SOF News Weekly Update for 20160911 – 9/11 anniversary, new facilities upgrade for SF Combat Diver school, Turkish incursion into Syria, USSOCOM innovation, MoE and Psychological Operations, peace in Colombia, MARSOC dogs, and more.
9/11 Anniversary. Today is the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
MARSOC Dogs. The Raiders of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) have some specially-trained canines who train, jump, swim, and deploy with them. Read more and view some impressive photos in “These awesome dogs are full-on MARSOC operators”, We Are The Mighty, August 26, 2016.
NSW Stennis Receives Award. The three components of Naval Special Warfare (NSW) at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi were presented the “Industrial Award of Excellence” from the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission. Read more in a news report – NSW Stennis Commands Receive Prestigious Award, DVIDS, August 25, 2016.
Fleming Key Upgrade. The U.S. Army’s Special Forces Combat Diver school is getting a facilities upgrade. Read more in “Army Special Forces upgrading facilities”, Florida Key News, August 29, 2016.
White House Stalls – Green Berets Sit on Sidelines. The Turkish incursion into northern Syria was supposed to have a contingent of about 40 Green Berets. But when the Pentagon requested the go-ahead from the White House the bureaucrats stalled. It seems they needed to have some ‘meetings’ to discuss the issue. The Turks went ahead without the SF teams. Read more in “Turkish Offensive on Islamic State in Syria Caught U.S. Off Guard”, The Wall Street Journal, August 30, 2016.
Australian Special Forces. An editorial in an Aussie newspaper questions the ‘call-out’ procedures and use of SOF to respond to terrorist situations. Read more in “More reliance on special forces”, The Australian, August 30, 2016.
Birth of SAS. The Brits are working on reconstructing the early history of the Special Air Service during World War II. Read more in “Exhausted, filthy but unbowed, the birth of the SAS”, The Telegraph, August 27, 2016.
Colombia Peace Deal. For years U.S. Army Special Forces have trained up the Colombian Army. The Special Forces teams usually were from the 7th Special Forces Group. In addition, teams from the 20th Special Forces Group spent time in Colombia as well. One of the longest conflicts in modern times pitted government troops against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It appears, at least for the moment, that peace will break out. So what comes next in the aftermath? Read more in “Post-Conflict Colombia: It’s Complicated”, The CIPHER Brief, March 16, 2016.
USSOCOM Reaches Agreement to Collaborate on New Technologies. The United States Special Operations Command has penned an agreemtn to work with the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) on the production of innovative technologies. Read more in Government Security News, August 29, 2016.
US SOF in Latin American – Pace Picks Up. One alarmist sees problems with the increased activity of U.S. special operations forces training in South America. Read “US Special Ops Training in Latin America Tripled, Docs Reveal”, Common Dreams, August 31, 2016.
PSYOP and MoE. Two officers, one Army and one Air Force, have wrote a paper about the importance of Measures of Effectiveness (MoE) in the understanding and implementation of Psychological Operations. PSYOP is an important aspect of both special operations and conventional force operations. Read more in “Falling Short in Measures of Effectiveness”, Small Wars Journal, August 30, 2016.
