Back to the Shadows NSW??

[Teufel]

I've this at times and it is actually kind of genius. Level Zero Heroes has a passage that details how they had to file Level Zero CONOPS or else a risk adverse command would deny them. I know an SF team that did the same thing, understating the perceived risk so that higher would approve the mission. "Gangsta' shit" is necessary at times, but when it becomes your day in and day out MO you have a problem.

This is the problem. It’s easy to say it’s all good until your tactical problem becomes a strategic issue.

 

[Gunz]

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Even the Army is not immune from manpower shortages for it's most elite-of-the-elite....

New Army Program Allows Recruits To Join Delta Force

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Critical manpower shortages have resulted in Delta Force allowing brand new soldiers to attend their selection and training pipeline right out of basic training, according to US Army Public Affairs.

“With the wars drawing down, the pool of seasoned candidates for CAG has grown too small,” reported Public Affairs spokesman Capt. Oliver Jones.

“Initial-entry enlistment has worked for years for Navy SEALs, Rangers, and Special Forces,” remarked Jones.

 

[Devildoc]

Even the Army is not immune from manpower shortages for it's most elite-of-the-elite....

New Army Program Allows Recruits To Join Delta Force

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Critical manpower shortages have resulted in Delta Force allowing brand new soldiers to attend their selection and training pipeline right out of basic training, according to US Army Public Affairs.

“With the wars drawing down, the pool of seasoned candidates for CAG has grown too small,” reported Public Affairs spokesman Capt. Oliver Jones.

“Initial-entry enlistment has worked for years for Navy SEALs, Rangers, and Special Forces,” remarked Jones.

I was having a stroke thinking "this can't be right," then I saw the source

 

[Ooh-Rah]

...sigh...

 

[Devildoc]

Here is one difference. You go to Larry Vickers, who happens to be a highly trained SOF professional, for training. The other day I saw the, “Navy SEAL guide for dog training”. No kidding. That’s what I take umbrage at. No one SEAL or other SOF individual can speak for the entire community, unless I suppose they are the Commanding General. SEALs love that shit. Now you have Navy SEAL pull up bars, rotating push up pads, SEAL nutrition books, countless official SEAL knives, SEAL watches, more SEAL exercise books than you can count, an entire section of SO THERE I WAS books, SEAL movies, SEAL video games, SEAL leadership books (which I assume include chapters on “looking cool” and “let your guys do whatever they want to include drugs, mutilating the dead, fraud, theft, and murder”), and even a SEAL book on gender transition.

Agreed, and there is "too far" and "too much" and "too stupid." That's why I made the comment that I did about not always knowing where to draw the line but I'll know it when I see it. 'I was there' books. Um, OK, sure. "A SEALs Guide to Dog Handling?" Not so much. SEAL pull-up bars? WTF.

I hate seeing all of this stuff. Hate it. It denudes the community and cheapens it.

 

[Teufel]

 

[Blizzard]

It seems everyone takes their turn at some point. Some of it is perception and may really be outside the control of their respective communities.

Seemingly anyone can attach a label to a product. Deservedly or not, Navy SEALs are apparently a "hot" sell right now (or at least the people pimping the merch think so) in much the same way as merchandise like zombie apocalypse movies/gear or any product targeted toward pets and young kids. Plenty of mystique has been placed on the Marine Corps by popular culture over the years as well. Seems the only one left out of the mix is the Air Force.

When I was a little kid, I remember seeing an old movie on tv called "The Green Berets" starring some guy named John Wayne. It was the predecessor to "Navy SEALs" with Charlie Sheen. Green Berets were seemingly all the rage in the immediate post Vietnam era.

There was a whole series of Green Beret comic books:

Have we forgotten an entire movie franchise in the 80's built around Rambo?

As with the SEALs, there are plenty of Green Beret workouts and books to go around.

Barry Sadler had a Billboard No. 1 song about the Green Berets in the 60's. His was a life in the spotlight at the time that didn't always reflect great credit upon himself or the U.S. Army.

And Jeffrey MacDonald's story made every major headline at the time with follow on movies about the murder as well.

All this predated a society that has the unprecedented access to information that we do these days. What would that look in today's society?

 

[Teufel]

It seems everyone takes their turn at some point. Some of it is perception and may really be outside the control of their respective communities.

