SOF and Social Media. USSOCOM says it must be able to integrate the use of social media into all of its operations. Read more in "America's silent warriors look to up their game on social media", Military Times, March 2, 2016.
SOF and Fight for Mosul. United States special operations forces are preparing the ground for Iraq's campaign to retake the key city of Mosul from the Islamic State. Read more in "U.S. Snags Key ISIS Leader as Fight for Mosul Gets Underway", Foreign Policy, March 2, 2016.
"Mother of all Battles" - Mosul. The British SAS and US special forces are gearing up to help out the Iraqi forces (and Kurds) to retake the northern city of Mosul, Iraq. Read more in "SAS and US special forces plotting mother of all battles to smash ISIS in Mosul", UK Express, March 4, 2016.
Delta Captures High-Ranking ISIS Militant. News reports say that Delta Force has captured a high-ranking Islamic State militant in northern Iraq. Presumably he will undergo some interrogation before being handed off to the Kurds or Iraqi officials. Very little chance he goes to Guantanamo, Cuba. Read more in "U.S. Delta Force Commandos Capture Suspected ISIS Militant in Northern Iraq", NBC News, March 2, 2016.
SEALs Not Getting Weapons They Need? According to one U.S. Congressman, Duncan Hunter - a former Marine- the U.S. Navy SEALs are not getting the modern weapons in the sufficient quantities that they need. General Votel - commander of USSOCOM recently endured some questioning on this matter while testifying before Congress. Read more in "Lawmakers Question Special Ops Leaders over Small Arms Shortages", Miltary.com, March 1, 2016.
SOF - Testimony Before Congress. General Votel (USSOCOM) and Theresa Whelan (SOLIC) recently testified before the House Armed Services Committee about special operations forces. Read more in "Special Operators' Challenges Call for New Priorities, Officials Say", Army.mil, March 3, 2016.
BG Bolduc Honored. BG Donald Bolduc, a former commander of the CJSOTF-A (2011) was recently given honors by some African nations. Bolduc is now the commander of Special Operations Command Africa (based in Germany). Read more in "African nation honors Laconia soldier", The Citizen, March 5, 2016.
CNN Reports Spilling SOF Secrets? It appears that if your name is Barbara Starr you get to report juicy tidbits of info on special operations mission that others would get into trouble for. Read more in a news report by Popular Military, March 4, 2016.
Combat Patches Okay . . . After All. One of the brigades of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell recently directed that personnel remove their combat patches during training. Seems that the younger troops who had not deployed were feeling inadequate. However, the acting division commander, Scott Brower (former 5th SFGA cdr) quickly changed that stupidity. The combat patches are now back on! Read more in "Directive to remove combat patches on soldiers rescinded", The Leaf-Chronicle, March 4, 2016.
New NSW Commander. Rear Admiral Timothy Szymanski - currently serving as assistant commander for operations at JSOC - will take command of the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego, California. he will replace Rear Admiral Brian Losey (who is running into difficulties getting promoted). He served at one point with the Special Operations Joint Task Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A). Read more in a news report by USNI News, March 1, 2016.
Degree in SOF. Norwich University is offering an online Bachelor of Science in Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis for current active duty, National Guard, reserve, and retired special operators. Read more at the following link. http://online.norwich.edu/ssda-strategic-studies-defense-analysis/overview