Special Operations Forces

Green Berets Deploy to Taiwan as Tensions With China Rise

China continues to test and harass Taiwan’s air defense capability with nearly daily forays into Taiwanese airspace. Tensions between China and Taiwan which the Chinese consider a wayward province, and the United States continue to rise. Now, it was reported that U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) troops are in Taiwan training Taiwanese troops.

For the past seven decades, Taiwan has considered itself an independent country.

China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force and its aircraft have continuously buzzed over Taiwanese airspace.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that about two dozen special operations troops and support personnel were in Taiwan along with a small Marine contingent training the host nation forces. This is a significant development as China’s aggressive actions increasingly look like a prelude to open war. According to an unnamed Pentagon official, the training by the U.S. has been ongoing for more than a year.

The Pentagon would neither confirm nor deny any troop deployments or training in Taiwan. Pentagon spokesman John Supple said, “I don’t have any comments on specific operations, engagements, or training, but I would like to highlight that our support for and defense relationship with Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry sidestepped any training comments, stating that “all military exchanges are carried out in accordance with annual plans”.

Last year, Taiwanese media outlets reported that U.S. troops had arrived there to train Taiwanese marines and Special Forces in small-boat and amphibious operations. However, those reports were denied by both American and Taiwanese officials, who stressed that the two countries are only involved in bilateral military exchanges and cooperation.

Video screenshot of U.S. Special Forces in a casualty evacuation exercise with Taiwanese SF.

A video surfaced last year showing U.S. troops on the island taking part in an exercise dubbed “Balance Tamper.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the United States needs to cease all cooperation with and arms sales to Taiwan. Spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the already tense relations between the U.S. and China will suffer.

“The U.S. side should fully recognize the great sensitivity of the Taiwan issue,” he said during a press conference.

“China will take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Lijian added.

U.S. Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) confirmed that special operations deployments have been ongoing for more than a year. Bera, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was asked by the press at a defense conference if the Committee was aware of this present SOF Deployment.

“Not particularly this deployment, if I call it a deployment. I think we have special operators and others there, and we have in the past that are there training (Taiwan’s) military, working with them,” Bera replied.

Taiwanese Special Forces during a training exercise. (AP photo)

Meanwhile the Chinese have stepped up their aggressive, and dangerous forays into Taiwan’s airspace. On Monday, 52 Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone. The action was characterized by U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price as “destabilizing and provocative.”

“We strongly urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan,” Price said, calling the American commitment to the island “rock-solid.”

Don’t Be a Psychopath: A Former Special Operator on Balancing Health and Fitness, While Having a Good Time

If you’re anything like me, you may have a tendency of putting 110 percent effort into anything you do. This trait can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I find it difficult to strike a balance between eating healthy, hitting the gym, and still wanting to go out and drink 10-too-many beers.

As I’ve gotten older, this has become more of a challenge. Hangovers are no joke these days and it seems like the only cure is to go eat a greasy burger and wash it down with a couple of potent Bloody Marys to get my equilibrium back. Needless to say, that burger and the aggressive amount of alcohol is not going to help my waistline or my deadlift max, but hey, you have to live life to the fullest and it is important to have a good time.

I read about these extremist diets: they seem to want to give you a cheat day once every six months and then still make you feel bad about it afterward. What also strikes me as almost comical is that these diets rarely mention implementing a workout routine. Spoiler alert: if you want to be healthy and fit, you have to eat right AND workout.

Green Berets training log carrying — 1st Special Forces Group (1st SFG) Green Berets partaking in some extracurricular activities on the weekend. (DVIDS)

Here’s the deal: as much as we want to do things to the extreme, sometimes it’s better to find a good balance and figure out the right ratio. I’m currently on the 5/2 program: From Monday to Friday afternoon, I stay committed to the health agenda; I go to the gym every day of the “work” week and eat healthy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In my rule book, drinking alcohol is not allowed on the weekdays (of course there are exceptions), but come Friday night, just go ahead and pass me another beer. For all intents and purposes, I just keep this mindset flowing until Sunday. Will I hit the gym on the weekends? Yes, sometimes, but it’s not as much of a priority as long as I’ve had a healthy week.

Now, if a trainer or dietician read the above paragraph, they would most likely tear me apart and give me a hundred reasons why I’m wrong. My point is that normal people enjoy indulging in some alcoholic beverages and unhealthy food. To me, the workweek is a time for WORKING; this means being responsible to your job and also your health and fitness — it’s a package deal.

If you eat right and work out, your brain undoubtedly operates better. Weekends are a time for relaxation (I know many of us still work on the weekends), enjoying yourself, and hanging out with friends. It is a time to decompress. So, enjoy yourself, but be ready to hit it hard Monday morning.

To sum it up, find your healthy balance. Taking things to the extreme is not always the best approach. Do what you enjoy, but also hold yourself accountable and make sure you’re doing what’s best for your body and mind.

And no matter what you do, for God’s sake hydrate!

Special Forces and Army Paratroopers Begin Testing the New Barrett MK-22 Sniper Rifle

The Army is testing its newest sniper rifle, the MK-22, Modular Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR), manufactured by Barrett Arms, at Fort Bragg, NC according to a press release from the Army.

This operational testing by snipers from the 82nd Airborne and the Special Operations Command is the final hurdle before the weapons are fielded to the forces in the field. The MK-22 will replace the Army’s existing M107 sniper rifle and the M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle as well as all of the bolt-action sniper systems used by the Marine Corps.

The Special Operations Command opted to go with the MK-22 back in 2019. The regular Army and Marines soon followed suit.

The testing will include carrying the MK-22 in airborne parachute jumps via static line. Special operations troops will also simulate high-altitude, low opening (HALO) jumps in a wind tunnel, followed by HALO jumps in nearby Laurinburg, NC. The gun will be carried both as a side- and front-mounted configuration for the jumper.

