SOF

Russian “Civilian” Contractors Return Home to Military Bases

While the Russians claim to have no control over the Russian military contractors that have been fighting in Syria, including the ones that attacked a U.S. base, once their tours of duty are finished, their return to Russia goes straight to a military base.

Reuters followed groups for Russian contractors as they left Syria and once arriving in Russia, boarded buses and drove 220 miles to the Russian military base that is home to the Russian 10^th Special Forces Brigade in Molkino.

The destination of the Russians arriving from Syria provides rare evidence of a covert Russian mission in Syria beyond the air strikes, training of Syrian forces and small numbers of special forces troops acknowledged by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 14 Russians may be in Syria but “they are not part of the armed forces of the Russian Federation”. He referred Reuters to the defense ministry when asked why civilians fighting in Syria return to a military base. The ministry did not immediately respond.
A duty officer at the 10th special forces brigade, asked why non-military people were entering the military base, said: “Nobody enters it, as far as I am aware … You’ve seen them, okay. But you should not believe everything … You can maybe. But how can we comment on what other organizations do?”
More than 2,000 Russian contractors are fighting to help Syrian forces recapture land from their opponents, several sources, including one contractor, have said.
Reuters reporters saw a Syrian Cham Wings charter flight from Damascus land at the civilian airport in Rostov-on-Don on April 17 and watched groups of men leave the terminal through an exit separate from the one used by ordinary passengers.
They boarded three buses, which took them to an area mainly used by airport staff. A luggage carrier brought numerous oversized bags and the men, dressed in civilian clothes, got off the buses, loaded the bags and got back on.
All three reached the village of Molkino, 350 km (220 miles) south, shortly before midnight.
In the village, each bus paused for a minute or two at a checkpoint manned by at least two servicemen, before driving on. About 15-20 minutes later the buses drove back through the checkpoint empty. Publicly available satellite maps show the road leads to the military facility.

Families of contractors have confirmed that the contractors have been using the military base prior to deploying to Syria and their immediate return to a Russian military base is another sign that the government controls them far more than they admit to.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Video Screen Shot

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5, Day 5

Back to the gym on Thursday morning for a Chest and triceps workout to include some pushups, sit-ups, and kip ups. Then a 5-mile ruck march with 45-pounds minimum. 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, 75-minutes maximum) over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion

The Australian Army Chief Got it Wrong…Bring Back the Punisher

Opinion: The Chief of Staff of the Australian military, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, Chief of Army has written a memo in which he has decided that “what could be termed ‘death’ symbology/iconography” is to be eliminated from their military culture.

SOFREP.com’s Luke Ryan wrote about this earlier this week where the general listed several examples of such iconography, followed by why the symbol negatively represents the Australian Army: “Pirate Skull and Crossbones (maritime outlaws and murderers), the Phantom or Punisher symbols (vigilantes), Spartans (extreme militarism) or the Grim Reaper (bringer of death).” Gen. Campbell believes that these symbols are counter to the ethos embraced by the Australian Army, “employing violence with humility always and compassion whenever possible.”

While the general states that the troops wearing these symbols were never presented in an “ill-intentioned manner” however he states that “it is always ill-considered and implicitly encourages the inclusion of an arrogant hubris and general disregard for the most serious responsibility of our profession: the legitimate and discriminate taking of life.”

Part of what the general is playing to is the endless battle between what the military preaches incessantly to the troops (uniformity) and the small liberties the fighting men take with their instruments of war which builds a bit of esprit de corps and is a small price to pay for a bit of motivation for the troops. Some, like the general, take uniformity to the nth degree and end up pissing off the troops to no end for no good reason.

Rest assured, Special Operations has had its share of uniformity geeks and Special Forces was certainly not immune to it. Thankfully the generation today, while serving overseas hasn’t had to put up with pedantic ravings of certain sergeant majors who couldn’t speak of anything tactically with the adults in the room, so they became the haircut, mustache and belt police. Those of our generation know exactly who I speak of.

With all due respect to our Australian brothers in arms, this general missed the boat entirely. The Australians, like the United States military, has been in this Global War on Terror since the beginning. The vast majority of the men who use those symbols are in the combat arms MOS’ and the very symbol of the Australian Infantry Combat Badge is the bayonet. There is no compassionate way to use a bayonet unless the men who trained me and countless others at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning are totally wrong.

To be honest here, when I first read the headline, I thought it was a joke, a hoax, not unlike the ones we see on certain satirical websites. If the general is worried about the perception of the military and the men who wage war in it among their citizens, let them take their place and put their own lives on the line.

If instead he is, and this is probably more true, worried about having everything look the same and worried about political correctness, then he needs to step back and check himself.

