SOF

Saudi Blackhawk Helicopter Crashes in Yemen Killing 12 Soldiers

A Saudi Arabian Blackhawk helicopter crashed during military operations in Yemen on Tuesday killing 12 personnel on board. Saudi sources are stating that the cause of the crash was friendly fire.

The four officers and eight non-commissioned officers were killed while on a mission to try to force out the dominant Houthi group and restore President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi to power.

It was the largest loss of life involving Saudi forces since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015.

The official Saudi news agency SPA quoted a statement from the Saudi-led coalition as saying the Black Hawk came down in Marib province, east of the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.
“As a result, four officers and eight non-commissioned officers from the Saudi armed forces were martyred,” it said, adding the possible cause of the crash was under investigation.
But the Yemeni defense ministry’s 26 September news website quoted an officer in Yemen’s military high command as saying the helicopter was shot down 5 km (3 miles) from its landing spot because of “a technical fault that caused a misreading of the air defense system, which resulted in the destruction of the plane before it landed”.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency said the helicopter crashed in an area known as al-Tadaween, northeast of the Marib provincial capital, and that 13 officers and soldiers had died.
The Saudi-led coalition has recently made gains against the Houthis in western Yemen but fighting on other fronts, including Marib, has been static, with little ground changing hands.
The Houthis seized much of northern Yemen including Sanaa in a series of lightning military operations that began in 2014, eventually forcing Hadi to flee.

The apparent fratricide was reportedly committed by forces from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The coalition forces accuse Iran of trying to use the Houthis to expand its influence in Yemen, something the Iranians are denying.

To read the Reuters entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

Haiti Wants to Revive Military Now that UN Mission Ends

The Haitian army is seeking to rebuild itself, 22 years after it was disbanded during the period where soldiers and private militiamen killed thousands during the violence of the ‘90s. There was a power vacuum after the Duvalier family that ruled with an iron hand for many decades and was replaced by a freely elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1990 and then prompted military leaders to a coup ousting Aristide eight months later.

That led to the UN coming in for a stabilization mission that has been on-going for the past 13 years. The army troops, training under the auspices of the UN, have been training in Ecuador for the past several months but don’t have a mission…yet.

“We’re proud Haitians and we want to make the nation stronger,” said Lt. Ted Tesnor Wolsby, a base commander in the brigade that has received months of military training in Ecuador but has only intermittent duties fixing irrigation ditches or roads back in Haiti for salaries starting at $318 a month.
While it’s easy to find citizens who strongly support reconstituting a Haitian army, particularly jobless young people, the idea alarms those who vividly remember times darkened by military coups and oppression.
“It’s not a good idea, that’s for sure,” said Bobby Duval, a former soccer star who was arrested by the army in 1976 and starved and tortured while locked up for 17 months for speaking out against human rights abuses under Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s government.
“We want a new armed force, an armed force oriented toward development. This is what we need,” said Defense Minister Herve Denis, adding that the government is “very concerned” about a possible security vacuum after U.N. troops depart.

While many Haitians support the rebirth of the military, the donors of the long and expensive National Police Program are leery of an armed force being wielded against the citizens, knowing full well what has happened in the past.

The 14,000 man National Police Force is the closest thing to a professional force the Haitians have had in their country for a long time. The US has said that while it supports the police force, the Haitians are a sovereign nation that can make its own decisions.

To read the US News and World Report’s entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.19.2017

Shoulders and back day in the gym before heading off to the pool for a swim which is an event you can’t neglect. Get used to swimming in fatigues and boots as this is a pre-requisite for the Selection PT test.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

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

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

300-meter swim in fatigues and boots

Stretch well after completion

US, Philippine Forces To Hold Annual Drill Despite Duerte

The military of the Philippines announced this week that the annual “Balikatan” military exercise with the United States will take place. There have been questions over whether the exercises will continue due to President Rodrigo Duerte, who has been critical of the US and wants to distance himself from the American government while courting the Chinese.

Although Manilla and Washington have been allies for over 70 years, Duerte has called for the end of the drill and for the withdrawal of all US troops.

The annual military exercises, known as Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder), will now go ahead in May, focusing on counter-terrorism and disaster response as the Philippines battles Islamic militants in their lawless southern strongholds.
“It will be scenario-based like (preparing for) a big storm hitting the Philippines or the possibility of terrorism,” Balikatan spokesman Major Celeste Frank Sayson told AFP.
“We are safe to say there will be no more live-fire exercises. We (will) focus on humanitarian and civil assistance.”
In previous years Balikatan had evolved from counter-terrorism maneuvers against Islamic militants to simulations of protecting or retaking territory, as a dispute with Beijing over islands in the South China Sea escalated.

