What going on with the U.S. Army Special Forces Regiment

 
The U.S. government has made arrangements to allow U.S. Army Special Forces troops to enter Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan when chasing or hunting down Islamic terrorists. Permission can be denied, for whatever reason, but the diplomatic agreements are in place to enable the Special Forces to quickly contact the right people in each country, if there is a looming need to cross the border, and then rapidly get a decision about access.

These cross-border operations are never publicized and, as much as possible, kept secret. Any credit for Islamic terrorists killed or captured across the Afghan border is given to local forces. Often, the local troops have been trained by American Special Forces, which is one of the reasons the cross-border agreements were made. Each of the countries involved now have troops who can keep up with Special Forces operators, and understand how they operate.

Another reason for the agreements is the benefit of having the Americans track down the terrorists before they become a problem in the area they were fleeing to. For example, Kyrgyzstan does not border Afghanistan, but it contains a chunk of the Fergana Valley, a fertile, densely populated area popular with Islamic terror groups. Islamic terrorists from Pakistan or Afghanistan pass through Tajikistan on their way to Kyrgyzstan and the Fergana, often with American Special Forces in pursuit.

These border crossing permits did not happen overnight. Over the last decade, the Special Forces have developed a number (over a thousand) operators (what Special Forces troops are called) who are familiar with Afghanistan and adjacent nations. Most belong to the 3rd and 5th Special Forces Groups. These operators are part detective and part commando, tracking down Islamic terrorists throughout Central Asia, and taking them down as well.

Each of the five active duty Special Forces Groups specializes in a region of the world, and the 5th originally had responsibility for the Middle East and Afghanistan. After September 11, 2001, the other four Groups helped out, even though they don't have the language and cultural awareness talents of the 5th Group. That said, the Russian speakers of the 10th Group (specializing in Europe) found lots of people in Afghanistan and Iraq who spoke Russian.

The two National Guard Groups, the 19th and 20th have also been called up, as these groups are full of Special Forces veterans who retired or got out to get away from the frequent overseas duty (and make more money). These men have experience and skills, although they can now expect to see a lot more time overseas than the average reservists. 

Some Special Forces operators have spent 70 percent of their time overseas since September 11, 2001, and the average is close to fifty percent.

 


Originally, the 1st Special Forces Group specialized in East Asia and the Pacific (Southeast Asia, Korea, China and the Pacific in general).

 
 

The 3rd Special Forces Group specialized in the Caribbean and West Africa.

 


 


The 7th Special Forces Group specialized in Latin America. 






In the last few years, the 3rd and 7th Groups have been taking care of Afghanistan, swapping places regularly between home and Afghanistan.

Under a recent reorganization, the 3rd Group will have Afghanistan to itself, with one or two battalions from the 7th Group as needed. In effect, the 3rd Group will be responsible for Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The 3rd Group will still maintain a battalion for use in its original area (the Caribbean and West Africa). The 7th Group will also keep a battalion in its original area (Latin America).

 
The 10th Group will now devote some of its troops to Africa (the new AFRICOM).

 



The 5th Group will concentrate on the western half (Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt) of its original area of operations.

 
Each of the five active duty Special Forces groups has three battalions (about 1200 troops altogether), and each is getting another battalion. By 2013, the Special Forces will have 300 ODAs (Operational Detachment A, or “A" Teams), compared to the 180 they had on September 11, 2001. The army would like to add a battalion to the two reserve Special Forces Groups (the 19th and 20th), which would increase the number of A Teams to 420, but money has not yet been provided for that.

In the past two years, SOCOM has been shifting forces from Iraq (where it had 5,500 personnel three years ago) to Afghanistan (where it had 3,000 troops three years ago). The ratio is now being reversed, with 6,500 in Afghanistan and 3,500 in Iraq.

Most US Allies have moved all their commando forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, where they not only do what they were trained for, but also train Afghans for special operations tasks. This has already been done in Iraq, where it worked quite well. The SOCOM troops in Iraq and Afghanistan account for about 80 percent of US Special Operations forces overseas. The rest are in places like Colombia, the Philippines and Djibouti (adjacent to Somalia).

