Special Operations Forces

Dec. 20, 1941, the AVG, Flying Tigers Flies in Combat For the First Time

The First American Volunteer Group [AVG] popularly known as the Flying Tigers was a civilian contractor group of US Army, Navy and Marine Corps aviators who volunteered to fight for the Chinese against the Japanese in the early days of World War II.

Although the Flying Tigers were in existence for a very short time, they established a stellar combat record and have become one of the most iconic units of the war, readily identifiable by their Shark’s tooth nose art painted on their P-40 fighters.

The AVG was recruited from the military with Presidential authority and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The strength of the group was never more than about 90 planes with three squadrons of 30 aircraft each. The three squadrons were named “Adam & Eve”, “Panda Bears” and “Hell’s Angels” after the 1930 Howard Hughes film.

R.T. Smith of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron, (Hell’s Angels) of the AVG. The Flying Tiger logo was done by the Walt Disney Co.

Although they were in combat from only December 20, 1941 – July 4, 1942, they shot down 229 Japanese aircraft and destroyed another 68 on the ground against a loss of just 16 of the AVG. The members of the volunteer group were in actuality members of the Chinese Air Force although their pay $250 a month for a mechanic, and up to $750 a month for a squadron commander was about three times what they were paid in the US military.

Chennault, was a retired U.S. Army Air Corps officer who had worked in China since August 1937, as an advisor to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and later as the director of a Chinese Air Force flight school centered in Kunming.

The pilots were discharged from the military and promised $600 a month for flight officers, $675 for flight leaders and $750 for squadron commanders. They were promised a bounty of $500 for every Japanese plane shot down. In April 1941, the pilots took ships from the United States to Burma while they awaited their aircraft to be shipped over and shuttled to their training fields.

Chennault’s Training Doctrine Proves Effective: Chennault studied the Japanese aircraft, their tactics and the results the Soviet pilots had while flying against them in 1940. He decided to break from established US doctrine that was being taught to US fighter pilots in the states.

Chennault’s doctrine forbid the AVG pilots from taking on the enemy in a turning dogfight. The Japanese fighters were far too maneuverable for the P-40s to take on in a dogfighting. Instead, the AVG would dive on enemy aircraft in teams from an altitude advantage, and then to execute a diving or slashing attack and to dive away to set up for another attack. This “dive-and-zoom” technique proved to be extremely effective once the Tigers took on the Japanese fighters. Although much more nimble, the Japanese fighters didn’t have the dive speed of the heavier American fighters.

The P-40 was superior to the Japanese fighters in a few areas. The pilot’s armor protection, much heavier armament and self-sealing gas tanks. Plus, they had the advantage of diving faster which fit their tactics to a tee.

Combat begins: Shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the AVG was now combat ready. Chennault moved a squadron [Hell’s Angels] to Kunming to defend the Burma road on December 20, the Japanese sent a force to bomb Rangoon and the AVG shot down four aircraft with no losses of their own while breaking up the attack.

On the 23rd, the Japanese struck again and the Tigers shot down eight more of the enemy while losing three of their own.

On Christmas Day 1941, the Japanese Air Force sent 63 bombers escorted by 25 fighters to attack again, they were met by a force of just 14 P-40s. The AVG ripped into the Japanese formations shooting down a combination of 35 bombers and fighter with a loss of just five of their own.

The combat continued into 1942 as the AVG found itself consistently outnumbered by superior Japanese numbers and although the Chinese and Allies were pushed back, the AVG took a toll on the attacking Japanese pilots. The AVG maintained a superior kill ratio to the enemy and far beyond anyone else in the theater.

Nineteen AVG pilots became Aces while in the service of the Chinese:

Robert Neale: 13 victories
Ed Rector: 10.5 victories
David Lee “Tex” Hill: 10.25 victories
George Burgard: 10 victories
Robert Little: 10 victories
Charles Older: 10 victories
Robert T. Smith: 8.9 victories
William McGarry: 8 victories
Robert Walters: 8 victories
Charles Bond: 7 victories
Frank Lawlor: 7 victories
John V. “Scarsdale Jack” Newkirk: 7 victories
Robert Hedman: 6 victories
C. Joseph Rosbert: 6 victories
J. Richard Rossi: 6.25 victories
Robert Prescott: 5.5 victories
Percy Bartelt: 5 victories
William Bartling: 5 victories
Edmund Overend: 5 victories
Robert Sandell: 5 victories
Robert H. Smith: 5 victories