With terrorism, still, a concern for the country, Philippines Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana has said that terrorism will be one of the focuses of the drill this year.

The Filipino military continues to battle Islamic militants, who have pledged allegiance to the ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria as well as pirates in the southern part of the country where the fighting has been the heaviest.

Last week the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group clashed with Filipino security forces on a popular resort island, the first attack on a key Philippine tourist destination in recent years. Abu Sayyaf which roughly translates to “Father of the Sword”, is a Jihadist terror group that has been active for 40 years. They’ve been involved with bombings, executions, and kidnap-for-ransom.

To read the entire article from Philippine Star.com click here:

Photo courtesy AFP

Helicopter Crash on Maryland Golf Course Kills One Crewmember

A crash of a US Army helicopter on a suburban Maryland golf course has killed one crew member and seriously injured two others on Monday afternoon.

According to the Military District of Washington, an Army UH-60 Blackhawk assigned to Ft. Belvoir, VA crashed just after 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon at the Breton Bay Golf Course in Leonardtown, Maryland.

The crash has killed one crewmember while injuring two others. One was reported in serious condition and the other in critical condition at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss within our community,” Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, commanding general for Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, said in the statement. “Our condolences go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy, and our team is focused on supporting them during this difficult time.”
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
Earlier Monday, a U.S. military official told NBC News the helicopter had “suffered a hard landing” near Leonardtown, and that at least one was medically evacuated to a local hospital.
A woman who lives near the golf course said she saw helicopters flying overhead. Then, one appeared to lose control.
“One of them just started to lower, and it started to spiral down, and it disappeared below the trees. It looked like it had flipped over, upside-down, and then we heard a big explosion sound,” Bianca Melton said.
Dorothy Harper, who lives across the street from the golf course, said she saw the helicopter just before it crashed.
“I was outside in my front yard when I saw the helicopter come over right across the street from my house. I saw pieces actually falling off the helicopter,” she said.
Harper said she didn’t see smoke or flames, “just pieces falling out of the sky.”

The UH-60 Black Hawk is from the 12th Aviation Battalion, stationed at Davison Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It was the second crash in Maryland in the past two weeks.

In the other incident, a fighter jet on a routine training mission crashed in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The F-16C fighter plane was destroyed but the pilot was able to safely eject from the stricken aircraft. No one was injured either in the air or on the ground in the earlier accident.

To read the entire article from NBC News, click here:

Photo courtesy The Bay Net

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.18.2017

Always a good day to for Leg Day at the gym, the lighter weight in the squats but higher reps helps with endurance. Weighted sled push builds up some explosion. Continue to prep for the UBRR.

Training:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

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

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

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

3 x 25 Crunches

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Boston Marathon Bombing 4 Years Later, Brought City Together, Not Apart

Four years ago, two brothers attempted to tear the city of Boston apart by planting two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, one of the cities’ most iconic events. The marathon, ran since 1897 celebrates the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the “shots heard ‘round the world” and the beginning of the American Revolution. They failed.

The Tsarnaev brothers Dzhokhah and Tamerlan didn’t have the slightest clue that the bombs that killed or injured 100s of people from all walks of life on that spring day in Boston would have the exact opposite effect. It brought the city together, the “Boston Strong” movement wasn’t a slogan just used on t-shirts, it showed the resiliency and strength that the people won’t stand by and allow the terrorists to win.

Ordinary people showed remarkable courage in chipping in to help the injured on that day as the city rallied. Perhaps the most iconic moment occurred later when the Boston Red Sox held a pre-game ceremony to honor the victims and then slugger David Ortiz told the crowd, “This is our F$$$ing city.”

Boston will have its marathon today and it will be bigger than ever with close to 32,000 runners attempting to finish one of the tougher road races in the world.

And at 2:49 p.m., volunteers around the city will pause for a moment of silence.
“The Boston Marathon is a key part of our city’s identity, and continues to show the world that Boston is strong, and our traditions will endure, no matter what,” Walsh said in a statement. “The spirit of the day on April 15 shows the best of Boston: how Bostonians from all backgrounds come together to line the streets, celebrate one another and do good for their community.”
The city has encouraged residents to submit online pledges to do “acts of kindness” and post them to social media using the hashtag #OneBostonDay. As of Friday, there were 5,142 pledges.
Pledges are also being taken outside the city and continuing throughout the year.
North of Boston, the Malden Islamic Center is planning a Mediterranean food festival to raise funds for Bread of Life, a faith-based organization that gives food to low-income families in Malden and other suburbs.
“It’s really about building a stronger community together and trying to help others on a day when there was so much pain,” said the mosque’s administrative director, Nichole Mossalam. She was formerly the executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston, a small mosque in Cambridge that the Tsarnaevs occasionally attended.

