Special Operations Forces

Philippines Won’t Negotiate with Rebels That Seized Marawi

The battle on-going in the Philippines has taken an ugly turn as the rebels holding the city of Malawi are resorting to tactics that have been seen in other places. Local residents are being forced to fight government troops, loot homes of valuables and serve as sex slaves for the rebel forces.

On Tuesday, military leaders cited residents of Marawi City who either escaped or were rescued and said some hostages were forced to convert to Islam, carry wounded fighters to mosques, and marry militants of the Maute group loyal to Islamic State.

The claims by the residents haven’t been confirmed by third parties but there is no doubting that the suffering of the citizens has been high since the battle commenced.

The government ruled out negotiations after reports that Abdullah Maute, one of two brothers who formed the militant group carrying their name, wanted to trade a Catholic priest hostage for his parents arrested earlier this month.
The military said on Saturday Abdullah Maute had fled.
Taking advantage of a short truce to mark the Eid al-Fitr Islamic holiday, eight Muslim leaders met briefly on Sunday with Maute. The Philippine Daily Inquirer said he had asked for his father, Cayamora Maute, and influential businesswoman mother, Farhana Maute, to be freed, in a swap for Father Teresito “Chito” Soganub.
But presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said deals with militants were against government policy, and anyone trying to bargain had no authority to do so.
“The local religious leader-led talks with terrorists last Sunday was one not sanctioned,” Abella told reporters.
“Any demands made inside, therefore, hold no basis. Let us remind the public, the gravity of the terrorists and their supporters’ offences is immense.”
The military’s public relations machine has been insisting that the rebel leadership was crumbling, saying top commanders had escaped or were killed in action, and the group was fraught with infighting, even executing their own men for wanting to surrender.
Military officers, however, accept they lack solid proof of such developments and were working to verify intelligence reports.
The army said there were reported sightings of the departure from the battle of Isnilon Hapilon, Islamic State’s anointed Southeast Asian “emir”, which Abella said showed he was not committed to his cause.

Thus far, official figures show 70 troops, 27 civilians and 290 militants have since been killed and 246,000 people displaced since the battle began in May.

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy SOFREP

When Special Operations Training Takes a Step Back in Time

When Special Operations guys enter the units that they’ve worked so hard to get into, they all have a burning desire to use that newfound knowledge and go out and do great things. Those type of operations that they’ve envisioned inside the recessed part of their brain but never publicly spoken about for fear that it would ‘jinx” their chances.

But sometimes the operations that you’ll get tasked to do won’t be those “high-speed”, high visibility operations using the state-of-the-art gadgets from Q-Branch, but using very necessary and forgotten knowledge from generations before. And now, with the operators of all the services conducting missions in all kinds of austere environments, those forgotten lessons are once again…thankfully being taught at the schoolhouse.

My first team that I was assigned to was a Mountain team and I was thrilled. After high school and while in college, I took up rock climbing and the Northeast has several superb areas to practice your craft. I spent a ton of time climbing in the White Mountains of NH, the Adirondacks of NY including the world famous “Gunks” as the local climbers call the Shawangunks and Crow Hill State Park in Leominster, Massachusetts.

Crow Hill is just minutes from Ft. Devens, MA, which in those days was the home of the 10^th Special Forces Group and they frequently used Crow Hill for training and I ran into quite a few of them back in the day as they conducted their training much to the chagrin of the local climbers who bemoaned (from afar) their use of pitons in the cracks rather than using “nuts” which didn’t scar the rock. The SF guys could care less.

So as the new guy on the team, I was anxious to show, at least in the climbing realm, I already had a lot of experience and would be a definite bonus to the team. And when we got the word that the mountain team was getting alerted for a mission, I had visions of getting the best alpine gear and going on a climbing expedition to the Andes or some exotic locale.

Well imagine our surprise when our team leader announced we were going to mule packing school. Now back then, the JFKSWC (Special Warfare Center) didn’t have an advanced mountain school or have any course where animal packing was done. We’d learn from civilians in Arizona. The Army hadn’t done serious mule packing since the days of Merrill’s Marauders in Burma. A friend of mine from the SF Reserves in New York sent me an Army Mule Packing Manual from the early 1900s.

We had very strict guidelines in what was to be packed and carried by the pack animals and we set off to learn and to experiment on what worked, what didn’t and how we’d go about in altering the pack saddles and panniers to fit what we need to tote along.

We took our mission to Honduras and the mountains in the interior of the country, far from prying eyes. Working with the Airborne battalion in Tamara and the 6^th Infantry Bn. home of “The Centaurs” at Ojo de Agua, commonly known as Ojo de Nada would provide our host nation troops. Some of them had pack animal experience, but most did not.

The animals were a mixed bag, having only a few mules, we worked with tiny burros and horses which aren’t as good as mules when it comes to carrying a heavy load as well as their footing but we used what we had. We spent days working up a solution to what needed to go in a specific load, putting it on an animal, and marching them around the compound. Then take it the pack saddle off, readjust the load and the lashing and do it all over again.

We were basically learning on the fly and everything we tried and tested was put on the computer or filmed as to help the next guys who would get tasked to run this type of operation. Our team Warrant Officer, Rick B. probably was the SME (subject matter expert) on pack animal operations in the military at that point. It truly was a forgotten art at that point in time.

Finally, we were ready to take a mule train across the mountains. We loaded up our rag-tag group of 20 mules, horses, and burros and loaded them down with food, water, mortars and mortar ammunition, Stingers as well as our rucksacks. We’d carry our vests and weapons.

Author with “Samurai” horse getting a drink in a mountain stream

Almost immediately, problems arose. The pack saddles, sized for big Tennessee mules in the states, were too big for their smaller Honduran cousins. Loads were slipping and sliding after a short few steps and the train stopped constantly. Rick was everywhere, moving up and down the train, helping everyone get their loads straightened out. As soon as one would get fixed, another would slide and need fixing.

After pushing out of the battalion soccer field at 0700, by dark, we made about 500 meters…and were still in view of the base guard towers, who shouted out good-natured insults to their soldiers working with us.

The second day started off much the same way, the first few hours were once again spent constantly fixing the shifting loads before everything started to fall into place. By noon time of Day 2, we started trucking and we covered about 20+ kilometers, which thru the mountains was no easy task. The animals handled their loads, once they were properly loaded, without any problems at all. Days 3-4 we blazed across the mountains and reached the point we had initially picked to reach on Day 5 before our problems surfaced at the start.

Our mission was a success and the lessons learned on our mission were turned over to the proper people who needed that expertise in another part of the world. That mission proved to be successful as we watched it unfold from afar and the military took notice.

Pack animals are now used in many places by our Special Operations troops where vehicles can go or are not available. A few years later we watched as a group of 5^th SFG (A) and Air Force Special Operators made the first mounted horseback charge in over 100 years.

The JFKSWC’s Senior Mountaineering Course and the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training School both teach the finer points of using animals including horsemanship, animal packing instructions, equipment maintenance in their curriculums.

A Special Forces soldier leads his pack mule down a trail Sept. 18 during the Special Operations Animal Packing Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. The course prepares special operation troops for extended movement in undeveloped areas where motorized transportation is not an option. (Photo by Cpl. Kyle J. Cosner, USASOC PAO)

Graduates can go back to their units and be the subject-matter experts in tactical military operations in mountainous terrain, lead untrained and indigenous forces over mountainous terrain, as well as conduct pack-animal operations.

Sometimes, the “high-speed” isn’t in the equipment being used, but in the manner that the operators use the old ways and tailor them to modern missions.

Photos courtesy of the author, US Army

SOF Selection PT Preparation 6.27.2017

If this is Tuesday, then it must be our 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 Pull-ups 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

Stretch well after completion

Israel Hits Syrian Targets After Assad Troops Hit Israel With Artillery Fire

The Israeli’s wasted little time striking the military troops of embattled Syrian President Assad after the spillover from the civil war had the Syrians shelling Israeli territory. Israeli forces destroyed two tanks after the shelling hit on the Israel side of the Golan Heights.

“With the IDF action today, we are making our policy clear again,” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We are not willing to accept any ‘drizzle’ [of fire] or ‘spillover’ on any front. We will react with force to any firing on our territory.”

“We react with force, determination, and discretion to every such incident, as the IDF did [today] on the Golan Heights. As far as we are concerned, the Assad regime is responsible for what is happening in its territory, and it will continue to bear the consequences if such events repeat themselves,” he said.
The IDF said spillover from the Syrian civil war is treated with the utmost severity and noted that it “will not tolerate any attempt to harm the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the security of its residents.”
It noted as much in a protest letter sent swiftly to UN Disengagement Observer Force following the incident.
Spillover fire from Syria on Saturday was reported by Israeli authorities less than an hour before Israel responded, the IDF confirmed.
Although no casualties or damage to property were reported in the incident, the IDF issued instructions to farmers and civilians near the Quneitra border crossing into Syria to avoid open fields.
Backpackers and hikers – who flock to the Golan at this time of year – were also evacuated from the area.

Besides the two tanks destroyed, the Israelis also hit the area where the shelling came from. In April, the Israelis shot down a Syrian drone that had also crossed the border.

To read the entire article from the Jerusalem Post click here:

Photos/Video Courtesy IDF

US Raids on ISIS Revealing Valuable Intelligence

The United States Special Operations forces are increasingly targeting usable intelligence when going after mid-to-senior level ISIS members in an effort to gain an edge in the war against the shadowy terrorist organization.

A raid in April to capture Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, a close confidante, and associate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Uzbeki however, didn’t allow himself to be taken alive and died in a shootout with US commandos.

But the intelligence gleaned from cell phones, laptops and other small devices taken in that raid and another in January is proving very valuable to US intelligence agencies as they learn what makes the organization function. And they provide better intelligence to plan future operations against the Islamic State.

“If we can scoop somebody up with their cellphones and diaries, it can really speed up the demise of a terrorist group like ISIS, said Dell L. Dailey, a retired commander of the military’s Joint Special Operations Command and the Chairman for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.

While the Islamic State is far from defeated, their safe, staging areas and self-proclaimed caliphates in Iraq and Syria and being taken away from them as the US and coalition forces drive them out a small piece at a time.

Uzbeki was targeted for his extensive planning into terrorist operations around the world including the deadly Istanbul attack on New Year’s Eve. US Central Command’s John H. Thomas told the press that he helped move funds and fighters around the world as well as being a close associate of al-Baghdadi.

The information revealed in the captured cellphones, laptops and other materials yield important intelligence on the terrorist group’s leadership structure, financial operations, and security measures. It would have been an even bigger boost if the US could have captured the terrorist leaders and tried to extract information for them.

To read the entire article from the NY Times click here:

Photos Courtesy: DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 6.26.2017

A quick workout to start the day and week off right. Start off with the basics of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups, and dips before a 5-mile run in a mini UBRR test. 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 6.25.2017

Sunday morning 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

2-hour Rucksack march over varied terrain with a 45-pound minimum. Go as hard and fast as you can in one direction for an hour. Then turn around and go back to the start point. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 6.24.2017

Saturday morning and heading back to the gym for a shoulder and back workout. Towel pullups if you have no access to ropes or climbing ropes if they are available. 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

Western Companies Bowing to Russian Demands to Share Cyber Secrets

There are a growing number of Western technology companies, including Cisco, IBM, and SAP, that are caving to demands by Moscow for access to closely guarded product security secrets.

What the Russians are demanding is that Western tech companies to allow them to review source code for security products such as firewalls, anti-virus applications and software containing encryption. This must be done they say before they’ll allow the products to be imported and sold in the country. These “requests”, which have increased since 2014, are done, according to the Russians to ensure foreign spy agencies have not hidden any “backdoors” that would allow them to burrow into Russian systems.

The timing of these demands by the Russians comes at a particularly sticky time when Russia has been accused of a growing number of cyber-attacks on the West, including the recent US Presidential election.

But those inspections also provide the Russians an opportunity to find vulnerabilities in the products’ source code – instructions that control the basic operations of computer equipment – current and former U.S. officials and security experts said.
While a number of U.S. firms say they are playing ball to preserve their entree to Russia’s huge tech market, at least one U.S. firm, Symantec, told Reuters it has stopped cooperating with the source code reviews over security concerns. That halt has not been previously reported.
Symantec said one of the labs inspecting its products was not independent enough from the Russian government.
U.S. officials say they have warned firms about the risks of allowing the Russians to review their products’ source code, because of fears it could be used in cyber attacks. But they say they have no legal authority to stop the practice unless the technology has restricted military applications or violates U.S. sanctions.
From their side, companies say they are under pressure to acquiesce to the demands from Russian regulators or risk being shut out of a lucrative market. The companies say they only allow Russia to review their source code in secure facilities that prevent code from being copied or altered.
If tech firms do decline the FSB’s source code requests, then approval for their products can be indefinitely delayed or denied outright, U.S. trade attorneys and U.S. officials said. The Russian information technology market is expected to be worth $18.4 billion this year, according to market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC).
Six current and former U.S. officials who have dealt with companies on the issue said they are suspicious about Russia’s motives for the expanded reviews.
“It’s something we have a real concern about,” said a former senior Commerce Department official who had direct knowledge of the interaction between U.S. companies and Russian officials until he left office this year. “You have to ask yourself what it is they are trying to do, and clearly they are trying to look for information they can use to their advantage to exploit, and that’s obviously a real problem.”
However, none of the officials who spoke to Reuters could point to specific examples of hacks or cyber espionage that were made possible by the review process.
Source code requests are not unique to Russia. In the United States, tech companies allow the government to audit source code in limited instances as part of defense contracts and other sensitive government work. China sometimes also requires source code reviews as a condition to import commercial software, U.S. trade attorneys say.

Although there have been numerous reports that he didn’t say this now…but it is worth repeating, just in case, Vladimir Illich Lenin has been quoted that “We will hang the last capitalist with the rope they sell us.”

To read the entire article from the Reuters click here:

Photos courtesy Reuters video

Battle for Ben Het Special Forces A-Camp June 23,1969

Ben Het, was a U.S. Special Forces camp located 288 miles northeast of Saigon and six miles from the junction of the Cambodian, Laotian, and South Vietnamese borders, and on June 23, 1969, it was besieged and cut off by 3,000 North Vietnamese troops using artillery and mortars.

The base was defended by 250 U.S. soldiers and 450 South Vietnamese Montagnard (CIDG) Civilian Irregular Defense Group tribesmen. The siege lasted until July 2 when the defenders were reinforced by a South Vietnamese relief column and assisted by heavy B-52 strikes.

During the final years of the US involvement in Vietnam, the Special Forces held onto six A-Camps along South Vietnam’s mountainous western border in the Central Highlands. Bu Prang, Duc Lap, Duc Co, Dak Pek, Dak Seang and Ben Het. All of them would see intense action as each was besieged by the NVA, who did little to hide their intentions for the camps.

Ben Het, was situated with an airstrip on a barren mountaintop in the Central Highlands and was the westernmost of the camps. It was strategically important because it was located 7 miles east of the point where Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam conjoined. Ben Het was manned by a 12-man Special Forces A-team (A-244, Commanded by CPT Louis Kingsley) and some 200 Montagnard tribesmen forming a Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), along with their families.

In late February and early March, the camp placed anti-tank mines in the roads surrounding the camp in preparation for NVA armor. They were right. On March 3, the NVA launched almost 650 rounds of artillery on the camp. An NVA battalion from the 66^th NVA Regiment supported by 10 PT-76 tanks launched an attack on the west side of the base.

There was a CIDG company dug in with several US M-48 Patton tanks. The defense was organized by the A-team’s XO 1LT Michael D. Linnane, two other Green Berets and two other CIDG companies from Dak Pek (A-242) and Mang Buk (A-246).

The NVA tanks drove into the minefield and two were knocked out. Later during the battle, an American tank was hit and two crewmen killed. But the camp help and the NVA retreated with a MIKE Force unit (1st Bn. 2^nd Mobile Strike Force) came in to relieve the troops.

As the monsoon season of May and June fell upon the area, the camps at Ben Het and Dak To were again besieged by the 28^th and 66^th NVA Regiments from late May until 29 June. Mountain tops were often obscured under cloud cover and the terrain in the mountains surrounding Ben Het was very rugged with triple canopy jungle.

The roads were cut in several places and the NVA took up positions to fire on aircraft attempting to use the airstrip. Air resupply became a problem. Often, C-7 Caribous had to parachute their loads into the Special Forces camp. For any aircraft attempting to land, a full saturation of ground support aircraft was needed to silence the gauntlet of ground fire. First, the hills surrounding Ben Het were softened up by A-1 fighter-bombers trying to make the North Vietnamese gunners keep their heads down. A forward air controller supervised the Caribou’s approach, with a pair of F-4 Phantoms stacked up to react on his call to any anti-aircraft fire. Planes dropped smoke just before the C-7s lined up for their final approaches.

By late June with the battle imminent, the C-7s could no longer land to unload. Supplies had to be airdropped. Two hundred tons of supplies arrived this way between June 10 and the end of the battle.

On June 23, there was a serious probing attack that led to a three-hour firefight. One American was killed and a half-dozen more wounded. The NVA were estimated to have 1,500 to 2,000 troops in the immediate vicinity of the camp. They had dug trenches and tunnels under the north hill of the camp that went under all three barbed wire entanglements and reached the bunkers of the outer perimeter defenses.

The NVA used loudspeakers to attempt to get the CIDG to surrender. They broadcast messages in English and Vietnamese, then followed their message with a barrage of artillery and mortar shells. The U.S. countered with B-52 strike that dropped 340 tons of bombs on the area surrounding the camp.

