1917: Special Operations Begin
The nature of war changed a century ago. At the height of World War I, as massive battles of annihilation …
David C. Isby
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U.S. Army Rangers from WW II to the War on Terrorism, 1945-2001
The U.S. Army disbanded its Ranger units at the end of World War II. Army Ranger companies were re-created –…
The Son Tay Raid
May 1970: Air reconnaissance photographs of the North Vietnamese town of Son Tay, about 35 kilometers west of Hanoi, had…
MERRILL’S MARAUDERS, 1944
Journalists called them Merrill’s Marauders. Officially, they were the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional). To the transportation planners, they were Shipment…
Zeebrugge 1918
In 1917, Britain was in danger of defeat. Germany’s U-boats (submarines) were choking seaborne commerce. In April 1917 alone, 169…
75 Years of U.S. Army Rangers: A Legend Begins, 1942
He did not look like an American soldier. This man, walking up a street in Liverpool in 1942, was wearing…
Worldwide SOF: Evolving to Meet Emerging Threats
In recent years, special operations forces (SOF) in many countries have moved from being a peripheral element of national security…