The terrorists only win if we let them alter our way of life or live in fear. The Boston Marathon will go on, bigger and better this year. Hope to see you there.

To read the entire article from Los Angeles Times, click here:

Photo courtesy Associated Press

USSOCOM Turns 30, Command’s Impact Continues to Grow

Thirty years ago, a small headquarters opened its doors for the first time. The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was originally formed out of the debacle of the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission, Operation Eagle Claw in 1980.

From small beginnings in April 1987 at MacDill AFB, FL the Special Operations Command now encompasses 70,000 troops and a $10 billion-dollar budget. Special Operations Forces currently operate in over 100 countries being sent to all the hot spots in the world today.

Seeing the success of U.S. special operations, representatives from foreign militaries are traveling to Tampa to see how they can recreate such a powerful force. One that offers great bang for the buck — SOCom makes up just 2 percent of the U.S. defense budget.
The symbol of commando success is the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Yet every day, in ways unknown outside their secretive world, commando teams perform missions like building partner capacity and training foreign troops, hostage rescue attempts, humanitarian relief, tracking jihadi financing and coordinating efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction.
Unlike any other military combatant commands, SOCom has the authority to spend billions of dollars each year on equipment and services tailored for commandos — the SEALs, Army Delta Force, Green Berets and Rangers, and Air Force and Marine teams. To help speed things along, the command created SOFWerx, a research and development effort in Ybor City.
To help educate the force, SOCOm created the Joint Special Operations University, which opens a new building at MacDill next week.

Despite their many successes, the command is feeling the pinch of its own success. The force is being used so much that the operational tempo has become an issue. With so many deployments one of the former commanders worried that the force was “fraying around the edges.”

But the command will continue to expand its influence on 100 different stages in 100 different countries. The Special Operations forces of the US have the unique capability to synchronize US and Allied global counter-terrorism efforts, building allied forces capacity in the training and equipping of foreign forces, and to evolve as the situations change around the world.

To read the entire article from Tampa Bay Times, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Christians Being Erased from the Middle East, Land of its Birth

In the Middle East, Christianity is dying. Radical Muslims from the ranks of the Islamic State [ISIS] are killing them en masse and are threatening their very existence in the land where Christianity was born. And the world continues to turn a deaf ear.

In the United States, our Congress gives lip service to the genocide of Christians in the Middle East while allowing next to zero Christian refugees into the country. Why? The only country where the Christian population is growing is in Israel.

Just 15 years ago, there was an estimated 1.4 million Christians in Iraq. In 2013 there were more than 500,000. Now, there is estimated to be less than 250,000 left. In Syria, Christian were thought to be about 8 to 10 percent of the population of over 21 million. While the war-ravaged land cannot accurately give a number, all Congress will say is that the number of Christians in Syria is “significantly lower.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has declared a state of emergency in response to the Palm Sunday church bombings by ISIS where 36 Christian Copts lost their lives. He’s not describing the incidents as an attack on Christians but rather refers to them as a targeting all Egyptians in general. Much like the former Mubarak regime, el-Sisi talks about “national unity” in Egypt, but so far, his actions are much like the former regime and do not match his rhetoric. Coptic suffering is now worse.

In a piece by Mina Abdelmalak for the Philos Project, he writes about the exodus of Copt Christians from Egypt.

“But the Coptic community is dying. Our numbers are going down. Those who are financially able to emigrate have either left or plan to leave once they get a chance. Egypt lost its ancient Jewish community by persecution, and now the Copts—the indigenous population whose roots can be traced to Egypt’s earliest days—are following the following the steps of the Egyptian Jews.”

I spent time in Egypt with the Copts in both Cairo and at a retreat far out in the desert. Their leader, Bishop Thomas was a wonderfully calm and personable man who made us all feel welcome despite the undercurrent of uncertainty that was gripping their community.

He had the long flowing black robes and long white beard that made him seem like an extra from a Cecil B. Demille film. He initially turned down the position of bishop preferring the anonymity of serving behind the scenes in Kenya. The Copts remain upbeat despite what was happening all around them.

To try to make sense of what is happening in the Middle East where it comes to the Christians, I reached out to a subject matter expert as well as a good friend. Lela Gilbert is an accomplished author who has written more than 60 books as well as a frequent contributor to Fox News, Algemeiner, The Jerusalem Post, The Huffington Post, and many other publications. Her books include her “Saturday People, Sunday People” where she quoted a radical Islamist who called for “the elimination of first the Saturday people and the Sunday people” which translates to the Jews and Christians.

