Free Republic

A global-expedition leader reflects on his latest mountaineering adventure with his son and two Green Berets Sheer grit, dig-down-deep determination, and a fortitude not matched by most of the toughest men I’ve ever known, were the all-encompassing descriptions – perhaps the only adequate ones – I felt as I watched retired and disabled U.S. Army Green Berets ascending and descending the great Denali (Mt. McKinley), Alaska. The expedition up the mountain was not only unforgettable; but in many ways a once-in-a-lifetime experience; proving once again that it’s not always the objective gained, but the quest to achieve it (And this...

"Combat Effectiveness" Being Degraded by Obama's Military Policies By evaluating an overwhelming amount of evidence that has been building for 6 ½ years, the obvious conclusion personnel with extensive military experience will come to, is that Obama’s military policies have been degrading the finest US military fighting force in history. Over the last 6 ½ years, the US Armed Forces has been hollowed out by Obama, his Social Experiment On Diversity has severely fractured unit cohesiveness, his “Politically Correct Policies” have negatively affected unit morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the US military is being degraded. Tip of the spear...

They were the first troops to hit the ground in Afghanistan while al Qaeda’s dirty work still smoldered back in the United States. On foot, helicopter and horseback, ArmySpecial Forces showed that if the U.S. was to win a long counterinsurgency war against Islamic extremists, the special skills of Green Berets would be fundamental. Nearly 14 years later, these soldiers, some of the military’s smartest and best trained, are still creating lots of headlines, but not necessarily for heroics.

This man must be remembered for what he said and for what he stood for. Suprisingly, the liberal left seems to have forgotten this man already. Roy P. Benavidez. Donald Trump might very well show honor to the productive Hispanic citizens living here by resurrecting his memory. Go here to read: Click here.Go here to see and listen: Click here.Go here for previous FR story: Click here.

With the fascist left on a fascist rampage, why not add a little defiance to your 4th of July by watching five patriotic movies that piss off The Man. The Man of course being the dominant Left-wing political culture that is currently banning “The Dukes of Hazzard” and hoping to get its tyrannical hands on “Gone With the Wind.” The Green Berets (1968) Because he loved America and freedom and didn’t want to see either lose a vitally important war, John Wayne spent a lot of his movie star capital directing and starring in “The Green Berets” for Warner Brothers....

The secretary of the Army is defending his decision to strip awards for heroism from a former Green Beret officer, saying the soldier demonstrated a "lack of honorable conduct" after he earned the medals. Golsteyn was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military's rules of engagement in combat — a violation related to the killing of a known enemy bombmaker, according to officials familiar with the case. The investigation closed in 2014 without Golsteyn's being charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John McHugh made the rare decision to strip him of both awards anyway. (snip) In a...

Members of the WW2 special forces unit, forerunners of the Navy SEALS, receive a Congressional Gold Medal.

Elite Army troops have disparaged the fighting capability of Afghan troops to military investigators probing the deaths of five soldiers in a friendly fire incident earlier this year, according to a published report. The Washington Times claims that several Green Berets have described how Afghan soldiers have refused to fight and hidden among trees and behind rocks when coming under fire. The criticisms came to light on the same day that the last unit of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan concluded its combat mission, handing the base known as Camp Leatherneck to Afghan troops. The comments by the Green Berets were...

A camp on the Libyan coastline meant to train terror-hunters has instead become a haven for terrorists and al Qaeda. A key jihadist leader and longtime member of al Qaeda has taken control of a secretive training facility set up by U.S. special operations forces on the Libyan coastline to help hunt down Islamic militants... In the summer of 2012, American Green Berets began refurbishing a Libyan military base 27 kilometers west of Tripoli in order to hone the skills of Libya’s first Western-trained special operations counter-terrorism fighters. Less than two years later, that training camp is now being used...

... First, the sheer adventure. Gant is a mountain man, circa 1840. He is Jeremiah Johnson, living in the wrong century. Despite his heavy drinking, volcanic mood swings and numerous wounds, he survived more than 40 months of combat. In 2003 and again in 2011, he and a dozen Special Forces soldiers lived in a mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, adjacent to the Pakistan border. When I visited that village, both the elders and the soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Infantry told tales about Gant’s exploits. He captured one insurgent after a two-day chase. Another time, he...

