years, from 1949 to 1960.
He was promoted to brigadier general in 1966. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, Department of the Army, and promoted to major general in 1968. Pilcher was appointed commander of the 310th Field Army Support Command, Washington, DC in 1972 and served until retirement in 1974.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit, and recognition as a Distinguished Member of the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, and the Civil Affairs Corps Regiment. He received the AUSA award for distinguished service in 1995.

The Marauders, officially known as the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), was a United States Army long-range, special operations, jungle warfare unit, which fought in the South-East Asian theater of World War II, or China-Burma-India Theater (CBI).

They were famous for the 100 km (62 miles) trek through the mountainous jungle along with Chinese troops to capture Myitkyina airfield before disease brought the unit to its knees. Their distinctive unit crest is now worn by the Ranger Regiment.

To read the entire article from the USSOCOM, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Under Trump, Use of Contractors in War Zone Diminishing

Despite the wars in the Middle East showing no signs of slowing down, what is beginning to wane is the US government’s reliance on contractors to help. The Defense Department is using thousands of fewer military contractors in the early days of the Trump administration than at the end of the Obama presidency.

With the draw-down in the military, many in the Pentagon want the jobs to go to active duty soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines as the feeling is, the use of contractors undercuts the military.

Whether or not the numbers stay low under a Trump administration remains to be seen. At least early in his presidency, he’s been much less restrictive about deploying conventional troops to the fray and then recently deployed 400 more Rangers and Marines to Syria where 1000 contractors now work along with 1000 Special Operations Forces.

More than 42,000 private contractors, including translators, administrators as well as security personnel, are currently operating in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, down from 45,500 in the waning days of the Obama administration, according to the latest quarterly report released this week. The bulk – almost 25,000 – are in Afghanistan compared to more than 26,000 in January, amid roughly 8,500 American troops there.
About 3,800 contractors are in Iraq contributing to the ongoing war against the Islamic State group, 200 more than in the last report, working with the roughly 5,000 uniformed personnel there.
The remaining 13,500, down from 16,000, are in other undisclosed locations in the Middle East, likely on major facilities the U.S. uses such as al-Udeid air base in Qatar from which it launches some of its heavier aircraft for operations in the region.

However, while the number of logistical support contractors has dropped in Afghanistan, the number of security contractors has risen from 3400 to 4000 since January.

In Syria, some security contractors protecting logistical support members double as intelligence gathers for US government agencies, lending support where they may not have as much manpower. Some members of Congress want to see that stopped.

To read the entire article from the US News and World Report, click here:

Photo courtesy The Economist