Photo Credit: AC-130 Gunship, Department of Defense
Special Operations News for 20161215 – JSOM December issue, lasers for the AC-130, video of MC-130J at work, AFSOC training events, video of Russia’s elite KSO special operations unit, JSOC, SAS, formation of a four-country joint SOF command, hotel safety check list, Canadian SF in Belize, SOF parachutes, and more.
AC-130 Laser. The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (AFSAB) is looking at the mounting of a high energy laser on an AFSOC gunship. Read “Air Force study finds operational lasers for AC-130 demo“, Flight Global, December 12, 2016.
SOF Parachute Infiltration. Read up on parachutes made for special operations forces in this Fox News report entitled “Special Forces parachutes: What you need to know”, (Dec 1, 2016).
JSOC Capabilities and Authorities Increased. The Obama administration has expanded the Joint Special Operations Command’s licence to track, plan, and launch attacks on terrorist elements around the globe. A new organization within JSOC – called the Counter-External Operations Task Force – will export the counterterrorist group’s targeting capability globally. This will be a “codification” of best practices to areas outside of conventional conflict zones (such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia). This new aspect of JSOC will allow the organization to work with foreign military, security, and intelligence agencies of other countries – usually the domain of the State Department, CIA, and FBI. Read more in “Obama administration expands elite military unit’s powers to hunt foreign fighters globally”, The Washington Post, November 25, 2016.
Are Women in Air Force Special Operations Training? Not so much. The Air Force has recently confirmed that – currently – there are no females in the training pipeline for some special opns positions such as Tactical Air Control Party (TACP). Read more in a news report by Military.com, December 7, 2016.
CANSOF in Belize. Canadian special forces personnel recently completed an exercise in Belize. Ottawa Citizen, November 30, 2016.
XMas in Early Days of SAS. Ben Macintrye writes about the Special Air Service during World War II in “Guns and rum – Christmas in the SAS”, The Times, December 15, 2016.
Green Beret’s Hotel Safety Checklist. A former Special Forces NCO provides us with his hotel checklist for how to stay safe while traveling. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286411
Establishment of Joint SOF in Europe. Four European countries – Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Croatia have signed an agreement to form up a joint airborne special operations force to fight against terrorist threats in the Mediterranean and North Africa. They will be assisted by NATO special forces elements with training and support. Read more in “Croatia to Establish Airborne Special Forces with US Assistance”, Total Croatia News, November 29, 2016.
Video of MC-130J. Watch a video of the aircraft of the 67th Special Operations Squadron at work at The Aviationist, December 13, 2016.
AFSOC Trains for the Future. Air Force special operators have been on the front lines in Afghanistan, Iraq and other hot spots around the world. The future of warfare dictates that the AFSOC operators are trained and prepared for a number of contingencies. Read more in “Air Force Special Operations Forces Train for Next Dynamic Battlefront”, Military.com, November 22, 2016.
KSO Video. Russia’s elite Special Operations Command (KSO) is featured in a nine-minute video segment of a POCCNR 24 news report. The state-run television interviews a Russian colonel about the secretive unit and displays video of the KSO training in Russia and engaged in combat in Syria. Read more in a news report (video embedded in article) by Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “New battlefield video shows how Russia’s elite KSO military unit is fighting in Syria”, The Washington Post, December 13, 2016.
Winter Issue of JSOM. The December posting of the Journal of Joint Special Operations Medicine is now posted online.
www.jsomonline.org/
