SOF

Son Tay Raider SGM Joe Murray Will Be Laid To Rest Today

Special Forces Sergeant Major Joe Murray passed away on December 23 and will be laid to rest today at the Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake, NC.

SGM Murray spent 30 years in the service of the US Army, with the vast majority of it being as a Green Beret in the Special Forces. Murray served from 1962 – 1992 and at the time of his retirement was the School Sergeant Major for the USA JFK SWC (US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School).

Murray went to Korea in 1962-63 and then to West Germany where he was in the 3rd Armored Division as a 106mm Recoilless Rifle Gunner and an 81mm mortar section leader from 1964-66.

He joined Special Forces in 1966 and after graduation was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (5th SFG) in Vietnam. There as the Intelligence Sergeant, he assigned to the 4th Corps Mike Force as an Airboat Section Leader, Reconnaissance Team Leader, Indigenous Company Commander, and Battalion Commander.

After returning to the US in 1968, Murray joined the 6th SFG as the team sergeant of a HALO Team (High Altitude Low Opening, military free-fall parachutists) and went on several missions to the Middle East, the Far East and in Europe. It was in 1970 that Murray along with about 100 other men volunteered for a dangerous mission that they didn’t know the destination or the actual mission.

Murray was one of the 56 Special Forces soldiers that were selected, and who flew from Thailand thru one of the most heavily defended air corridors in the world at that time outside of Hanoi, North Vietnam. There they assaulted the POW camp at Son Tay. The Raiders, however, found a dry hole. An intelligence failure doomed the mission to failure.

The prisoners were moved to another camp a few miles away due to a flood in their prison compound. Murray was wounded in the action and was awarded the Silver Star. All of the Americans were able to assault the compound, neutralize about 200 Vietnamese and Chinese troops, and successfully exfil without losing a man.

In an interview with Fayetteville Observer-Times in 1990, Murray said, “We scared the hell out of the Vietnamese and taught them we could get into the highest air-defended piece of real estate the world’s ever known and get out.”

“I still remember the feelings I had as the aircraft started the final approach,” he said. “I glanced out the window and the lights of Hanoi looked like any major city at night. My stomach felt like I’d swallowed a basketball.”

“That’s what we trained for,” he added. “You have one time in your career you get a chance to do something that’s really important.”

His part of the raid was to secure the outside of the prison compound so that the assault element could safely exfil the prison compound. Two North Vietnamese soldiers had slipped behind his position and fired on him, wounding him in the back of his leg, where the blood was rushing down into his boot. He took out both soldiers and kept at it until the mission was complete.

He later served with the 1st Special Forces Group (1st SFG) and deployed to nine different countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Korea. He returned to Ft. Bragg in 1974 and worked at the 18th Airborne Corps. Murray rejoined Special Forces in 1978 and served in the 7th Special Forces Group as the Company Sergeant Major in A/1/7. He trained El Salvadoran troops and took his company in 1983 to Trujillo, Honduras to set up the CREM (Regional Military Training Center).

After serving in Pennsylvania with the 28th Infantry Division, Murray returned to Ft. Bragg in 1988 where he was the School Sergeant Major at JFKSWC. Murray would assign all incoming SF cadre men to one of the myriad of schoolhouse assignments where our paths crossed again. He had spoken to my O&I (Operations and Intelligence Course) class.

I’d been told by many of my friends in SF that the new course (SFOT which later became SFAS) was where everyone coming in was being assigned. They told me “he’ll show you the big board, and talk about all the needs, but you’ll end up at Selection.” And they were so right. SGM Murray showed me the big board and was lamenting the lack of NCOs to go to the O&I Committee. I told him I was O&I qualified. His eyebrows went up and he smiled, “You are?, that is good to know for down the road, but for now we really need you out at Selection,” he said with a wink.

We saw him occasionally because the Selection course was new and everyone wanted to check it out, but unfortunately, I didn’t know him as well as some of the other older guys did, and that was lamentable as he’s one of the pioneers of what became the Joint Special Operations Command.

In his interview with the Fayetteville paper at the reunion of the Son Tay Raiders in 2016, he summed up what it’s like to be in Special Forces. “When you join Special Forces, you join a family,” he said. “There’s not an organization like it. You got a family of your own, but you adopt the soldiers under you.”

RIP Sergeant Major.

Fake Special Forces “Honor Guard” Group Forced to Shut Down

The Guardians of the Green Beret, a group of Special Forces veterans that scour the internet in search of individuals falsely claiming to be a member of the Special Forces Regiment has outed a group that was performing honor guard burials while purporting themselves to be a Special Forces unit.

