Special Operations Forces

SAS Gets ‘Kill List’ Of British Jihadis In Iraq

British SAS troops stationed in Iraq have been issued with a “kill or capture” list containing the names of up to 200 British terrorists fighting alongside ISIS.

In a report by The Sunday Times, MI6, MI5, and GCHQ have furnished intelligence to the SAS operators in Iraq with target orders to eliminate British nationals who have joined the terrorist network of ISIS. Any captured British nationals will be turned over to Iraqi authorities and face a possible execution if convicted of terrorism.

Under the command of the US Joint Special Operations Command, they are understood to be part of an international task force with orders to hunt and kill or capture as many foreign fighters as possible. MI5 believes the imminent capture of the northern Iraqi town of Mosul, where Isis has been in control since June 2014, will not herald the end of the terror group, but rather a new chapter in its activities.
One senior defence source said: “A kill list has been drawn up containing the names of hundreds of very bad people. A lot of them are from the UK. The hunt is now on for British Islamists who have effectively gone off-grid.
“This is a multinational special forces operation. The SAS have their own part of the plan and they will be going after British nationals. This is a kill or capture mission and it has already begun.

There are a reported 100 SAS troops operating in both Iraq and Syria. And the belief is as the terrorists are gradually weakening in both countries, it is feared that they will attempt to return to the UK and conduct terrorist activities similar to the one in Paris a year ago. Defense spokesman characterized the jihadis as “hardened fighters”.

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

Photo courtesy UK Ministry of Defence

US Army Stryker Vehicles Demo Laser Weapons

Stryker vehicles in service with the US Army have been in use for over a decade. Now the vehicle may soon have the ability to defend itself from unmanned aircraft systems using a laser weapon.

US Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Army Forces Strategic Command recently demonstrated the Stryker’s ability to defend itself from unmanned aircraft in a demo using the improved MEHEL laser weapon.

The MEHEL 2.0 shoots a 5kW beam which is an upgrade of the original 2kW weapon. It uses an onboard radar to detect threats to the vehicle which will eliminate it using the laser weapon.

“The purpose of the JIDO UAS Hard-Kill Challenge was to assess and look at technology… to do a ‘hard-kill’ shoot down of Group 1 [unmanned aircraft systems] and inform decision-makers on the current state of technology and how it can deal with single and multiple targets,” demonstration lead Adam Aberle explained in a press release.
Aberle went on to praise the platform’s successful performance in repelling UAV threats and discussed how the test revealed system limitations as a result of the MEHEL’s upgrade from a 2kW to a 5kW capability.
“We learned from the event, and we have plans to correct those deficiencies for future activities,” he added. “We learned the 5kW laser was able to defeat the targets. We were able to verify and show that we could put a radar and a laser on a platform so it could self-cue to targets and that was very successful.”

The Stryker is a 19-ton, eight-wheeled vehicle that comes in two variants, the Infantry Carrier Vehicle, and the Mobile Gun System (MGS). The Infantry Carrier Vehicle (IFV) carries a crew of two and nine infantry soldiers and has either an M-2 50 caliber machine gun or a Mk-19 40mm grenade launcher. The MGS has a 105mm cannon in it but there are reports of removing it for a 30mm cannon soon.

To read the entire article from UPI, click here:

Photo courtesy US Army

Women on Special Operation Teams? No Easy Answer

Our military forces have been in combat non-stop since 9/11. They’ve shown that they’ve been equal to the task and have performed as we’ve come to expect from our armed forces. However, the on-going conflicts have seen increased leanings on our Special Operations Forces, who, despite being just a fraction of the overall force, are conducting combat operations at a rate far greater than their numbers.

The operational tempo is insanely high and we’re seeing the results of that creep into the force. PTSD, suicides, substance abuse and family issues from having to deploy so many times are taking a toll. The stress of constant combat deployments is a very real issue that the services are trying to work thru. And in addition, they’ll have other issues to deal with. Not in the future but now the very foundation of the Special Operations Forces is subject to change.

