SOF News Update 20170705 – SOF mission in Syria, women and the draft, SOF’s cultural failure in Philippines, B-54 SADM & SF, Jackie Chan’s next movie, ARNG sniper school at Fort McCoy, “Russian” brigade at NTC, French military in the Sahel, forward-basing in Europe vs. rotating units, recruiting women for the military, and more.

Bearded SOF in Syria. David Ignatius writes about the Special Forces mission in Syria – their daily routine, living conditions, dangers, and the fact that they are “winning”. Read “Meet These Brave Americans in Syria”, The Washington Post, July 3, 2017.

Women and the Draft? With all the fuss about women’s equality in the military and Congressional push for including women in SOF and combat arms units one would think that there would be momentum for true equality. Not so much. Read “Congress Shelves Plan to Have Women Register for the Draft”, Task and Purpose, July 1, 2017.

B-54 SADM (Backpack Nuke) and Special Forces. For a quarter of a century Special Forces A-teams trained on how to infiltrate behind enemy lines with the B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition. MAROPs, HALO, and other specialty teams trained on ways to bring in the back pack nuke to hit highly sensitive and critical targets in case of a general war with the Soviet Union. Read “For 25 years, U.S. Special Forces Carried Miniature Nukes on Their Backs”, Smithsonian.com, February 10, 2014.

When the Going Gets Tough – A SEAL’s Advice. When faced with adversity or hardship it is tough to live a normal life. A person needs resilience to live a fulfilling life. Learn more in “A Navy SEAL’s Advice on Living a More Fulfilling Life”, Task and Purpose, April 13, 2015.

French and U.S. Non-Cooperation in the Sahel. The French want to create a regional African security force in the Sahel region of Africa to fight extremist and terrorist groups. However, this move is opposed by the U.S. – for reasons not entirely clear to many observers. Read more in “The U.S.-France Dustup Over Counterterrorism in the Sahel”, RAND Corporation, June 2017.

Transgender Policy On Hold. Military chiefs will get another six months to conduct a review to determine if allowing transgender individuals to enlist in the armed services will affect the readiness or lethality of the force. Read “Mattis delays new transgender policy for US military”, Military Times, June 30, 2017.

SOF’s Cultural Failure in the Philippines. Cole Livieratos, an Army officer in Military Information Support Operations (MISO), has penned an article critical of U.S. Special Operations Forces past mission in the Philippines. He believes that USSOCOM, with its current priorities and organization, “. . . is not positioned to defeat the Islamic State because it does not prioritize operations to limit the Islamic State’s global appeal.” He cites as an example the resources and priorities to the SOF units involved in the fight against the Islamic State in the Philippines. A excellent read! See “A Cultural Failure: U.S. Special Operations in the Philippines and the Rise of the Islamic State”, War on the Rocks, July 3, 2017.

NTC and It’s “Russian Brigade”. Many field exercises incorporate the use of Opposing Forces or OPFOR. At the National Training Center (NTC) located at Fort Irwin, California the OPFOR is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (replicating the  60th Guards Motorized Rifle Division). Read more in “Russian Combat Brigade the U.S. Army Keeps for Training”, Popular Mechanics, June 29, 2017.

Study – Forward Basing Cheaper than Rotating Units. The Army has finally figured out that forward basing a brigade in Germany is cheaper than constantly rotating units in and out of Europe. Read “Army War College report: Basing units overseas is cheaper than troop rotations”, Army Times, July 1, 2017.

RAND Report – Recruiting Women. The RAND Corporation has published a 94-page paper on recruiting women for the military. Specifically, the report looks at the recent recruits’ view on the policy change allowing women in combat and some recommendations on changes that would aid recruiting women for the military. See “Recruiting Policies and Practices for Women in the Military”, RAND, June 2017.

Movie Trailer – The Foreigner. Jackie Chan, usually known for his great karate kicks and roles in comedies, plays a more serious part as a special ops guy after his daughter is killed in a terrorist incident. The Foreigner comes out this fall. Watch the trailer in “Jackie Chan Plays a Revenge-Fueled Ex-Military Super Spook in ‘The Foreigner'”, Task and Purpose, July 3, 2017.

Army NG Sniper Course at Fort McCoy. The Army National Guard has an new 10-day sniper course that trains marksmen on sniping tactics, techniques, and procedures. Read “The Army’s Specialized New Training Course is Designed to Make Snipers Deadlier Than Ever”, Task and Purpose, June 30, 2017.

Military News – Females to take boxing at West Point, how to rebuild Mosul after the ISIS, to fix Syria look to Afghanistan, arming the Kurds, and more.

West Point Boxing – Women Required to Participate. Female cadets in their plebe year at the Army academy are now required to get in the ring. They will fight bouts with other women and probably spar a bit with men in their own weight class. Second year they take wrestling; probably against other women as well. Read more in “West Point women have a new, bloody requirement as the Army completes gender integration”, The Washington Post, September 21, 2016.

Rebuilding Mosul? Once the Iraqi military (aided by Shia militia groups and the Peshmerga) take Mosul from ISIS – what happens next? For starters basic government services need to be re-established. There are some ways that the U.S. government can assist in this huge endeavor. Read more in “After Mosul Falls, How Much Rebuilding Help Should the US Give?”, Defense One, September 19, 2016.

‘Noose Tightening’ in Mosul Battle. In other military news, General Dunford (CJCS), had some comments on the upcoming battle to retake Mosul. (U.S. DoD News Release, Sep 20, 2016).

Responding to Moscow’s Propaganda? Neutralizing Russia’s influence operations will need to be a priority over the near term and possibly into the future. Read more in “To Counter Russian Disinformation, Look to Cold War Tactics”, Defense One, September 20, 2016.

For a Clue on Syria Look to Afghanistan. One writer examines the Soviet experience in Afghanistan for the way forward in Syria. Read “What the Soviet Defeat in Afghanistan Tells Us about Syria”, The National Interest, September 19, 2016.

Arming the Kurds? The most dependable U.S. allies in the Middle East (besides Jordan, Israel, UAE, and a few others) are the Kurds. Read “Obama Administration Considers Arming Syrian Kurds Against ISIS”, The New York Times, September 21, 2016.

SOF News Update: Ventura pursuing suit to Supreme Court, who founded the Islamic State, who is the Syrian Opposition, GWOT, new cdr for SOCSOUTH, generals in politics, and Air Force pilot shortage.

Operation EPIC 2016. Learn how the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) assists its scholarship recipients in the transition from high school to college. Read Operation EPIC 2016, SOWF, August 4, 2016.

New Cdr for SOCSOUTH. The Special Operations Command South has a new commander – Rear Admiral Collin Green. He is a long-time member of the U.S. Navy’s SEAL community. SOCSouth’s mission is to plan, direct, and execute special operations missions throughout Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Read more in “Rear Admiral Takes Control of SOCSOUTH”, South Dade News Leader, August 12, 2016.

Jesse Ventura going to Supreme Court. The courtroom drama of the suit against Navy SEAL Chris Kyle continues. Former Minnesota Governor, former SEAL, and former movie star Ventura plans to take his defamation fight against the estate of slain Chris Kyle to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ventura took issue with Kyle’s claim in his autobiography, “American Sniper”, that he punched Ventura at a California bar in 2006 for making offensive comments about SEALs. Read more in a news report in The Gazette, August 11, 2016.

U.S. SF and Kurds Kill ISIS Financier. Kurdish authorities say that a combined Kurd and US Special Forces mission was conducted that killed a militant financier of the Islamic State. Read more in “Joint US-Kurdish special forces raid kills IS financier”, Middle East Eye, August 16, 2016.

Green Beret Tim Kennedy Returns to UFC. SFC Tim Kennedy, a member of the 19th Special Forces Group (National Guard), is returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship ring. Read more in “Tim Kennedy is returning to the UFC cage”, Army Times, August 12, 2016.

US SOF and Afghan SOF Fight ISIL-Khorasan in Afghanistan. The Islamic State established a base of operations in eastern Nangarhar province in the past few years. However, the group has been getting hit hard by the Taliban, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), and U.S. SOF. In addition, airstrikes (manned and unmanned) have taken its toll on the group. The US SOF, working alongside Afghan SOF, recently completed a 30-day operation against ISIS in Nangarhar. In addtion, the ISIS emir, Hafiz Sayed Khan, was recently killed in an airstrike in Achin district, Nangarhar province. Read more in “ISIL Leader in Afghanistan Targeted in Airstrike”, U.S. DoD News, August 12, 2016.

Details of Parachute Death of 1st SFGA Soldier. On September 11, 2015 Captain James Ahn fell to his death during a parachute jump. A manufacturing defect in his reserve parachute, along with other mistakes, was the cause of the death. Read more in a news story by The News Tribune, August 11, 2016.

Who Founded the Islamic State? There is lots of hype in the political world (I rarely venture) on who founded the Islamic State. One author, Benjamin Gilbert, provides his explanation in “This is how the Islamic State was founded”, Vice News, August 11, 2016.

Video – What SOF are Saying about Trump. A short 2-min long video by former-Green Beret Scott Mann tells us “What elite forces are saying about Trump”, Business Insider, August 10, 2016.

Who Are the Syrian Opposition? A new report divides the known active Syrian Opposition and associated factions into seven categories. Read more in “Syrian Opposition factions in the Syrian Civil War”, Medium.com, August 10, 2016.

15 Years Later – Are we Safer? “The United States has spent $1 trillion to defend against al-Qaeda and ISIL, dirty bombs and lone wolves, bioterror and cyberterror. Has it worked?” Read “15 Years After 9/11, Is America Any Safer?”, Defense One, August 11, 2016.

AF Pilot Shortage? Blame Congress. The Secretary of the Air Force – Deborah Lee James – says Congress shares part of the blame for the shortage of U.S. Air Force pilots. Read more in Task & Purpose, August 11, 2016.

Women Not Passing USMC IOC. It appears that women are having a hard time getting through the Marines Infantry Officer Course. The latest woman to try out was dropped for not completing two conditioning hikes. A lot of men failed the same 84-day long course as well. Read more in “Female Marine can’t complete Infantry Officer Course, no more women now enrolled”, Marine Corps Times, August 12, 2016.

Should Retired Generals Engage in Politics? The recent speeches made by two generals (Flynn and Allen) at the Democratic and Republican conventions caused a stir. One retired four-star, General Dempsey, came out strongly against such speeches. But not all flag officers agree with Dempsey. Read “Don’t Box Retired Generals Out of Politics”, by Eric T. Olson, Defense One, August 11, 2016.

GWOT National War Memorial? Is it too soon for a memorial? Should we wait until the war on terror is won? Read more in “It’s Time to Start Building the Next National War Memorial”, Task & Purpose, August 11, 2016.