Acting SECDEF is a retired Green Beret

When President Donald Trump fired former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, he chose to replace him with someone from outside the Pentagon, rather than elevate Esper’s deputy to the acting SECDEF role. He chose Chris Miller, a retired Special Forces colonel who had been serving as the National Counterterrorism Center’s director. His resume includes a stint as the assistant defense secretary for special operations/low intensity conflict, as well as a battalion command back at 5th Special Forces Group, during the early days of the war in Afghanistan.

Miller became the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in August following a bipartisan confirmation vote in the Senate, a vote Trump touted when naming him as the acting head of the Pentagon, bypassing the deputy secretary of defense who would normally take over on an acting capacity should the defense secretary be fired.

Prior to leaving the NCTC, Miller was working at the Pentagon as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism.

Before his most recent tour at the Pentagon, Miller was working in the Trump White House, serving from 2018-2019 as the as the special assistant to the President and senior director for counterterrorism and transnational threats at the National Security Council.

Officials say Miller was a driving force in some of the President's anti-Iran and anti-Hezbollah policies, as well as counterterrorism efforts linked to the wars in Syria and Iraq. Prior to going to the White House, Miller served in the Army for 27 years, first as an enlisted soldier and later commissioned as a Special Forces officer, deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq during the earliest days of the US military interventions in both countries.

5th Special Forces Group races in the Mint 400 Desert Off-Road Race

The 5th Special Forces Group had a team racing in the Mint 400 – an annual off-road desert race that took place in Las Vegas, Nevada in early March 2020. The Mint 400 is one of the oldest and prestigious off-road races in America. It is held every year in March. This years event had over 550 race teams competing in many race classes over a very rough 400 mile course.

The race was started in 1968 by the Mint Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The event discontinued after the 1989 race but then resurrected in 2008. Currently the Mint 400 is one of the largest off-road races in the world. This years event was observed by over 65,000 fans.

One of the events in the race was the Mint 400 Military Challenge. This year over $100,000 was raised for charitable foundations that support veterans and their families. The military class featured a variety of combat vehicles in the race and for display to the fans.

The 5th Special Forces Group operational detachment ‘A’ entered two GMV 1.1 vehicles loaded with weapons, radios, and other geared suited for combat rather than a off-road race. The ODA pushed the vehicles to the limit in the unique desert setting. This was the first time that an active duty military element has participated with military vehicles.

The Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 is highly mobile and suited for all-terrain. It is considered armor ready and can carry four occupants in a multi-role configuration. The vehicle can be transported inside a CH-47 Chinook and the V-22 Osprey aircraft.

In 2019 representatives from the Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) participated in the event. They were able to raise funds for the Marine Raider Foundation.

The Mint 400 Military Challenge will likely be an annual event that will add to the overall Mint 400 race. In addition, it is an event that will continue to raise money for worthy causes that help military service members, veterans and their families.

View the short video of the Mint 2020 race highlights:



Article from SOF News

President Trump awards Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Matthew Williams

President Donald J. Trump awarded the nation’s highest combat medal to Master Sgt. Matthew O. Williams during a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday. Williams, a Green Beret weapons sergeant from 3rd Special Forces Group, was presented the award for his actions “going above and beyond the call of duty” during an April 6, 2008, mission in Nuristan province, Afghanistan, that came to be known as the Battle of Shok Valley. “Matt’s heroism ensured that not a single American died in the Battle of Shok Valley,” Trump said during the ceremony. “Matt is without question and without reservation one of the bravest soldiers and people I’ve ever met.”

Trump commended Williams for his “unyielding service” and “unbreakable resolve” during the battle, as well as the five other deployments he made to Afghanistan and the one he made to Africa. Throughout the 2008 battle, Williams exposed himself to enemy fire multiple times on steep and challenging terrain. His team was pitted against an overwhelming enemy force that held the high-ground and was able to rain rocket propelled grenades, sniper rounds and small arms fire onto the Green Beret team and their Afghan National Army Commando partners.

