http://www.olunneys.com/

You can view more, including some additional commentary by reading the full article on SOFREP.com

This week I also wrote an article on women’s self defense that I hope clears up some of the disingenuous information that is out there on this topic.

My friend Iassen, a fellow Ranger Regiment veteran, wrote a very interesting article about the three Special Operations soldiers who were killed in Mali this week.

I wrote some commentary recently about mission creep in regards to the deployment of UAV’s on American soil.

With some help, I put together an update on what is going on in the Philippines and in the Pacific Rim with China attempting to throw it’s weight around.  Today it’s the Scarborough Shoal, tomorrow it may be the entire South China Sea.

Special Forces soldiers caught up in a scandal with Colombian hookers?!?!  Oh, nooooeeesss!  Say it ain’t so!

In case you missed it, Brandon and I were recently interviewed by ABC News!

The protagonist of the book is named Ken Fisher, a kid who grew up in the cotton fields of Alabama and joined the Army as he came of age at the conclusion of the Second World War. The first half of the book details Ken’s early experiences in the Army as a Signals specialist where he sees the horrible aftermath of war up close and personal, including the horrendous toll suffered by the European people. I can also tell you that young Ken Fisher drinks enough beer and fornicates with enough German women to make any para-trooper proud.

Covert Loves really comes into its own in it’s descriptions of Army culture and how it changed over the years. Take for instance First Sergeant “Iron Jaws” who tells Ken to man up and stop feeling sorry for himself over a glass of whiskey. That’s the kind of old school leadership that that Army needs but all to often finds itself lacking.

My favorite parts of the book was when Bowles describes the early years of Special Forces as his protagonist joins up, begins training, and ships off on a secret training mission to Laos in the late 1950′s. I learned a lot about SF history that I didn’t know before hand and really came to understand why those early Green Berets were such a tight brotherhood of soldiers.

Ken Fisher proceeds to Vietnam by way of Okinawa, his ODA is the first of two sent into the country. Its chilling when you know where all of this is going, having the benefit of hindsight. The stories about Vietnam are particularly important, the lessons learned about unconventional warfare were hard learned, and continue to inform Special Forces missions to this day. The mid-night ambushes, the SFOB nearly getting over run, and what it is like for a 12-man ODA to plow into the jungle with nothing, stand up an encampment and begin training indigenous soldiers is something that everyone interested in Special Operations Forces should read.

The book does have a happy ending for Ken Fisher, despite several heartbreaking moments, even if it is sober in its tone. It couldn’t end any other way, the time frame taking the reader from Post-WWII to Post-Vietnam. Still, when Ken retires from the service, a happily married man, he picks up the phone to hear from an old friend. A friend that is offering him a new job.

The author writes with a wink and a nod, telling the reader a story in his own matter-of-fact manner. I think William Bowles has a few more stories to tell.

Buy it on Amazon!

In the military action thriller genre, it’s common to talk the talk. It’s the bare minimum, after all–in today’s information-rich society, it is ridiculously easy to pick out an author who didn’t do the research. But even among those who can talk the talk, there is an exalted category, those who have walked the walk. Those who have literally put their lives on the line outside the wire and bring their experiences with them to the written word.

Jack Murphy is one of the few who can talk the talk and that has walked the walk. As an eight years veteran of United States Special Operations Forces, Murphy has been the shooter on the front lines, and he delivers authenticity in spades in his debut print novel, Reflexive Fire. From weapons to small unit tactics, from leadership principle to an operations order, Murphy brings a nigh-unparalleled level of realism to his prose, outperforming established mainstream authors such as Vince Flynn and Brad Thor.

Read the rest on Steven’s blog and be sure to check out his book, The First Bayonet.

Buy Reflexive Fire on Amazon!

The Best Ranger competition is coming up soon!  Catch up on the details before it kicks off in a few days.

Read about Chris Schulenburg, a Selous Scout and perhaps the world’s greatest Recon specialist.

Read my exclusive interview with a Recce trooper from Singapore!  He’s also the cover artist for my novel, Reflexive Fire.

Find out about the next Stuxnet type attack, this time called Duqu, before it happens.  I’ve been talking to insiders and everyone is scared of what this Trojan virus is going to unleash.

A sniper from 3rd Ranger Battalion (who served in my old platoon) named Nick Irving has published a book called Team Reaper this week.  Check out some excerpts from the book here.

Ross Hall hooked me up with a copy of his excellent Ranger history book called The Ranger Book.  Ross did an outstanding job and you can read my review and view a table of contents of the book on SOFREP.

Cyber-Terrorism: Don’t believe the hype that Uncle Sam and the defense contractors are trying to sell you.

Get it today for free!

An assassin who is in over his head.
A cabal that wants him to lead a secret army.
A conspiracy decades in the making.

“The hero is everything you could hope for in an action-adventure–intelligent, charismatic, honorable, a combat veteran from an elite unit, and just slopping over with badassity.” -Hank Brown, author of Hell and Gone.

As a freelance assassin, Deckard is no stranger to the shadow world of covert operations, but when he is summoned to Bohemian Grove and hired to train and lead a battalion of Kazakh mercenaries, he soon discovers his employer’s real agenda: a doomsday plot decades in the making.

“If you’re the kind of guy who loves action movies, but grimaces with every technical and tactical fail… you NEED to buy this book.” -a combat veteran from a NATO nation.

Now, free humanity’s only chance for survival rests with Deckard’s renegade Private Military Company. From Afghanistan, to Burma, and beyond, the clock is ticking down to global extinction.

“A military novel, written by a true expert on the subject, just takes the story to another, higher level, compared to books made up by ‘civilian’ authors with vivid imaginations.” -Frank Jones, 15-year military veteran and private security contractor.

“Fiction has a new star in the making. This awesome work of fiction (is it really..?) will rank right up there with ‘Dogs of War’ and ‘The Forever War’ in defining a new era in action/adventure novels or genre.” -JG Scott

“With Jack Murphy, you know he’s been there and done that, so you wonder where the line is between the made up stuff and where he’s drawing upon his real-life experiences.” -Dan Eldredge

I wrote this book for those of you who are ready for this genre to go to the next level, beyond superficial political messages and stereotypical terrorists wearing turbans on their heads, I hope this book connects with a different breed of reader and action-adventure fan. -Jack Murphy, author, Special Forces veteran.

Check out the hostage rescue track record for the British SAS and SBS.

Read about the history of Special Forces, as written by Jim Morris, to help understand the present.

Check out my article on SOFREP to read about the ultra-secret branch of the SAS called E-Squadron that conducts covert operations with MI6.

Take a look at part 1 of my 2-part series on the Special Forces Weapons Sergeant Course.

A veteran of the Rhodesian Bush War hooked me up with some great pictures and information about the Mini-Claymore mine.

Read up on the Selous Scouts, this uniquely Rhodesian counter-insurgency unit.

Part two of my experiences in Special Forces Weapons Sergeant course.

Matt VanDyke joins me for a third installment about his time spent as a freedom fighter in the Libyan Civil War.  In part three, Matt rates and evaluates the hodgepodge of weapons that the rebels used, including improvised rocket launchers and the like.  He also elaborates on what he sees in Libya’s future.

It’s always funny to see people on the internet sharpshooting photographs of operators that are actually the real deal.  I broke down the kit being used in one such photo to demonstrate that it does show a Delta Force soldier and that people might want to take a more measured approach when declaring a picture to be a fraud.

HALO/HAHO operations, more commonly called Military Free Fall or MFF, has changed dramatically in recent years.  Special Forces teams are now jumping while wearing body armor, night vision goggles, and the jumps are more much combat oriented.  I compiled some information and video on the MFF Advanced Tactical Infiltration Course this week.

This week John Stryker Meyer gave SOFREP a very nice endorsement and provided some background about MACV-SOG, including some excerpts from his book.  John was a One-Zero (Team Leader) on RT Idaho during the Vietnam War.  His team conducted clandestine cross border operations into Laos and Cambodia during the war.

Das Furer goes on a rant about the bureaucracy and bullshit happening to Special Forces teams these days.  This video is a spoof but tells it like it is.  If you ever wanted to know why I decided to leave the Army after eight years just watch this thing and it will become clear.

With this article I took a closer look at what future battlefields may look like.  I predict the use of micro-UAV’s will become common place for “clearing” buildings and structures without risking the lives of soldiers by sending them in first.  Underground warfare is a also covered in an IDF training video.