Australian Officer Rim of the Pacific 2018. Photo by Corporal Kyle Jenner, Sep 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20181003

October 3, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20181003 – Joint US-Turkish patrols, COP-OCO FY 2019 oversight report, Soldier lethality, Syria mission creep, hybrid warfare, social media, adding women to peacekeeping missions, Russia in the Arctic, SOF in the Philippines, 10th SFGA host DoD senior […]

MG Fadhil al-Barwari 1st ISOF

Remembering MG Fadhil Barwari – ISOF Commander

September 25, 2018 SOF News 0

By David M. Witty Major General Fadhil Barwari, commander of the 1st Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) Brigade, Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), was a central figure in the Iraqi ethos in the struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq […]

Egyptian paratroopers coordinate CAS w/ Egyptian F-16s during Bright Star 2018 in Egypt. Photo by SrA Amanda Standord, USAF, Sep 13, 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180921

September 21, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180921 – AFSOC and hurricane relief, Syria’s strategic location, Black Hawk Down, Colombia’s CCOES scores, AFSOC and ‘high-end’ conflict, SEAL in the brig, post office renamed for GB, Syria’s strategic location, ME balance of power, COIN and […]

British helicopter flight over Kabul. Sep 14, 2018 Resolute Support photo.

Afghanistan Conflict Update 20180920

September 20, 2018 SOF News 0

Afghan Conflict Update 20180920 – Elections coming up, Afghan police taking casualties, Special Mission Wing, negotiations with the Taliban – there is lot’s going on in Afghanistan – some good and some not so good. Security Helicopter Shot Down. The […]

Mitigating Insider Threats to Advisors in Afghanistan

September 16, 2018 SOF News 0

Photo caption: Through his interpreter, an American advisor converses with his Afghan Army counterpart on an ANA FOB. The U.S. soldier is wearing personal protective equipment while armed soldiers serve as ‘guardian angels’ prepared to deal with any aggressors. [1] […]

Small Boat Team 22 performs a simulated hot extraction utilizing Special Operations Craft Riverine. Photo by Angela Fry, NSCITTS, Sep 7, 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180914

September 14, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180914 – Scotty Miller, hands-free comms for CIA and SOF, Russia’s GRU, Russia’s big war game, terrorism update, Syria conflict update, drones and Somalia, UN and humanitarian war, USIP report on extremism, Australian SOTG mission in Iraq, […]

Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) participating in a parade celebrating the liberation of Mons, Belguim in WWII. Petty Officer 2nd Class Brett Dodge, NATO, Sep 2, 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180911

September 11, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180911 – Russian PMCs in Ukraine, Special Amphibious Corpsman, meddling in SEAL rape case, Canadian SOF and keeping secrets, USSOCOM’s super SAW, Global SOF Symposium (Madrid), Admiral Harward on life as a SEAL, Russia’s DPVs, UDPFs SOC, Iran’s […]

Medical team members rush to an Afghan Mi-17 helicopter with wounded soldiers. The ANA 209th Corps abandoned Camp Gormach, Faryab province. Photo by SrA Nicholas Dutton, USAF, RS HQs.

Afghanistan Conflict Update 20180908

September 8, 2018 SOF News 0

There has been a lot of news about Afghanistan over the past week or more. Two more U.S. personnel died in Afghanistan, the Afghan October election is looming, U.S. policy towards Pakistan has stiffened, the Taliban seem resurgent, Erik Prince […]

A PJ parachutes over Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan on March 3, 2018. (USAF photo)

Special Operations News Update 20180829

August 29, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180829 – Intel conference, USSOCOM contract for air support, GB’s amazing transition story, USSOCM and its quest for technology, Yemen CRS report, Stabilization Symposium, SOF airman found dead in Japan, Don Bolduc on Africa, and more. Quote of […]

10th SFGA Europe Shooting drills. Photo by SOCEUR 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180827

August 27, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180827 – Canada to lead NATO training mission in Iraq, upcoming SOF events, ISKP head killed in Nangarhar, Pakistan’s female police commandos, BATS-D, signing the NDAA, Rohingya crisis, stabilization report, Constellis Holdings, recruiting SO airmen, Golden Knight […]

Special Forces soldier participates in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) training exercise near Stuttgart, Germany. Photo by Specialist Jason Johnson, U.S. Army, July 18, 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180816

August 16, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180816 – ISIS lingers on in Iraq and Syria, NDAA, intelligence matters, security – development nexus, book reviews, videos, IO constraints, MARSOC awards (secret missions), new bn SGM for 1st MRSB, BG (Ret) Bolduc on Afghanistan, Navy SEAL […]

CV-22 from the 8th Special Operations Squadron flies over the Emerald Coast outside Hurlburt Field. (AFSOC photo).

Special Operations News Update 20180813

August 13, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180813 – early history of the Army of Northern Virginia (ISA), video SF in Nangarhar, SF defeats ISIS in eastern Afghanistan, PKSOI going away (maybe), video of 7th SFGA Red Empire Week, Bill Cowen – covert operator, Leapfest […]

SOF operators prepare to parachute during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 exercise. Photo by Chief Petty Officer Cynthia De Leon, 17 July 2018.

Special Operations News Update 20180727

July 27, 2018 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20180727 – NZ SAS FET, Islamic State’s propaganda machine, OSINT and IW, Fuerzas Comando 2018, defeat of ISIS predicted, CJTF-OIR video briefing, America’s first spymaster, SF icon buried at Arlington, CSM Socha honored, 7th SFGA on the front […]

Bombs in a terrain denial air attack in foothills of eastern Afghanistan to prevent ISIS-K fighters from returning to territory they once held. 19 June 2018, NSOCC-A, U.S. Navy Lt. Amy Forsythe.

Afghanistan Conflict Update 20180725

July 25, 2018 SOF News 0

Security ‘Taliban Irreconcilables’. Messaging by the United States and NATO (ISAF and then Resolute Support) in the Afghan conflict over the past 17 years has been interesting. The terms, words, and phases used to describe the ever-increasing progress of the […]