Return to the US Military: In typical bean-counter form, the US military decided to revert the AVG back into the armed services in mid-1942, and in a total snafu sent a general officer General Clayton Bissell to strong-arm the Tigers back into the US military. Bissell was a long-time hater and enemy of Chennault. His “recruitment” speech for the AVG was full of demands and threats as to what would happen to the Tigers if they refused. Most of the pilots told him to pound sand. Only a few stayed on out of respect for Chennault who was promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of the new unit.

From the diary of Dick Rossi: We were in actual combat for seven months; we had less than 300 people. As of Dec 2, 1941, there were 82 pilots and of the original 100 P-40s sent out to Chennault, 78 remained with 62 in commission, 68 with radios and 60 with armament. There were shortages of just about everything and no spare parts to speak of. The group has a confirmed count of 297 enemy aircraft destroyed with another 150 probable. Our losses were 4 pilots lost in aerial combat, 7 shot down and killed by anti-aircraft fire during strafing runs, 8 killed in operational and training accidents unrelated to enemy action. Four were MIA and of those 3 were found to be POWs. Three died from Japanese bombing raids. One was shot down and seen alive, but no word as to his fate. The American Fighter Aces Association confirms 20 AVG pilots as Aces with another 6 pilots achieving Ace status during the next few years.

Chinese Memorials: Despite not being on the best terms with the US during the Communist years, the Chinese people remember the Flying Tigers and the AVG quite fondly and there are numerous memorials built to honor the memory of the American men who risked their lives for the Chinese people.

From Wikipedia: A Flying Tigers Memorial is located in the village of Zhejiang, Hunan Province, China and there is a museum dedicated exclusively to the Flying Tigers. The building is a steel and marble structure, with wide sweeping steps leading up to a platform with columns holding up the memorial’s sweeping roof; on its back wall, etched in black marble, are the names of all members of the AVG, 75th Fighter Squadron, and 14th Air Force who died in China. In 2005, the city of Kunming held a ceremony memorializing the history of the Flying Tigers in China, and on 20 December 2012, the Flying Tigers Museum opened in Kunming. The date is the 71st anniversary of the first combat from Kunming of the Flying Tigers. The Memorial Cemetery to Anti-Japanese Aviator Martyrs in Nanjing, China features a wall listing the names of Flying Tiger pilots and other pilots who defended China in World War II, and has several unmarked graves for such American pilots.

The largest private museum in China, Chengdu Jianchuan Museum, devotes a wing in its military section to the history of the Flying Tigers, including a tribute wall featuring a thousand porcelain photos of members of the Flying Tigers as well as many historical artifacts from the era.

In March 2015, the Flying Tiger Heritage Park was opened in Guilin in collaboration with the Flying Tiger Historical Organization. The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield and includes a museum, aircraft shelters, and relics of a command post located in a cave.

Photos; US Archives

US Special Operations Troops Train To Capture Korean Nukes

The U.S. is reportedly conducting training to enter North Korean territory with the objective of “infiltrating” and “removing weapons of mass destruction,” according to foreign military sources.

The recently finished military exercise conducted with South Korean forces called Warrior Strike IX, shows a military unit conducting training with night-vision equipment, armored vehicles, and full-face protective gear, including gas masks. However, the pictures that were made public look more like conventional troops than SOF.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which quoted anonymous military sources, the combined exercise was designed to simulate “infiltrating North Korea and removing weapons of mass destruction in case of conflict.” An Army spokesperson stationed in South Korea declined to comment.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has suggested repeatedly that one of his main goals in Korea was to avoid sending U.S. forces into North Korean territory. But he also seemed to concede last week that is a scenario that might need to be addressed.
On Dec. 13, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert reiterated to reporters what Tillerson has described as the four things he won’t do when it comes to North Korea – a list he calls the “four no’s.”
“We are not seeking the collapse of the North Korean regime. We are not seeking regime change. We are not seeking the accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula. And we are not seeking an excuse to send our military north of the [border with South Korea],” according to Nauert.
John Bolton, a former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and a Fox News contributor …sees when it comes to North Korea’s nuclear arsenal is to convince China to support a regime change in Pyongyang.
“We’re either going to have to kind of play it using military force, or accept that North Korea will be the nuclear arms sale center of the world – to Iran, to terrorist groups, to other third-world countries that have nuclear aspirations,” Bolton said. “That is not a future I look forward to,” he added.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has become terrified about an assassination plot and is now paranoid about his security according to the report. So, he’s bought in totally that the U.S. and South Korea are serious about regime change.

To read the entire article from Fox News: click here:

Photo courtesy: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 4, Day 5

Thursday is another UBRR training day followed by a 4-mile rucksack march. Are you keeping a log of your times on your runs and rucks? You should mark down your workouts and especially your times on the runs and rucks. You should notice a marked improvement as we progress. Ensure you stay hydrated as well as break in the second pair of boots.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 20 pushups

3 x 20 sit-ups

3 x 20 crunches

3 x 20 dips or until muscle failure

3 x 20 side planks

4-mile rucksack march (45-pound minimum, 60 minutes maximum) over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Highlighted the Early Hours of Operation Just Cause

In the early hours of December 20, 1989, 28 years ago, the United States began operations against Manuel Noriega and the Panamanian Defense Forces in Operation Just Cause.

During the opening hours of the US operation, several US Special Operations units conducted operations to rescue American Kurt Muse from the notorious Modelo Prison, stop Noriega from leaving the country by disabling his aircraft, seizing the two main airports at Panama City and Rio Hato by an airborne operation and by stopping his troops, specifically his armored unit [Battalion 2000] from reaching the capital of Panama City and influencing the immediate takedown of his government and military hierarchy.

The plan, minus the Muse rescue was actually rehearsed in the spring of 1988 when conditions between the Noriega Panamanian government and the US deteriorated to the point that the US was ready to move. A year earlier it would have been a surgical Special Operations only mission with very little conventional troops involved. In 1989 it would be a full complement of conventional troops to include elements of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 7th Infantry Division (Light) and the 82nd Airborne Division as well as units stationed in Panama.

Operation Acid Gambit – The Rescue of Kurt Muse: Muse was an American who grew up in Panama, got married and moved back after his service in the military was over. His wife was a DOD schoolteacher. He was arrested and thrown in Modelo Prison for running a covert anti-Noriega radio station in May of 1989. One Panamanian newspaper reported that Muse was a CIA operative.

President Bush decided to that a rescue of Muse was the course of action after receiving a letter that was smuggled out of the prison but a US military doctor that was allowed to treat him.

The Army’s Delta Force began rehearsing a raid on the prison on a mockup they built at Eglin AFB, Florida from notes supplied by the doctor. They moved to Panama undetected and began preliminary plans to raid the prison. Shortly after midnight on the 20th, 23 Delta operators boarded four MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopters and landed on the roof of the prison.

Delta Little Bird of 160th Special Operations Aviation that crash landed in a Panama City street.

Delta Snipers quickly eliminated sentries in the area as well as the Comandancia (Noriega’s Headquarters) across the street. At that moment, two Air Force C-130 Spectre Gunships began shelling the Comandancia to get attention away from Modelo Prison.

One operator climbed down the side of the building to a window outside Muse’s cell to eliminate the guard who was tasked with killing him as a soon as a rescue attempt was begun.

The breaching team blew the door to the roof and the extraction teams started down the stairs two floors to Muse’s cell. The Delta operators eliminated two guards and bound another who was not armed and did not resist. Muse saw the beams of their flashlights and saw the smoke. Just then he heard an American voice tell him to take cover. Delta operator Pat Savidge tried to shoot the lock off, but it stood up and had to be cut off with bolt cutters supplied by Delta’s Kelly Venden. Savidge told Muse “Merry Christmas and gave him body armor, goggles, and a Kevlar helmet. They moved back up to the roof.

Once on board the MH-6 that was called back for extraction, the now overloaded Little Bird began nose diving for the street, 60 feet below. The pilot regained control just a few feet off the ground and they flew along the street putting distance between themselves and the prison just a few feet off the ground. After setting down in a courtyard, the pilot was going to attempt to take off again. Savidge and Venden didn’t buckle in during the tumult.