Seemingly anyone can attach a label to a product. Deservedly or not, Navy SEALs are apparently a "hot" sell right now (or at least the people pimping the merch think so) in much the same way as merchandise like zombie apocalypse movies/gear or any product targeted toward pets and young kids. Plenty of mystique has been placed on the Marine Corps by popular culture over the years as well. Seems the only one left out of the mix is the Air Force.

When I was a little kid, I remember seeing an old movie on tv called "The Green Berets" starring some guy named John Wayne. It was the predecessor to "Navy SEALs" with Charlie Sheen. Green Berets were seemingly all the rage in the immediate post Vietnam era.

There was a whole series of Green Beret comic books:

Have we forgotten an entire movie franchise in the 80's built around Rambo?

As with the SEALs, there are plenty of Green Beret workouts and books to go around.

Barry Sadler had a Billboard No. 1 song about the Green Berets in the 60's. His was a life in the spotlight at the time that didn't always reflect great credit upon himself or the U.S. Army.

And Jeffrey MacDonald's story made every major headline at the time with follow on movies about the murder as well.

All this predated a society that has the unprecedented access to information that we do these days. What would that look in today's society?

There is a big difference between a civilian writing a story with a SEAL or Green Beret character in it and a legion of SEALs writing books about the SEAL guides to shooting, nutrition, yoga, whatever. The same idea applies to products.

 

[Teufel]

 

[CDG]

@Teufel, I'm down with the flu right now. Can you post a link to the Navy SEAL's Guide To Getting Over the Flu, please? Those guys know all the best things.

 

[Blizzard]

There is a big difference between a civilian writing a story with a SEAL or Green Beret character in it and a legion of SEALs writing books about the SEAL guides to shooting, nutrition, yoga, whatever. The same idea applies to products.

Concur...and that was part of the point I was trying to make.

How much of this is real and how much is perceived as a result of Hollywood/pop culture/etc.? Is what we see from NSW really that disproportionate from their peers or have a few from NSW just had more "success" with their endeavors?

They may not all be Stew Smith but there's plenty of SF/Green Beret reading materials out there. Dale Comstock is doing his thing. Nicholas Irving has a sniper book. There's Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual. Tim Kennedy did his thing with UFC and workout programs. Tony Schwalm has a workout/training book.

My point is, there's really not a shortage of this stuff, is there?

 

[BloodStripe]

Sir, you have some explaining to do.

 

[Teufel]

Concur...and that was part of the point I was trying to make.

How much of this is real and how much is perceived as a result of Hollywood/pop culture/etc.? Is what we see from NSW really that disproportionate from their peers or have a few from NSW just had more "success" with their endeavors?

They may not all be Stew Smith but there's plenty of SF/Green Beret reading materials out there. Dale Comstock is doing his thing. Nicholas Irving has a sniper book. There's Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual. Tim Kennedy did his thing with UFC and workout programs. Tony Schwalm has a workout/training book.

My point is, there's really not a shortage of this stuff, is there?

A friend of mine worked in one of the SOCOM departments of the Pentagon and he told me that a couple NSW guys there were specifically tasked to report on new SEAL books, verify if they had been through pre-publication with SOCOM (spoiler alert: most aren’t), and read them to check for OPSEC violations. So you tell me.

I’ll say this again. If you sign an NDA, and write a book without going through pre-publication, you are a self serving dirt bag

This is a photo of the 4th phase of BUD/s where candidates bob for book deals.

 

[Teufel]

Sir, you have some explaining to do. View attachment 20312

Damn i was on the wrong deployment

 

[Frank S.]

"- A happy life is a concealed life"
Some French MF who made it through the Revolution.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

where candidates bob for book deals.

I absolutely love when posts on this board cause me to laugh loud enough for those around me to stare in bemusement.

 

[Teufel]

In their own words: "Selling the Trident": Navy SEALs describe a culture in crisis, in their own words - CBS News

“The Death of our quiet professionalism continues to erode at our ethos, and endangers our Teammates overseas, not to mention our families at home.”

 

[AWP]

From the link above:

If you take, for example the media coverage of operations Redwings and Extortion, you would believe that two different Chinook helicopters were shot down with RPGs. RPGs are not capable of taking out a helicopter as large as a Chinook—or only under very rare circumstances. For it to happen twice should raise questions.

LOLWUT

 

[amlove21]

From the link above:



LOLWUT

What. The literal. Shit.