The NVA was broadcasting that Ben Het was the “Dien Bien Phu” for the American soldiers. It was imperative that the roads to both Dak To and Kontum be reopened. The camp was running low on ammunition, especially illumination rounds. This was the first major test for the “Vietnamization” process for the US pulling out and the ARVN troops taking over the defense of their country.

The ARVN commander cleared the road around Dak To but asked for reinforcements. He was augmented by four infantry battalions with half of the armor available in II Corps. The US supported with a battery of 175mm guns along with a battalion of 105mm howitzers, a large amount of helicopter support as well as tactical air strikes and B-52 strikes.

This massive amount of firepower was brought to bear on the hills surrounding Ben Het and the once triple canopy jungle was stripped bare. But the NVA with their tunnels withstood the vast majority of it unscathed.

ARVN troops succeeded in getting a convoy over Road 512 from Dak To into Ben Het on June 24 but it took heavy fighting most of the way to do so. Just outside the A-Camp US engineers clearing mines were ambushed by the NVA, suffering heavy casualties. The ARVN escort column for the engineers fled at the first shot.

Another convoy trying to make it into the camp was badly shot up. On June 27^th, another valuable Mike Force company was tasked to air assault into the camp to help stem the tide. The NVA stepped up the artillery fire on the base dropping nearly 450 rounds into the camp wounding nine Americans. The Americans countered with 60 B-52s that delivered 1,800 tons of bombs.

With the eyes of many watching the ARVN troops in their first real test on their own, they poured troops in to stop the NVA. At the peak of the battle, there were seven ARVN battalions joining the two American-led Mike Force battalions totaling close to 4,000 troops.

ARVN troop convoys continued to move between Road 579 and 512 in the ensuing few days and the ARVN troops systematically cleared the areas around the camp of NVA. But they weren’t defeated although stopped at Ben Het. They faded back into jungle into Cambodia and in August, the same NVA regiments would then siege the SF A-camps at Bu Prang (A-236) and Duc Lap (A-239).

By July 2, the siege of Ben Het was declared over. The Ben Het camp was rebuilt by and reinforced by engineers and all of the bunkers strengthened.

Losses included one Green Beret killed and 16 wounded; one South Vietnamese Special Forces killed and seven others wounded; 15 ARVN soldiers killed and 70 wounded, and 52 CIDG strikers killed and 141 wounded. There were 23 civilians killed and 11 wounded. Casualties among the US artillerymen was high as well.

The end result was that the camp at Ben Het was powerless to stop the NVA from infiltrating from Cambodia along the Ho Chi Minh trail. The NVA were able to pin the CIDG strikers into the camp by siege and they weren’t able to affect the NVA as envisioned.

But the camp’s existence was a political victory, (one of the few), the camp and the SF defenders had defeated every attempt to push them out, even when the NVA brought tanks into the wire. While the US Special Forces, artillerymen and armor troops fought a heck of a fight, it showed that the South Vietnamese, the ARVN had a long way to go to being self-sufficient.

Below is a clip from the Stars and Stripes News from the battle on June 26.

B52s SATURATE BEN HET JUNGLES
*Stars and Stripes Thursday, June 26, 1969

SAIGON (UPI)– American B52 bombers unloaded hundreds of thousands of pounds on NVA Troops concentrations threatening the Allied Specials Forces camp at Ben Het, military spokesmen said Wednesday. The B52s struck in two raids Tuesday night and early Wednesday, dumping their bombs on targets in jungles about three miles south and two miles north of the Special Forces camp, 285 miles Northeast of Saigon. Reverberations from at least 180 tons of bombs rolled over the beleaguered outpost, which sits near the South Vietnam’s, Cambodian and Laotian borders.

Tuesday, Military spokesman reported Allied troops at the Special Forces Camp were resupplied by truck convoy but remained under pressure from NVA gunners. They said there had been continuing battles with NVA troops in the jungle. A spokesman reported that at least 183 NVA soldiers were killed around the outpost in a series of firefights on Monday.

A delayed report from a South Vietnamese spokesman said a government infantry battalion backed by U.S. air and artillery power killed 105 NVA troops Monday about three miles northeast of Ben Het. Most were killed by artillery. 12 U.S. Special Forces advisers, about 189 U. S. artillerymen and hundreds of South Vietnamese regulars and Civilian Defense Group (CIDG) forces occupied Ben Het.

A U.S. convoy guarded by Allied troops resupplied Ben Het from Dak To, Eight miles to the east along Route 512. NVA troops destroyed one of 11 trucks in the convoy and wounded two U.S. Army Engineers and 19 Government Soldiers along the way, but the ammunition-laden trucks got through to Ben Het

Photos Courtesy DOD