Special Warfare back issues from September 2002:
From the commandant
Sep 01, 2002; ... While all U.S. operations in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom have been characterized by the skill and dedication of United States military personnel, the contributions of U.S. special-operations forces have been particularly valuable. To ensure that the contributions of the Army ...
'Find those responsible': The beginnings of Operation Enduring Freedom
Sep 01, 2002; ... Taliban, al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden as the rays of the early morning sun reflected from the twin towers of the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001, few Americans had ever heard those names. Within hours, however, few Americans would not have heard them. Not since Dec. 7, 1941, had the ...
In the dark: The 3/75th Ranger regiment
Sep 01, 2002; ... En route to the drop, Rangers on each chalk recited the Ranger Creed. Subsequent actions proved that they indeed exemplified the creed: `Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission.' On Oct. 19, 2001, Ranger Task ...
'We don't fail': The 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion
Sep 01, 2002; ... On Sept. 21, 2001, 10 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, Company A, 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion, received a U.S. Central Command deployment order to provide communications support to the Joint Special Operations Task Force, or JSOTF, that was being established ...
Meeting the 'G-chief': ODA 595
Sep 01, 2002; ... As the sun rose Oct. 19, 2001, in the Dari-a-Souf valley in northern Afghanistan, Captain Mike Nash waited to meet his new Afghan ally.1 General Abdul Rashid Dostum was the commander of the largest armed faction of the Northern Alliance. An ethnic Uzbek and former Soviet tank officer, Dostum had ...
'We support to the utmost': The 528th Special Operations Support Battalion
Sep 01, 2002; ... Military theorist Baron Antoine Henri de Jomini defined logistics as "the art of moving armies."' Since its reactivation in 1987, the 528th Special Operations Support Battalion has become expert in the art of providing logistics support to special-operations soldiers who are deployed on ...
Uprising at Qala-i Jangi: The staff of the 3/5th SF group
Sep 01, 2002; ... When 300 soldiers of the al-Qaeda surrendered near the city of Mazar-e Sharif Nov. 24, 2001, neithey the chiefs of the Northern Alliance nor their American advisers anticipated an uprising that would become one of the major battles of the war in Afghanistan. The mass surrender seemed to ...
'Of vital importance': The 4th PSYOP group
Sep 01, 2002; ... In 1961, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace wrote: "The psychological warfare program is of vital importance to national security and defense."1 Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, that importance became evident as the 4th Psychological Operations Group, or 4th POG, began planning ...
'Have tools, will travel': Company D, 109th Aviation Battalion
Sep 01, 2002; ... The initial success of the war on terrorism depended heavily upon the availability of assets from Army Special Operations Aviation, or ARSOA - the organization that could infiltrate special-- operations forces throughout Afghanistan. Helicopter maintenance was key to that success, and ...
The campaign in transition: From conventional to unconventional war
Sep 01, 2002; ... Unexpectedly, the war in Afghanistan accelerated ahead of the estimated timetable prepared by the staffs of the United States Central Command and its special-operations units. As had been planned, U.S. Army Special Forces detachments flew into Afghanistan beginning in October 2001. The ...
Change of mission: ODA 394
Sep 01, 2002; ... The "fog and friction of war" so often cited in military theory became a reality for the 12 soldiers of Special Forces Operational Detachment A-394 soon after their arrival in Afghanistan.1 At the "Rose Garden," a former Taliban military training camp near Kandahar, Captain Jed Samuels, ...
Caves and graves: The 19th SF group
Sep 01, 2002; ... Any doubt as to whether Army National Guard Special Forces groups can meet the standards of the active-component groups has been dispelled by SF A-detachment 923, from the 19th Special Forces Group, headquartered in Utah. Despite limited training time, these National Guardsmen unhesitatingly ...
To educate and to motivate: The 345th PSYOP company
Sep 01, 2002; ... The teams also developed themes relating to the provision of humanitarian assistance and to the value of education. The low level of education among the Afghan people was a hindrance to the PSYOP campaign. Because the low literacy rate restricted the effectiveness of written products, leaflets ...
Armed convoy to Kabul: The 3/20th SF group
Sep 01, 2002; ... "When General Tommy Franks visited the Special Forces units here," recalled the executive officer of the West Virginia National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 19th SF Group, "he said, `I've seen the 3rd Group and the 19th Group, and I can't tell them apart.'" The XO joked that both the 3rd Group and the ...
Coalition humanitarian liaison cells and PSYOP teams in Afghanistan
Sep 01, 2002; ... While deployed to Afghanistan, two coalition humanitarian liaison cells, or CHLCs from the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Knoxville, Tenn., performed similar tasks but worked for different commands and coordinated with quite different populaces. Working in conjunction ...
Ambush at 80 knots: Company B, 3/160th SOAR
Sep 01, 2002; ... One particular aviation mission during Operation Enduring Freedom proved that all the aviators within the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment are trained to the same high level of competence. After executing an operation on the Takur Ghar Mountain on March 4, 2002, in which ...
