On Friday, June 14—coincidentally the Army's 224th birthday—the Army unveiled its newest and most unnecessary badge: the Expert Soldier Badge. If you read this and are rolling your eyes, trust me, you are not alone. According to a press release, the Expert Soldier Badge will recognize those individuals who demonstrate a mastery of physical fitness, marksmanship, and critical … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: Say it ain’t so, Joe—the Army unveils another unnecessary badge
Steve Balestrieri Articles
Op-Ed: With Sonntag out, what happens next at the Special Warfare Center?
The Special Warfare Center, specifically the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (JFKSWC) at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, which trains Green Berets, PSYOP, and Civil Affairs soldiers, has been in a state of flux for the past two years. And the news that broke late last week won’t alleviate that instability at all in the coming months. Breitbart News’ … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: With Sonntag out, what happens next at the Special Warfare Center?
Operation Ivory Coast, November 21, 1970: The Raid on Son Tay Prison
By November of 1970, there were 450 known American POWs in Vietnam and more than double that amount who were missing. Reports were surfacing of brutal conditions, torture and starvation of American POWs. Operation Ivory Coast was the mission by U.S. Army Green Berets flown in by Air Force Commandos to rescue the POWs at a small prisoner of war camp at Son Tay, 23 miles west … [Read more...] about Operation Ivory Coast, November 21, 1970: The Raid on Son Tay Prison
Op-Ed: Why Do Women in Basic Training Make the News? They are Special Operations Forces Candidates
Just the other day the news broke that the Air Force had a woman in the training pipeline to be a member of the Air Force’s Special Operations Command (AFSOC). By entering the pipeline, she became just the 5th woman to attempt to join AFSOC. The woman chose the very important and demanding career path to be one the Air Force’s TACP operators. The TACP stands for Tactical … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: Why Do Women in Basic Training Make the News? They are Special Operations Forces Candidates
Know Your Unconventional Warfare Campaign Principles
One of our readers asked if we’d discuss some of the training that goes into Unconventional Warfare, which we’ll from this point address as UW. But it is kind of putting the cart before the horse somewhat. Many of, if not most of our readers at SpecialOperations.com are aspiring candidates to become members of our Special Operations Forces (SOF). And the UW phase of the … [Read more...] about Know Your Unconventional Warfare Campaign Principles
Op-Ed: When espionage pays, Chelsea Manning steps out for Vogue
Vogue Magazine recently did a feature including a photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz on Chelsea Manning, who they’re touting as a hero. “Chelsea Manning Changed the Course of History. Now She’s Focusing on Herself” and it is eye-opening and would be comical if it weren’t so serious. Hero? Hardly, she’s fortunate she’s not still in Leavenworth where she was serving her … [Read more...] about Op-Ed: When espionage pays, Chelsea Manning steps out for Vogue
Differences Between Foreign Internal Defense (FID) and Counter Insurgency (COIN)
Here at SpecialOperations.com, we frequently get questions from our readers, many of whom are or will shortly be aspiring members of our Special Operations Forces (SOF). Since most of our articles deal with the training aspect of SOF, we always welcome them. We had a question and answer session this past weekend in one of our forums which led to several questions being asked … [Read more...] about Differences Between Foreign Internal Defense (FID) and Counter Insurgency (COIN)
Book Review- Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
As a former Special Forces soldier, I love reading books about the Special Operations Forces of not only the United States but other countries as well. But after devouring everything I could get my hands on about Special Forces during the Vietnam war especially those men from SOG some of whom trained me when I was a young pup, I went in search of the beginnings of SF. Both … [Read more...] about Book Review- Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
Remember, Special Operations Forces Selection is Just the First, Very Small Step
I had the pleasure to host SOFREP’s Question and Answer session on Sunday afternoon where our readers posted in the “Team Room” and I was their sounding board. I just want to thank everyone for the fun back and forth session and hope that we can do it again sometime soon. We got some good overall questions about Selection which followed after the session was over with some … [Read more...] about Remember, Special Operations Forces Selection is Just the First, Very Small Step
Remembering Green Beret 1LT Loren Hagen Medal of Honor Aug. 7, 1971
As the US involvement was winding down in Vietnam in 1971, there was still dangerous work being down by the Special Operations Forces working under the cover of MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group). This in the shadows unit was once active all South and North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos but as the war was winding down for the US, these … [Read more...] about Remembering Green Beret 1LT Loren Hagen Medal of Honor Aug. 7, 1971
The “Green Beret Affair” Project GAMMA, A Massive Snafu for the Army
During the war in Vietnam, the US Army Special Forces were headquartered in Nha Trang. During this time, the Special Forces troops had a close liaison with the CIA and the two organizations worked closely on many intelligence and special operations missions. Their most successful covert intelligence unit “Project GAMMA”, had its mission effectively shut down after Gen. … [Read more...] about The “Green Beret Affair” Project GAMMA, A Massive Snafu for the Army
Nasty Nick Obstacle Course, “Navigate the Apparatus and Move Out”
Ah yes… the Nasty Nick Obstacle Course. If you are an aspiring Special Operations soldier in the Army, you will become intimately familiar with this obstacle course. It is one of those rite of passage gated events that you have to do. Part of the reason we do so much upper body training in our PT Prep sessions that we put out daily is that you’ll need that upper body … [Read more...] about Nasty Nick Obstacle Course, “Navigate the Apparatus and Move Out”