These things aren’t new or related to just the Global War on Terror. A scene from the film “Full Metal Jacket” from the Vietnam era had its own pogue attempts at curbing the men’s small sense of individuality.

Pogue Colonel: What is that you’ve got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: “Born to Kill”, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write “Born to Kill” on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You’d better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you’ll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?
Private Joker: Our side, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Don’t you love your country?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don’t you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Son, all I’ve ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It’s a hardball world, son. We’ve gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.

Even back in World War II, the brass knew enough when to leave the men alone. During the earlier years of the war, any bomber pilot that flew and completed 25 combat missions were allowed to go home. That is how stacked the deck was against any crew trying to survive. The Army, even the stick-up-their-ass senior officers knew that the crew painting pin-ups or cartoon characters and such on their aircraft was a small price to pay for men risking their lives over the skies of Europe.

Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes” fame, was in 1943 a reporter for Stars and Stripes, but still the same Andy Rooney. And he flew a couple of combat missions with B-17s over Germany and reported this:

“Grim-faced Luftwaffe pilots, proud of the guts that take them within the suicide circle of a fortress formation, determined to do or die for the Fatherland, must wonder what the hell kind of air force they are up against. They come diving in, teeth clenched, hell-bent for Hitler and along with a hail of lead are greeted by the stupid grin of some absurd comic-book character, or the nude form of a pretty girl painted on the nose of the bomber they are attacking….” The art was “something else, Andy Rooney wrote.”

General Campbell’s own Twitter account showed how ridiculous this ban is by Retweeting an award some Australian cadets had won in a Land Navigation competition at West Point. Included was the USMA Logo, the Spartan helmet. Campbell wants to ban the helmet for being too militaristic.

This is the kind of chickenshit adherence to uniform regulations that pisses the soldiers off to no end. There are certain things that leaders should and must do for their troops.

Ensuring that they have the best equipment and enough supplies to do the job. Give them the best training that they can get to ensure that every one of them returns home alive. And provide them with the best leadership, which starts with a sense of mission that they can. When leaders come up with this, the troops that are supposed to be leading tune them right out and become convinced, and rightfully so, that they don’t have the troops best interest at heart.

Before Special Forces troops deploy on missions, they’d give a briefback to the commander and his staff. When it was the turn of the Command Sergeant Major, (CSM A.) to address any questions, we had one who would ask pertinent questions on mission accomplishment, the logistics of said mission and ensuring that every member of the team knew what his assigned part of the mission was.

We had another (CSM B.) who didn’t ask a single question about the mission, not one. But would tell the Team Sergeant to make sure that SSG so and so, trims his mustache and ask if any of the team members were wearing unauthorized belts or boots.

Which one would you want to follow, or have as your CSM?

In the end, is wearing the symbols of a skull and crossbones, or the Punisher a bit silly? Of course, it is, but as a lover of the Punisher logo, a sticker of it has been on my truck for years. But at the same time, shouldn’t the leaders of the military of each country have more important things to worry about than a logo of a Spartan helmet or the Punisher? You’re damned straight they do.

The Superman “S” is for honor and integrity, much like the shield of Captain America. The symbolism of the Punisher and perhaps Batman is a bit darker. For the lawbreakers or the bad guys, it means that “we’re coming for you and you’ll have nowhere to hide.”

Leave Frank Castle and the Punisher be, and let’s hope the U.S. military isn’t as short-sighted and dumb as this. The men have been at war for 17 years and we should be more concerned with getting them all home safely than if they are wearing a skull face veil or a logo spray painted on their kit.

Photo: SOFREP, Marvel

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5, Day 4

Wednesday is Hump Day of the week, so we’ll head to the gym for a back and shoulders workout and then head out for a 5-mile ruck march. Remember to stay hydrated while on the march and mark your progress in the workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

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

3 x 12 Seated Rows

3 x 10 Deadlift

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

5-mile Rucksack march (45lb minimum) the standard is 75 minutes. We’ll be aiming to do better than that.

Stretch well after completion

Protests Turn Ugly as Ortega Kills 25 or More in Nicaragua

Ever since the Sandinistas first came to power, they’ve been trying to assert total control over their population. And now as President Daniel Ortega’s newest Social Security policies are blowing up in his face, the government is violently cracking down on any dissent, real or perceived.

The riots that have taken place across Nicaragua have claimed at least 25 lives and the protests against the government show no signs of slowing down. Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) government tried to hammer home a reform to the national Social Security system, due to financial issues that continue to plague the system.