Williams carried wounded teammates down the mountainside, including his team sergeant, and “shielded the injured from falling rubble as American warplanes bombed insurgent positions above and rocked the mountain from top to bottom," the president said at the ceremony.

At one point, while dropping casualties off at a collection point, Williams engaged and killed two insurgents he spotted advancing on the position to take advantage of the wounded and disoriented friendly forces.

Over the course of a seven-hour firefight, Williams “valiantly protected the wounded," Trump said, until the team was able to completely evacuate from the target area inside CH-47 Chinook helicopters. His Medal of Honor citation states that Williams’ actions helped save the lives of four critically wounded soldiers and prevented the lead element of the assault force from being overrun when they were ambushed at the outset of the mission.

Members of Williams’ Green Beret team from that 2008 operation, as well as one of their Afghan interpreters, were present at the White House ceremony. Williams will continue to serve in the Army on active-duty after Wednesday’s ceremony, a prospect that he’s looking forward to, he told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday. The medal, he said, represents something much bigger than himself. “The medal itself is more of a story of teamwork, never quitting, trusting in one another and doing what is right, what needs to be done,” Williams said Tuesday. “As far as the day to day goes, I am hoping to return back to the unit — get back to my team — and continue training and get my current team ready for whatever comes next for us," he added.

Article from Army Times

12 Strong: Green Beret Horse Soldiers in Afghanistan

Stand aside 100 movies about SEALS fighting Islamic Extremists, now the true story of Green Berets, called the "Horse Soldiers", who were among the first few American fighting men into Afghanistan avenging the terrorist 9-11 attacks.

Previously known as Doug Stanton's Horse Soldiers, this is the story of the first large American unconventional warfare operation since World War II. Green Berets were launched deep into enemy territory to befriend, recruit, equip, advise, and lead their Afghan counterparts to attack the Taliban. The Horse Soldiers succeeded brilliantly with a highly decentralized campaign, reinforced with modern airpower's precision weapons, forcing the Taliban government's collapse in a few months.

12 Strong the Movie - Opening in theatres across the country

Set in the harrowing days following 9-11, a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. There, in the rugged mountains, they must convince Northern Alliance General Dostum (Navid Negahban) to join forces with them to fight their common adversary: the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. In addition to overcoming mutual distrust and a vast cultural divide, the Americans—accustomed to state-of-the-art warfare—must adopt the rudimentary tactics of the Afghani horse soldiers. But despite their uneasy bond, the new allies face overwhelming odds: outnumbered and outgunned by a ruthless enemy that does not take prisoners. Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and based on the acclaimed “Horse Soldiers” book by best-selling author Doug Stanton, 12 STRONG also stars Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, Austin Stowell, Ben O’Toole, Austin Hebert, Kenneth Miller, Kenny Sheard, Jack Kesy, Laith Nakli, Fahim Fazli, Yousuf Azami, Said Taghmaoui, Elsa Pataky, William Fichtner, and Rob Riggle.

The 'Legion of Brothers' that routed the Taliban

The documentary feature film "Legion of Brothers" tells the stories of the handful of US Special Forces soldiers who, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, went into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and within a matter of weeks overthrew the Taliban regime. In the public's mind, Special Forces are often confused with the "door kickers" of Special Operations Forces -- such as SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force -- who are the United States' elite counterterrorism operators. In fact, the primary mission of Special Forces, in particular the Army's Green Berets, who are profiled in the film, is to work "by, with and through" local forces on the ground to act as force multipliers. That means that Special Forces embed with local forces and work with them to achieve their common goals.

The Green Berets of US Special Forces 5th Group -- known as "the Legion" -- who led the anti-Taliban campaign represent a textbook case of a successful Special Forces campaign. Five weeks after the 9/11 attacks, a 12-man Green Beret team led by Capt. Mark Nutsch was dropped into Afghanistan where they attached themselves to the army of the Uzbek warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. Riding horses into battle -- in a scene that could have played out during the American Civil War -- Nutsch and his team helped lead Dostom's forces to victory against the Taliban forces in the north of Afghanistan. Together, they rode into the key northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on November 10 where they were greeted as liberators.

Meanwhile, in southern Afghanistan, Capt. Jason Amerine and his 12-man Green Beret team linked up with an obscure Afghan diplomat named Hamid Karzai. In mid-November 2001, as they moved toward the city of Kandahar, the Taliban's de facto capital in southern Afghanistan, Amerine's team called in airstrikes against advancing Taliban units and more or less obliterated a Taliban column of a thousand men that had been dispatched from Kandahar. It was the Taliban's final play to remain in power. The Taliban surrendered Kandahar on December 5 and the same day, Karzai was appointed to be the next leader of Afghanistan. Few saw then that the United States would still be fighting wars of various kinds a decade and a half later, not only in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq and Syria.

Special Forces continue to play a key role in these wars, in part, because there is no demand signal today from the American public to send large conventional armies into the greater Middle East to fight wars against ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban. This means American involvement in the wars in these countries must be conducted "by, with and through" the local forces on the ground, such as the Afghan army, Iraqi military and Syrian militias allied to the States. And that means a large role for US Special Forces, whose specialty is working with those local forces.

But this raises some serious questions about how much the American public is asking from its Special Forces, who are facing repeated deployments. In "Legion of Brothers," Scott Neil, a Green Beret who was part of a sniper team in Afghanistan in the months after 9/11, explains: "You used to go into a VFW and you had one guy who had one tour. You were like 'Oh, wow.' You hear one guy had two tours. You're like 'Oh, he's a little crazy.' Somebody had three tours -- they're out of their minds. And what you see now is people have five, seven, nine, 10 tours. And they're still going."

This not only puts pressure on Special Forces but also, of course, puts much strain on their families. As Nutsch's wife, Amy, a special needs teacher and mother of four, puts it: "I've had some trying times at home, but managed to get through it. And then I yell at him later, going, 'This is what I have to deal with'." There are no easy answers for how to reduce the pressures on the force and families in an era when there is a great demand for the skills that Special Forces bring to the battlefield.

Special Operations Command -- first under Adm. Eric Olson and then under Adm. Bill McRaven, the architect of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden -- put in place polices that emphasized more predictable deployments, allowing for more predictable blocks of time for servicemen to be with their families. They also started providing more support services for servicemen and their families.

Story from CNN

3 Green Berets from 5th SF Group Killed in Jordan

The Pentagon has identified the three Special Forces soldiers supporting the anti-Islamic State coalition who died after their convoy came under fire on Friday while entering a military base in Jordan.

The Green Berets were identified in a statement released Sunday as Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, 27; Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, 30; and Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, 27. All three were assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., and were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. See photo below, from left to right: Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, 27; Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, 30; and Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, 27.

The incident is under investigation, the military said. The U.S. Special Operations Command said in a statement that all three of the decorated soldiers killed in the attack had served multiple overseas tours.

Lewellen, a native of Lawrence, Kan., had more than six years of service in the Army and was serving his second overseas tour. Among his awards were a Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

Tucson native McEnroe was an eight-year Army veteran on his third overseas tour. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

Hailing from Kerrville, Texas, Moriarty, had more than five years of service in the Army. This was his second overseas tour. His awards include the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

The deaths bring to seven the number of Americans killed in action since the start of the anti-Islamic State mission in 2014.

Article from Stars and Stripes

5th Special Forces Group reverts to Vietnam-era beret flash

The Green Berets of the 5th Special Forces Group are now wearing the original 5th Special Forces Group Vietnam era flash on their berets as the 5th Special Forces Group honored its past Wednesday 23 March 2016, when the unit reverted to its Vietnam-era beret flash.

That flash is black with yellow and red stripes - see picture at right. It replaces the black shield the unit has used in more recent years. The yellow and red stripes pay homage to the 1st and 7th Special Forces Groups, which predated the 5th Group in Vietnam. The design also is similar to the flag used by South Vietnam forces.

The ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was attended by former members of the 5th Special Forces Group, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley. The group was based at Fort Bragg for much of its history, moving to Kentucky in 1988.

