MQ-9 Reaper, drone

Drones – A Revolutionary Change in Warfare

November 29, 2016 SOF News 0

Drone warfare emerged in the early stages of the Afghanistan conflict. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) was utilized for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions to develop situational awareness and complete the intelligence picture. The Central Intelligence Agency […]

Exercise Black Swan 2016 - (image from SOCEUR video 17 November 2016)

Video – Exercise Black Swan 2016 – SOCEUR

November 28, 2016 SOF News 0

Exercise Black Swan 2016 was recently held in Hungary. United States and European special operations forces conducted daytime and nighttime training exercises. Watch a short 1-minute long video at the link below:

A member of 1/1st Special Forces Group swims out from underneath his parachute canopy in a pool in as part of water jump training. (photo Richard Rzepka - USAG Okinawa).

SOF News Update 20161127

November 27, 2016 SOF News 0

Special Operations News Update for 20161127 – Recent news reports from around the world about special operations forces. AFSOC training areas increase, book review Deadly Deception, SEALs winning elected office, a SEAL leaves service to play Big Ten college football as […]

TALOS Iron Man Suit - Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (image from RDECOM video, 28 May 2015).

TALOS Iron Man Suit Prototype for USSOCOM

November 26, 2016 John Friberg 0

A prototype TALOS Iron Man Suit may soon be available for testing by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill Air Base, Florida. The Tactical Light Operator Suit or TALOS is aimed at providing special operators (Green Berets, […]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2016 SOF News 0

SOF News wishes all deployed Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, DoD Civilians, DoD Contractors, security professionals, humanitarian aid workers, expats, and that occasional OGA guy a Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you get a day of rest, eat some Turkey, and watch some […]

Social Media News and the Islamic State

Islamic State’s Use of Social Media

November 23, 2016 SOF News 0

The Islamic State has expertly used social media to advance its cause. Through the use of information operations it has recruited foreign fighters to Iraq, Syria, Libya, and other areas of the world. It has developed support groups and mechanisms […]

Son Tay Raid 21-22 November 1970 - Image from USSOCOM Facebook 21 Nov 2016)

Son Tay Raid – November 20-21, 1970

November 21, 2016 John Friberg 0

On the night of 20-21 November 1970 U.S. Special Forces Soldiers and aviation crews conducted the Son Tay Raid into North Vietnam to rescue American prisoners of war held in the Son Tay prison camp. The unit that conducted the […]

Marine special operators training during Exercise Southern Strike in Mississippi (photo MARSOC)

Exercise Southern Strike – SOF Training

November 21, 2016 SOF News 0

Exercise Southern Strike was recently conducted in Mississippi by special operations and conventional forces. The exercise took place at the Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi in October 2016. This was a “. . . total force, multi-service training […]

Intel Update - Intelligence Agencies

Intelligence Update – News, Events, Pubs, Papers and More

November 19, 2016 SOF News 0

Intelligence Update for November 2016 – News from around the world: events, activities, publications, conferences, new CIA director, National Intelligence University, UK buying Predators, “enhanced interrogation”, papers and more. Background checks in the future, drones, SIGINT and modern intelligence collection, […]