MK-22 – A Modular Rifle

A stripped-down MK-22 sniper rifle. (Barrett Arms)

The MK-22 features a folding stock and removable suppression system. It has the ability to change between three different calibers by quickly changing barrels without requiring an armorer. Instead, a sniper will be able to swiftly and easily change calibers in the field by using a single tool. The weapon is chambered for .338 Norma Magnum, .300 Norma Magnum, and 7.62 x51mm NATO.

“The modular nature of the PSR allows it to be tailored to meet mission requirements and is appealing to airborne Snipers who are typically armed with long-barreled precision rifles of a single caliber offering,” said SFC Marcus Love, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, Test Noncommissioned Officer.

“The increased engagement range will keep Snipers safer and increase the options for the local commander employing these combat multipliers,” said SGT Austin Stevens, a sniper assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

“With a folding stock and removable suppression system, the PSR will provide airborne Snipers a more compact load during airborne infiltration operations without reducing their lethality while providing a precision rifle platform more conducive to their combat environment,” said MK-22 Project NCO SFC Jonathan Copley.

A special operations sniper tests the MK-22 sniper rifle in a wind tunnel at Fort Bragg with a front mount for the weapon before conducting an airborne operation. (U.S. Army)

Snipers from the 82nd Airborne and the Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg took part in the familiarization with the system, maintenance, target engagement, system configuration, and zeroing procedures according to the Army’s press release.

Afterward, they tested the weapon during airborne operations. They specifically tested whether the snipers’ pre-mission zero was not degraded by the shock of landing or the parachute deploying.

“Testers can monitor any shift in the weapon sight reticle that may have been induced by shock associated with static line parachutes,” said Miles Crawford, Test Technology Branch Chief, ABNSOTD.

Injuries Without Scars: How Special Operations Medics Treat Brain Injuries

Since the start of the United States’ armed engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, many military members have fallen victim to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other explosive blasts. As most people know, IEDs have been a major contributing factor to the death toll of Americans in the Middle East. A lot of servicemembers have survived these blasts with visible injuries and others have walked away unscathed, or so they thought.

According to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, in 2017 it was reported that approximately 350,000 military personnel had experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) since 2000. It was estimated that anywhere from 11 to 23 percent of deployed personnel had been exposed to a TBI event. There is such a wide range in the estimate because many individuals either didn’t report their injuries or didn’t realize they had experienced a TBI at the time they were exposed to a blast.

It was estimated that approximately 50 percent of the individuals who experienced a TBI also exhibited Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Before the true dangers and repercussions of TBIs were understood, many operators claimed they would experience concussive blasts while outside the wire, or on a mission, to only go out the next night and operate all over again.

Treating Brain Injuries

When I arrived at the Special Operations Combat Medic Course (SOCM) in 2012, the severity and dangers of TBIs had become fully understood. Dealing with and treating TBIs was at the forefront of the special operations medical community and was implemented into the SOCM training curriculum.

The critical piece to understanding and treating a TBI is to identify when a TBI event occurs. It had been discovered that if an operator did experience a TBI, they would be much more susceptible to serious brain damage if they were exposed to a secondary TBI or a concussive event soon after. The SOCM schoolhouse understood this and began training medics on how to properly conduct a Military Acute Concussion Evaluation, better known as a MACE exam.

During a MACE exam, the medic asks the patient a variety of questions and conducts different tests to determine the cognitive function of the patient’s brain. The MACE exam assists medics and medical professionals in determining if an individual experienced a TBI and what is its severity level.

Conducting a MACE exam provides multiple benefits for the patient. First and foremost, by conducting a MACE exam, medical providers can definitively determine if an individual experienced a TBI and thus prevent him from re-entering a dangerous environment until he is completely healed and considered fit for duty. Secondly, if an operator experiences a TBI and the event is documented by the use of a MACE exam, the operator will be entitled to disability compensation benefits and other resources to help heal and manage this “invisible” injury.

A SEAL medic who recently attended the mandatory, two-year SOCM Refresher Course, claimed that the special operations medical community is placing more emphasis on TBIs now than ever before. This is supported by the amount of training that is taking place at the SOCM schoolhouse and the implementation of the MACE 2 exam. The MACE 2 exam became available in 2018. This updated exam provides improved brain injury information, testing, and vestibular-ocular-motor screening.

The United States military has made great achievements in identifying and treating individuals who have experienced TBIs. The research, treatment, and preventative care today will help keep our warriors strong tomorrow.

So, You Want to Be a Part-Time Navy SEAL? There’s a Way

Believe it or not, being in special operations can be a part-time endeavor. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all have reserve and/or national guard special operations units at their disposal. These “part-time” units give people the unique opportunity to serve in America’s elite forces while still being able to maintain their civilian careers and lifestyles.

The 19th and 20th Special Forces Group make up the Army National Guard’s special operations units. Individuals that receive a National Guard Special Forces contract are required to go through the same Special Forces Qualifications Course (SFQC) as their active-duty counterparts. A National Guard member going through Special Forces training is placed on “active duty” during their time at SFQC and must complete the entire pipeline before they return to National Guard status. National Guard units stay extremely busy and take part in deployment rotation just as active-duty Special Forces units do.

3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group operators (3/20th)

The Navy consists of NSW and EOD reserve units. The NSW reserve units are SEAL Team 17 and SEAL Team 18. These two teams are comprised of both SEALs and SWCCs. The majority of the SEALs and SWCCs at these units are prior active duty members that transferred to the reserves upon completion of their active duty commitment. But, some sailors are able to obtain an NSW contract while in the reserves and upon completion of training are assigned directly to a reserve SEAL Team. EOD operators are similar to their NSW brothers, with most being active duty service members before their transfer to the reserves. The NSW and EOD reserve units are also on a constant deployment rotation. Usually, reservist operators are mobilized for a year. The first three to six months are used for pre-deployment training and the f0llowing six to nine months are the actual deployment, which could be anywhere in the world.

The Air Force’s special operations career fields, Pararescue (PJs) and Combat Control Teams (CCTs), Special Reconnaissance (SR), and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) have Air Force National Guard and Reserve units. Like the Army, individuals are able to enlist into the Air Force National Guard or Reserves and directly enter into a special operations training pipeline. Upon completion of PJ, CCT, SR, or TACP training, operators are assigned to their respective units.

The Pararescue community has many Rescue Wings (Guardian Angels) assigned to both the Air Force National Guard and the Air Force Reserves. The Combat Control Teams only have two Special Tactics Squadrons under the Air National Guard. These units have a wide array of responsibilities, ranging from domestic operations to deploying to combat zones downrange.

If an individual has the burning desire to become a member of the United States Special Operations Command, but still wants a “normal” life, becoming a special operator in the reserves or National Guard could be the perfect blend.

Melvin Morris Exemplified What It Means to Leave No Man Behind

Melvin Morris was a Green Beret in the 5th Special Forces Group who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions against Communist forces in Vietnam on September 17, 1969.

Originally awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, the Defense Authorization Act mandated that the military look at the actions of African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and other minority veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War to ensure that no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor. Morris’s award was therefore upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Morris was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, on January 7, 1942. In an interview with American Battlefield Trust, Morris described the limited opportunities available to him back in those days.

“I come from Oklahoma, a place called Okmulgee, capital of the Creek Nation. There wasn’t much going on there in the ’50s, no work to speak of. My first was job was working at the bowling alley; I think I made 65 cents an hour. I said, ‘No, this isn’t going to cut it.’ And my brother and I both went into the military because the National Guard was recruiting minorities.”

After a year in the National Guard, Morris switched to the active-duty Army in 1960, volunteered for Airborne duty, and then joined Special Forces in 1961.

The Mike Forces

In September 1969, Morris, then a staff sergeant, was the commander of the Third Company, Third Battalion of the IV Mobile Strike Force near Chi Lang.

The Mobile Strike Force, known as the “Mike Force,” was created and advised by Special Forces troops as well as Australian SAS. The Mike Forces were staffed with indigenous peoples, pulled from the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), and Nungs, people of Chinese descent. At its height, Mike Forces consisted of Bahnar, Hmong, Nung, Jarai, Khmer Krom minorities, and other members of the Degar peoples, also known as Montagnards.

The Mike Force companies mission was to act as a country-wide quick reaction force for securing, reinforcing, and recapturing CIDG Special Forces “A Camps,” as well as for conducting special reconnaissance patrols. Search and rescue, and search and destroy RT missions were also assigned to the units.

No Man Left Behind

On September 17, 1969, Morris’s combined Special Forces/Mike Force team was supporting South Vietnamese troops near Chi Lang when they discovered a large cache of food and weapons the North Vietnamese Communists had smuggled over the Cambodian border.

Defending the cache was a large number of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops who quickly opened fire. Another Green Beret team leader was killed while assaulting an enemy bunker. When informed of this by radio Melvin Morris immediately moved his men forward and, with two volunteers, crawled through a minefield to recover his fallen comrade.

They had just reached the killed SF soldier when the NVA hit them with intense, accurate fire. The two men with him were immediately wounded. Under heavy fire, Morris aided the two wounded troops back to a defensive position. He gathered up 20 hand grenades, ran back into the heavy enemy fire, and set about neutralizing the Vietnamese strong points. Morris destroyed four enemy bunkers with grenades and recovered the killed Green Beret before returning for a map case containing classified information.

During the pitched fighting, Melvin Morris was wounded three times in his chest and right arm. He took cover behind a tree and was pinned down for over two hours. Eventually, a helicopter dropping explosives on the enemy distracted them long enough for Morris to make it back to his unit.

“There was automatic weapons fire. I can’t remember too many human voices,” Morris said in an interview with the Army’s website. “I remember looking at my watch once and the next time I looked at it, it was in the evening. This started in the morning.”

Melvin Morris 5th Special Forces Group — SFC Melvin Morris and other members of the 5th Special Forces Group. (U.S. Army)

After spending a week in a field hospital, he was flown to Japan, where he was hospitalized for three months before returning to the United States. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award for valor in the U.S. military in April 1970. A month after receiving the DSC, Morris returned to Vietnam for a subsequent tour of duty. He retired from the Army in 1985 as a sergeant first class.

In 2013, Morris was informed that a lengthy review of recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross had determined that he should have received the Medal of Honor instead.

In March 2014, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Melvin Morris as well as Jose Rodela another Green Beret from Vietnam.

In the interview with the American Battlefield Trust, Morris reflected on the day he was at the White House and the responsibility he feels in educating American youth.

“On March 18, 2014, I went to the White House and received the Medal of Honor from President Obama. And it was an exhilarating feeling, I just can’t describe,” he said. “But I told myself that now, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me because I have a message to share. Young children need to know that people are out there putting their lives on the line for them every day.”

“That’s what I do today; I go out and I give living history. I talk to students and the people about our heritage, about our military, and about why they should learn about history. We have to honor our heroes, regardless of their race, color, creed, ethnicity. I have made educating the people my life’s task.”