When Defense Secretary Ashton Carter opened combat occupation roles for women in the military, it also allowed women to volunteer for the various Special Operations units. Women have served in combat areas and performed well in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been 160 that have paid the ultimate price. But there is a vast difference between women allowed to serve in combat and going on special missions and women who will be assigned to Special Forces A-teams, SEAL Teams, as well as MARSOC and AFSOC units.

Women have already performed special operations and have gone on missions. The Special Operations Command first allowed women on operations with the Cultural Support Teams (CSTs) and those have been successful at times. Women were able to gather intelligence from Afghan women, something that was rarely done before. But many of the male operators on the missions consider them a hindrance. But remember the CSTs were not operators from the units, just attached to them. The training that is open to them will change that.

These special ops units in the military are not only difficult to get into but even more so to complete the courses. Carter admitted as such when he said that the differences in the sexes will have some occupational specialties difficult for women to fill.

Now women must complete the SFAS (Assessment and Selection) course and the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Courses), BUDS, Ranger et al which is very difficult. Can the majority of women physically handle the task of completing the courses? No, but neither can most men. Special Operations units are very demanding so their qualification courses are very tough. The standards must remain the same regardless of the failure rate to maintain the proper level of competence to complete missions. Any kind of lowering of standards will erode the effectiveness of the force.

Physically, these courses place a tremendous reliance on upper body strength and the ability to carry a heavy rucksack for long distances and then go into combat. There are serious doubts that women will attain the standards of the men. Then there is also the very real question of whether a woman could carry a wounded team member out of harms’ way if he/she were to go down. Granted there will be some women that can meet the challenge, two recently passed the US Army Ranger School and while they aren’t members of the Ranger Regiment, there is a chance of either being assigned at some point. How will the reaction be when women go from attached to being members of special operations units? According to the data, not well.

US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) polled their members and asked about allowing women into their MOS specialties and their units. And 85 percent of the operators were against women being allowed into their specialty and 71 percent against allowing women into their units.

The biggest reasons given in the survey by SOCOM for excluding women were:

Most operators were concerned that standards would be lowered.
Most operators were concerned that integrating women into SOF units would erode unit cohesion.
Most operators were concerned that integrating women into SOF units would reduce the availability of leaders to resolve a conflict between unit members.

One of the most frequent answered questions of the survey was “What is your greatest concern about opening SOF specialties to women?”

The physical standards will be lowered or there will be a double/separate standard set up for female operators. . . . [T]he men would not have confidence in her abilities and most importantly there would be a lack of trust in her ability to uphold an equal share in watching each other’s back in combat.

A common theme in operators across the Special Operations spectrum is that the teams are like a family and there has to be a tremendous amount of trust placed on each other to accomplish their mission. And many feel that once female candidates begin washing out in large percentages from the courses that pressure will be brought to bear from DOD/Congress on USSOCOM to lower the standards so that women will have a greater percentage of the force.

That lowering of the standards will have an adverse effect on mission accomplishment, lower unit cohesion and erode esprit de corps. Will the DOD and/or Congress lay off the Special Operations community and allow them to conduct their own selection courses without interference? That is doubtful.

Special Operations units when deployed operate in austere environments. Many times when working with military units of some of the poorer nations, the facilities that are given for our units to live and operate in are small and very cramped. Those tight living quarters are another issue with the operators, separate bathroom and living quarters may not be available and living in close proximity to women will have an adverse effect on the unit.

Besides the physical aspects of the job, women will have to battle cultural prejudices that exist in many hotspots around the globe where women warriors are not a common sight. In many of the countries where our Special Operations Forces now operate, women are kept separate from men and women would never be accepted. In a profession where building rapport is paramount, that is a very real concern.

This isn’t to say that women can’t continue to serve in combat roles and conduct special operations missions. About 40 percent of the operators surveyed stated that women can accomplish tasks and support missions that the avenues weren’t as open to men. The CSTs have shown that in intelligence gathering from women in Afghanistan. The CIA has had women in clandestine operations all the way back to the OSS in WWII. No one questions whether women would have the courage to do the job.

