We certainly live in some tumultuous times, with what appears to be a full-blown culture war erupting between various factions in a highly polarized society. With social media added into the equation, Americans are thrown together into one big pool—one that is… [Read more…]
We certainly live in some tumultuous times, with what appears to be a full-blown culture war erupting between various factions in a highly polarized society. With social media added into the equation, Americans are thrown together into one big pool—one that is often filled with sharks—while the design of said social media apps has the effect of chumming the water. Maybe that’s … [Read more…]
On a recent trip to Sea World, I had an unexpected meeting with a retired sailor…a former member of the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program. Her name is Cascade, and she’s living out her retirement at Sea World. Her trainer mentioned that Cascade used to protect nuclear submarines and did all kinds of interesting things for the U.S. Navy (USN). I suppose it isn’t a bad life … [Read more…]
Green Berets assigned to a 3rd Special Forces Group Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) crept forward and took control of the compound ahead of them. The American Special Forces soldiers moved in with Afghan soldiers assigned to the 6th Kandak Commandos, Afghanistan’s frontline counter-terrorism unit. The commandos were not tethered to any one region in Afghanistan and were … [Read more…]
In a somewhat surprising move, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced last week it will rent out portions of the International Space Station (ISS) to private corporations. The plan also includes provisions to allow private astronauts to travel to the space station. According to a NASA press release, the new policy hopes to stimulate partnerships … [Read more…]
About halfway through the deployment, we got word that we were to prepare for a new recce mission, one that had special significance for the Ranger regiment. We were to recon the compound harboring the suspected Taliban leader who’d planned the Pat Tillman ambush, so that it could be assaulted by a Ranger strike force. Pat had been an NFL player who’d quit his high-paying job … [Read more…]
I love reading about Special Operations history. It’s amazing what information can be found in published sources if you’re prepared to dig around. There’s a whole hidden history that can only be compiled by doing some deep research and really looking for sources. Thankfully, some former operators penned books that are well worth tracking down. Here are four of my favorites … [Read more…]
Editor’s note: The content and photographs in this article are courtesy of Stanton Sharpe. Run your cursor over the photos for captions. For background information on the Free Burma Rangers in Burma and Myanmar, please visit this link. New Free Burma Ranger teams are routinely field tested on various skills throughout the course of the training. During the final training … [Read more…]
Change isn’t always easy, or desired. But it’s often necessary. Over the years, NEWSREP had many contributors come and go. A lot of our readers and subscribers often expressed confusion about why a certain writer is no longer with the site. To answer that type of question isn’t easy. It involves a lot of variables that are often unique and personal to each writer. We have … [Read more…]
I’m very excited to be able to share my memoir with readers today and it has already been interesting to see how the book is connecting with different people in different ways. Some readers like to read about the combat missions, some are more interested to read about getting smuggled across international borders as a journalist, while others found the last two chapters of the … [Read more…]
With “Murphy’s Law” just a few weeks away from publication, I thought I might share a few stories that just didn’t make the cut for the book. When I wrote it, I really focused on what I thought were the most important or interesting aspects of my life and discarded a lot of material that I know has been written about by others. For instance, stories about the experience of … [Read more…]
Father James F. Carney was captured in Honduras by the military during Operation Patuca River in late August of 1983. By his own admission, he was a guerrilla fighter with the Armed Forces of the People, or FAP, led by convicted Honduran terrorist Dr. Jose Reyes Mata. Carney, 58 years old, had served as a Jesuit priest in Honduras for more than 18 years. A champion of the … [Read more…]
The U.S. Navy announced on Wednesday the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman would be retired from active duty sometime in the next several years, bringing the total number of operational aircraft carriers in the U.S. arsenal to ten. The Truman was expected to undergo a major overhaul operation in or around 2024, which included replacing the nuclear fuel used … [Read more…]
