Last Stand at LZ Hereford

Soldiers shield themselves as best they can from dirt and debris stirred up by a Huey squeezing into the tight, one-ship landing zone around noon. The pilot touches down and two officer’s jump from the helicopter and land in a large mud puddle. One GI chuckles, pokes his buddy and laughs quietly at the officers in fresh jungle fatigues, stamping the mud off their polished boots. A dirty, unshaven captain greets them wearing torn jungle fatigues and mud-covered boots, toting an M-16.

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How the jeep * got its name…..

by Ray Cowdery

Few would have guessed when the military jeep was being developed in the early 1940s, that nearly three-quarters of a century later lexicographers and historians would still hotly debate the origins of the name jeep before it had become a brand name or trade name. Nobody needs to debate the etymology of the name jeep as it was applied to World War II American military 1/4-ton 4×4 trucks, as the genesis of that name is crystal clear. Continue reading →

Arc Light marked beginning of B-52 involvement in Vietnam

By 1972, the war in Vietnam had persisted for more than eight years, characterized by a gradual, but massive buildup of U.S. forces.

That massive buildup began in April 1965, with the highly-publicized event of U.S. Marines wading out of the sea and onto the beaches of Da Nang, South Vietnam. Concurrent to this, and to support those ground forces, the Air Force deployed a portion of its tactical fighter-bombers to air bases located in South Vietnam and later Thailand. However, prior to this and in a less publicized move, Strategic Air Command deployed its first contingent of B-52 Stratofortresses to the tiny island of Guam in support of what became known as Operation Arc Light. Continue reading →

The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a subunified command of the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).  It is charged to study special operations requirements and techniques, ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, and develop joint special operations tactics. Continue reading →

Bud writes:

I’m sure you have heard about the cruise ship that lost power and left the passengers stranded for five days without power/running water/hot food.

Well, I know of a group who were stranded for almost a year.  They had to eat out of cans that were thrown to them from a helicopter.  They were without cell phones and internet. Their only contact with the outside world was to write letters.  They didn’t get a change of clothes or a bath for weeks.  They slept on the ground and stayed soaked by the heavy rain for days at a time and people shot at them.

Don’t you feel sorry for those poor folks on the cruise ship?

Mission:

Provide fully capable Special Operations Forces to defend the United States and its interests. Synchronize planning of global operations against terrorist networks. Continue reading →

Mission:

The United States Army Special Forces have five primary missions: unconventional warfare (the original and most important mission of Special Forces), foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism. Other duties include combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, counter-proliferation, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, information operations, peacekeeping, psychological operations, security assistance, and manhunts.Special Forces have the ability to be virtually everywhere at once; this guarantees that they are the first on the ground or already at a crisis location when trouble starts. Continue reading →