Special Operations Forces

July 4, 1976, Israeli Special Operations Raid on Entebbe Stuns the World

It doesn’t seem that long ago, but on July 4, 1976, the United States was set to celebrate its Bi-Centennial. Massive celebrations were set to take place across the USA but then a small Special Operations unit from a smaller Middle Eastern nation stole the spotlight with a daring raid that was stunningly executed.

Israeli commandos from the Sayeret Matkal known to the soldiers in it as only “The Unit”, stormed the Ugandan airport at Entebbe under the command of LTC Jonathan “Yoni” Netanyahu. There they freed about 100 Jewish hostages and 12 people from the flight crew from a combined force of terrorists and Ugandan troops.

The raid was a brilliantly executed Special Operation. Only one Israeli soldier, Netanyahu was killed along with three hostages. Another Israeli paratrooper was paralyzed by a gunshot wound to his neck and another hostage, Dora Bloch, who was taken to a hospital was murdered by Amin’s soldiers after the raid.

Airplane Hijack Begins Siege: On Sunday, June 27, Air France’s Flight 139 left from Ben Gurion Airport, made a stopover in Athens, and then took off towards its final destination in Paris, with 248 passengers on board. At around 12:35 pm, four terrorists—two German and two Palestinian—hijacked the plane.

The hijackers landed briefly in Libya where they took on more terrorists before flying down to Entebbe, Uganda which was run at the time by the dictator Idi Amin. The hostages were led into the terminal building where they were guarded by terrorists and Ugandan soldiers. There the Jews and Israelis were separated from the other passengers.

On the 29^th, the terrorist decided to release all the non-Jewish and Israeli hostages. But the Air France crew refused to leave their Jewish and Israeli passengers. This set-in-motion the operation that would be known as Operation Thunderbolt. This was a critical time because once the hostages were released, they were flown to Paris, and an Israeli officer interviewed a few of them. The hostages described where the Israeli hostages were located, how many terrorists there were, the floor plan of the building, and other important details.

A Mossad agent flew a light aircraft over Entebbe and pretended to have engine trouble. He took photographs of the area and reported that only dozens, not hundreds of Ugandan soldiers were guarding the building. That fact was corroborated by released hostages in Paris. That convinced the Israeli government that the mission had at least a modest chance of success.

The Israeli plan was to land 4 C-130 Hercules aircraft with 33 members of Sayeret Matkal on the tarmac of the Entebbe airport. There they would have a limo disguised as Idi Amin’s with soldiers dressed as Ugandan soldiers along with jeeps filled with commandos. Once they got close enough they would storm the terminal, kill the terrorists guarding the hostages with just six members of the unit. The rest would eliminate any remaining terrorists and soldiers.

IDF commandos dressed in Ugandan camouflage with a car designed to resemble Idi Amin’s limo

Netanyahu had to meet with and convince the Israeli Defense Minister Shimon Peres that the mission was doable. His confidence was unwavering and he assured Peres the casualties among the hostages would be small.

The unit would then gather the soldiers and hostages and board the Hercules and fly back to Israel.

The Operation begins: The four C-130s took off from Israel and had to fly low under the radar to avoid detection. There were no seats and the commandos had to sit on the vehicles. The lurching of the planes in the heat made almost every commando sick.

They flew across Egypt, the Sudan, South Sudan and into Ugandan airspace. The first C-130 was to touchdown on the airfield while the others were to circle over Lake Victoria. Once the first aircraft landed the vehicles with Netanyahu leading from the first one disguised as Amin’s limo, would race to the terminal.

Israeli commando map of the Entebbe terminal area

Seven minutes later the next two Hercules were to touch down with Armored cars to eliminate any Ugandan resistance. As the vehicles carrying the commandos were racing to the terminal, they passed a guard post with barbed wire. The guard snapped to attention and raised his weapon in a salute. The ruse of Amin’s car was working.

Netanyahu leaned out the window with a silenced .22 and tried to shoot the guard but missed with the vehicle racing so fast. But a soldier in the Land Rover behind the limo blasted the soldier with a burst of automatic weapons fire.

The Mercedes limo stopped 40 meters short of the terminal building and with the crowded confines, it was slow work, getting out. Netanyahu yelled to his troops, “Come on, charge! Come on, charge!”

At the terminal building, a German terrorist came outside and the leader of the commandos charged with clearing the terminal emptied his magazine at him but missed. He stopped to change his magazine but didn’t announce it as was the unit SOP. The rescue team stalled waiting for their leader.

Tamir Pardo, the future director of the Mossad, was Netanyahu’s radio operator during the mission. “As we were running, I stayed close to Yoni. We came under fire from the tower, and if memory serves me right a Ugandan soldier who was by the terminal also opened fire (at us). Yoni was hit… he was so close I could reach out and touch him. His body did half a turn and then he fell… I remember myself saying on the comms ‘Yoni was hit.’ David (Hassin) the doctor came up to him and I joined Zussman’s team,” Pardo told the Ynetnews.

Israeli commando Afir Ofer was the first commando inside the terminal. A terrorist on the floor fired nearly an entire magazine at Ofer but missed. Ofer but a four-round burst with two tracers impacting the terrorist, killing him instantly.

In an interview done by my friend Lela Gilbert with Iddo Netanyahu, Yoni’s brother, he described what his brother told the commandos about things going wrong. Iddo was also a member of “the Unit” as was younger brother Benjamin.

“At that point, they remembered what Yoni had told them before they left for Entebbe. ‘Things will go wrong,’ he said. ‘Thing will not go exactly according to plan. All you have to remember this: you have to reach the hostages as quickly as possible and kill the terrorists. Just do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal.’

“And that’s what they did, even as Yoni was hit by gunfire in those very seconds, while they moved forward.

“They entered the hall and succeeded in killing the terrorists before the terrorists could kill the hostages. Only three hostages died in the process. The Entebbe raid was a success.”

As Ofer moved inside the building two German terrorists, a man and a woman aimed their AK-47s at him intending to shoot him. But a captain, right behind Ofer, put two rounds in each and kicked their weapons away.

Ofer began to yell into a megaphone in Hebrew and English, “Everyone on the ground; we’re here to take you home.” Another German terrorist, hiding among the hostages leaped to his feet and was also aiming at Ofer, when another commando fired two rounds at him before he could pull the trigger. The first hit his Kalashnikov, knocking from his hands, the second hit the terrorist in his chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. He was the last terrorist in the terminal with the hostages. The room was clear.

The Ugandans on the second floor and the customs building attempted to flee. About 60 ran and escaped. Eleven more tried to race down the stairs to escape and were cut down.

Another group of commandos took down the smaller hall in the terminal. Two terrorists, one with a grenade tried to rush past but one of the men fired a burst that killed both and the grenade exploded beneath the two bodies. One commando got a tiny sliver of shrapnel in his jaw from the explosion.

The entire operation in the terminal was over in a minute and the hostages were freed and moving to the aircraft.

Follow-on C-130s Arrive: Right on time, exactly seven minutes after the initial C-130 touched down, the next three landed. Two with armored vehicles. They were receiving fire from the control tower. One MAG-58 gunner unleashed two belts of ammo at the tower while another fired an RPG from point-blank range silencing the fire.

Israeli commandos with one of the Land Rovers used in the operation

Years later when flying thru Africa, our plane landed at Entebbe. The old terminal and control tower were still pocked-marked by hundreds of bullet holes.

Another armored vehicle raced to where the Ugandan Air Force had its MiGs parked. In one row was five MiG-21s and the other had three MiG-17s. He cut loose with his MAG-58. One was loaded with fuel and exploded. Soon the conflagration ignited the others in a huge fireball.

With the threat neutralized, it was time to leave. The commandos and the hostages boarded the C-130s for the flight to Kenya to refuel and then to Israel. But the elation of freeing the hostages was crushed by the news that their commander Netanyahu was killed.

There were few tense moments when flying over the Red Sea but Israeli Phantom jets appeared to escort the C-130s home. The country of Israel was in a state of jubilation over the rescue.

And in the US, amid all the Bi-Centennial celebration, then US President Gerald Ford released a statement on the raid. “Our own Bicentennial Independence Day was enhanced by an event at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. That action of liberation freed our own hearts to a fuller understanding of the universal meaning of independence – and the courageous action sometimes required to preserve it.”

Happy Independence Day.

Photos Courtesy IDF

US-Backed Forces in Raqqa, Breach Perimeter in ISIS Stronghold

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) backed by the United States have breached a perimeter wall that surrounds the Old City of Raqqa, as the battle rages around the last stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

SDF fighters had penetrated the Rafiqah Wall as the battle intensified. Reports were surfacing of Islamic State fighters trying to wear SDF uniforms in attempts to escape and disrupt SDF and coalition fighter operations.

On Monday night, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement confirming that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — supported by coalition fighters — had found a way through the historic Rafiqah Wall.
“Coalition forces supported the SDF advance into the most heavily fortified portion of Raqqa by opening two small gaps in the Rafiqah Wall that surrounds the Old City,” CENTCOM said in the statement. “The portions targeted were 25-meter sections and will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-meter wall,” it added, without specifying where those portions were.
Citing local media, CNN reports that The Rafiqah Wall is approximately 3.1 miles long, more than 12 feet high and more than three feet thick. According to CENTCOM, ISIS fighters had taken positions there to defend the city and planted explosive devices at breaks in the wall.
The U.S. envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, called breaching the wall “a key milestone in the campaign to liberate the city” on his twitter page. Earlier on Monday, McGurk tweeted that ISIS terrorists were “down to less than one square kilometer” in Mosul and totally surrounded in Raqqa.

The US-backed coalition has killed a reported 1000 IS fighters in the past month and with the noose tightening, only about 300, mostly foreign fighters remain. Their only escape route is the Euphrates River where they’ll be easily detectable and the coalition is actively trying to sink every boat it can.

To read the entire article from Time click here:

Photo Courtesy DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.4.2017

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy your holiday but first, it is Leg Day at the gym followed by a 4-mile run. Begin with pull-ups and towel pullups for those who don’t have access to climbing ropes. Then squats, lunges and the sled followed by a four-mile run

Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Towel pullups 10 reps

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

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

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell lunges

3 x 20 Spider-Man Planks

4-Mile run

Stretch well after completion

Small Unit Tactics, More Range Time, and Better Overall Training

The Special Forces Small Unit Tactics portion of the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course) is a 13-week program that will provide SF candidates in the SFQC the basic-level tactical combat skills required to successfully operate on a Special Forces A-Team (ODA).

The candidates will learn advanced marksmanship, small-unit tactics; mounted operations, Special Forces common tasks, urban operations, mission analysis; advanced special operations techniques level 1, sensitive site exploitation, and the military decision-making process. They also do more shooting than what was used prior in the SFQC. At the end of the SUT (Small Unit Tactics) Phase, the candidates will attend SERE Level-C training.

Soldiers who came from a Light Infantry/Ranger background won’t find a ton of new material in the first phases of the training. But it will be particularly difficult for those candidates coming from either different combat arms or non-combat arms career fields.

Earlier we mentioned above that candidates would do more shooting than ever before in the SFQC. And it is true, other than the Weapons Sergeants training, most candidates didn’t fire any live rounds. With many candidates coming from non-combat MOS backgrounds, that had to change. The candidates go thru a six-day shooting cycle where they’ll qualify with M-4 rifles and M-9 pistols. Combined, between the two weapon systems, candidates will put over 1000 rounds down range.

The first phase trains candidates to perform SF detachment-level battle or immediate action drills (contact, break contact, perform a hasty team attack), tactical standard operating procedures, linear danger areas, patrol bases, halts, etc.), movement formations and techniques and hand and arm signals. In this phase, the student A-Teams learn to conduct reconnaissance and ambush operations. The candidates also will practice their land navigation skills learned during selection and complete the “Star” Course in Hoffman.

During the next phase, the student A-Teams add to their expertise and take their knowledge to the next level including troop-leading-procedures. The cadre will lead them through various exercises, and the students learn to plan and execute reconnaissance and ambush patrols.

In the next phase potential, SF candidates must apply the principles of patrolling commensurate with their rank and experience, and they’ll be tasked to plan and execute a portion of a combat or reconnaissance patrol while in a leadership position. So, senior NCOs and officers will be expected to and be graded on a higher scale than the junior enlisted and the 18X candidates, many of whom may be doing this for the first time. Younger guys should seek out graduates of Ranger School to help them with their plans, OPORDs (operations orders), and FRAGOs (fragmentary orders). It is here when SF students begin their first SF-type missions while a member of the Student A-team. They’ll infiltrate into the combat area using a static line parachute for the first time. Once on the ground, they’ll conduct a series of direct action, special reconnaissance, and recovery of personnel missions in a time constrained environment.

It is here when SF students begin their first SF-type missions while a member of the Student A-team. They’ll infiltrate into the combat area using a static line parachute for the first time. Once on the ground, they’ll conduct a series of direct action, special reconnaissance, and recovery of personnel missions in a time constrained environment.

They’ll purposely not be given all of the assets that they’ll need and be forced to think on their feet. This is the first tactical test in identifying, analyzing, and solving problems at the detachment level. Cadre members are there to give immediate feedback, and teach the candidates not only what they did wrong and how to correct their mistakes but point out what went right and use those examples as teaching points. There will be mistakes made. Candidates are doing SF missions for the first time and it isn’t designed nor expected to be easy. Here is where keeping a cool head and using their brain to analyze and find solutions to very difficult problems come into play.

Moving as an SF team member in an urban environment and conducting urban operations is learned at the very basic level during SUT. The training is done at the SF-detachment level: single-team, single-room clearing; movement through streets and intersections; hallway and stair movement; and using buildings as strong points.

The students get their first taste as operating as an A-Team during this phase of the training. It better prepares them for what is to follow later in the course during the Robin Sage UW (Unconventional Warfare) exercise as well as when they get to the operational groups upon graduation. The student candidate will already have qualified with his weapons and have the rudiments of operating on an A-Team down pat.

This helps as each time a new member is assigned, the teams must conduct training to fully integrate the new members into the team. With the operational tempo of the Special Operations units during the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, as well as the Philippines and numerous other hotspots around the globe, this helps.

The cadre members assigned to each student A-Team can do a much more effective job of identifying weak spots and help mentor the student candidates which create a better overall A-Team member ….ah yes operator in today’s environment.

For the candidates, officers and senior NCOs will be held to a higher standard but will be expected to provide the necessary leadership for the student detachments. It won’t change upon graduation but become an even steeper learning curve. Back in the day, during the old patrolling phase, the NCOs from the Ranger Regiment or the School were always heavily tasked as sounding boards from the less experienced candidates.

Expect it and rise to the occasion, the cadre are always watching and the other candidates will someday be fellow team members. And for the less experienced soldiers? Study your Ranger handbook and any other manuals at your disposal. The Small Unit Tactics Smartbook is another good one. Learn about Troop Leading Procedures and METT-TC if you’re not already familiar with them.

And lastly, read any after-action reports that you can from units coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Chances are, you’ll be visiting there as well. Becoming part of the Regiment is the goal and get used to doing the homework of finding out any and all information that is required on your own. That is a given in the operational groups.

Photos Courtesy DOD

‘Rogue’ SAS Unit Accused of War Crimes in Afghanistan

The British Ministry of Defence and the Royal Military Police (RMP) are investigating on allegations that a SAS (Special Air Service) may have gone ‘rogue’ and killed unarmed Afghan civilians in cold blood in a potential war crimes scandal.

The reports further claim that SAS operatives falsified mission reports and that members of the British government have tried to keep secret.

Operation Northmoor has been a classified RMP operation ongoing for the past eighteen months out of a secure underground bunker in Cornwall.

Senior military police and defence sources with a detailed knowledge of the investigation have said that evidence gathered of war crimes by the SAS is “credible”. Part of the inquiry is said to have focused on a particular SAS squadron, which has been described as a “rogue” unit.
A source close to Operation Northmoor says there is strong evidence that unarmed Afghan civilians, suspected of being Taliban insurgents, were murdered rather than captured during night raids on their homes.
In one 2011 case under investigation, special forces soldiers are alleged to have handcuffed and hooded some of the victims before later shooting them dead.
Operation Northmoor is said to have acquired drone and other video footage — nicknamed “kill TV” — that shows British soldiers opening fire and contradicts the SAS account that their Afghan partners were responsible. An examination of bullets taken from some of the victims’ bodies revealed they were of a type used by the SAS.
Northmoor also acquired photographs, taken by the SAS, of shooting scenes in which the victims are holding a Makarov pistol — a weapon favoured by the Taliban leadership — that was allegedly planted by the special forces unit to give the false impression that the person they had shot was an armed Taliban commander rather than a civilian.
Operation Northmoor, set up in 2014, was investigating dozens of alleged unlawful killings between 2010 and 2013 by special forces and had become one of the largest military police investigations, with more than 100 RMP officers involved.
A British special forces officer said that at one point the Afghan CF 333 commando unit refused to patrol with the SAS because of concern about their conduct. One CF 333 commando told this newspaper that in 2010 he had witnessed SAS soldiers planting drugs and guns on a victim who had been shot needlessly at a checkpoint.
The inquiry has examined the activities of an SAS unit which is said to have gone “rogue”. The unit has been accused of having routinely carried a Russian Makarov “kill pistol” during the night raids because it could be photographed with the corpse if an unarmed Taliban suspect was gunned down.

The RMP supposedly has a source inside the British Special Forces that has stated that members of the SAS have used this same Makarov pistol on multiple occasions. In a statement released on Friday, the Ministry of Defence announced that the RMP had 90 percent of the allegations had been discontinued and fewer than 10 remain.

The RMP also thought that they forwarded enough evidence for two separate cases to be brought forward for trying two SAS members with war crimes and murder but the Special Prosecuting Authority declined to pursue charges.

To read the entire article from The Sunday Times, click here:

Photo courtesy SOFREP

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.3.2017

It is Monday, which means that we start the week off with a mini-UBRR test to judge where our fitness level is at. Start off with pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups, and dips before a 5-mile run. Remember to stay hydrated and mark your progress in your workout log book.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

1 x 1-minute Pushups

1 x 1-minute Sit-ups

1 x 1-minute, Crunches

1 x 1-minute, V-ups

1 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure (No time limit)

1 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure (No time limit)

5-mile run

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.2.2017

We hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Meanwhile, it is time for a 7-mile Sunday Rucksack march. Do a quick warm up of pushups and sit-ups before heading out. Head out over varied terrain and try to go as fast as you can without running.

Stretch well both before and after the event. Remember to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated out there. With the heat of the warm weather months upon us, it is imperative and you don’t want to go down with a heat-related injury.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit ups

7-mile Rucksack march over varied terrain with a 45-pound minimum. Go as hard and fast as you can without jogging. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 7.1.2017

Let’s kick off the month of July and this Saturday morning right and head back to the gym for a shoulder and back workout. Towel pullups if you have no access to climbing ropes. Followed by a four-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 Pullups

3 x 10 Towel Pullups

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

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Strategic Success Takes Total Effort

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SOFREP.com nor of any agency of the U.S. government.

Recently I’ve been reading some articles about the United States Special Operations Forces and their lack of strategic successes as the authors spin their own yarns in trying to tell the story. While certainly entertaining, and no doubt bolstered by countless FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, the results are myopic and in many cases, just not true.

But first, to get the cat out of the bag, Special Operations Forces are not a panacea for every security issue facing the country. Yes, it is true. The USSOCOM Commander said so himself at the recent SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference) about six weeks ago in Tampa.

The use of Special Operations Forces (SOF) itself, “by, with, and through” indigenous allies are always limited by the need to manage the interests of all parties involved. That takes a total effort by the US. Military, political and economic elements all have to be working in concert for strategic success of any kind to be realized.

SOF success, strategic success, relies on a total commitment to US policy, not just the deployment of Navy SEALs or Green Berets to advise the local military or police units in the country. And no one understands this more than SOF. SOF Truths were published when the command was in its infancy and one those reads. “Most Special Operations will require non-SOF Support.”

But to say that there have been no strategic successes ignores the truth. El Salvador was a country on the brink in the early 1980s. The FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) controlled vast areas of the Morazán and Chalatenango Departments of the country during the civil war.

The US, fresh off of the Vietnam experience, limited the SOF to just 55 permanent advisors for the military although other SOF units could enter the country on very short TDY (Temporary Duty) deployments. After the FMLN’s failed attempt at overthrowing the government during a 1989 offensive designed to take the capital of San Salvador, the US’ initiative at finding a peaceful solution worked. The FMLN was forced to negotiate a peace treaty and a deal was struck just three years later.

The US helped rebuild a shattered US economy and the US Ambassadors to the country deserve a tremendous amount of credit in negotiating a very tricky situation there.

The successful Salvadoran example also helped stabilize and secure what was a shaky Honduran government of the time. They were dealing with a latent insurgency of its own that was brewing just under the surface. And US SOF involvement with a solid political and economic effort was enough to stop it in its tracks.

Colombia was another nation in chaos in the 1980s and 1990s. Civil war with the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, along with narco-terrorism rampant in the streets, had the Colombian government also teetering on the edge of collapse.

The US government sunk billions of dollars into the military and police as well as the infrastructure to the country. It was a long drawn out civil war there but the government was ultimately successful. The FARC laid down their arms and have disarmed themselves.

As for the illegal drug trade? SOF troops have been involved for over 30 years with the Colombian (and other nations) forces trying to eradicate the production of illegal drugs (Cocaine) in the country. It is a tricky proposition as the growing of coca plant in many areas of the Andean Ridge countries (Colombian, Bolivia, and Peru) is not illegal as there is a legitimate market for the crop. Finding the illegal precursor chemicals that are used in the production of cocaine as well as the illegal drug labs was a difficult proposition as anyone who ever worked in the jungles there will attest.

While one can argue the success or failure of the policies governing the eradication programs, they’ve certainly done their jobs in helping the Colombians in taking down countless illegal drug labs that dotted the landscape.

It was with amusement I read that in the same article that drug use in the United States, particularly cocaine is rising. As if the SOF operators were at fault for the people of the US wanting to use that and other illegal drugs. That is a failure at home and has zero to do with the troops trying to stop the flow. A common complaint among the Colombians during the 1990s was as true then as it is now.

“You say WE don’t do enough to stop the flow of cocaine to your country,” a Colombian general told me in Bogota. “And yet most of the cocaine from Colombia goes straight to the United States. I watched the Mayor of Washington D.C. smoke cocaine (crack) with a hooker on CNN. You people need to get your own house in order.”

And it was true. Blaming rising drug use on SOF’s lack of success in eradicating all of the drug labs is laughable. As long as there is a demand on the streets of the US, someone will take the place of every Colombian drug lord. And now the illegal drug use of choice has swung back to heroin and opiates. These are issues which need to be solved at home by Washington and not by SOF operators.

Another strategic success was in Peru. During the 1980s the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas controlled vast areas of the southern and central areas of Peru, especially in the Upper Huallaga Valley. Under the command of leader Abimael Guzman (aka Comrade Gonzalo) they waged a brutal civil war that took an enormous toll on the civilians.

Through a long and concerted effort by SOF, the Peruvian SOF units were able to capture or kill most of the Sendero Luminoso leadership, including Guzman in 1992. In this case, the loss of their senior leaders caused the fracture and disintegration of the organization. They are no longer a viable threat to the country and have been nearly totally defeated.

Likewise, the SOF operations in the Philippines with low-visibility and total government cooperation took 13 years to see success. Now, the government of the Philippines is facing a new threat with the Islamic State terrorists and the use of foreign fighters. The threat is being addressed with US support.

The threat in Afghanistan is more of a political failure at the policy level in Washington than that of the SOF operators that continue to put themselves in harm’s way. The country removed the Taliban from power with just a handful of SOF and CIA personnel along with US air support. But just as with the earlier failed US involvement with the mujahideen and the efforts of US Congressman Charlie Wilson, the US quickly tired of it and left. Wilson stated after the US helped oust the Russians and then lacked the foresight to see it thru, “These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world… and then we fucked up the end game.”

Therein lies the crux of the issue. Patience and the ability to see things through even when US control is not what it could be has always been the major failure of US foreign policy. We as a people want a solution, today, right now, yesterday to the problems facing the country.

As a result, Washington has grown increasingly in love with its SOF units as if they can magically transform all of the problems in one swing of the axe. Then they grow frustrated by the limitations that SOF has. While SOF will generate the tactical and operational successes on the battlefield, the overall strategic success requires that our leaders in Washington be educated on what SOF can, should, and should not be doing.

America’s SOF units are doing tremendous work in all corners of the globe. Strategic success will come from a combined effort however and not just from our operators. And you don’t need a FOIA request to see that.

Photos courtesy DOD

Seventeen Rangers Added to Ranger Hall of Fame at Ft. Benning

An Army Ranger team leader who led a convoy during the fierce battle known as Black Hawk Down in Mogadishu, Somalia, who is now Columbus, GA chaplain is among 17 Rangers that were inducted Wednesday into the Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning.

The Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade and the 75th Ranger Regiment hosted the annual event at Ft. Benning. After the ceremony, photos and citations of the inductees were displayed in the Ranger Hall of Fame at the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade in Harmony Church.

The inductees to be honored are: Chaplain Jeffery D. Struecker, Sgt. Maj. Tyrone J. Adderly, Command Sgt. Maj. Frank G. Ashe, 1st Sgt. Herbert M. Baugh, 1st Sgt. Ronald W. Grenier, Master Sgt. Gilbert H. Howland, Staff Sgt. Ronnie N. Imel, Command Sgt. Maj. Richard C. Lamb, Maj. Larry D. Moores, Brig. Gen. James C. Nixon, U.S. Navy Lt. Thomas R. Norris, Master Sgt. Leroy A. Petry, 1st Sgt. Michael J. Ramsey, Sgt Maj. John W. Roy, Command Sgt. Maj. Charles W. Thompson, Lt. Gen. John R. Vines and Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew C. Walker.
The Hall of Fame has recognized the contributions of Rangers since 1992 by honoring and preserving the spirit of America’s finest soldiers. Representing and era of Ranger history, inductees are selected impartially from Ranger units and associations.
To become eligible for the nomination, each soldier must be a successful graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, be deceased, separated or retired from active-duty military service for at least three years and served in a Ranger unit in combat.
Struecker is now lead pastor at Cavalry Baptist Church in Columbus. As a 24-year-old sergeant, he was a squad leader assigned to Task Force Ranger in 1993 as part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. While facing intense fire in the Battle of Mogadishu, Struecker led the three-vehicle convoy back to the base with wounded Ranger Pvt. Todd Blackburn.

“Ranger School was an introduction into manhood and a rite of passage”, said Adderly, who was personally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by then President Richard Nixon. Adderly a Green Beret participated in the Son Tay Raid to rescue American Prisoners of War in North Vietnam. It is listed as one of the 10 greatest raids in military history.

“At Ranger School, I came to understand fully what maximum effort is about,” Adderly said. “Either you want to be or you don’t want to be.”

To read the entire article from Ledger-Enquirer, click here:

Photo courtesy US Army