She moved to Jerusalem in 2006 during Israel’s bloody conflict in Lebanon with Hezbollah from Calfornia. She lived there for over 10 years until just recently moved back to Washington D.C. I’ve visited with her many of the places mentioned here with her as part of a security team for her and others. She’s been a trusted friend and a frequent source to find out what is going on in the region that you DON’T read in the newspapers.

So we got her to answer a few questions about the plight of the Christian community and ordinary Muslims as well in a few of the hotspots right now and her answers…as always are straight on point.

SO: What is going on right now, it seems that Christians are being erased in the Middle East, in Iraq, in Syria and lately in Egypt?

LG: “That is absolutely right, I spoke to one of my colleagues from Hudson about that today [Friday] and Egypt has the largest Christian population in the Middle East and they are being relentlessly slaughtered [by ISIS]. The government doesn’t have the capability to control it and they’d like to but they don’t seem to have any handle on how to stop it nationwide.”

“Things got worse for the Christians when el-Sisi took charge, he reached out to the Copts, their Coptic Pope and had him on stage with him when he was inaugurated. This sent a message to the bad guys [Muslim brotherhood and later ISIS] that the Copts were part of his team. Things got worse for them and continue to this day.”

SO: So, it is ISIS now has replaced the Brotherhood?

LG: “It is certainly ISIS now, the latest few incidents in Egypt have been results of their…’handiwork’ which they have taken responsibility for,” she said. “The Egyptian government has no love of them, in fact, they’re trying desperately to get rid of them. They’re trying to get them out of the Sinai. They [ISIS] want to oust the regime and take over.

And Israel is…I don’t know this first-hand but know this from people who do know is working hand-in-hand with the Egyptians to clear out the Sinai because Hamas is also helping ISIS. They’ve helped them along the way with arms and smuggling material for them.”

SO: What has been the spillover if any in Israel?

LG: “Well, right after the church attack, ISIS launched a rocket from the Sinai that hit Eilat, luckily it hit a greenhouse and no one was injured. And of course, when the Israelis respond you don’t hear that ‘Israel hit with four rockets that landed near a school.’ What you do hear is ‘Israeli jets bomb Gaza City’ or something like that.”

“There was genuine concern in Israel right after the Syria airfield bombing as now it is confirmed that Assad has chemical weapons in Syria and will use them. At a dinner at Rosh Hashanah, the conversation calmly turned to gas masks and people were all talking about making sure everyone had one as if it will be needed.”

The subject quickly turned to the news of Afghanistan and the bombing of the tunnel complex using the MOAB and how that would send a message to North Korea and Kim who loves to rattle his saber. But Gilbert said it also sends a message to Hamas as well. They’ve taken to digging tunnels from the Gaza Strip and the Egyptians have taken a new tactic against them.

“I’ve heard the Egyptians are flooding tunnels with raw sewage now and recently drowned three Hamas terrorists with that.”

SO: How far is the Coptic population dwindling?

LG: “That’s a good question. Nobody really knows. It is thought that the Copts make up about 10 percent of the country’s total population of 92 million. But some of my friends from there have said, that the wealthy ones, the ones with money or with lawyers and get asylum in the US have already done so.

What you’re left with are the very poor, the people who just don’t have the capacity to pack up and leave. There is no place they can walk to. They can’t go to Israel, or the Sudan. They don’t have any options unless they can get to a western nation. The ones that are left unfortunately are going to be the ones that are never going to leave. Nobody really knows how many [Christians] there are. And it isn’t just the Copts, it is the Anglicans, Evangelicals…etc.”

SO: That is terrible.

LG: “It really is the end of Christianity in the Middle East. The Copts are going to eventually get so weakened that they can’t continue. But their so proud and very loyal and faithful but look at Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi Christians are almost completely gone, some of them want to stay and rebuild but I don’t how it is going to be for them or who they’re going to trust to defend them.

SO: Exactly, many of the Iraqis that worked for me a few years ago, all stated that they’re afraid they’ll never be able to go back.

LG: I know…but for them re-building is trying to deal with bombed out buildings, booby traps, it is completely demolished. The churches are desecrated, everything is gone. Then they need protection. Where will they get that? Where will they get trustworthy protection?

They need a strong defense that can protect their entire village, not just weapons. Because they’re on their own. I just don’t have high hopes for their rebuilding. I wish I did. I know there are people that don’t like to say that. I don’t share their optimism.

Photo courtesy of Reuters

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.17.2017

Happy Patriots Day which is always the day for the Boston Marathon up this way. Don’t worry, there won’t be a 26-mile run today. Instead, we’ll focus on the shuttle runs and work on some speed.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1 minute, Crunches

2 x 1 minute, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

10 x 40-meter shuttle run

Stretch well after completion