SOF News Update 20171025 – New uniform for Canada’s elite, US obesity affects recruiting, SOF’s MC-12S aircraft, French CT mission in Africa, Exercise Lightning Forge 2017, 12 Strong, SEAL Foundation relocates, OSS Award to BU professor, local businesses help out 7th SFGA, and more.
CANSOF’s New Duds. Canada’s special forces are getting new uniforms with an old look. The new duds are called the Distinctive Environmental Uniform or DEU. The uniform will provide CANSOF with a unique dress and (hmmmm) improve morale. The uniforms will be issued to ‘operators’ that have completed special forces training. The new design resembles those worn by the joint U.S.-Canadian First Special Service Force. “New special forces uniform a throwback to Second World War Devil’s Brigade”, National Post, October 15, 2017.
Local Businesses Help Out 7th SFGA. Special Forces Association Chapter 7 has been linking up 7th SFGA Soldiers with local businesses to assist the well-being of their families. (DVIDS, Oct 18, 2017).
French CT Mission in Africa. A temporary mission in Mali in response to an Islamic insurgency in 2012 has grown to a robust counter-terrorism mission by the French in several African countries. The mission is entitled Operation Barkhane and involves over 4,000 French military members based i Mali, Chad, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso. Read more in “Operation Barkhane: France’s Counter-Terrorism Forces in Africa”, The Atlantic, October 24, 2017.
SEAL Foundation Relocates. The nonprofit organization serving the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community and its families is opening a new permanent office space in Coronado, California. (PRWeb, Oct 24, 2017).
Too Fat to Fight. A Colorado nonprofit says the US military effort to recruit quality Soldiers is threatened by childhood obesity. (The Gazette, Oct 17, 2017).
BU Professor Recieves OSS Award. Joseph Wippl, Professor of International Relations at Boston University recently received an award from the Office of Strategic Services Society. Wippl is a former CIA operations officer with 30 years service. Read Wippl Receives OSS Hugh Montgomery Award, Pardee School of Global Studies (BU), October 23, 2017.
SOF’s Intel Gathering Aircraft. US SOF has a variety of aircraft for ISR purposes – most of them based on the MC12S; a Beechcraf 350-series King Air. These aircraft have a multitude of capabilities depending on how configured – to include SIGINT, video, laser imaging, and more. Read “The Army’s Latest Spy Planes Are Flying Hundreds of Hours Overseas”, The Warzone, October 19, 2017.
Lightning Forge. Elements of the 1st Special Forces will participate in an exercise to take place on Hawaii. (Hawaii Army Weekly, Oct 10, 2017).
12 Strong. A movie based on Doug Stantons book “Horse Soldiers” is coming out in January. (Army Times, Oct 24, 2017).