The reforms, which took effect on Wednesday, added a 5 percent tax on old age and disability payouts and also include higher employer and employee contributions set off a wave of protests across the country. Many Nicaraguans feel that their Social Security system would be fine if the Sandinista government would stop taking money out of it. That sounds a lot like many Americans feel about their own system, but we digress.

Of course, Ortega’s leftist government was defending the reforms with his spokeswoman, and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also happens to be his wife saying the reforms were needed and added that the retirement age had not been raised from 60, the number of weekly contributions required for a state pension would remain the same and retirees would still receive their one-month Christmas bonus.

But that didn’t dissuade citizens to protest immediately in Managua, and in Leon. Ortega played the typical leftist playbook when he had his own supporters stage pro-government rallies at several key intersections in Managua. Members of the Sandinista Youth organization, physically attacked peaceful protesters in Managua while the Police watched on and did nothing.

Both Ortega and Murillo put the blame of the violence on the protesters rather than on themselves where it belongs. Murillo, on the state-owned radio station, called the protesters “vampires, needing blood to feed their political agendas.” Ortega blamed the United States, which has been a familiar foe since the Reagan administration.

Ortega was forced out of office in 1989 after the Sandinistas took on the U.S. backed Contras in a civil war until he was forced to hold free elections. Ortega learned his lesson with free elections and now leaves nothing to chance. After getting back in power, he’s been steadily eliminating opposition groups and re-writing the constitution.

When Ortega was running for “re-election” in 2016, he used his power over the Supreme Electoral Council and had it oust the head of the main opposition party, the Independent Liberation party (PLI), Eduardo Montealegre and then suspending nearly all of its members. Other parties that were in allegiance with the PLI were stripped of their legal status by judges and electoral officials controlled by Ortega’s government.

With many of the head government officials and courts headed by close friends or family members, Ortega rewrote the Constitution and abolished term limits. He then put together a sham of an election where government sources state that the turnout was nearly 66 percent of registered voters. But opposition leaders stated that nearly 70 percent of the registered voters abstained from voting in the election because they felt that the entire process was rigged.

Election monitors were few and selectively chosen and in the end, Ortega “won” with 72 percent of the vote. The Obama administration was not thrilled with this type of farce and worded their statement very politically correct while still making their point.

“The United States is deeply concerned by the flawed presidential and legislative electoral process in Nicaragua, which precluded the possibility of a free and fair election,” spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

Ortega cemented his power of all branches of the government including the armed forces and national police so they’ll follow along with whatever he says, they’ll not oppose him, his cronies pull the strings.

But these protests this week are sticky situations for the leftist President who President Reagan called a “dictator in designer glasses,” back in the 1980s. On one hand, the government, which brutally put down protests in 2013, has been firing bullets, some live and some rubber on protesters rallying at government locations while standing by and allowing several protests to burn and loot businesses in downtown Managua. Why?

It is an effort to put pressure on the same business sector personnel. Ortega has agreed to sit down and discuss the issues that have now become open rioting. But only with business leaders. This move is designed to soften them up when they sit down for talks that the outcome is already predestined.

One journalist was killed over the weekend. Angel Gahona was reporting live video via Facebook Live on protests in the city of Bluefields along the coast when he was killed by a gunshot to the head, that some protesters were calling an assassination. At least 25 other people have been killed since the latest protest began on Wednesday according to the independent Nicaraguan Human Rights Center. The Ortega government has acknowledged only nine dead, but both of those totals will no doubt rise.

Ortega is backed up to the wall and just on Monday said that he’d scrap the planned changes for Social Security. And he renewed his call to the business leaders of the country to sit and negotiate. But also on Monday, the business leaders pushed back and refused to sit down until the government stops the repression against the protests.

Ortega is concerned because the protests swelled from just Managua and Leon to dozens of other cities. Younger people, many of them college students, who flocked to the Sandinista cause in the ‘80s are the ones leading the charge against them now.

Now the Social Security issue is just a sideshow to the unrest as many of the young people want complete freedom of speech restored. That is a dangerous slope that Ortega will try to avoid at all costs. The scrapping of term limits and having Ortega, and his wife virtually in office for life is a threat to democracy and Nicaraguans are fed up.

Photo: AP

Drones May be Used in the Eradication of Cocaine Production

Colombia’s police and military units are considering the use of drones to combat a rise in cocaine production in the country. Colombian counter-narcotics police have contracted a local company to test drones for spraying herbicides on coca fields.