But the question on women in Special Operations comes down to basically three questions. First, with all of the combat operations going on worldwide, is this really the time for USSOCOM to begin tinkering with the force, especially in such a sensitive area for the operators involved?

Second, to quote Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park, “you were so preoccupied with whether or not you could that you didn’t stop to think if they should.” Is this really necessary for the force? Putting women in a traditionally male-dominated society such as Special Operations is going to be tough on them, both with the selection criteria and from their counterparts, who clearly don’t want them involved. It really isn’t fair to them.

And finally, will the force be stronger as a result? Will including women in Special Operations make the force stronger or weaker. If any of the above answers are no, then the question of women in Special Operations units should be a no.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.18.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR and get a long rucksack march in, before enjoying your weekend and a bit of a break on Sunday.

Training:

3 x Military Press (heavy dumbbells) 20 reps, 15, 12
3 x Shoulder lateral raises (heavy dumbbells) 20 reps, 15, 12
3 x Shoulder front raises (medium to light dumbbells) 20 reps, 15, 12
3 x Lat machine pull-downs rear 20 reps,15, 12
3 x Seated rows 20 reps, 15, 12
10-mile rucksack march as fast as you can without ruck-running

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.17.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR and focus on some speed work today with the runs. Speed work will help with your endurance and gives your muscles a different workout.

Training:

5 x 1-mile run Go as quickly as you can with a minimum of 5-minute rest between runs. Record your average mile time.
5 x 30 seconds of Pushups.
1 x Do as many push-ups as you can do in 60 seconds.
5 x 30 seconds of Sit-ups
1 x Do as many sit-ups as possible in 60 seconds.
1 x 20 Knees-to-Elbow hanging from the pull-up bar.
25 pull-ups

Stretch well after completion

Iraqi Special Forces Are Clearing Mosul in House-to-House Fighting

The fighting for the Iraqi city of Mosul has become a close-quarters battle between hardened ISIS fighters and Iraqi special forces troops. The battle is now a no-holds-barred, house-to-house, street by street bloody affair as the Iraqis seek to drive the ISIS fighters out of the final large city of Iraq.

ISIS had named Mosul as their capital of their self-named caliphate and trying to hold onto the city at all costs and to extract the largest possible price by the Iraqi forces trying to take back their country.

Mosul is separated by the Tigris River that runs north-south. Iraqi forces supported by US Special Operations forces captured the eastern part of the city late in 2016 and now are trying to recapture the western half.

“The fighting is at much closer quarters. It was street-by-street – now it’s house-by-house,” said Iraqi commando Alaa Shaker, 32, a member of the elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).

“We are often literally in the same house, on the roof, and Daesh (Islamic State) is downstairs. Sometimes we drop grenades. If there are civilians, families in the homes, we shout to them to take cover inside a room.”

Seif Rasheed, a 28-year-old CTS medic, said one commando had been killed earlier that day in the same area, shot through the head, and another wounded, shot through the neck and hip.

“Daesh are hiding in homes, opening doors and shooting at troops from just a few meters away,” he said.

The men were speaking as they took a break from the fighting to eat lunch in the courtyard of a western Mosul home, in a neighborhood recaptured from Islamic State the day before.

ISIS militants are far outnumbered in Mosul but are delaying the battle by hiding among the large civilian populace, using suicide car bombs, IEDs, and snipers in the built-up areas. The fighting is expected to last several more weeks.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Israel’s Air Force Bombs Targets in Syria

Israeli Air Force jets pounded targets in Syria which resulted in the Syrian air defense systems launching multiple ground-to-air missiles at the jets in retaliation. One of the rockets was intercepted.

The two countries have been technically at war since the 2011 Syrian civil war against Bashar Al-Assad’s government began. But the bombing of yesterday is regarded as the most serious escalation of the conflict yet in the region.

Israeli authorities claim that their Arrow missile defense systems intercepted one of the rockets fired at the Israeli jets. Syrian military authorities claim to have shot down one of the jets, but the Israeli Air Force said that they suffered no losses in the air strike.

Syria’s army high command confirmed in a statement on Friday that Israeli jets breached Syrian airspace early in the morning and attacked a military target near Palmyra.
The high command described the attack as an act of aggression that aided the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which is fighting against the Syrian government.
It said its air defences shot down one of four Israeli jets over what it called “occupied ground” and damaged another.
There were no reports by the Israeli army of any aircraft lost in the operation.
Jordanian new media said an “unidentified object” fell from the skies on Thursday night in the northern area of Irbid, after which security forces surrounded the area of impact.
Pictures shared on social media showed what appeared to be part of a missile that had landed in a yard.

The air strikes were reportedly targeting arms convoys of the known terror group Hezbollah who fought the Israelis in Lebanon in 2016 and is supporting the Assad regime in this conflict. The missile launches prompted the Israelis to set off air raid sirens in the Jordan Valley. Witnesses claimed to have heard an explosion, which may have been the rocket being intercepted.

To read the entire article from Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo courtesy Israeli Air Force

Life In Special Forces Is Rarely Glamourous, Always Rewarding

One of the things you’ll get asked frequently by family and friends that weren’t living close to you during your military career is “what was life like as a Green Beret?” To the average American, it conjures up visions of Bond, James Bond, John Rambo or MacGuyver where you travel to exotic lands surrounded by beautiful maidens, fire darned near nuclear-tipped explosives with a bow and arrow or make commo with a piece of wire, one AAA battery, and an iron-enriched Cheerio.

Ah…if live were so simple. The bottom line is life is much different in Special Forces and you’ll find the longer you spend there, much more rewarding. The building block for Special Forces is the A-Team and it centers around the 10 enlisted members who make or break the two officers assigned to it.

There are light weapons, heavy weapons, engineers, communications, medics, an intel sergeant and of course the team sergeant where everything goes thru. A captain and a warrant officer round out the team. Everyone’s jobs are difficult and varied and you’ll get plenty of chances to cross-train whether in a school environment or on the job as we’ll see later.

From my own experience, I was a Communications Supervisor (18E) but my secondary was Heavy Weapons for which I went to BNCOC for, and later graduated O&I and got an 18F as an additional MOS. Years later I went to the Warrant Officer program. You’ll find you will get to do much more than you ever imagined.

In those days, the 7^th Special Forces Group was a beehive of activity. Teams were constantly rotating to Central America training light infantry battalions that were fight civil wars in El Salvador, and Guatemala and trying to modernize their force and keep out the Nicaraguans in Honduras. The Andean Ridge countries of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru were hot spots due to the drug trafficking that remains there to this day as well as active insurgencies against the FARC in Colombia and Sendero Luminoso in Peru.

The operational tempo then was high but nothing compared to what the guys today are facing. Most of the places you’d find yourself were far from what one would call vacation spots although there were always the exceptions.

One deployment which was memorable was part of an MEDRETE to Honduras. In the mountains not far from their borders were tiny villages that were mostly inaccessible by vehicle. The US sent in doctors, veterinarians, and dentists to that remote region to promote goodwill between the people and the host nation government.

About 750-1000 villagers were expected, Due to the word getting out, close to 10,000 showed up. Many had never seen a doctor or a dentist and they brought their horses and donkeys for the vets to look over. A couple of days were spent pulling teeth under the watchful eyes of our dentists, although the tooth necklace thing we tried afterward didn’t really work out. Another was working with the vets, inoculating animals with a shot that would rid them of ticks. Watching the vets grind the teeth of the horses with a rasp was a hoot.

You’ll often hear about being adept as a diplomat as well as a warrior. During a six-month deployment to Bolivia training counter-narcotics troops in the Chapare, the training was due to stop for 10 days at Christmas time to allow the Bolivian soldiers some well-deserved time off. Our team was going to spend it back in Panama before returning after the first of the year. The American Ambassador asked for our help, however. A school in the city of Sucre had fallen into disrepair. It was used in the morning as an elementary school, in the afternoons as a high school and at night for adult education.

USAID had $75,000 for repairs but estimated that it would cost twice that to make minimal repairs. But SF guys are much more resourceful. Our engineer and I flew there, and he looked around the school and thought that the $75,000 was more than enough for materials but that the labor and the time involved wouldn’t allow for the job to get done.

Getting the local populace involved became imperative. Local newspapers, leaflets thru our Civil Affairs augmentees and even local television got us over 300 volunteers a day. SF guys became construction supervisors and the work was done ahead of time, under budget and the team was able to do even more than was envisioned. Classrooms were re-wired, plastered with new drywall, a new functioning bathroom with a new water tank was installed. And a new patio was poured instead of broken and sharp rocks, the children had a flat, safe place to play during recess. The town threw a nice party for the team before heading back to the jungle.

Our medics in Chimore during that deployment were the only doctors for miles. Many women trekked for miles across mountainous terrain to have their babies born in the “gringo hospital”, our medical dispensary at the camp we shared with a Bolivian counternarcotics battalion and DEA agents.

And those pieces we posted on learning terrain association? They came in handy during a training mission to Paraguay. We were training a Paraguayan SF unit and we were jumping into the Grand Chaco, the endless grasslands of about 250,000 square miles between Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.

The Air Force was dropping us in and turned on the green light about two minutes early. The two jumpmasters, our Commo man and myself had done our homework looking at the aerial photos and recognized we were far to the east still and held up our jumpers until we were over the correct drop zone. That saved everyone from a long, long walk to the turn-in area. It all pays off in the end.

Today with the wars in the Middle East, and Africa, the increasing Iranian influence in Latin America and issues in the Far East, Special Forces units will be stretched to the limit with their operational tempo. Some of the things you’ll experience will be very different than anything you’d have imagined. You’ll also find it will be the most rewarding time of your military career.

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.16.2017

Back out on the rucking trails today. This week we’ll try a few different things to break it up.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

100 pushups (no time limit)

100 situps (no time limit)

100 crunches

Rucksack march: Go as hard and as fast as you can for 1 hour. Do this without running. See what your distance is and make a notation. This will give a goal to achieve in later training sessions.

Stretch well after completion

Special Forces, SEALS, Rangers Involved In Large Korean Military Exercise

US Special Operations troops from many different units are in Korea for a large military exercise to bolster the defenses of South Korea. The Yonhap Korean News agency claims that during the exercise, the Special Operations forces will practice “to decapitate” the North Korean’s military leadership.

According to various reports, US Army Special Forces, and Rangers, as well as Navy SEALs will take part in the big joint maneuvers in South Korea. Yonhap even claims that SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force will be involved although that cannot be confirmed.

The exercise an annual one between the South Koreans and their US counterparts code named “Foal Eagle and Key Resolve” is a joint field exercise and war game, command post simulation that began on March 1 and will take place until April.

Key Resolve the computer-generated command post wargame will end on March 24 but the war games will continue on. The North Korean government accused Washington and Seoul of preparing for an invasion and a “pre-emptive nuclear attack” on their country, therefore justifying Pyongyang’s continuation of its nuclear deterrent and weapons initiative. The North has been rattling its saber recently and launched several ballistic missiles into the ocean that they claim could be aimed at Japan.

In one scenario, South Korean commandos were airlifted to thwart attacks from the North.

Under a scenario of the North Korean military carrying out terrorist assaults on key South Korean facilities, the special forces were drilled to relocate using choppers to search and decimate enemy forces, the Army said.
It also involved refueling operations for the military helicopters, a mission which is crucial when a battle continues for a prolonged period of time.
“The latest exercise was focused on verifying our preparedness to dispatch a commando brigade to the place of an enemy attack in order to preoccupy the site and terminate the battle,” the 2nd Operational Command Chief Gen. Park Chan-ju said.

US conventional forces from the 2^nd Infantry Division were practicing clearing tunnels that the North has built under the border with the south.

To read the entire article from the Korean Herald, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD