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Menton Day

Saturday, December 5th, 2020

05 Dec 1944 is a somewhat sad day in SOF history. Known as Menton Day, December 5th marks the last formation of the 1st Special Service Force.

The 1st Special Service Force (also called The Devil’s Brigade, The Black Devils, The Black Devils’ Brigade, and Freddie’s Freighters), was a combined American-Canadian commando unit in World War II.

Organized and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in 1942, the Forcemen fought in the Aleutian Islands, Italy, and southern France before being disbanded on this day in December 1944.

One of the Force’s most harrowing missions was the attack on Monte La Difensa in Italy during December, 1943, which required the men to climb the mountain and surprise the German defenders.

This painting by Peter Dennis comes from tge Osprey book, “RAID 48: Storming Monte La Difensa,” written by Bret Werner.

Despite being from two different countries, the members of the Force became a United team. The story goes that the FSSF soldiers assembled at 1400 hours for a somber farewell. The order announcing the Canadian’s departure was read, followed by remarks from the commander, Col. Edwin A. Walker, the roll of the fallen, prayers, and a playing of taps. After the FSSF colors were sheathed, the order was given: “All Canadians fall out!” The 620 Canadian soldiers paraded, and received a salute from the Americans.

A Canadian sergeant from the 2nd Regiment remarked years later, that “It was the saddest day of my life, I think…Canadians were falling out that I thought were Americans and Americans were standing still who I thought were Canadians…There was no nationality in that bloody unit.”

Thanks to Mud at SFA Chapter LX for some of the narrative.

Posted in History, SOF | 9 Comments »

AFSOC’s SOF DT Undergoes Transformation

Saturday, December 5th, 2020

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

As Air Force Special Operations Command drives towards transformation to the “AFSOC of Tomorrow” by developing its human capital, the Special Operations Forces Developmental Team instituted a more rigorous evaluation and scoring process to give SOF officers more specific feedback and purposeful career development. This enhanced process kicked off this year with the Apr. 20-24, 2020 SOF DT.

“Over the last five to seven years, development team scoring hasn’t changed,” said Maj. Brandon Webster, Chief, Command Force Development. “There was no clear path on how we wanted to develop an individual, and we wanted to give officers more options and transparency on the future of their career.”

Historically, the DT only scored records for officers who were being considered for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. The new process now incorporates scoring to begin with Captains, allowing for feedback and mentorship at a much earlier point in an officer’s career.

“Looking at an officer earlier on allows us to be intentional,” said Webster. “We now have the ability to look at a Captain’s records and tell him or her where they stand against their peers, and what their career pathway could look like five to ten years down the road based on where they’re at right now.”

DT record scoring provides objective data for more informative assignment placement, hiring for special duty positions, flying assignments outside of an officer’s normal aircraft, and the addition of sub-developmental pathways.

“Overall, we’ve revamped the entire DT process. We’re focusing a lot more time on the individual to provide substantial feedback and mentor our officers at all levels, beginning at the rank of Captain,” said Webster. “It is the DT’s responsibility to ensure the right officer is placed in the right job at the right time, with the right training, education, and experiences.”

The fall DT, held Oct. 19-23, consisted of group scoring for Captains, Majors, and graduated squadron commanders. Each officer’s developmental vector will follow a percentile format, giving members direct feedback on where they fall among their peers.

“Synchronizing our efforts provides senior leadership the ability to manage officers and strengthen our future force,” said Webster. “The transformation of the SOF DT is one-step closer to building the SOF officers we need for tomorrow.”

Story by Capt Savannah Stephens, AFSOC Public Affairs

Photo by SSgt Rose Gudex

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post, Profession of Arms, SOF | 1 Comment »

Special Operations Terminal Attack Controller Course

Monday, November 30th, 2020

The Special Operations Terminal Attack Controller Course (SOTACC) is hosted by the 24th Special Operations Wing, which allows trains SOF from all branches and partner nations to receive their Joint Terminal Attack Controller certification. Students conduct special operations focused close air support missions from several types of aircraft.

(U.S. Air Force photos by Tech. Sgt. Rose Gudex, ST Combat Camera)

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Aviation, SOF, Training | 6 Comments »

SOFWERX – Human-Centered Design for Global Situational Awareness Event

Friday, November 27th, 2020

SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM PEO-SOF Digital Applications (PEO-SDA), is seeking visionary innovation in the design of user experience with transformational decision support. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will contribute to technology roadmap development, experimentation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled capabilities to unify the SOF enterprise via a Common Operational Picture (COP) providing global situational awareness.

The event will span February – June 2021.

SMEs needed in the following multi-disciplinary focus areas:

• UX-Oriented Digital Transformation

• SOF Decision Environment / Decision Modeling

• Visual Analytics & Information Visualization

• Haptic Technologies

• Artificial Neural Networks

• Natural Language Processing

• Joint All-Domain Command & Control

• Modular Open Systems Approach

Interested parties must submit NLT 17 December 11:59 PM EST.

events.sofwerx.org/humandesign

Posted in Digitization, SOF | Comments Off on SOFWERX – Human-Centered Design for Global Situational Awareness Event

Son Tay Raiders Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Operation, Release New Book, Film Documentary

Saturday, November 21st, 2020

Today is the 50th anniversary of Operation Ivory Coast, the famous joint service raid deep into North Vietnam to rescue American POWs held by the communists in a camp near Son Tay.

Principally, the assaulters were members of Army Special Forces recruited for a secret mission from units in Fort Bragg and the Aircrews who were responsible for getting them there were Air Force.

The Raiders flew to the target from an Intermediate Staging Base in Thailand on HH-3s and were refueled by HC-130s. An MC-130 served as pathfinder, leading the mission. There was also armed overwatch via AC-130 gunship and A-1E Skyraider. A myriad of other aircraft provided support from afar for the assault element, including command and control, intelligence overwatch and suppression of enemy air defense.

The Navy also played a vital, although unwitting role by flying MIG Combat Air Patrols and conducting deception operations to keep the North’s air defense system busy. Thanks to their efforts, the North Vietnamese didn’t get one aircraft off the ground that night. Ironically, none of the Navy crews knew what they were doing until was all over.

But to get the ball rolling, the task force was assembled at Eglin Air Force in Florida where it trained for the mission in isolation and secrecy. So careful were planners that rehearsals were conducted only when Soviet satellites weren’t overhead so as not to alert the communist bloc of an impending operation. They even went so far as to disassemble the target camp in between rehearsals. Planners also had access to ‘Barbara’, the code name for a scale model of the compound.

Elements and aircraft were assigned code names. All of this secrecy led to the infamous commemorative patch created by the Air Force crews featuring a mushroom with the letters KITD FOHS for Kept In The Dark, Fed Only Horse Shit.

The actual raid was called Operation Kingpin and was initiated when an HH-3, call sign Banana-1, purposefully killed the engine and autorotated into the POW camp, Raiders running out of the stricken aircraft once it came to rest. In all, the ground force consisted of three teams: an assault group, a support group, and a command and security group.

Although the task force succeeded in breaching the compound, it turned out to be a dry hole, the POWs having been moved days earlier. The ground force having spent 28 minutes in the ground.

Despite this tactical loss, the operations proved a strategic victory. The North Vietnamese moved American POWs together and improved their conditions which greatly raised morale.

As you can see, Operation Ivory Coast was a major operation, serving as the template for multiple deep enemy ration raids for decades.

Unfortunately, United Special Special Operations Command had to cancel their event due to COVID-19 restrictions so the Silent Warrior Foundation stepped in and out a great weekend together. It is an amazing event and Silent Warrior Foundation even worked with a Hollywood prop house to recreate the clothing and equipment each man wore on the raid.

Seen above are Neal Westbrook, Colonel USAF, Ret. Son Tay Raider (Lime 2), Terry Buckler, Sergeant, USA Son Tay Raider (Red Wine), Vladimir “Jake” Jakovenko, Sergeant Major, USA Ret. Son Tay Raider (Green Leaf) John Gargus, Colonel, USAF, Ret. Son Tay Raider (Cherry 2) Tyrone Adderly, Sergeant Major, USA Ret. Son Tay Raider (Red Wine)

There’s not enough room on SSD to tell the whole tale and numerous books have been written about the operation like “The Son Tay Raid” by air planner and pilot Col. John Gargus.

However, a new book has just been released, “Who Will Go” by Terry Buckler. It is the first time the tale has been told by a Raider with actual boots on the ground. He was assisted in his effort by CI-author Cliff Westbrook. Author Terry Buckler was there as the RTO for the Redwine element. Even better, he was the “baby” of the group and had not served in combat in SE Asia prior to the assault.

For those of you interested, you can get a copy of “Who Will Go” signed by the Raiders on hand for the event by visiting silentwarriorfoundation.com/collections/gear-accessories/products/signed-book-who-will-go.

During the event, a documentary is also being produced. “Operation Kingpin” can use your support to finish their work.

Posted in Air Force, Army, History, SOF | 29 Comments »

27 SOCS Tests New Equipment, Supports Special Tactics Training

Saturday, November 21st, 2020

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. —

The 27th Special Operations Communications Squadron utilized new equipment to provide over 60 special tactics Airmen assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, with network access to ensure that the teams could have full access to the necessary resources to ensure proper training while at Cannon.

The tactical local access network is a piece of mobile tactical equipment that provides the ability for more online services in an isolated area. It is utilized by pairing with a satellite dish network, which normally provides support for five to ten computers, and moves the workload off of the SDN to the TACLAN, which provides access for 75 computers.

“The TACLAN gives us the same capabilities as the base’s network system,” said Staff Sgt. Thomas Jara, 27 SOCS non-commissioned officer in charge of the TACLAN team. “Printers, shared drives, we can control everything the base would on the TACLAN. As of right now, Cannon is the only base in the Air Force Special Operations Command and United States Special Operations Command utilizing this model.”

This is the first time that the current TACLAN model has been mobilized to provide mission support. While the team was able to properly operate the system for the 22 STS’s training operations, the TACLAN team is currently planning to receive more training on how to better utilize the equipment.

“We are deployable with this capability, but I want to be better,” Jara said. “While we are able to fix any issues that arise while working the system, I want more people to learn the system so it becomes commonplace.”

While the team maintained the system so it was fully operational, Maj. Emily Short 27 SOCS commander, came by to receive a brief overview on what they were working on.

“The TACLAN team is phenomenal,” Short said. “This training gives them an opportunity to learn more, allow younger Airmen to grow alongside them, and this operation has given us the opportunity to link up with other organizations for cross-utilization which can only lead to further growth for our efforts.”

While the satellite currently used with the TACLAN system allows up to 75 users, the 27 SOCS has access to equipment that would allow over 300 users on the system.

“I think the system absolutely bolsters our capabilities,” Short said. “It helps our users, people like mission planners and members of the 22 STS during this training operation. Speeding up their network gives them better planning control and speeds up the planning process. It all leads to increased lethality in the end.”

By Senior Airman Vernon R. Walter III, 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Comms, Guest Post, SOF | 1 Comment »

Green Faces

Thursday, November 5th, 2020

Green Faces is owned by a former frogman friend of mine who wanted to create cool momentos for his fellow SEALS and raise money for charity while doing it.