An army for Afghanistan: The 1st Battalion, 3rd SF group, and the Afghan Army
Sep 01, 2002; ... Years of civil war have left Afghanistan without a national army. Tribes and ethnic groups led by warlords were able to defeat the Soviets and, with American assistance, they drove out the Taliban. Subsequently, those tribes and ethnic groups became the dominant military forces within the ...
'Deminimus activities' at the Bagram clinic: CA Team A-41
Sep 01, 2002; ... It was a newsworthy story from Afghanistan, said CBS "Sixty Minutes Two" producer Shawn Efran.1 With the military defeat of the main force of Taliban and al-Qaeda units, the difficult task of helping Afghans rebuild their country fell to small groups of United States special-- operations ...
Forty-five seconds on a hot LZ: The 2/160th SOAR
Sep 01, 2002; ... The delay caused a problem for the ground force: There wouldn't be enough time for the ground force to move to its observation position, or OP, under the cover of darkness. The team leader requested permission to go directly to the OP. For two months early in 2002, the ...
Observations: ARSOF in Afghanistan
Sep 01, 2002; ... The success and the speed of execution of the war on terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, or OEF, were a result of years of strategic investment in personnel, training and equipment of United States Army special-operations forces, which consist of Special Forces; Rangers; Civil Affairs; ...
Vigilant Warrior 2002: War game demonstrates ARSOF's value to the objective force
Sep 01, 2002; ... The 2002 Army Transformation war game, Vigilant Warrior, demonstrated the value that United States Army special-operations forces, or ARSOF, will offer to the Army Transformation's Objective Force. This year's Vigilant Warrior, which concluded April 26, focused on assessing both the ...
As I saw it: The eyewitness report of a solider who fought during World War II and survived
Sep 01, 2002; ... When I was born in West Virginia May 11, 1923, World War I was still a vivid memory to most Americans, and war clouds had already begun to darken the skies over Asia and Europe. I was the middle of nine children three boys and six girls. When my father died in 1938, 1 did as my older ...
Tri-border area may have links to terrorism
Sep 01, 2002; ... In the wake ofthe Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., a number of regions have received scrutiny as potential vectors of international terrorism. One of those regions is the mi-Border" area of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, where frontiers of the three countries come together Like ...
Kensinger takes command of USASOC
Sep 01, 2002; ... Lieutenant General Philip R. Kensinger Jr. took command of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command from Lieutenant General Doug Brown in a ceremony at Fort Bragg Aug. 29. Kensinger was formerly the Army assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. His special-operations assignments ...
Emblem represents ARSOBL's missions
Sep 01, 2002; ... The Special Warfare Center and School's Army Special Operations Battle Lab, or ARSOBL, now has its own emblem. The emblem was created by the Army Institute of Heraldry. The five lightning bolts represent the following: Special Forces, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, Special ...
USASOC announces soldier, NCO of year
Sep 01, 2002; ... The U.S. Army Special Operations Command announced the winners of the Soldier and NCO of the Year competition July 25. The USASOC Soldier of the Year is Specialist Joshua C. Simmons, a radio and communications security repairer with Company A, Support Battalion, 1st Special Warfare ...
SWCS videotapes available through DoD Web site
Sep 01, 2002; ... Two videotape products produced at the JFK Special Warfare Center and School are now available to requestors through a Department of Defense Web site. The mountaineering video series, produced at the request of the loth Special Forces Group, consists of six videotapes: "Basic ...
96th CA Battalion soldiers receive awards for OEF
Sep 01, 2002; ... Forty-nine soldiers from the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion received awards Aug. 26 for their efforts during Operation Enduring Freedom. Awards included the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Combat Medical Badge, the Navy and ...
112th SOSB receives new commander
Sep 01, 2002; ... Lieutenant Colonel Peter A. Gallagher took command of the 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion from Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Bell Jr. in a ceremony at Fort Bragg July 3. Gallagher, a native of Pittsburg, Kan., received his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps ...
Efforts to measure PSYOP effectiveness continue
Sep 01, 2002; ... The Special Warfare Center and School's Psychological Operations Training and Doctrine Division is encouraging all sectors of the PSYOP community to help improve the success of PSYOP by offering recommendations for refining the recently proposed PSYOP measures-of-effectiveness, or MOE, model ....
The Last Battle The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War
Sep 01, 2002; ... The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War. By Ralph Wetterhahn. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2001. ISBN: 0-7867-- 0858-1. 400 pages. $27. Ralph Wetterhahn's The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War tells the story of ...
In Athena's Camp: Preparing For Conflict in the Information Age
Sep 01, 2002; ... In Athena's Camp: Preparing For Conflict in the Information Age. Edited by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt. Santa Monica, Calif: Rand Corporation, 1997. ISBN 0-8330-2514-7. 501 page& $36. In Athena's Camp is a collection of essays ,that discuss ways in which conflict can be waged ...