Papotia Reginald Wright started the 8th Special Forces Regiment New York Honor Guard more than a year ago to perform burial services for veterans. But according to investigations by multiple groups, the supposed Special Forces veteran vastly inflated his military service, including medals for valor, and his group has since shut down.
Wright claimed to be a retired command sergeant major from Special Forces and used his fraudulent claim to run a veterans service organization with no official nonprofit status in Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the state Attorney General’s office. Military records seen by Stars and Stripes show he served in the Army from 1982-90 as a truck driver who never ranked higher than a specialist – a far cry from his claims of combat service.
Photographs show Wright in full dress uniform at promotional events including a New York Giants game. Most of his decorations – a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and others – are allegedly fake, according to Steve Antson from Guardians of the Green Beret, a watchdog group that works to expose people pretending to be part of Special Forces.

Wright and his group which contained other legitimate veterans who were not aware of the false claims and badges that Wright wore openly at several other events other than funerals including an NY Giants game and the opening of a recruiting station has been shut down.

To read the entire article from Stars and Stripes, click here:

Photo courtesy Guardians of the Green Beret

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 4

Happy Hump Day, it is back and shoulders day at the gym. Then a 5-mile rucksack march. Ensure that your second pair of boots are well broken in.

Remember to stay hydrated while on the march, especially so in the cold weather, you’ll not want to drink but get in the habit, 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 Lat Pulldowns, front

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 (45-lb minimum, 75-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Richard “Dick” Winters, Easy Company 506th PIR Died January 2, 2011

Richard “Dick” Winters was the central figure of the Stephen Ambrose book “Band of Brothers” that focused on the ordinary men that made up a rifle company in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Thru their rigorous training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, North Carolina, England before jumping into combat at Normandy on D-Day, again in Holland, fighting the German offensive in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and later into the heart of Germany, Winters was the face of the men of Easy Company.

Rising from a platoon leader to commanding Easy Company before eventually commanding the battalion, Winters was a tough, no-nonsense commander who could relate to his men. He never asked them to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. He led from the front and his men respected him as no other.

When Ambrose’s fine book was put into a film during an HBO mini-series by Stephen Spielberg, Winters and the other veterans would post interview snippets during the series intermittently, which put a real face on the actors’ roles. Chief of which was Winters’, who was portrayed excellently by Damian Lewis.

Entrance into the Army and Toccoa: Winters enlisted in the Army in August of 1941. He took Basic Training at Camp Croft, SC. After graduation, he remained at Croft and was made into cadre for training new soldiers and draftees. He remained while the rest of his battalion was shipped to Panama.

Shortly after the US entered the war, Winters was selected to attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Ft. Benning, GA. He graduated and became a 2LT in the Infantry and volunteered for Airborne training. During his time at Benning, Winters met Lewis Nixon who would become his lifelong friend and a member of Easy Company, 506th PIR.

Winters received orders to report to Camp Toccoa, GA, to become part of the new Airborne Infantry Regiment (506th) being trained there by Col. Robert Sink. Winters was made the Second Platoon Leader, in E Co, 2nd Bn, 506th PIR under the command of 1LT Herman Sobel.

Sobel was a martinet who would punish the men for the slightest of infractions, real or perceived. Winters would later claim that the tough training and discipline that Sobel instilled in the men would save many of them in combat. But the men grew to hate their company commander because although he was a strict disciplinarian, as a field soldier, Sobel was a disaster, constantly getting lost during field training. Winters, however, was greatly respected by his men and that began to drive a wedge between the two officers.

Although Winters was promoted to First Lieutenant and made the Company Executive Officer, Sobel became jealous of him and the esteem the men held for him.

England and a Court-Martial: By June 1943, the 506th had gone thru intensive training at Camp Mackall, NC and been made part of the 101st Airborne Division. In September, the troops boarded a troop ship and sailed to England to prepare for the invasion of France.

Easy Company was stationed in Aldbourne, Wiltshire and was training hard for the D-Day invasion. Despite looking at going into combat soon, Sobel’s jealousy of Winters came to a head. Sobel accused of Winters of failure to obey a lawful order. The charge was what the troops call “a chickenshit” move. Winters fought it and asked for a court-martial. The Battalion commander Major Robert Strayer set the charges aside. Sobel was incensed and brought more charges against Winters the next day. Winters asked for a general court-martial. While the decision on how to proceed with this was debated at the Regiment, Winters was transferred to Headquarters Co. and made the Battalion Mess Officer.

