Investigative Journalist And Novelist
I sat across from a Light Reaction Regiment operator at a restaurant where we tried in vain to escape some of the humidity. He’s smoking a cigarette while we discuss his unit and their operations. He is a quiet man, quick to tell me that his job is to execute the mission rather than complain […]
On a dark night in 1977, a dozen Green Berets exited a C-130 aircraft, parachuting into a very different type of war. Aircraft hijackings had become almost commonplace, to the point that Johnny Carson would tell jokes about the phenomena on television. But it was no laughing matter for the Department of Defense, who realized […]
On April 30th, 1980 terrorists stormed the Iranian embassy in London, England to demand the release of prisoners held in Iran. Throughout the 1970’s international terrorism was a frightening new reality that western governments were still trying to cope with. By taking hostages and barricading themselves against assaulters, terrorists could hold entire countries hostage in […]
The usual breathless media reports have emerged from the Philippines latest security crisis in regards to American Special Operations units present in the area. To be sure, the siege of Marawi has spun into a serious attack which bares some resemblance to the 2013 siege of Zamboanga. Philippine SOF units such as the Light Reaction […]
On any given day in the Philippines, the front page of your daily newspaper can be treated like the sports pages as the public follows along and keeps score between the various terrorist groups and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. A typical day’s headlines in the Philippine Star read: “Sayyaf kidnaps soldier.” “3 killed […]
The warning order came in at 1500 requesting sniper/observer teams from the SEALs. They scrambled to prepare their men and were airlifted from Zamboanga to Lanao by C-130 that morning at 0500. The mission was dubbed Operation Haribon after the Haribon Infantry Brigade in the area. When NAVSOG Detachment 8 hit the ground, the SEALs […]