What is a Combatant Command?
Editor’s Note: This article was first published in 2017 by SOF News . . . it has been updated to reflect the changes over the past decade. In addition, a recent story (Dec 15, 2025 – subscription) in The Washington […]
History
History of the 318th SOS
Story by 27th SOW. Throughout World War II, Allied forces in the Pacific theater heavily depended on the logistical support of Allied troop carrier squadrons: evacuating casualties, transporting troops and delivering supplies to forward areas. From October 1944 until its […]
OSS Anniversary – Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
The OSS anniversary is observed on June 13th each year. The Office of Strategic Services was created on June 13, 1942, in the early days of World War II to provide an intelligence service to the United States. Prior to […]
D-Day – Battle for Normandy, June 6, 1944
D-Day – The Battle for Normandy began on June 6, 1944. Allied armies stormed ashore in a huge amphibious landing accompanied by air support and paratroopers striking targets inland. Once ashore the troops pushed against German forces and established areas […]
America Marks 70th Anniversary of End of Korean War
By David Vergun. On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel and attacked South Korea. Three days later, North Korean forces captured South Korea’s capital, Seoul. The following week on July 1, the first U.S. ground troops, arrived […]
MoH for John Chapman – Battle of Takur Ghar – March 2002
President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to Technical Sergeant John Chapman posthumously during a White House ceremony. The event took place on Wednesday, August 22, 2018. The award was for conspicuous gallantry during a battle with al Qaida fighters […]
Book Review – 1st SSF in Italy 1943
By Christopher (Moon) Mullins. Bret Werner’s book, The First Special Service force at the Winter Line, Italy 1943, details the history and one of the most famous battles of the First Special Service Force at Monte La Difensa in Italy during WWII. […]
Special Operations News Update – Monday, June 21, 2021
Curated news, analysis, and commentary about special operations, national security, and conflicts around the world. Afghanistan heading south, ASD SO/LIC, oversight of SOF, celebrating Father’s Day, Danish SOF, Ukrainian SOF, USAF SR Airmen, diversity in SOF, international SOF, SFABs in […]
Book Review – The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean
When most people think about the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) they are most likely conjuring up images of men in vehicles traversing the deserts of North Africa during World War II. These forays against the Germans and Italians deep […]
Spirit 03 – Downed AC-130H During Desert Storm
Thirty years ago, on January 31, 1991, an AC-130H Spectre gunship went to the aid of U.S. Marines in contact with the enemy during Desert Storm. The aircraft and its crew of fourteen was shot down by an Iraqi surface-to-air […]
Book Review – “Phoenix Rising” by Keith Nightingale
COL Keith Nightingale (Ret) is the author of Phoenix Rising: From the Ashes of Desert One to the Rebirth of U.S. Special Operations. The book, published in 2020 by Casemate Publishers, provides a detailed look at Operation EAGLE CLAW. This […]
Film – OIF: The Fight for Baghdad
Army University Press Films announces its second film in the Operation Iraqi Freedom film series. Beginning on 1 April 2003, this film features Coalition Forces’ fight for Saddam Hussein’s capital. The film opens with the fight for Objective PEACH, covers […]
ROC(K) Solid Preparedness: Resistance Operations Concept in the Shadow of Russia
By Otto Fiala and Ulrica Pettersson, PRISM, Vol. 8, No. 4, June 2020. The complete article can be accessed here – PRISM or view the PDF. During the Cold War, NATO, led by the United States, and the Warsaw Pact, […]
Book Review – “Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”
A book published in 2017 makes for some interesting reading about the history of British special operations in World War II. In Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler’s Defeat the author Giles Milton provides an account […]
JSOU Report – Decision-Making Considerations in Support to Resistance
The Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) has published a new publication by Will Irwin that augments previous reports about ‘resistance’. This new monograph explores “. . . the variety of considerations facing decision makers, the approaches used in strategic- and […]