America’s in-demand global force against terrorists is showing signs of stress and appears to be gliding toward a decline in readiness, says a Pentagon budget overview on special operations forces. With the end of U.S. military operations in the Iraq War, the thought was that fewer deployments would give some relief to special operations forces after a dozen years of overseas fighting. But the 2015 budget overview says demand for special operations forces is up, not down. It talks of “significant stress on the force” and notes that the demand for Delta Force troops, Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other...

Masked from public view, two of the U.S. military’s elite special operations commandos have been awarded medals for bravery for a mission that further undercuts the Obama administration’s original story about the Benghazi tragedy. For months, administration officials have claimed no special operations forces were dispatched from outside Libya to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012, al Qaeda terrorist attacks on the U.S. diplomatic mission and CIA annex because none was within range. The Pentagon, under intense public criticism for not coming to the aid of besieged Americans, published an official timeline in November that carefully danced around the issue....

This is a brief story on Ken Snyder experiences with the SOG unit that he had served while in Vietnam. Special Operation Group - code name Studies and Operations Group to make it seem like a liaison to academia. SOG conducted reconnaissance missions in North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Operating unofficially in the no play area, so to speak. Ken also talks about working with the "Montagnards", the mountain people of Vietnam that hated the South Vietnamese as much as they hated the North Vietnamese. westernshootingjournal.com/stories/deep-in-enemy-territory/

Many speak; but not nearly enough listening. More must 'wake up' and damn the bonds of political correctness - restore 'critical mind' - so that America can recover it's original-intent purpose. Lt.Gen. Jerry Boykin; 'Special Forces'; Green Beret. . .taught at Hampden-Sydney; now Exec.Vice President/Family Rersearch Council - 'owns' his credentials; and so, has both credibility and authority. A video link to share. Lt.Gen.Boykin: marxist insurgency link Further hand/in/hand verification: http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/why

The Syrian crisis unbelievably took another turn for the worse Saturday, Dec. 29: After making no headway with Bashar Assad in Damascus, the UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was told in no uncertain terms by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow: “There is no possibility of persuading Syrian ruler Bashar Assad to leave Syria.” As they spoke, a record 400 people died in hostilities in the country. The burnt remains of hundreds of people slaughtered by the army were discovered in a Homs district. And Syrian opposition leaders have repeatedly preconditioned their acceptance of the Russian invitation to talks...

Earlier this week, Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc., a group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces personnel, launched a campaign criticizing President Barack Obama for unfairly taking credit for killing Osama bin Laden and leaking national security information for political gain. This is the second high-profile attack on the president from ex-elite military operatives. Last month, Ryan Zinke, a Montana State Senator and former commander of Navy SEAL Team Six, started a super PAC, Special Operations for America, which is dedicated to supporting Mitt Romney and hitting President Obama on leaks and on politicizing Bin Laden’s death. According...

Special ops group attacks Obama over bin Laden bragging, leaks... A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is set to launch a media campaign, including TV ads, that scolds President Barack Obama for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and argues that high-level leaks are endangering American lives. Leaders of the group, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, say it is nonpartisan and unconnected to any political party or presidential campaign. It is registered as a so-called social welfare group, which means its primary purpose is to further the common good and its...

Earlier this week, a group of former special forces and intelligence agents launched a media campaign criticizing President Obama for the White House’s poor handling of sensitive national-security information and for Team Obama persistently using the death of Osama bin Laden as a subject for bragging rights. The Obama campaign can’t have that — Obama almost certainly plans to bring up his daring OBL raid during any foreign policy discussions we have on our way to November, and members of the military and intelligence community rallying in criticism of Obama’s national-security creds would certainly put a damper on that. I’d...

CNN is harping on the "partisan" connections of a group of military veterans criticizing President Obama, likening it to Swift Boat, yet it has helped further liberal partisan attacks in the past through its own biased coverage. "A new group of veterans, including former Navy SEALs, accuses President Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden. The group says it's nonpartisan. But a CNN investigation finds it has close links to the Republican Party," reported Joe Johns on Thursday's The Situation Room. "I know you know some of the criticism, and the criticism is that...

ZAMBOANGA, PHILIPPINES U.S. troops in the southern Philippines face the prospect of battle with descendants of the Muslim insurgents that brought U.S. General John "Black Jack" Pershing to the country more than a century ago. Before deploying to Basilan on the weekend, the Green Berets took seminars on the roots of Muslim rebellion in the poverty-wracked south as they brought Washington's war on terrorism to one of the most remote parts of the former U.S. colony. "It's an old war," said Datu Amil Jumaani, a Muslim professor who lectured the U.S. troops. Arab missionaries brought Islam to the Philippines in ...