If its Friday, the North and South are exchange fire on Korean DMZ

Just FYI:

I spent most of my time, When I was in South Korea in the Gangwon province.

North Korean and South Korean military units exchanged gunfire near their border Friday.

No injuries were reported from the incident, which happened in a remote area northeast of Seoul in mountainous Gangwon province.

The shooting happened at 5:26 p.m. 

The exchange happened after North Korean forces fired two shots at a South Korean military guard post near the border in Hwacheon, South Korea, about 73 miles (118 km) northeast of Seoul, citing an official at the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The incident occurred near the strategic town of Chorwon, which was the scene of heavy fighting during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The demilitarized zone at the location of the shooting is 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) wide.


North Korea has requested record shipments of rice and fertilizer in exchange for concessions on reuniting families separated by the war, which ended in a truce, but without a formal peace treaty.

There were fatal naval clashes there in 1999 and 2002. In March this year, the sinking of a South Korean vessel killed 26 in what a South Korean and international investigatory team concluded was a North Korean torpedo attack.

The prickly relationship between the countries since the 1950-53 Korean War has had periodic conciliatory moves and flare-ups.

North Korea continues to deny involvement. 

While there are occasional shooting incidents across the demilitarized zones, the tensest flashpoint on the peninsula in recent years has been the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.

 


The South Korean troops fired back! And that a GOOD thing!

Hoo-ah: 1st SFG (A) snipers practice techniques

It’s been said that to be a good sniper, it takes good marksmanship skills, determination and patience. It is the last two traits which have helped 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) snipers hone their craft.

During the past few months, members of the unit’s operations detachment have passionately and patiently striven to improve their skills. They do this with a “let’s try it philosophy,” said one of the shooters.

“You can’t just get on a 40-percent grade rooftop and shoot off it,” explained the sniper, who can not be named for security reasons. “So we built one to practice on.”

The miniature rooftop on wheels is just one of several training tools 1st SFG (A) snipers use to perfect their skills. The idea for this training tool originated with trying to solve the problem of accurately shooting on rooftops.

It is this realistic approach to solving problems that produces the greatest results for the shooters.

A 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Green Beret displays a method of camouflage that can be used by snipers at an urban training site on Fort Lewis, Wash. The snipers continue to develop their talents through training and incorporation of real-world lessons.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” explained the sniper, who has 13 years of reconnaissance and sniping experience. “We use the same rifles and ammunition that have been in use for the past 40 years and are hitting targets that are twice the distance away from what snipers were hitting back then.”

Old technology paired up with the new makes a more capable shooter, said the sniper. He further explained that arithmetic is vital to making a successful shooter.

“A lot of what we do here is really simple,” said the sniper of the techniques that 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) uses. “The math doesn’t change; it’s just learning how to use it to our advantage.”

New formulas to compute the path of a bullet are in use by 1st SFG (A) snipers. These formulas have allowed shooters to “reach out and touch the enemy” from further distances, drastically increasing previous limitations.

A 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Green Beret displays a method of camouflage that can be used by snipers near an urban training site on Fort Lewis, Wash. The snipers continue to develop their talents through training and incorporation of real-world lessons.

The operations detachment snipers recently practiced their craft at an urban training site on Fort Lewis called Leishi Town. They conducted the training to “verify techniques” and “make sure current methods are solid,” said Maj. Michael Haber, 1st SFG (A) operations detachment commander.

Haber added that new methods of shooting have been proven in combat, and the methods’ effectiveness passed the tests at Leishi Town.

The sniper said current methods used by 1st SFG (A), along with the dedication and experience of the Green Berets in the unit, will put 1st SFG (A) at the forefront of the sniper community.

“It’s important to be humble to learn new things, but we’re not scared to try new things,” said the sniper. “We’re trying to shoot as far as we can. If (a new method) works and there is a combat application for it, we will use it. We owe it to America to be the best.”