The remote-controlled devices will be expected to eradicate 20 acres of coca per day, while carrying approximately 2 gallons of herbicide on every flight.
Coca cultivation has doubled in Colombia since 2012, and currently exceeds 188,000 hectares, according to U.S. estimates.
Three years ago Colombia decided to ban the aerial spraying of coca crops over environmental and health concerns. But drones fly at lower altitudes than spray planes and are expected to have a smaller environmental impact.
The drones could also help Colombian police get around some of the challenges that come with eradicating coca fields in remote and often hostile areas of the country, where the fields are sometimes defended by heavily armed drug trafficking groups or seeded with land mines.
“This decision addresses some of the concerns raised by aerial spraying,” said Juan Carlos Garzon, a drug policy specialist at Colombia’s Ideas for Peace Foundation. “But drones also have their limitations.”
Colombia’s decision to stop aerial eradication of coca crops has been harshly criticized by U.S. officials who have pushed the country to reduce cocaine production.
Colombian officials have argued, however, that aerial spraying destroys legal crops near coca fields and pollutes local water sources. A World Health Organization study said that glyphosate, the chemical used in spraying campaigns, could be a carcinogen, leading Colombia to cancel aerial fumigation.
Colombia is testing other devices as it tries to crack down on cocaine production, including small, armored vehicles known as “caterpillars” that protect manual eradicators from land mines.

The DEA released a report that pegged 93 percent of the cocaine in the United States as coming from Colombia, where the production has tripled since 2013. The former guerrillas of the FARC turned to drug dealing to finance their operations and despite the peace treaty, many of them have continued to be involved in the drug trade.

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

Photo courtesy DEA Museum

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5, Day 3

Tuesday morning is time to go back to the gym to work on pull-ups and rope climbing preparation as well as Leg Day. Go heavier with the sled push to build up explosion which will definitely help with the rucksack marches. If you don’t have access to climbing ropes, (which my gym doesn’t) then do the towel pull-ups.

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Towel pull-ups 10 reps

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

3 x 10 reps Deadlift

4 x Sled push heavier weight or Fireman’s Carry

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

4-mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

63 Dead in Bombings in Afghanistan Voter Registration Centers

Afghanistan voting registration centers were rocked by suicide bombers on Sunday as the Islamic State terrorists, unable to force their way into any long-term presence in the country being pushed out by the U.S. are trying to disrupt the voting process as much as possible.

As a crowd lined up outside a voter registration center in Kabul on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 57 people in the deadliest of a spate of attacks targeting Afghanistan’s upcoming elections, officials said.
Six more people were killed when a vehicle struck a roadside bomb near a voter registration center in the northern province of Baghlan, the fifth attack in a week on the election process, Afghan media reported.
The Kabul attack, in a western neighborhood heavily populated with members of the Hazara ethnic group, targeted a compound where government statistics officials were distributing national identification cards.
The number of casualties climbed steadily throughout the day, and by nightfall it stood at 57 dead and 119 wounded, said Wahidullah Majrooh, a spokesman for the Health Ministry.
At least five of the dead were children, believed to have been students at a nearby high school.
Witnesses said only two police officers were guarding the center, adding to fears that Afghan security forces were ill-prepared to stop insurgent attacks on parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
The bomber detonated his vest in the crowd before he could be searched by police, said Hashmat Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman. He could not confirm how many officers were posted at the center.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq news agency, saying its target was Shiite Muslims; most Hazaras are Shiites. The Sunni extremist group has claimed several high-profile bombings against Shiites in Afghanistan, including one at a mosque in October that left more than 50 dead.
Witnesses had complained to police a day before the bombing that there was far too little security at the registration center, which is located in a residential area. Haji Zaman, a tribal elder, said that on Saturday more than 100 people were waiting in line outside the compound with just two police officers guarding the center.
“I argued with policemen and some more people came to support me, saying there’s no security outside the compound and people shouldn’t gather there,” Zaman said. He said he called the head of the center and told him to shut it down because civilians could be at risk

Civilians are apathetic about voting for precisely what transpired this weekend, they feel the government can’t protect them nor speak to the many problems that face the country.

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

Photo courtesy AP

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5, Day 1

We’ll kick off things today with our Sunday morning rucksack march. A warmup of pushups and planks followed by a fast-paced 5-mile ruck march with a 45-pound minimum to start the day right. The ability to carry a rucksack is of paramount importance in Special Operations.

Remember to stay hydrated throughout the ruck and to ensure that you have at least two pairs of boots broken in for the course. So, wear your second pair today.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Side Planks

5-mile rucksack march over varied terrain. 75 Minutes maximum. Try to keep your pace better than the standard. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 4, Day 7

Shoulder and back exercises this morning in the gym before a run to top things off. If you have access to any ropes, you should start incorporating rope climbing into your workouts. If not towel pull-ups are the next best thing. Markdown your progress in your workout log book and remember to stretch well before and after your workout.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, rear

3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, front

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

4-mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion