2016 - The Year in Review

SOF in 2016 – The Year That Was . . .

December 31, 2016 SOF News 0

2016 – “The Year That Was”. A collection of articles that look back at 2016 in terms of national security, defense, Middle East, Afghanistan, India, Africa, books, war, conflict, and . . . of course . . . special operations. […]

MQ-9 Reaper on flight line at Creech Air Base, Nevada. The RPA can carry four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and two 500-pound bombs. It can fly for a 18-24 hour mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Clausen).

Drones – News Reports, Papers, and Publications

December 29, 2016 SOF News 0

Drones Update 20161229 – U.S. supplied drones in Ukraine are disappointing, drone tactics in Afghanistan, counter-drone challenge, low morale and training of drone pilots, and more. Not a Good Job – Piloting Drones. “The U.S. Army and the Air Force both […]

UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from 101st CAB land at LZ in Laghman province, Afghanistan. (photo Sep 23, 2015 by CPT Jarrod Morris, U.S. Army).

Afghan War News Update 20161228

December 28, 2016 SOF News 0

News Update on the Afghan War 20161228 – Celebrated Afghan female Air Force pilot chooses to seek asylum in the United States, regional powers ‘threatened’ by Afghan insecurity, disposition of junk Afghan military vehicles, Taliban peace talks sabotaged by Pakistan, […]

SOF Operators helicasting onto a rooftop (photo from USSOCOM 2016 Factbook)

Special Operations News 20161227

December 27, 2016 SOF News 0

SOF News Update 20161227 – destruction of ISIS, Global SOF Symposium, Afghan interpreters in the lurch, fake SEAL goes to prison, French reporters embed with Iraqi SOF, top 5 Marine Corps around the world, and more. Global SOF Symposium. February 20-23, […]

Niloofar Rahmani, first female fixed-wing pilot in the Afghan Air Force. (Photo from video by Ryan M. Harper, Navy Media, 11 Mar 2015.)

Afghan War News Update

December 27, 2016 SOF News 0

Afghan war news update for 20161227 – Afghanistan has lots of generals, video of C-130J capabilities, Iran and Russia encircling U.S. in Afghanistan, video – “Bagram Airfield: 2016 Year in Review”, the downside of NDS funding “uprising militias”, and more. […]

Camp Vance Afghanistan Christmas 2002

Christmas 2002 – Camp Vance

December 24, 2016 John Friberg 0

A snowy Christmas Eve on December 24, 2002 at Camp Vance (CJSOTF-A), Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. It has been a decade and a half since the initial entry of U.S. Special Forces teams into Afghanistan. U.S. Special Forces and other […]

Afghan Air Force A-29 Super Tucano flying over Kabul - Afghanistan Conflict

Afghanistan Conflict Update – News, Pubs, & Reports

December 23, 2016 SOF News 0

Afghanistan Conflict News Update – TAPI Pipeline a ‘pipe dream’, sling load operations at Bagram AF, A-29 Super Tucanos deploy to Kandahar, Taliban in peace talks, Latvia in Afghanistan, EUPOL closing down operations in Afghanistan, and more. A-29 Super Tucanos […]

Destroyed ISIL oil tankers. (Photo by SSgt Charles Rivezzo, U.S. AFCENT Public Affairs, Dec 8, 2016). Targets were struck based on intel from the Target Fusion Cell.

CENTCOM’s Target Fusion Cell (TFC)

December 22, 2016 John Friberg 0

The newly-established Target Fusion Cell (TFC) works within the Combined Force Air Component Command (CFACC) in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR). The Target Fusion Cell is “. . . an integrated cell of intelligence analysts, targeting experts and intelligence, surveillance […]

Social Media News and the Islamic State

Social Media News – Papers, Pubs, and More

December 20, 2016 SOF News 0

Social Media News – papers, publications, commentary, and analysis on how information operations is used to influence the population in support or against governments and their security forces. Islamic State and Social Media, the Kremlin’s IO machine, ‘disinformation’ (dezinformatsiya) is […]

ANA Commando

Afghan News Update 20161216

December 16, 2016 SOF News 0

Read news updates on Afghanistan – 20161216 – Fact sheet on the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan (Oct 2016), Heart of Asia Conference, Survey of the Afghan People, Saudis role in Afghanistan, U.S. Soldier dies of wounds suffered in Afghan suicide […]

National Corruption Survey Afghanistan 2016 by Integrity Watch Afghanistan. Published December 8, 2016.

Afghanistan Update – News, Papers, and Analysis

December 14, 2016 SOF News 0

Afghanistan Update 20161214 – Recent news, reports, analysis, commentary, papers and publications on security, legalizing opium in Afghanistan, Visas for Afghan interpreters, development, governance, Pakistan, Iran, Albanian armed forces, Dostum, corruption and more. National Corruption Report 2016. Integrity Watch Afghanistan has […]

Map of Afghanistan (CIA) - Afghanistan News

Afghanistan Update – Security is Fleeting

December 10, 2016 SOF News 0

Afghan security is fleeting. The past two years the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have taken some significant loses. Casualties are at an all-time high and the desertion rate is astronomical. The Taliban are enjoying tactical successes on […]