That was the final straw for Easy Co’s NCOs. Several of them signed a letter that they refused to serve as NCOs in the company under Sobel. Sink was furious. He transferred a few out of the unit. Some were demoted and he chased them out of his office. But Sink realized the problem was Sobel and transferred him out of the Regiment to head up the parachute training school at Chilton-Foliat. Winters was put back in Easy Co. as the 1st Plt Commander. Then 1LT Thomas Meehan was given command of the company and the hard training resumed for the invasion prep of France.

D-Day and Beyond: During the invasion of Normandy, the C-47 carrying the Headquarters Section of Easy Co. was shot down and crashed, killing all on board. With Meehan dead, Winters became the acting commander of the company.

On the morning of the invasion, Winters gathered up all the men he could find and moved to the rally point which was near Sainte Marie du Mont. He was given the task of taking 13 men to destroy a battery of German 105mm howitzers that were firing on Utah Beach. The guns were located at Brecourt Manor.

Winters men destroyed three of the guns before they were joined by Lt. Ronald Speirs and men from D Co. who destroyed the fourth. Winters placed machine guns to cover the troops and take out German MG-42 emplacements. Once Winters and his men got to and destroyed the first gun with TNT in the barrel, they jumped into the trench system the Germans utilized to supply the guns. There, they were able to move easily from gun to gun. The attack not only knocked out the guns, wiping out a 60 man German garrison but during it, Winters found a map with all of the German artillery positions on Utah beach. American commanders were so impressed with the map, they ordered the first two Sherman tanks ashore to support the 506th in clearing the rest of Brecourt Manor.

Sink recommended Winters for the Medal of Honor, but there was an unwritten rule that each division would be only allowed one Medal of Honor. It was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross. Winters’ attack is still taught at West Point as a classic case of an attack against a fixed position. He was promoted to Captain on July 1 and a few days later was decorated by LTG Omar Bradley. He would command the company until they were pulled off the line in Normandy to prepare for the invasion of Holland.

Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge: In late September, the Allies made the huge Operation Market Garden airdrop in Holland with the 101st, 82nd US Airborne Divisions and the 1st British Airborne. On Oct. 5, Winters learned that Germans had broken thru the lines and were 1200 yards from the Bn Command Post.

He took a squad of men and led an attack on the crossroad where he thought there was a platoon-sized element of Germans there. There were more than 300. Winters attack and mortar fire from the battalion decimated the numerically superior Germans.

Four days later he became the Battalion XO after that officer Major Ollie Horton was killed in action. Soon after, the battalion was pulled off the line.

The German attack in the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) found the 101st shipped quickly to the crossroads town of Bastogne. Winters and the 2nd Bn defended the area near Foy.

After the Americans under General Patton relieved the encircled 101st, they went on the attack, taking Foy from the Germans. They stayed on the line until early March when they moved to Haguenau. Winters was promoted to Major. Shortly thereafter he became the acting battalion commander. The positions there were fairly static until the Battalion was ordered first along the Rhine and then to capture Hitler’s mountain resort at Berchtesgaden. There the unit remained until the Germans surrendered.

Winters and other officers in Berchtesgaden.

Winters separated from the Army on November 29, 1945, before being recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He graduated Ranger School and was going to be sent to Korea but was instead discharged. He worked for his friend Nixon as a General Manager of the Nixon Nitration Works in New Jersey where he met his wife.

Winters later went into business for himself and moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania where he remained until he retired. He passed away on January 2, 2011, and was buried in a family plot in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

(From Wikipedia) On June 6, 2012, during the 68th Anniversary of the D-Day landings and parachute assaults, a 12-foot tall bronze statue in Winters’ likeness was unveiled near the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France. Winters only agreed for the statue to bear his resemblance on the condition that the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings.

Photos Courtesy: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 3

Tuesday is Leg Day at the gym, our favorite, but we’ll begin with pull-ups and towel pull-ups for those who don’t have access to ropes for climbing. The squats and lunges build up the strength in your lower body for carrying a rucksack, which is the bread and butter of SOF. Then a four-mile run in under 32 minutes.

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

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

4-Mile run (32-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Colonel Robert Howard, Medal of Honor 30 December 1968

Bob Howard was and still is, a legend among the Special Operations and Special Forces communities. He was the only man ever nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, all within a 13-month period, and truth be told, should have been awarded it for all three.

Howard was wounded 14 times in combat but was awarded just eight Purple Hearts, why? According to him, the other wounds weren’t bad enough to keep him out of action. By war’s end in Vietnam, he’d spent nearly 5 ½ years there. Again, when asked why, he simply responded, that there was he could do the most good.

Even among the SOG (Studies and Observations Group) veterans who performed all kinds of derring-do behind the lines in Vietnam as well as Cambodia and Laos, he was still referred to in hushed reverent tones.

