This essay provides an account of the British submersible attack against the German dreadnought Tirpitz in the fjords of Norway in September 1943. The Kriesgmarine (German Navy) moved Tirpitz to a protected anchorage in the Kaafjord, well out of range of allied reconnaissance aircraft and bombers.
Walk into almost any team room in the SOF community and you will find them: a rack, a shelf, sometimes just a desk drawer heavy with metal. Challenge coins accumulate around SOF the way sand accumulates in a rucksack. Almost no one can tell you, years later, exactly where each one came from.
By SOAA. China’s recent submarine-launched ballistic missile test highlights the military power supporting Beijing’s unrestricted warfare campaign. This article examines inadequate launch notifications, defense supply-chain restrictions, and calls for a comprehensive U.S. strategy to counter PRC coercion worldwide more effectively.
Historian Ben Powers interviews retired Army First Sergeant Christopher “Moon” Mullins about his forthcoming biography of Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough. Mullins discusses Yarborough’s wartime leadership, airborne innovations, institutional battles, and enduring role in shaping the identity, culture, and doctrine of Army Special Forces soldiers.
Why SOF modernization must include persistent support for correct execution after fielding By Woody Hurd On my first deployment to the Middle East with 5th Special Forces Group, I was tasked with setting up a notoriously complex tactical SATCOM node […]
In the spring of 1942, the British conducted a raid on the port of Saint Nazaire, France with the intent to render the drydocks inoperable and deny the German Navy the only safehaven capable of repairing a damaged battleship – the Tirpitz. The mission was a success.
Operation THUNDERHEAD was an attempt to rescue U.S. POWs near the tail end of the US involvement in Vietnam involving SEALs and SDVs. The operation involved inserting U.S. Navy SEALs by SDVs onto the coast of North Vietnam.
By Dr. Chris Phillips. Most transition content written for the SOF community affirms what operators already believe about themselves. This piece does something different. It argues that the traits which made them exceptional are the same ones most likely to quietly damage their marriages and their post-service identity if they are never deliberately redirected.
A former U.S. Navy sailor is one of three people arrested by the FBI that are alleged by the Department of Justice of a scheme to buy drones and RPGs to attack U.S. servicemembers. Among the targets discussed were members of U.S. Special Forces.
Story by Special Operations Association of America. Results from a study commissioned by the U.S. Special Operations Command found that members of the SOF community are facing cancer at a rate 18 percent higher than their conventional forces counterparts. The Special Operations Association of America has long highlighted the health effects that SOF personnel experience due to exposures during training and deployment cycles.
Story by Matt Dorn. In 1955 the 300th Special Forces Operational Detachment (SFOD) of the U.S. Army Reserves (USAR) was activated. Members of the newly created unit were WWII combat veterans and former paratroopers. By May 1956, the U.S. formed three additional Special Forces units in the USAR.
A growing number of researchers are exploring alternatives to conventional psychotropic medications and talk therapy, including neuromodulation-based interventions. Recently, researchers revealed promising results for a new method modeled after a treatment for depression and OCD called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).
The new isolationism dismissing U.S. forward engagement in East Africa – misunderstands the nature of the Al Shabaab threat to the homeland.
Story courtesy ACHF. At the 2026 Special Air Warfare Symposium (SAWS), leaders from across the global special operations enterprise gathered to discuss the future of special air warfare. But alongside the conversations about emerging capabilities, integration, and innovation, another mission […]
By Col Michael Haas, USAF, ret. “If you go, I go.” The intense Vietnamese Sea Commando spoke quietly, his dark eyes never leaving those of the American SEAL officer standing in front of him. Kiet’s terse pledge set the stage […]
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