Melvin Morris’s Medal of Honor Citation

Melvin Morris Medal of Honor award Obama — Melvin Morris received the Medal of Honor by President Obama in 2014. (Voice of America)

“Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commander of a Strike Force drawn from Company D, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, during combat operations against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Chi Lang, the Republic of Vietnam on September 17, 1969.
On that afternoon, Staff Sergeant Morris’ affiliated companies encountered an extensive enemy minefield and were subsequently engaged by a hostile force. Staff Sergeant Morris learned by radio that a fellow team commander had been killed near an enemy bunker and he immediately reorganized his men into an effective assault posture before advancing forward and splitting off with two men to recover the team commander’s body.
Observing the maneuver, the hostile force concentrated its fire on Staff Sergeant Morris’ three-man element and successfully wounded both men accompanying him. After assisting the two wounded men back to his forces’ lines, Staff Sergeant Morris charged forward into the withering enemy fire with only his men’s suppressive fire as cover.
While enemy machine gun emplacements continuously directed strafing fusillades against him, Staff Sergeant Morris destroyed the positions with hand grenades and continued his assault, ultimately eliminating four bunkers.
Upon reaching the bunker nearest the fallen team commander, Staff Sergeant Morris repulsed the enemy, retrieved his comrade, and began the arduous trek back to friendly lines. He was wounded three times as he struggled forward but ultimately succeeded in returning his fallen comrade to a friendly position.
Staff Sergeant Morris’ extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.”

My Woobie, My Best Friend

It’s undisputed that if a soldier would go in the wilderness for an extended period of time, one of the few things he’d take along would be the woobie. The beautiful polyester camo encased in two layers of joyous quilted nylon is a universal staple for the infantryman.

If you search online for the term woobie, you’ll get various results, from poncho liner to sleeping bags, to blankets, to baby blankets, and yes, even hoodies now.

Woobie is also used as a term of great affection. Calling someone a “woobie” is basically the same as calling them “love” or “sweaty.”

But when it comes to the military, the woobie is the nickname given to the poncho liner issued to all soldiers. The woobie is not a new thing with the first used in the jungles of Vietnam.

A Term of Uncertain Origins

My Woobie, My Best Friend — A Marine private holds up a sleeping system and poncho liner “woobie” during a gear issue return at the SOI Supply Warehouse on Camp Pendleton, CA, September 26, 2017. (Photo by Pfc. Dalton S. Swanbeck/Marine Corps)

How the term “woobie” came to be applied to the poncho liner remains a mystery. Some claim that it started as the phrase, “Because you would be cold without it” and “would be” evolved into “woobie.” Or that it was called a “willbie” from the phrase, “It will be what keeps you from freezing.”

Now anyone has access to woobies. They are sold online and now come in various fabrics, prints, colors, prices, and qualities. Woobies have been widely advertised to civilians. Hunters and campers use them during cold and wet weather. Picnickers and stadium goers use them as blankets. People even use them as comforters and couch blankets at home.

I use mine as a pillow on a hot summer afternoon and always place it inside my ruck frame to give me a little padding on my back and allow me to quickly access it.

Some soldiers have altered their woobie to have a zipper. When lined inside their poncho, they now have a lightweight waterproof sleeping bag. The woobie has several anchor points with ties to fix to the poncho.

It can also be used as an overhead shade. In the desert, we would use two woobies or ponchos, one about a foot over the other. This created a buffer for the heat and kept us significantly cooler underneath.

Can the Woobie Keep You Warm?

Matched with its poncho counterpart, the woobie can be very warm. Even if you are wet, it will help trap your body heat. If you have never experienced the joyous hug from a woobie, I highly suggest you get yourself one and take it on your next hiking adventure. Or better yet, put it in your living room for watching movies.

US Green Berets Were Training Guinea’s Special Operations Troops at the Time of the Coup

US Army Special Forces troops were training special operations troops in the West African nation of Guinea when the Guineans left the training to take part in a coup organized by their commander.

The Guinean special operations troops stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Conakry, placing the country’s president, 83-year-old Alpha Condé, under house arrest at an undetermined location. A few hours later, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the commander of the Guinean special operations forces, announced the coup and the suspension of the country’s constitution.

Doumbouya was well-known to the Americans as he had participated in several joint American/Guinean exercises. He was a former officer in the French Foreign Legion and, at one time, a close ally of the deposed president.

Once the coup took place, the American Green Berets from the 3rd Special Forces Group, quickly suspended their activity and moved, with Guinea security personnel support, to the U.S. Embassy in Conakry.

The Green Berets have been in the country since mid-July training Doumbouya’s special forces troops on a regularly scheduled Joint Combined Exchange Training event (JCET). The base where the training took place was in Forécariah, close to Guinea’s border with Sierra Leone, and about a four-hour drive from the presidential palace.

Screenshot of American SF troops driving through the crowds of Conakry, Guinea en route to the U.S. Embassy. (Twitter)

Apparently, the Guinean troops waited until early Sunday morning, while the Americans were sleeping, before slipping away and driving to the capital to conduct the coup.

Kelly Callahan, a spokesperson for the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), said the SF troops suspended the training as soon as they realized that a coup was unfolding. The coup, she said, is “incompatible with U.S. military training and education.”

The United States, the United Nations, as well as the African Union have condemned the coup.

Meanwhile in Conakry. pic.twitter.com/YJRFrWay4r
— The House of Kongo (@MvembaDizolele) September 9, 2021

In a video posted on Twitter, a vehicle with American Green Berets is seen trying to navigate the throngs of people flooding the streets of Conakry and blocking traffic. Guinean troops are seen attempting to wave the people away.

However, the mood of the crowd was more celebratory than hostile. They are dancing and shouting “Freedom” as they move through the traffic. The Americans appear relaxed, with the windows down waving to the crowds. One SF soldier in the front passenger seat is filmed smiling and high-fiving passersby, while appearing to be capturing footage with a cell phone.

President Conde’s Suspect Political Record

Critics of the U.S. say that the behavior of the troops represents a tacit American approval of the coup. Nevertheless, the behavior of the SF troops was correct. Moving through throngs of people is a potentially volatile situation. The Green Berets, by their amicable comportment, prevented any potential violence that could have easily erupted had the crowd sensed that the Green Berets were hostile or unfriendly.

Still, the U.S. had to deny any involvement. “The U.S. government and military are not involved in this apparent military seizure of power in any way,” AFRICOM said. “The United States strongly condemns these actions in Guinea and any attempts at forceful seizures of power or unconstitutional actions.”

Deposed President Conde of Guinea appears disheveled and in an unknown location following the coup that removed him from power. (Video screenshot from Guinean television)

According to Doumbouya, President Conde was removed after he, the president, illegally amended the constitution thereby allowing him to run for an unprecedented third term.

The last presidential elections were disputed because of alleged irregularities. Following the elections, Conde arrested and imprisoned more than 400 political opponents. According to Amnesty International, several of them have since died.

Doumbouya and the Defense Minister Mohamed Diané developed an adversarial relationship over the events. Fearing a coup several months ago, the defense minister moved the special operations unit to the Forécariah base.

After the coup, the Guinean troops filmed a disheveled Conde sitting on a sofa at an undisclosed location. Conde declined to answer questions as to whether he was being mistreated.

Billy Waugh – The Legendary 71-Year-Old Osama bin Laden Hunter

From hitchhiking at age 15 in order to join the WWII effort to hunting Bin Laden in his 70s in the mountains of Tora Bora the story of Billy Waugh is straight out of a Hollywood movie; but it is entirely true.

Billy Waugh had two long careers, one in Special Forces and the other in the CIA as a paramilitary operations officer. In total, he served for more than 50 years as a special operator.

A Hitchhiker’s Attempt to Join the Military

Waugh was born in Bastrop, Texas on December 1, 1929. He was bitten by the bug to join the military during World War II. In 1945, he met a pair of Marines who had just returned to Texas from fighting in the South Pacific. So, at the age of 15, he decided to enlist. Somehow, he got the idea that you could enlist at the age of 16 in California, so he set off hitchhiking for Los Angeles.

He got only as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico when he was stopped by a police officer. He was put to jail for having no identification and refusing to give his name. Eventually, he was released and returned to Bastrop.

Waugh decided to throw himself into high school until he was old enough to enlist. He graduated with a grade point average (GPA) of 4.0 from Bastrop High School.

Billy Waugh in Vietnam and Special Forces Service in MACV-SOG

Waugh eventually joined the military in 1948, but he enlisted with the Army, not the Marines.

After going through basic training at Ft. Ord, California, Waugh went through jump school in December 1948.

He re-enlisted in 1951 to get an assignment with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (Rakkasans), which was then fighting in Korea.

After the Armistice ended the Korean War, Billy Waugh was assigned to Germany. There, while riding on a train, he met a couple of NCOs from the 10th Special Forces Group. They explained the opportunities that existed for NCOs in the unit and what Special Forces (SF) were all about. Waugh volunteered and entered the training pipeline, earning his Green Beret and joining the 10th Special Forces Group (10th SFG) in Bad Tölz, West Germany.

During the early 1960s, Special Forces A-Teams were being sent to Southeast Asia to train indigenous tribesmen for the joint SF/CIA Civilian Irregular Defense Program (CIDG).

In Waugh’s first tour in 1961, he trained tribesmen in both South Vietnam and Laos. In the same year, he began his first tour with the CIA’s Special Activities Division, being on loan from the Special Forces. It wouldn’t be his last.

Billy Waugh Vietnam — Waugh conducted five combat HALO jumps during the war in Vietnam. (*Hunting the Jackal*/Avon Press)

In 1965, his A-Team (A-331) and his CIDG unit conducted a raid on a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) unit compound in Bong Son, in Binh Dinh Province. Intelligence gave the Special Forces troops an estimate of a few hundred NVA troops in the area. This was a gross miscalculation, In reality, there were more than 4,000 troops in the area, including Chinese regular troops bolstering the NVA and Viet Cong.

During the raid, Billy Waugh found himself out of grenades and nearly out of ammunition. On the way to the predetermined exfil point, he was hit in the knee by a Soviet-made RPK.

Crawling along a levee, he was hit again in the foot and ankle. Reaching his medical aid bag, he gave himself a shot of morphine but this did little for the pain.

The CIDG and SF troops were soon in danger of being overrun. At that point, Waugh was shot in the head and knocked unconscious.

In an excerpt from his book, Hunting the Jackal, Waugh described what transpired,

“I took another bullet, this time across the right side of my forehead. I don’t know for sure, but I believe the bullet ricocheted off the bamboo before striking me. It sliced in and out of a two-inch section of my forehead, and it immediately started to bleed like an open faucet. It sounds like the punch line to a bad joke, but you know it’s a bad day when the best thing about it is getting shot in the head.”

The NVA overran the position. They believed Waugh was dead and helped themselves to his gear, Rolex watch, and clothes, stripping him naked before leaving him there and moving on. His teammates found him and got him to safety. For his conduct, Billy Waugh was awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart — his sixth, for that operation.

He spent the remainder of 1965 and part of 1966 recovering from his wounds at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC. However, as soon as he was released from the hospital, Waugh was right back in Vietnam.

Waugh joined the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). This was a unit composed of special operators from all the services, but mostly Green Berets. It conducted dangerous missions deep in enemy-occupied territory.

A Casualty Rate of Over 100 Percent

While working for SOG, Waugh helped train Vietnamese and Cambodian forces in unconventional warfare tactics to fight against Communist forces in the region.

Waugh was the senior NCO of MACV-SOG’s Command & Control North (CCN) based at Marble Mountain on the South China Sea, outside of Da Nang. Waugh held the command sergeant major position during the covert unit’s transition and name-change to Task Force One Advisory Element (TF1AE). He spent the remainder of the war working for the unit.

The price for conducting these “over the fence” operations was high. The casualty rate for SOG forces was over 100 percent. In an interview about SOG with a Miami newspaper, Waugh said, “If you were going up there, you were either going to die or get shot all to hell. Everyone in the outfit was wounded once, twice, three times.”

SGM Billy Waugh conducted the first combat High Altitude, Low Opening (HALO) jump, into enemy territory in October 1970. Waugh also led the last combat Special Reconnaissance parachute insertion by American Army Special Forces HALO parachutists into denied territory on June 22, 1971.

After the U.S. troops were withdrawn from Vietnam, Waugh, a veteran of 7.5 years of combat deployments, was to be reassigned to the 10th Special Forces Group. Nevertheless, he told the Army to change his orders or he would retire.

The Army had no need for Special Forces — and never liked the unit, to begin with — so they told Waugh to retire. And thus he did.

Waugh retired from active military duty at the rank of sergeant major (E-9) on February 1, 1972.

Billy Waugh Returns to the CIA

Billy Waugh Afghanistan — Waugh at 71 spent two months trying to track down Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001. (*Hunting the Jackal*/Avon Press)

Waugh went back to Texas and worked for the U.S. Postal Service. But for someone who was used to the adrenaline rush of combat with SOG, a postman’s job wasn’t for him.

But in 1977 his career would refocus.

He and three other retired Special Forces operators were recruited to train Libyan Special Forces troops. The men believed that this was a CIA operation, but the more they learned, they realized that it was not. Instead, it was a private operation run by an ex-CIA operative named Edwin Wilson.

Wilson would later be convicted of attempted murder, illegally selling arms, explosives, and ammunition to a foreign country, and was sentenced to 53 years in prison.

However, just prior to deployment, Waugh was approached by an active CIA agent who asked him to take photos of people, places, and anything else of value. This was a needed bit of insurance for Waugh in case things went wrong.

He took pictures of the men he was training with and of SAM (surface to air missile) sites. He then passed them on to the CIA.

Waugh was in Libya in 1979 when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was overrun. Libya was no longer safe for him and he escaped to Frankfurt, Germany.

The new heads of the CIA under the Carter administration outwardly didn’t want anyone like Waugh in the fold any longer. So, Waugh took a job as the deputy chief of police at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. The force was tasked with stopping the Soviets from stealing classified information on the U.S.’s missile technology.

Tracking Bin Laden and Hunting the Jackal

But in the late 1980s, the agency came calling again. So, Billy Waugh ended up in Khartoum, Sudan, hunting a then-unknown terrorist and terror organization. The man was Osama bin Laden and the group was al-Qaeda.

At that time, bin Laden was not a major target, so Waugh was told to watch and report on his activities. He got within a few feet of him several times.

“I was within 30 meters of him,” Waugh said to Air Force journalist Nick Stubbs during an interview in 2011. “I could have killed him with a rock.”

In 1993, Waugh and a team of CIA operatives set up a surveillance mission to try and locate the wanted terrorist, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, aka the infamous “Carlos the Jackal.”

No one had photographed the Jackal for 10 years. But Waugh’s team tracked him down and set up a surveillance point across the street from his house. They monitored Carlos’s routine and eventually, the French came in, raided the house, and captured the Jackal.

After 9/11, Waugh had one last fight in him. Having so much knowledge about bin Laden, he convinced the agency to deploy him to the mountains of Afghanistan. Waugh deployed with ODA-594 of the 5th SFG.

The men hunted for the notorious terrorist in the Afghan mountains outside of Tora Bora. At 71 years of age, when any thoughts of being an operator are long past for warriors, Waugh was on the hunt one final time.

Waugh on horseback in the mountains around Tora Bora in 2001. (*Hunting the Jackal*/Avon Press)

“If the mind is good and the body is able, you keep on going if you enjoy it,” Waugh said in the interview with Stubbs. “Once you get used to that, you’re not about to quit. How could you want to do anything else?”

Because of security restrictions, no one (other than Waugh) knows in how many classified operations he participated.

Billy Waugh is rightly a legend in the special operations and paramilitary community.

His awards and decorations consist of :

Combat Infantryman Badge (two awards)
Special Forces Tab
Master Parachutist Badge
Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge with gold combat jump star (5 combat jumps)
Vietnam Parachutist Badge
Silver Star
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters
Purple Heart with seven oak leaf clusters
Air Medal
Army Commendation Medal with Valor device and three oak leaf clusters
Army Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster (one award in 2001, SOG)
Good Conduct Medal (7 awards)
Army of Occupation Medal
National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star
Korean Service Medal with three campaign stars
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Vietnam Service Medal with Arrowhead device and six service stars
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation
United Nations Korea Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Republic of Korea War Service Medal

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) – An Illustrious History

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) is one of the five active-duty Special Forces Groups (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 10th) in the U.S. Army. The 3rd SFG is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and its area of responsibility includes the area of operations of AFRICOM as well as the Caribbean Basin.

All Special Forces groups have a plethora of mission sets. Some of these include but are not limited to Direct Action, Special Reconnaissance, Counter-terrorism, Counter-insurgency, Foreign Internal Defense, Unconventional Warfare, Security Force Assistance, Information Operations, and Peace Operations.

Special Forces Soldiers are renowned for their ability to deploy in small teams, operate independently, and conduct their mission in austere environments.

The First Period of the 3rd Special Forces Group

Like many special operations forces, the Special Forces trace their lineage back to WWII. Several units laid the framework for Special Forces, among them the Alamo Scouts, Philippine Guerrillas, 1st Special Service Force, and the Operational Group’s Jedburgh Teams within the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

The Special Forces, otherwise known as Green Berets, came into existence in June 1952. At first, they consisted of only the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Soon after, a portion of the 10th split and became the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

The Special Forces training school was known as the Psychological Warfare School, later becoming the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) was first activated on December 5, 1963, at Fort Bragg, NC, and designated as a Special Action Force with the Middle East and Africa as an area orientation.

The members of the original 3rd SFG(A) were drawn from the existing Special Forces Groups with the exception of the 10th SFG (A).

In an acknowledgment of its origins, the beret flash colors of the 3rd SFG are yellow (1st SFG (A)), red (7th SFG (A)), black (5th SFG (A)), and white (Special Forces Training Group (A)). Likewise, the unit’s original motto was “From the Rest Comes the Best.”

The unit trained the armed forces of Mali, Iraq, Ethiopia, the Congo, and Jordan, in addition to supporting the Gemini 6 and 7 space launches in 1965.

During the war in Vietnam, the 3rd SFG also worked with and augmented the 5th SFG(A). During the early years of the war, SF A-Teams would deploy from all of the groups to Vietnam on TDY status. Afterward, the Army changed that and made it a permanent change of station and centralized all of the SF efforts under the 5th SFG.

In 1966, 3rd Group transferred assumed control of the 403rd Army Security Agency Special Operations Detachment and the 19th PSYOP Company over to 5th Group.

With the “Vietnamization” of the conflict, the 3rd SFG(A) was inactivated on December 10, 1969, and its members were transferred back to the other Special Forces Groups. One 3rd group officer who stayed in South Vietnam — Major George W. Petrie — was the first man on the ground in the Son Tay Raid on November 21, 1970, and later helped plan the Saigon evacuation on April 30, 1975, becoming the last SF soldier to leave the country.

The 3rd Special Forces Group Is Reborn

After nearly 21 years, the 3rd SFG (A) was re-activated at Ft. Bragg on July 1, 1990, with the majority of the troops comprising the group coming from the 5th SFG. The 2nd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd SFG were reactivated in 1991 and 1992, respectively.

3rd SFG’s new area of operation and responsibility initially consisted of the Caribbean and West Africa.

At the outbreak of the First Gulf War, the 3rd Group’s 1st Battalion was deployed to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, for three months. Its A-Teams carried out reconnaissance and sabotage missions into denied areas of Iraq and Kuwait.

In February 1991, the 3rd Group was tasked with securing and occupying the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City. The group also took part in the restoration of democracy in Haiti in 1994. During the late ’90s, the 3rd Group helped train forces in Senegal, Uganda, Malawi, Mali, Ethiopia, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others.

Global War on Terror

3rd Special Forces Group soldiers in Afghanistan — 3rd SFG troops in Afghanistan. (DVIDS)

After the events of 9/11, like all other Special Forces groups, the 3rd SFG became heavily involved in combat operations in Afghanistan. The heroism of the 3rd SFG’s soldiers was exemplary.

In the single largest awarding of troops since Vietnam, Lieutenant General John Mullholland, who led the 5th SFG’s initial deployment into Afghanistan in 2001 and was the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), said of the troops,

“As we have listened to these incredible tales, I am truly at a loss for words to do justice to what we have heard here, where do we get such men? … There is no finer fighting man on the face of the earth than the American soldier. And there is no finer American soldier than our Green Berets. If you saw what you heard today in a movie, you would shake your head and say, ‘That didn’t happen.’ But it does, every day.”

Staff Sergeant Robert Miller – Medal of Honor

On January 24, 2008, ODA-3312 was tasked with a combat reconnaissance mission designed to root out insurgent safe havens located in the ridges of the Chen Khar Valley in Afghanistan.

After finding an insurgent base empty, the SF team learned that a large group of insurgents was massing on a slope beyond the nearby river and preparing to ambush the combined SF and Afghan troops.

Miller fired on the insurgents with an Mk-19 grenade launcher until it broke down. Miller then grabbed a machine gun and immediately put down suppressive fire. When the firing ceased, Miller’s team leader, Major Robert Cusick, ordered Miller to take the point of a patrol up to do a battle damage assessment. Miller, Cusick, six other Green Berets, and a team of 15 Afghan soldiers crossed the river and climbed up the valley.

Miller moved forward with an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) when an insurgent, breaking free from some rocks rushed Miller. It was at this point that the valley came alive with over 200 insurgents pouring fire down on the exposed team. Major Cusick later compared it to being in the middle of a July 4 fireworks display. Miller killed the insurgent with his SAW and immediately laid down suppressive fire for the remainder of the team.

Cusick was seriously wounded with a gunshot to the collarbone area. Miller was hit in the torso but was able to spin around and kill another insurgent. But then he did what no one, American or insurgent, expected. He attacked.

Moving forward, he singlehandedly took on the enemy force with his SAW, which was highly visible due to the flash of the muzzle. Thus, it attracted an enormous amount of insurgent fire, so heavy, that the Americans reported that although he was close, Miller was impossible to reach.

Miller kept up the fire and moved on insurgent positions, eliminating them one at a time with a mixture of SAW fire and hand grenades. It wasn’t until his ammunition and grenades were expended that he was killed by rifle fire.

In October 2010, President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Miller’s parents.

Staff Sergeant Ronald Shurer – Medal of Honor

Ronald Shurer was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Shok Valley in Afghanistan.

Shurer was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and ODA 3336. In 2008, the unit was tasked with capturing a high-value target who was a part of the Hezebela Islami Gulbadin insurgent group. The mission took place in the remote Shok Valley in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan.

The team of Green Berets and Afghan commandos was whisked to the snow-covered ground along a frozen river next to a nearly vertical 60-foot cliff that they would have to climb. Then, through their imagery, the number of enemy troops in the area suddenly became much clearer.

In an interview with the media, LTC Kyle Walton, who was in command of the ODA, said the troops saw that “There were hundreds and hundreds of more compounds than we were able to see from our imagery.”

His unit came under machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire as they made their way through the valley. Another element of the team, trying to maneuver toward the target from a different location, also came under fire and was pinned down. Several of the troops were critically wounded.

Shurer, disregarding his own safety, charged up the mountain while under heavy fire. It took him an hour to reach the element of four critically wounded Americans and 10 wounded Afghan commandos. He returned fire killing several insurgents along the way.

Once he arrived at the wounded troops’ position, he stabilized four of them while being wounded in the arm and taking a bullet in his helmet.

“It felt like I’d been hit in the head with a baseball bat,” Shurer said later in an interview.

Shurer then aided a man who had lost a leg and continued to treat the wounded, while still fighting off the insurgents for several hours. He then aided in lowering three wounded men down a near-vertical 60-foot cliff while under fire.

Shurer’s actions saved the lives of every man who was wounded on that day.

For his actions, Shurer was initially awarded the Silver Star. However, in 2016, the Pentagon conducted a review of all medals awarded for valor since the 9/11 terror attacks. Shurer’s award was then upgraded to the Medal of Honor. He received the award from President Donald Trump on October 1, 2018, in a ceremony at the White House.

“For more than six hours, Ron bravely faced down the enemy,” President Trump said at the award ceremony. “Not a single American died in that brutal battle, thanks in great measure to Ron’s heroic actions.”

Shurer left the Army in 2009. He joined the Phoenix office of the U.S. Secret Service. He was selected for the agency’s Counter Assault Team and assigned to its Special Operations Division in Washington, DC. Sadly, Shurer died of lung cancer in 2020, leaving behind a wife and two young sons.

Sergeant Matthew O. Williams – Medal of Honor

President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to MSG Matthew O. Williams in the White House for actions in Afghanistan. (White House)

Williams was a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant (18B) with ODA-3336, Special Operations Task Force 11, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. On April 6, 2008, the ODA was on a mission to capture or kill high-value targets of the Hezeb Islami al Gulbadin in Shok Valley, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.

Williams was part of an assault element consisting of several American SF and a larger Afghan commando force. The element was inserted by helicopter into a location in Nuristan Province. As they were moving up a mountain toward their objective, they were engaged by intense enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

The lead portion of the assault element, which included the ground commander, sustained several casualties and was pinned down on the mountainside. Meanwhile, Williams and the trailing portion of the assault element were forced to take cover as they began to also receive intense enemy fire. Insurgent fighters had the entire assault element pinned down.

“It was kind of quiet, then all of a sudden everything exploded all at once – machine gun fire, some RPGs started going off. [The insurgents] had some pretty good shooters and a lot of people up there waiting for us,” Williams said.

The Army’s narrative of the operation highlights Williams’s bravery on that day.

“After learning that the command element had received numerous casualties, he gathered the Afghan commandos around him while braving intense enemy fire and led a counterattack across a 100-meter long valley of ice-covered boulders and a fast-moving, ice-cold, waist-deep river.
After leading his commandos up the mountainside to the besieged element, Williams arrayed his Afghan commandos to provide suppressive fire to keep the insurgents from overrunning the position.
As Williams worked to defend his position, his team sergeant, Master Sgt. Scott Ford, was hit by a sniper round. Once again, Williams braved intense enemy fire to provide Ford first aid and moved him down the sheer mountainside to the casualty collection point.
Then, knowing the commandos and his fellow Soldiers were still in danger, Williams fought and climbed his way back up the mountainside, under enemy fire, to help defend the lead assault element, which still had several serious casualties to evacuate.
Upon reaching the lead element, he provided suppressing fire, killing several insurgents, before once again exposing himself to enemy fire in order to move to the element’s satellite radio and re-establish their communications capability. Williams then continued to expose himself to enemy fire as he assisted in moving the wounded down the mountainside to the casualty collection point.
After Williams reached the casualty collection point with three wounded Soldiers, enemy fighters began maneuvering to overrun their position, putting the lives of the wounded and those caring for them at risk.
Realizing the danger to the wounded, Williams again led the Afghan commandos in a counterattack and fought for several hours against the insurgents, keeping them at bay until helicopters arrived to evacuate the wounded.
Again and again, as the wounded were being evacuated, Williams exposed himself to enemy fire while carrying and loading casualties onto the helicopters. He then continued to suppress numerous insurgent positions by directing commando fires, which allowed the patrol to evacuate the wounded and the dead without further casualties.”

“That day was one of the worst predicaments of my life at that point, the experience from that has helped me through my whole entire career. Remain level-headed and focus on what needs to happen as opposed to what is happening,” Williams said.

Williams’s Silver Star was upgraded to the Medal of Honor and on October 30, 2019. It was presented to him in the White House by President Trump.

In addition to the awards listed above, CW2 Jason Myers and SSG Corey Calkins of the 3rd SFG were awarded the Distinguished Cross, the nation’s second-highest honor for valor.

During the Global War on Terror (GWOT), 3rd Special Forces Group troops have been awarded 56 Silver Stars, 183 Bronze Stars with Valor Device, and 239 Army Commendations with Valor Device.

Niger Ambush

In October 2017, a combined Special Forces A-Team (ODA-3212) from the 3rd Special Forces Group and Nigerien forces were ambushed by a numerically vastly superior insurgent force outside of Tongo Tongo, Niger. The ambush resulted in the deaths of four American Special Forces troops.

The Army, AFRICOM, and senior leadership tried to paint the picture that the ODA had “gone rogue” by submitting a false Concept of Operation (CONOP) to headquarters.

Nothing was further from the truth as the A-Team leader had several times requested that the mission be canceled as the team had no support element and was working on intelligence that had a two-hour window while the mission would be conducted over two days. But he was ordered to continue.

It wasn’t until Michelle Black, the widow of SSG Bryan Black, one of the four men killed in the ambush, conducted an investigation of her own that the entire story was uncovered. Her book Sacrifice, A Gold Star Widow’s Fight for the Truth recounts her pursuit of truth and closure.