As the chopper lifted off, it took serious ground fire. Venden was hit in the chest and toppled out of the helicopter 20-30 feet to the ground. Savidge attempting to save his friend, grabbed ahold of his gear to hold onto him and was pulled out as well. The Little Bird was peppered with fire and crashed on its right side. The skid pinned Delta operator James Sudderth’s ankle. All four operators were wounded but Muse and the pilots were fine.

The Delta operators got to the most defensible position and prepared to protect Muse. About 15 minutes later they signaled a passing chopper with an IR strobe light. They relayed their position by radio and an armored vehicle of the 5th Infantry Division came shortly after and picked everyone up and brought them to safety.

Bloody Action At Punta Paitilla Airfield: The Navy SEALs were tasked to destroy Noriega’s aircraft at the airfield. This mission fell to SEAL Team 4 with 48 operators. The SEALs under the command of LtCdr Patrick Toohey landed just south of the airfield at 0030 hrs on the 20th.

By 0105 hrs, they were in position, however security elements reported that Panamanian V300 Cadillac Gage armored cars were rapidly approaching the airfield. Toohey sent a squad to set up a blocking position but as soon as they began moving, the Panamanians at the airfield opened fire killing one SEAL and wounding five others. The other SEALs reinforced the troops under fire and in the resulting firefight, suffered two more killed and four more wounded. They disabled Noriega’s plane with an AT-4 rocket.

During the night, they rolled an aircraft into the middle of the runway to keep the airfield from being used. The wounded were MEDEVAC to Howard Air Force Base. The SEALs secured the airfield until mid-morning when they were relieved by a company from the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Noriega’s private plane after Navy SEALs destroyed it with a rocket launcher

Meanwhile, four SEALs using Draeger rebreather systems swam from Zodiac assault craft to plant explosives on Noriega’s heavily armed gunboat, Presidente Porras. They swam under the boat planted the explosives and then were shot at by Panamanian guards who dropped grenades into the water. The SEALs swam to the pier and hiding under it, could watch the gunboat be disabled by the explosions. They later swam back out into the canal where they were picked by rubber assault craft.

Rangers Seize Rio Hato, Tocumen Airports: The 2nd and 3rd Ranger Battalions were tasked with seizing Rio Hato airfield, destroying the PDF garrison at the base, [the largest in the army] and seizing Noriega’s plush beach house.

At H-hour, two F–117A stealth fighter-bombers delivered two 2,000-lb. precision bombs in an attempt to stun and confuse the PDF garrison of two heavily armed infantry companies defending the airfield.They missed. The precision munitions succeeded in only waking the defenders.

Thirteen C-130s flying from the US dropped the Rangers into a maelstrom of fire from just 500 feet. Moving and assembling quickly despite the incoming fire, two companies of Rangers moved to take the airfield, cut the Pan-American Highway running through it, and seize a nearby ammunition dump.

Meanwhile, another company attacked a nearby NCO academy complex and another struck the two PDF companies deployed to defend the airfield.The PDF defending the airfield were claimed to be Noriega’s best and the firefight was furious. Two Rangers were killed and four wounded when a helicopter gunship raked them in a friendly fire incident. But within five hours, the entire complex was secure to include Noriega’s beach house.

Outside of Panama City, Torrijos [Tocumen] Airport, the site of the national commercial airport, the 1st Ranger Battalion jumped in to seize it and secure it for follow-on forces. The Rangers suffered just two wounded while Panamanian casualties were slight, with just 5 killed and 21 captured. The 82nd Airborne Division about an hour after the Rangers secured the airfield arrived and began jumping in.

Special Forces Seize Pacora River Bridge Stop Bn 2000: The men of A Co. 3rd Bn 7th Special Forces Group who were stationed in Panama were tasked with keeping surveillance on Fort Cimarron, home of Bn 2000, the only armored unit in Noriega’s army. Under the command of Major Kevin Higgins, A-3-7 was told of the departure of 10 vehicles from Cimarron and he and 24 Green Berets were moving to the Pacora River Bridge to stop the convoy from reaching Panama City.

The Blackhawk helicopters flying to the bridge got lost on the way but they flew over the armored column rapidly approaching the bridge. The SF troops got to the western side of the bridge just as the Panamanians reached the eastern side. The slope to get up to the bridge was steep and the heavily laden SF troops were just getting to the bridge when they were illuminated by the headlights of the Panamanian vehicles. SFC “Tico” Roman and SFC Dana Bowman were among the first men on the bridge and they blasted the lead vehicle with AT-4s. That stopped the convoy in its tracks. But the SF troops were armed mostly with M-16s, M-249s, and M-203s. Higgins didn’t hesitate. He called in AC-130 Spectre gunships fire, dangerously close to his men and the gunships decimated the column. The Panamanians tried to get away from Spectre by crawling under the bridge. But the SF troops raked the girders with machine gun fire and buckshot rounds with M-203s. The running firefight lasted most of the night with the Panamanians trying to flank the SF troops, who were augmented by elements of A Co. 1st Bn, 7th SFG from Ft. Bragg during the night. They finally linked up with members of the 82nd Airborne later the next afternoon after their Sheridan armored reconnaissance vehicles got moving from the airport.

Operation Just Cause was far from a smooth operation, there were still glitches in communications, and many units couldn’t talk to one another. Coordination between Special Operations and conventional units was shaky at times and non-existent at others. Despite this, different elements of our Special Operations Forces were laying the groundwork for interacting with one another that would bear fruit in later conflicts. The troops’ use of Air Force Special Operations gunships which supported ground troops across the board became invaluable. Those airmen along with their Combat Controllers have become an extremely sought after asset. While many of the troops involved with a few months later move to the desert for Desert Shield/Storm, many of the SF troops remained and assisted Panama with the switch over from the PDF to the PNP [Panamanian National Police].

Photos: DOD

Hezbollah Teaches Hate to the Very Young Over the Pretext of Jerusalem

For Hezbollah, the indoctrination of hate begins with the very young. With some young boys barely out of diapers, the Tehran-based terror group must be proud to see six-year-olds robotically rattle off their “enemies’ names” and call for their deaths.

The sham outrage is based on the excuse of President Donald Trump moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.Their mothers insist that early childhood is “the right age to learn” the ideology of hate.

Ali is six, and yet already he fiercely chants “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” at a rally alongside his family. It is a typical Beirut rally, organized by the Shia militia Hezbollah, to protest US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“At six, he is too old to not be here,” his mother Fatima said as she pushed the stroller carrying Ali’s baby brother, justifying her decision to bring her children to a political rally. She seemed unconcerned that his words were hate speech.
“This is the right age to learn about how the Jews took our land,” Fatima said. She spoke heatedly about the events of 1948, when the state of Israel was formed on Palestinian land. “America helps Israel regularly and imposes war on us and now the Satan wants to give our mosque to the Jews,” Fatima said.
The Al Aqsa Mosque is the third most sacred site in Islam and is situated in East Jerusalem. In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel seized and annexed the Old City, and Palestinians and the wider Arab world have been demanding its return ever since.

It is small wonder that a single stone remains of the Al Aqsa mosque. According to the propaganda reports that continuously broadcast from Hezbollah and others in the Arab world, Israel is constantly “attacking” the mosque, yet Muslims remain free to worship there.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welle, click here:

Photo courtesy DW

Saudis Intercept Second Ballistic Missile Launched by Yemen Rebels

Houthi Rebels in Yemen launched a second ballistic missile aimed at a palace in Saudi Arabia that was intercepted by Saudi air defenses. The Saudi-led coalition is fighting the Houthi reported that the missile didn’t cause any damage and was actually headed toward a residential area.

A Houthi rebel spokesperson Mohammed AbdulSalam said on his Twitter account that the rebels fired the Burkan 2H ballistic missile, targeting the prestigious Yamama Palace hotel in the Saudi capital. The Burkan missile is an Iranian-modified scud missile.
Al Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled TV station, reported that a large meeting at the hotel was the target of the missile. The missile launch coincides with 1,000 days since the Saudi-led coalition started its military campaign against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which the kingdom says is backed by Iran.
Last month, Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted a Houthi missile over an international airport in the Saudi capital. The Houthi-run Defense Ministry claimed responsibility for that attack.
Last week, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley presented what she called “concrete evidence” of Iran’s weapons proliferation. She stood in front of a short-range ballistic missile which she said was made in Iran, then sent to Houthi rebels in Yemen who fired it at Riyadh last month.
Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of states against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who toppled Yemen’s internationally recognized government in 2015.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Watch has claimed that Saudi airstrikes in Yemen have killed 136 civilians and wounded 87 more since December 6. The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen is reaching epidemic proportions. Cholera outbreaks are affecting close to a million people and have already resulted in over 2000 deaths.

Malnutrition is also affecting over 400,000 children while fresh water remains scarce.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 4, Day 4

Wednesday is Shoulder Day in the gym along with some speed work. The sprints here will help with your overall cardio fitness, build some explosion, and will serve you well with your endurance. It is also a functional part of your job in Special Operations.

There will be plenty of times where you’ll have to sprint short distances with your gear on. It will test you in a different manner than a distance run but will aid in your distance running. This is a system that some NFL teams use to increase their speed.

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 Shoulder Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

40-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

50-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

60-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

70-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

80-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

90-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

100-Meter Sprint, walk back to the starting point

Stretch well after completion

Passing Selection, Land Navigation and Map Reading Basics

As we stated in a post last week, we’ll be going over some of the basics in the upcoming days as the newest Selection courses get underway. We get a lot of questions regarding SFAS and especially the Land Navigation Course out in the Hoffman Area, what they call the “Star Course” in the SFQC.

First things first, yes, the Land Navigation course is not easy, and many students fail at either SFAS or the SFQC because they failed it. The course is tough, it is the toughest individual land navigation course you’ll find in the US military.

But the course is far from impossible, thousands of Special Forces soldiers have passed it before you and thousands more will continue to do so and get a first time go. That’s the magic word everyone wants to hear. It just takes some hard work, patience, and the ability to keep a cool head once you experience the draws and lack of terrain features in lovely Hoffman, NC.

But before we get into the tips and some experiences that many of us have come across, the first thing a candidate MUST do is to come to SFAS prepared. I know, I know, “how many times have we heard that?” But it’s true.

This is another area where the better prepared you are the odds of you passing the Land Navigation course increase tenfold. It begins with Map Reading; become an expert in this necessary skill before you show up at Ft. Bragg. There are plenty of manuals, study guides, and civilian orienteering clubs out there that will get you to where reading a map is a snap and a second nature to you.

I hear from many candidates all the time and many, especially the younger guys who are entering the 18X program or younger soldiers don’t have a background in map reading and navigation. I encourage all of those who this pertains to, check into any orienteering clubs in your area. They will vary, of course, but the vast majority will give the neophyte navigator a great deal of practical experience and many of the folks in those clubs can give some great tips on navigation.

This was always my block of instruction at Camp Mackall during my brief time at Selection and at that time is wasn’t overly detailed. It was more of a refresher for skills you were already supposed to know. Those who came from Light Infantry or Ranger Bn. backgrounds were already well-versed in it and if you have any of those type guys in your unit before selection, seek them out and have them help you.

When it comes to map reading, you should know it to the point that you could teach a class on it, before you arrive at SFAS because all of those skills will be tested. Some of (but not all) of the skills you should be intimately familiar with include:

Contour Lines– what are they, the 3 types and how they appear on the different terrain features. Also, know how to find and identify the contour interval.
Terrain Features– How many are there and be able to identify each
Declination diagram– Be able to identify it on the map and know how it works.
Back azimuth– Identify what it is and be able to calculate it
Orienting a Map– How many methods are there to do it and be able to do it using each way
Intersection– What is it used for and how is it determined
Resection– What is it used for and be able to do it easily
Dead Reckoning– What is it and know the steps that entail it (hint…many candidates use this exclusively, but it isn’t the preferred method)
Field Expedient Direction– How many ways are there and be able to perform each one
Azimuth– What is it and what are the two ways it can be measured
8-digit Grid Coordinate– How close will that take you to a point on the ground
6-digit Grid Coordinate– How close will that take you to a point on the ground
Colors on the Map– How many are there and what do they denote
Mils to degrees– How many mils equal one degree?
Circle– How many mils? How many degrees?

These are just some of the skills you need. If you look at these above-listed skills and if you aren’t a whiz at every one (these are just the basics) then you aren’t ready for SFAS and the Star course in Hoffman. So as a word to the wise…take the time and prepare as best that you can.

So, you prepared ahead of time and are a map reading whiz now and can whip out a map and be ready to plot where you are and more importantly, where are you going to. You’re going to need a couple of items that seem trivial but are extremely important. A caveat here, these are just suggestions. They aren’t coming from the mountain so to speak. But I’ve found these worked well.

Invest a nice map case, one that will keep your maps dry and allow you to make some marks on the clear portion with a grease pencil to make any notes to help you along. And…I can’t stress this enough, secure your map case to your body. It sounds stupid and infantile, but far too many candidates fail land navigation because they lose their map in a draw and the Hoffman draws are legendary for stealing maps. I used to see candidates not securing their map cases to their body and use their cargo pockets to stuff their map case in.

My favorite map case had a built-in loop that I kept inside my shirt snapped to a D-ring on my shoulder. It was easily accessible and kept it away from those nasty thickets that would tear it away from my thigh pocket. But that is just a personal preference.

And since you aren’t tactical, be smart. Fold your map with the area that you are working in, right on top and easily found. Nothing wastes more time than fumbling with a map under a poncho with a red lens flashlight. Leave room on the side where you can make notations in grease pencil.

And while you’re at it, dummy cord your weapon to your body as well, ditto for all of your gear. Every class, some tired candidate will stop to do a map check and walk off with his weapon, oops. He’s doing the duffel bag drag to the truck heading back to Ft. Bragg.

Invest in those Ranger beads that allow you to keep your distance locked down. Or you can tie one on your own using 550 parachute cord. The cadre were always pretty liberal with the amount of 550-cord they allowed candidates to have. Bring it. Those little things come in handy and when you get tired, it is easy to forget the distance traveled.

In a future post, we’ll get into some of finer points of Land Navigation and dive into some of the topics that seem to give guys trouble.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected]

Photo courtesy of DOD

Taliban Attack NATO Convoy, Kills 14 Afghan Soldiers in Separate Attacks

Taliban insurgents, in a series of attacks, stormed isolated police outposts around the provincial capital of Lashkargah, killing at least 14 Afghan troops and injured several others in a pre-dawn attack in southern Helmand province. Afghan officials claim to have beaten back the attack and inflicted serious casualties on the attackers.
Taliban sources later claimed that the death toll of government troops was much higher. They frequently attack police outposts as those are considered “soft targets” where the number of troops is smaller and the troops are far less trained than some of their contemporaries in the Afghan Special Forces.
Later, a suicide bomber in neighboring Kandahar province detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near a NATO convoy.
Provincial police spokesman, Matiullah Helal, told VOA, the blast killed a woman passerby and wounded five other civilians, but did not harm any foreign troops.

There are about 300 US Marines in Helmand province training and assisting the Afghan police and army forces. The area is a hotspot due to the opium fields that blanket the area. The Taliban use the opium trade to earn money to fund operations.

The woman civilian killed in the blast of the convoy died when her house, near the ambush, collapsed from the blast on top of her.

To read the entire article from Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

CIA Tipped Off Russia About St. Petersburg Bomb Plot

The fight against global terrorism, specifically the Islamist State can make for some strange bedfellows and in this case the United States and Russia. The CIA learned of an IS terrorist attack in St. Petersburg, Russia and tipped off their Russian FSB counterparts who thwarted the planned terror attack on a cathedral.

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally thanked President Trump for the shared intelligence and expressed gratitude for passing along the information. The sharing of intelligence is noteworthy during this time of the Cold War heating up in many places around the globe. “The enemy of my enemy –can sometimes be– my friend.

Mr Putin asked Mr Trump to thank Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA. He promised that Russia would reciprocate if it acquired information about attacks being prepared in the US. The White House said that Mr Trump had passed on his thanks to Mr Pompeo.
Five men have been arrested over the alleged plot. Shamil Omargadzhiyev and Aliskhan Esmurziyev, both Russian, and Firuz Kalavurov, from Tajikistan, were detained by police in St Petersburg on Thursday and remanded in custody yesterday. They denied the allegations and claimed that weapons were planted on them. Yevgeny Yefimov and Anton Kobets were held earlier.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the men were a cell of Islamic State who had received orders from abroad via the Telegram messaging app. It said that one of the men intended to blow himself up in Kazansky Cathedral on Saturday. Other explosives were to be detonated in busy public places.

Video of the arrest of some of the suspects was carried on Russian television. Firearms, explosives-making material, and terrorist literature were found during the raids to arrest the suspects.

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Photo courtesy AP