Special Operations Forces

Rangers’ Raid on Cabanatuan a Classic Joint Special Operation

Tampa Bay is playing host to the Special Operations community this week as SOFIC is the hub of all things for the SOF world. And the area of operations for the for SOF is the globe these days. One organization being highlighted this week in the US Army Rangers who will celebrate their 75^th anniversary next month. One of their operations from World War II was a classic example of a joint special operations mission that was incredibly planned and executed, the rescue of POWs at Cabanatuan.

The raid on Cabanatuan conducted on January 30, 1945, involved troops from the US Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and the Filipino guerrillas. All would play key roles in the operation.

After the fall of the Philippines and Bataan in the early day of World War II, Cabanatuan was the largest POW camp in the country. At its peak, it held over 5000 prisoners but by the time of the raid, also known as the “Great Raid”, it held just a bit more than 500. The prisoners had survived the Bataan Death March, brutal conditions in the camp as well as disease and malnutrition.

General Douglas MacArthur authorized the rescue attempt when it was feared that the Japanese were planning on murdering the prisoners before the US forces would liberate them. The Japanese had already done so at the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on the island of Palawan. They herded 150 prisoners into an air raid shelter where they were doused with gasoline and burned alive.

The Plan:
The initial plan set up by LTC Henry Mucci, commander of the 6^th Ranger Bn. had two teams of Alamo Scouts, 14 in all and they would set up a reconnaissance and surveillance detachment on the camp.

Mucci had 120 Rangers from Company C and Company F. They had to march 30 miles behind the Japanese lines to reach the camp undetected to do the assault. The plan was to set up around the camp, put fire on the Japanese guards, eliminating them, rescue the prisoners and get them all back to friendly lines.

The assault was to be led by Captain Robert Prince with 90 Rangers. The support element of 30 Rangers was led by Lt. John Murphy.

The Rangers were bolstered with 200 Filipino guerrillas under the command of CPT Juan Pajota who would serve as guides and support the assault. Pajota’s men set up a roadblock on a bridge spanning the Cabu River to stop Japanese reinforcements from reaching the camp.

The Rangers would have to crawl across open terrain where the Japanese had cleared, to cut down on prisoner escape attempts. To distract the guards, an Army Air Corps P-61 Black Widow buzzed the camp, performing aerobatics and backfiring his engine in an attempt to allow Prince’s men to get in position. During this time, Filipino guerrillas cut the telephone lines to Cabanatuan where the other Japanese forces were.

The Assault:
At 1940 hours Murphy’s men put devastating fire on the Japanese positions and within 15 seconds had neutralized every guard tower and pillbox. One Ranger blew the lock of the gate with a .45 pistol.

The Rangers at the main gate shifted fire in the Japanese guard barracks and the officer’s quarters. Bazooka teams targeted a shed that was thought to have tanks but Japanese soldiers attempting to flee in two trucks were targeted and destroyed.

Prince’s Rangers rushed the compound where the prisoners, fearing that the raid was a Japanese ruse to lure them out to be killed, hid from their American rescuers. But eventually, the prisoners, led by the Rangers made their way to the main gate. Many had to be carried due to their weakened condition.

A Japanese mortar fired three rounds injuring several Rangers and Filipino guerrillas, mortally wounding Ranger Bn. surgeon CPT James Fisher. Murphy’s men from Company F quickly killed the soldier on the mortar.

At the sound of the attack on the camp, CPT Pajota’s guerrillas fired on the Japanese forces from across the river, detonating explosives on the bridge that didn’t destroy it, but blew a hole large enough where tanks or other vehicles couldn’t cross. One guerrilla destroyed four Japanese tanks with a bazooka, having just been trained on its use by the Rangers earlier.

A Japanese flanking force trying the cross the river behind Pajota’s guerrillas was spotted and annihilated.

Prince’s men cleared the camp and he fired a red star cluster to indicate that the last men had left the camp. The Rangers carried and led the POWs to the Pampanga River, where a caravan of 26 carabao carts waited to transport them to Plateros, driven by local villagers organized by CPT Pajota.

Once all of the carts and Rangers had crossed the river, Prince fired a second red star cluster to signal Pajota’s men to withdraw. Mucci radioed the Sixth Army HQs that the mission was a success and that they had all of the POWs safely out of the camp.

The Americans reached their lines at Talavera on January 31, the amount of carts had swelled from 26 to 102 as many of the prisoners found it increasingly difficult to walk. The raid freed 489 POWs and 33 civilians.

General MacArthur wrote about the raid stating, “No incident of the campaign in the Pacific has given me such satisfaction as the release of the POWs at Cabanatuan. The mission was brilliantly successful.” Mucci and Prince were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for their actions. All the other officers and several Rangers received Silver Stars. The rest of the force received Bronze Stars. The fourteen Alamo Scouts received Presidential Unit Citations.

The raid was one of the most successful POW rescue attempts in US military history and serves as a beacon with what would be the joint special operations of today. The Rangers have a history rich in tradition. The raid at Cabanatuan is among their finest moments.

Photo courtesy US Army

SOF Selection PT Preparation 5.16.2017

Tuesday is Leg Day, our favorite, but we’ll begin with pull-ups and towel pullups for those who don’t have access to ropes for climbing. Then 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 Side planks

4-Mile run

Stretch well after completion

Russian Special Operations Forces Using the US as a Model

The Russian military has been paying attention to the United States use of and training of their Special Operations forces. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Russians are giving the US Special Operations Forces a big compliment.

The Russian are tailoring the use of their Special Operations Forces as well as their equipment after the US model. In many instances, the Russian soldiers are nearly indistinguishable from the US operators.

Like the U.S., the Russian military clearly sees how a small number of these specially-trained and equipped troops can have an outsized influence on the battlefield — particularly against poorly organized, commanded and equipped terrorist forces like ISIS.
On May 10, the Russian military bestowed high honors on 13 members of a special forces unit that reportedly killed 300 ISIS fighters in Syria — that’s an average of 23 EKIA per man.
And by the looks of this video from the Russian Special Operations Forces, Moscow’s commandos have taken a few pages out of Washington’s playbook. From their thumb-over-bore rifle handling, to their Multicam uniforms to their OpsCore helmets and red-dot optics, the Russian special operators have clearly learned the lessons of America’s anti-terrorism experience and applied it to their best trained troops.
“We had a good advantage in terms of armament and equipment, including thermal imaging sights,” one Russian commander said of his troops’ experience in Syria. “All this added to our success.”

The Russian Bear has been paying attention to the US’ involvement in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. They are convinced of the value of smaller, more versatile, Special Operations teams. And they’re becoming very adept at using their Special Operations troops in Syria. Their level of training and professionalism is rapidly improving. As a potential foe in a conflict down the road, they’ll be a very worthy adversary for any enemy.

To read the Business Insider entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of the Russian Defense Ministry

Airborne & Special Operations Museum to Honor K-9 Warriors

The Airborne and Special Operations Museum (ASOM) in Fayetteville, NC will be honoring a very important part of the Special Operations success in recent years by honoring the K-9 heroes of the military.

On May 29, the ASOM will pay tribute to the canine members of the Special Operations community with a Memorial Day service held in partnership with the Special Operations Forces K9 Memorial Foundation at noon.

“These truly daring and brave dogs often lead their soldier team-members in the most dire conditions to save lives and complete the mission,” said Paul Galloway, executive director of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation. “They’ve given their lives for their country, and we are grateful to be able to honor them on this special day.”
The special guest speaker for the event will be Laura Miller, who served as a veteran technician in the Army for 26 years. Miller is vice president of the SOF K9 Memorial Foundation, which she co-founded in 2010, and is the author of a children’s book, “How I Became a K-9 Commando.”
Following the ceremony, Miller will read from the book in the museum’s video theater. The book tells the story of a Dutch-born pup who becomes a special operations military working dog.

The military began the “K-9 Corps” 75 years ago, but after Vietnam, the use of dogs was curtailed for the mainly law enforcement type of operations. Dogs were used for bomb sniffing, drug detection and for the quelling of riots and/or protests.

Marine Corps Special Operations dog tries on his handler’s helmet prior to an operation. (Photo courtesy US Marine Corps)

But the rise of the use of dogs by Special Operations troops has made them a common sight on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. There are currently more than 2500 working dogs on duty with the military. Over 700 at any given time are deployed overseas.

These dogs are fiercely loyal, courageous and have saved many operators’ lives during the wars ongoing. Cry havoc…and let slip, the dogs of war.

To read the Fayetteville Observer’s entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer

The Jedburgh’s Special Operations Legacy with Modern SOF

During World War II, the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), Special Operations Branch had recruited foreign language speakers who would volunteer for hazardous duty behind enemy lines and parachute into denied territory. The Jedburgh teams were born.

Wanted: Volunteers for immediate overseas assignment. Knowledge of French or another European language preferred; Willingness and ability to qualify as a parachutist necessary; Likelihood of a dangerous mission guaranteed.

The Americans, neophytes in this type of warfare, leaned heavily on their British counterparts’ experience. The results were the teams not only copied the British in the manner that they were selected, trained, and utilized, but they matched the Brits’ operational success as well.

These Special Operations teams were at the forefront of the Allied advances in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and supported conventional troops by coordinating parachute drops of supplies and weapons, guide local resistance fighters on hit-and-run raids and ambushes as well as sabotage. OSS Special Operations teams were also active in Asia as well.

This birth of an Unconventional Warfare (UW) unit in the United States military was headed up by the right man in William “Wild Bill” Donovan. Personally, chosen by President Roosevelt, Donovan was a WWI hero and a man who believed that the US could weaken the German war machine by means of guerrilla warfare and subversion.

The partnership with the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) in the targeting of Nazi Germany was a success. Jedburgh teams consisted of between 2-4 men with either a British or American officer, a second officer from the country they were being deployed to and a radio operator.

The Jedburgh teams received extensive foreign language instruction, as well as training in airborne and amphibious operations, skiing, mountain climbing, Morse code, small arms, land navigation, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and espionage tactics. Each Jedburgh team carried a communications radio, the Type B, Mark 2 commonly referred to as a “Jed Set,” which encased in a suitcase and later two small containers.

The code name of the teams, Jedburgh has led to discussions on where the name came from. One popular theory from the CIA archives has the name after a Scottish border town where, during the 12^th Century, Scots conducted guerrilla warfare tactics against English invaders. Legend has it that these fierce warriors wielded their Jedburgh axes with such determination that their war cry struck fear in all those who heard it.

Ninety-three Jedburgh teams parachuted into France to help with the Normandy invasion, the first, the night before D-Day and later into Southern France for the follow-on invasion there in August 1944. Six more jumped into Holland prior to the large airborne invasion in September. Among those Jedburgh team members were Aaron Bank, considered the Father of the US Army Special Forces, and William Colby the future head of the CIA.

The Jedburgh teams would parachute into France, on many occasions a blind drop and try to link up with the French Resistance (Marquis), in order to create a link with advancing Allied units and the French resistance. The partnership proved invaluable.

The modern Special Operations Forces under JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) owe a great deal of their legacy to the Jedburgh teams. Here under a joint headquarters, members from all the services come together under one umbrella to conduct Direct Action (DA) missions. But that was just the beginning.

The Special Forces Command HQs has addressed the need for the modern “hybrid” type of warfare command structure by recreating the Jedburgh team concept. The 1st Special Forces Command brings together all the units that are best at unconventional missions, including Green Berets, psychological warfare experts, civil affairs specialists and special logistics personnel.

The Jedburgh team legacy continues to live on, with better training and equipment, and with ever sharper teeth.

Thanks for the questions and if anyone else has any more, feel free to email me [email protected] or at my Twitter account @SteveB7SFG

Photo courtesy of DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 5.15.2017

A good way to kick the Monday morning doldrums is to get in a good workout. We’ll start with the basics of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, then to the bar for V-ups, pull-ups, and dips before a 4-mile run. Remember to mark your progress in your workout log book.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1-minute, Crunches

2 x 1-minute, V-ups

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

2 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 5.14.2017

Happy Mother’s Day. Before you spend some quality family time it is time for our Sunday morning ruck march. Do a quick warm up of pushups and sit-ups before heading out. Stretch well both before and after the ruck march. Remember to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated out there. And wear your second pair of boots today.

Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit ups

6-mile Rucksack march over varied terrain. And mark your times in your workout log book. If your feet are hurting after completion, then that second pair of boots may need more break-in time. Don’t wait for Selection to get that done.

Stretch well after completion

US Intelligence Chief Warns of Deteriorating Security in Afghanistan

For the Trump Administration, facing a question whether to increase the US troop levels in Afghanistan, this can’t be good news. US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said on Thursday that even if the US and its allies increase their military aid to the war-torn country, the security situation there is still likely to deteriorate.

LTG Vincent Stewart, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s director, also testified before a Senate panel on Thursday that the situation is grim and that the US must do “something very different” in Afghanistan or else the Taliban will make new advances on the battlefield. He maintained that the current stalemate in fighting could then tip in the Taliban’s favor.

“The political and security situation in Afghanistan will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in the military assistance by the US and its partners,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said at the hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban,” Coats told lawmakers in presenting an annual assessment of threats to US national security.
US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for 16 years, making it America’s longest war, yet the situation there remains a stalemate.
The Taliban, which first emerged in the mid-1990s in southern Afghanistan, managed to conquer most of the country before its 2001 ouster with the help of a range of foreign jihadists, including Pakistanis, Saudis and Chechens.
But it has been on the rebound, Coates said, and continues to gain strength. “The Taliban are likely to continue to make gains, especially in rural areas,” said the US spy chief, adding that efforts to bolster local military have been less fruitful than hoped.

Under the original plan by the Obama Administration, the United States was to withdraw all its military forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016. Those plans have proven very premature as the security situation was deemed critical. The US still has 8400 troops on the ground with NATO forces adding an additional 5000.

President Trump is weighing whether to send as many as an additional 5000 troops into the fray to defeat both ISIS and the Taliban in the country.

To read the entire article from the Nation, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Special Operations Forces Focus on Advisory Role Paying Off

For the past decade plus, Special Operations Forces have been utilized heavily on the Direct Action, (DA) side of operations including Counter-Terrorism (CT) in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.

But the pendulum is swinging back toward the traditional advisory role of SOF as the allies in Syria, Iraq, and in Afghanistan begin to improve militarily. The classic role of SOF is to train and advise foreign military units to do the bidding of the United States. While DA mission has always been and will always be a part of the SOF community, it should not be their main focus.

Now as these allies become more proficient, the onus goes on them to conduct these missions with US SOF support. And it is beginning to work.

After 9/11, however, SOF began to be used in more “precision, highly kinetic strike forces enabled by technology and linked through a digitally networked battlefield.” But by and large, the new counter-terrorism strategy in Iraq and Syria may prove to be something of a reset to SOF’s former tactics.
The number of SOF in Iraq and Syria has now reached about 10,000, giving them the means to provide “meaningful support to the variety of indigenous forces fighting ISIS,” Robinson writes.
Furthermore, SOF now accompany local forces to secure locations near the front lines. They no longer give tactical advice from distant headquarters, where they had to analyze operations through “the soda-straw perspective of drone feeds,” Robinson says.
This allows them to see local forces in action, and therefore give better advice.
For example, when SOF advisers provided assistance that galvanized to the 16th Iraq army division in East Mosul, they provided assistance that galvanized the unit.
Over the last year, SOF has increasingly provided more fire support. US Apache helicopters were first used in June 2016 to capture Qayyarah, which is now a staging base for coalition forces’ assault on Mosul. This base now has an ICU, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems set up to support the assault.

With the increased prowess of the fighting capabilities of our allies, it will allow the SOF operators of the US to take the training of the allied units to higher levels and will ease the burden of constant operations from USSOCOM.

To read the entire article from the Business Insider, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

When Getting Ready for Selection, Prepare Don’t Over-Train

I’ve been scouring social media for the past few days because I’ve gotten a few messages about training for selection and the gist of several of them had me wondering if some of the potential candidates were reading a few things that are out on social media and taking it as gospel.

The first and I’ve gotten several of these questions and they’re similar in the vein where young guys ask:

“Should I be training with 85-100 pound rucksacks to prepare for Selection?

The answer is, and we’ve stated that here and we’ll do it again is an emphatical No.

The training that candidates will face in the selection course will mainly be to carry 45 pounds of dry weight (minimum) during certain events. Does that mean that 45 pounds is all you will carry? Of course not. You will carry frequently more and later those weights will increase to at times over 100 pounds. Plus, during the team events in the Selection course, you’ll be asked to carry other items that will add a lot of weight to your load.

But you need to focus on the subject at hand. Don’t worry about the qualification course or what you’ll be carrying on the teams down the road. If you don’t pass Selection, you won’t have to worry about B and C.

Get used to working with a rucksack within the limits that the cadre set out. If you can carry a rucksack with a dry weight of 45 pounds over varied terrain on your own with little difficulty, then doing it in the school environment will not be a problem.

I really don’t recommend going over 55 – 60 pounds of weight in your ruck when training for selection. Why? Because any more than that and you’ll be putting yourselves at a much greater risk for injury. Like the workout programs we post on SpecialOperations.com every morning, they are designed to prepare your body to be functionally fit, with an all-over level of physical preparedness.

The key is not to over-train. During my time as a Selection cadre member, there were always candidates who weren’t ready for the physical and mental challenges in the course. But there were also a few, who had gone overboard with the preparation and once they began the course, would break down quickly and suffer injuries. And they invariably would tell us how they prepared to come to the course and we’d hear stories of vastly overloaded rucks for training.

That’s a sure-fire way to have knee and back issues down the road.

And once again, because this needs repeating often, don’t make it a habit of running with a rucksack in your preparation training…You’re going to get tempted to because some guy “heard from a guy, that knew a guy, who once may have been an operator” that you have to do that in order to pass Selection. Bunk.

None of the times and distances that will be specified for carrying a rucksack in Selection are set up as to require the candidate to run to make the time. You’ll have to move hard and fast, and it won’t be easy…it’s not supposed to be. If Special Operations Forces training was easy, everyone would do it.

But training for Selection by running with a ruck is a preparation for problems down the road and ultimate failure. Don’t do it.

Now for the flip-side of our discussion today. Under-training. Wait, What did you say?!?! Yes, because it leads to other questions/comments that I’ve seen recently is:
“So as long as I don’t quit and have a never say die attitude, I’m good…right?

Wrong. This may be a case of a miscommunication. And it may have been on my part so let me explain. In several earlier posts, I wrote that candidates should never quit and always have a can-do attitude. And that is absolutely correct.

But I believe a few readers have misconstrued my comments to mean that if you show up at Selection with an attitude that says “I’ll never quit”, then they’re guaranteed to pass the course. And that is completely wrong.

I don’t know what the numbers will show from today’s courses, but during my time there, we boarded and non-selected almost as many candidates for not meeting the course requirements than those who quit or voluntarily withdrew.

Be prepared, be ready to train and be confident in your abilities. With the advances of Social Media, there are few surprises in the Selection courses that you’ll face. One thing that the internet won’t and can’t explain is how tough it is. You’ll be tested as never before. Embrace the suck, keep focused on the task at hand and move on.

But the more prepared you are, the better you’ll do in the course. But like anything else, too much of a good thing can be bad. Don’t over-train and get hurt. Stick to the guidelines that are out there and get ready for the ride of your life. DOL

If anyone else has any questions, feel free to send them along to [email protected] or on Twitter @SteveB7FG and I’ll be glad to answer them and we may use it in our next video.

Photo courtesy of US Army