World War I and II had the national heroes such as Alvin C. York and Audie Murphy. Had not the Vietnam War been so unpopular at home and with the press, Howard would be there right beside them and be as well known to the public. Because sadly, outside of the Special Operations community, few really know the story of Bob Howard.

His exploits read like the script of a bad “B-war film” and yet every word of those are absolutely true. One of his recommendations for the Medal of Honor, which was later downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross was recalled by Major John Plaster who served with Howard in SOG in Vietnam. Plaster recalls the operation as a typical Bob Howard, then a Sergeant First Class (SFC), as a tale filled with heroism.

“Accompanying a larger SOG force, he performed magnificently, single-handedly knocking out a PT-76 tank. A day later he wiped out an anti-aircraft gun crew, and afterward rescued the crew of a downed Huey. Repeatedly wounded, he was bleeding from his arms, legs, back, and face, but he refused to be evacuated. Again submitted for the Medal of Honor, his recommendation was downgraded, this time to the Distinguished Service Cross.”

On December 30, 1968, just six weeks after the previous incident, Howard’s actions would result in President Nixon awarding him the Medal of Honor in the White House. Howard accompanied a platoon of SOG troops, American and Vietnamese going into Laos in search of a missing recon man, Robert Scherdin.

Upon infiltration, they were ambushed by a much larger enemy force, Howard was badly wounded, his M-16 was blown out of his hands and rendered useless.He was temporarily knocked unconscious. But as soon as he came to, he knew what to do. Howard low-crawled to the aid of a wounded lieutenant. He then had to drag the man nearly two hundred yards under heavy enemy fire. A sergeant gave him a .45 pistol and fought off NVA soldiers with it and a grenade. As if that weren’t enough, Howard then formed the men into a tight perimeter and called in an airstrike right on top of their position. The resultant explosions would lift the Americans into the air and peppered them as well as the enemy with shrapnel. He described his actions a few years ago in an interview.

“When I come to, I was blown up in a crump on the ground, and my weapon was blown out of my hand. I can remember seeing red and saying a prayer, hoping I wasn’t blind. I couldn’t see. And I knew I was in a lot of pain and my hands were hurting. I couldn’t get up, and I really didn’t want to get up anyway because I couldn’t see. And then I finally starting getting the vision back and it was like blood was in my eyes, and I started feeling, but my hands were all blown up.

“And then it was like there was a big flame and there was smoke and there were people screaming and hollering. It, in fact, was an enemy soldier that was burning the people that would have been ambushed with a flamethrower. And the guy walked up to me and was getting ready to burn me, and he looked at me and he didn’t burn the lieutenant. The lieutenant was about 5 feet away from me, and he’s laying face forward, and he was hollering and he was screaming. I knew he was hurt. And the guy looked at me with the flamethrower, and then I looked at him. I guess I looked so bad and pitiful, he decided not to burn me up. He just turned and walked off.”
“So I’m pulling him back down the hill, and there was a sergeant that was laying down behind a log with a weapon that hadn’t been wounded that had seen this. But he was crying and not using his weapon. Here I am, begging him to help me because I can’t walk and drag the lieutenant back down.
“I said, ‘Well, give me your weapon,’ and he wouldn’t give me his weapon, but he did give me a .45. Just as he gave me the .45, and I’m trying to tell him to give me a couple more magazines of rounds for it, a bunch of enemy soldiers come running toward us. So here I am trying to fire the handgun, and I can remember shooting this enemy soldier that was fixing to stick me with a bayonet. He was running toward me. In fact, he fell across the lieutenant that I was dragging, and so just as he fell across there was another one behind him. They were trying to get us alive is what they were trying to do.”
“They brought the fire into our position,” Howard said of the airstrike. “In fact, I remember fire landing right between my feet and, you know, ricochet hitting me in the face. You know, that’s how intense it was.”

Howard was wounded so badly that his SOG teammates feared that they’d never see him again. But not afterward, Bob Howard went AWOL from the hospital and rejoined his unit. He was given a battlefield promotion to 1LT and stayed on active duty until retiring as a full Colonel.

It is amazing that no one has of yet, told his story in a film. Perhaps someday, Steven Spielberg, or Clint Eastwood who would do Bob Howard’s story justice, will do a film, finally honoring his heroism. It is long overdue.

