We ran across this great B roll footage of Special Tactics Airmen training.
Archive for the ‘Forces Focus’ Category
Forces Focus – USAF Special Tactics
Sunday, July 22nd, 2012Forces Focus – Finnish Sotilaspoliisit
Monday, July 9th, 2012Part of the Finnish Guards Jaeger Regiment, the Sotilaspoliisit is a small Military Police unit.
Reader JP had this to say about the video –
“The Regiment has a strong homeland defence focus, and co-operation with LE agencies and civil authorities is close.
In the video you can see a 9month conscript- based MP reserve company training in assault force operations alongside Finnish National Police. During a sustained national crisis this assistance would be a typical mission profile, especially if foreign involvement is clear.
The training scenario here is pretty much an “Urban Shield” equivalent where all necessary elements, including the reserve company have been activated in response to a large scale event. The company is tasked in the briefing to strike a location identified as being used as a crash pad by the bad guys. See what happens…
Equipmentwise a lot of the stuff is Finnish, like the Sisu XA-180 APC, the breach blankets by Verseidag Ballistic Protection, the Valmet RK95 TP rifles etc. On the other hand you can see ACOGs, Aimpoint CS, NICO bangs, Insight Technologies stuff and Dynamic Entry tools put to good use… Not to mention an oldie but goody Partner Saw!”
Thanks JP!
Forces Focus – USMC and UK Jump Ops
Sunday, July 8th, 2012Marines and Sailors from 1st and 3rd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies conducted a live jump with members of the British Army’s 148th Forward Observer Battery (Commando) at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, on June 15th. Years ago, when I was in the Army I went drinking with some of the members of the 148th when they and I were, by happenstance, all at Camp Lejeune on TDY. It resulted in one of the most epic hangovers of my life. The dive trip I took the next day at Topsail Beach basically sucked but I must say, those boys could hold their liquor and were some really great guys.
Forces Focus – UK Army to be Reduced by 23 Units by 2015
Thursday, July 5th, 2012According to the British Army’s website, “The Army is to be reduced by 23 Regular units since the Strategic Defence and Security Review as part of Army 2020. The changes are due to be implemented by 2015, with the overall mandate to reach the capacity of 82,000 for the Regular Army and 30,000 for the Reserves by 2018.”
Read all of the bad news here, www.army.mod.uk and here www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Army2020_brochure.pdf
Special Tactics Airmen Training for the ‘Mish
Wednesday, July 4th, 2012
Here, members of the 23rd STS (I was the S2 of this Squadron in the late 90s) conduct airborne training. The Water DZ is in the Santa Rosa sound off of the Florida panhandle.
Forces Focus – We Are Called Spetsnaz
Tuesday, June 26th, 2012This video originally came out last month showcasing Russian Special Forces troops. This is an English translation and it’s very interesting to see the improvements in individual equipment afforded these troops.
Forces Focus – 24 SOW Standup
Thursday, June 21st, 2012On June 1st, to little fanfare, the US Air Force activated it’s newest wing, the 24th SOW. It is comprised of the 720th Special Tactics Group and the Special Tactics Training Squadron based at Hurlburt Field, FL, the 724th Special Tactics Group, Pope Field, NC and 16 recruiting locations scattered around the country. It’s also the third wing under AFSOC alongside the 1st Special Operations Wing also located at Hurlburt Field and the 27 Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, NM.
Capabilities of the Wing include airfield reconnaissance, assessment and control. Special tactics Airmen also engage in joint terminal attack control, personnel recovery, weather and environmental reconnaissance.
“Establishment of the 24th Special Operations Wing allows a single commander to lead the recruiting, training and development of our special tactics warriors and ultimately provide combatant commanders with world-class Airmen to accomplish their mission,” said Lt Gen Eric Fiel, AFSOC Commander.
By creating the 24 SOW, not only is a single Special Tactics commander enabled to lead, but pressure is alleviated by removing the responsibility of logistical planning from the groups so they can concentrate on the operational mission. No word yet on what the additional Wing structure will consist of.
According to AFSOC, with Col Armfield’s assumption of command of the new 24th SOW, Col Kurt Buller assumed command of the 720 STG. I’m glad to see the ‘Bull’ get this command and I hope we see stars on Col Armfield and his Vice Wing commander, Col Eric Ray soon as well. I’ve worked for or with everyone of those men and they are an amazing bunch.
Having been assigned to the 720th STG and the 21st STS, I can tell you that the men and women assigned to Special Tactics are some of the finest Americans I have ever known and the most competent Special Operators I have served with throughout a variety of Army, Air Force and Joint SOF assignments.
SOFIC – Capabilities Demonstration
Thursday, May 31st, 2012MilitaryNotes Channel put together a pretty good video montage of the separate SOF capabilities vignettes demonstrated at this year’s Special Operations Forces Industry Conference and associated International Special Operations Forces Conference in Tampa, Florida. The demo was performed by SOF personnel from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Norway, Poland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