Col. Kevin C. Leahy, commander of the 5th Special Forces Group, said returning to the historical flash honors those who were lost or served in Vietnam and recognizes the nation's first mass deployment of Special Forces troops. "Today we lose nothing but gain a little bit of our own history," he said.

The beret flash is a symbol of the unit, worn over the left eye. Vietnam veterans delivered the new, old flash to current Special Forces soldiers, then stood in formation with them as they donned their berets. Milley, who tossed off his own camouflage cap for a Green Beret, called it an "incredible day" and said he was proud of the group that has always been "populated by heroes."

Task Force Dagger honored with memorial dedication

Story by Drew Brooks, from the Fayetteville Observer.

The first U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan were honored Thursday with the dedication of a memorial stone outside the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg. 

The picture at right is of the SF Horse Soldier statute near Ground Zero in New York City. 

Task Force Dagger, composed of the 5th Special Forces Group, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and special tactics airmen from Air Forces Special Operations Command, entered Afghanistan in October 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Working with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, the troops, never numbering more than 300 men, were able to "bring down a regime in less than a few months' work," Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland Jr. said.

Mulholland, the deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, was the keynote speaker at the dedication.  In 2001, Mulholland was commander of the 5th Special Forces Group and led Task Force Dagger.  He called Thursday's ceremony a "very important moment."  "It's a really big deal for us who had the honor and privilege to serve in this task force," he said.

Mulholland laid a wreath at USASOC's memorial wall before a moment of silence was held for fallen operators.  He related how, on Sept. 11, 2001, he was finishing his daily physical training when he heard about the attacks.  "We all knew we were going to war and we were going to war in Afghanistan," he said.

Mulholland spoke of the initial confusion and how members of "another government agency" flew to Fort Campbell, Ky., to provide intelligence and information on Afghanistan.

He credited the leader of the Air Force units paired with Mulholland's soldiers, recently retired Lt. Gen. Frank Kisner, for helping make a harmonious force.

He also spoke of the initial buildup for war.

Mulholland said his Green Berets were "not in good shape" before Afghanistan.  Special Forces was not high on the resource chart for the Army or special operations, he said.  The soldiers had old or poor equipment. "It was not a pretty picture," Mulholland said. "Decades of neglect became apparent.

"What we did have was extraordinary men," he said. "Those A-Teams were what made Task Force Dagger successful."

Brig. Gen. David Fox, who earlier in the day took command of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, was one of the battalion commanders who led troops in that initial push into Afghanistan.

Fox said Thursday's recognition was "a long time coming."

"We went into Afghanistan not completely unprepared, but unknowing," Fox said. "It was the beginning of things that we didn't really realize."

Fox was one of five people who helped unveil the stone. Each participated in some part of Task Force Dagger, Mulholland said.

Fox represented the Green Berets. Retired Col. John Buss was an Army aviator. Retired Air Force Col. Patrick Pihana was a combat controller. Retired Col. Frank Hudson was Mulholland's deputy commanding officer and led the remaining elements of the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell. And Mulholland's wife, Miriam, represented the spouses left behind who had to manage conflict and crisis.

The memorial stone, located in the Meadows Field Memorial Plaza, is decorated with the dates of Task Force Dagger, October 2001 to April 2002, a map of Afghanistan and the name of the task force.

Three of the aircraft used in support of the task force are to the right - Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters and an AC-130 gun ship.

To the left of Afghanistan is the silhouette of the Twin Towers and an image of one of the iconic "Horse Soldiers," who were among the first into Afghanistan.

The Invasion of Afghanistan - CPT Jason Amerine and ODA-574

CPT Jason Amerine and ODA-574 led the invasion of Afghanistan linking up with then unknown Hamad Karazi to defeat the Taliban in Khandahar Province. The interview below is after Jason Amerine was promoted to Major and was teaching at West Point. I remember meeting Jason when he was a third year cadet assigned to my "A" team during the summer period for his branch exploration OJT.