Howard’s Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Howard (then Sfc .), distinguished himself while serving as platoon sergeant of an American-Vietnamese platoon which was on a mission to rescue a missing American soldier in enemy controlled territory in the Republic of Vietnam. The platoon had left its helicopter landing zone and was moving out on its mission when it was attacked by an estimated 2-company force. During the initial engagement, 1st Lt. Howard was wounded and his weapon destroyed by a grenade explosion. 1st Lt. Howard saw his platoon leader had been wounded seriously and was exposed to fire. Although unable to walk, and weaponless, 1st Lt. Howard unhesitatingly crawled through a hail of fire to retrieve his wounded leader. As 1st Lt. Howard was administering first aid and removing the officer’s equipment, an enemy bullet struck 1 of the ammunition pouches on the lieutenant’s belt, detonating several magazines of ammunition. 1st Lt. Howard momentarily sought cover and then realizing that he must rejoin the platoon, which had been disorganized by the enemy attack, he again began dragging the seriously wounded officer toward the platoon area. Through his outstanding example of indomitable courage and bravery, 1st Lt. Howard was able to rally the platoon into an organized defense force. With complete disregard for his safety, 1st Lt. Howard crawled from position to position, administering first aid to the wounded, giving encouragement to the defenders and directing their fire on the encircling enemy. For 3 1/2 hours 1st Lt. Howard’s small force and supporting aircraft successfully repulsed enemy attacks and finally were in sufficient control to permit the landing of rescue helicopters. 1st Lt. Howard personally supervised the loading of his men and did not leave the bullet-swept landing zone until all were aboard safely. 1st Lt. Howard’s gallantry in action, his complete devotion to the welfare of his men at the risk of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Photos: US Army/White House

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 2

Happy New Year, but in our Selection preparation, a good rule to follow is “No Days Off”, Okay, I’m stealing that from Bill Belichick, but it is apt. So, if your head is feeling a bit fuzzy after welcoming in the New Year, we have the perfect cure.

Some good pretest work for the Upper Body Round Robin (UBRR) with many of the exercises that will be tested. Always go for perfect form when doing the pushups, it will be an area that is always looked at hard during the PT tests in Selection. After the exercises, a three-mile run as fast as you can. Mark the time in your workout logbook

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 (no time limit)

2 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure (no time limit)

3-mile run (24 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 1

Sunday Morning Ruck March. Rucking is on the agenda for today after a quick warmup of pushups and sit-ups. Stretch well both before and after the ruck march.

Remember to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated out there, despite the bitter cold weather. And ensure that you have at least two pairs of boots broken in for the course.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit-ups

Rucksack march over varied terrain. Go as hard and as fast as you can in one direction alongside a road for one hour. Mark your distance. Then head back to the start point. This will be good practice for the selection course where you won’t know the route or the distance. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5 Day 7

Saturday morning work in the gym hitting your shoulders and back. Followed by a 4-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 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

Putin Says War in Syria Shows Off Russia’s Military Might

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted of his nation’s military strength at a ceremony where he praised Russian soldiers for their actions in Syria. The Russians supported the government of President Assad in ridding Syria of the Islamic State.

Speaking at a Kremlin awards ceremony for troops who fought in Syria, Putin says Russia has “made the main, decisive contribution to the destruction of a criminal group that cast a challenge to the entire civilization.” He added that the Islamic State group was seeking to turn Syria into a base for “global aggression” and threaten Russia.
Putin said the more than 48,000 Russian troops who took part in the Syria campaign were fighting for their “homeland, for a just and fair cause.”
“Your heroic actions and professionalism helped preserve the Syrian state, stop mass killings, executions and terror against civilians,” Putin told hundreds of soldiers who gathered in the Kremlin’s opulent, gold-and-white St. George’s Hall.
Russia launched a campaign in Syria on Sept. 30, 2015 when Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government was on the verge of collapse, quickly turning the tide of conflict in his favor. Thanks to Russian air cover and its special operations forces, Assad’s military has routed both the IS militants and the rebels and seized wide swathes of land.
Putin declared victory in Syria on a visit to the Russian air base there on Dec. 11 and ordered a partial pullout of Russian forces from the country. He emphasized that the military will maintain its presence at both the Hemeimeem air base in Syria and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartus.
“They are an important factor in protecting our national interests, ensuring Russia’s security in one of the key strategic regions,” Putin said.

With a thinly veiled jab at the U.S. Putin said, “The army has radically changed,” he said. “It has changed because people have felt themselves on top, which was very important, and because they saw how our weapons work. The entire world saw it, and our people saw it.”

He was referencing weapons that the Russians had used for the first time including ship and submarine-launched cruise missiles. Russian pilots flew 34,000 combat sorties and launched 166 cruise missiles during the war on ISIS. Putin failed to mention the U.S. led coalition which also fought in Syria.

To read the entire article from ABC News click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia