This information on "A Message to Garcia" [in the SFG MARCH O6 NEWS LETTER...] is fabulous. I have used the term for years without truely understanding it's importance.

Thank you for this.
R. Flynn

Andrew Summers Rowan [ROU un] was an American Army officer and graduate of West Point class of 1881. After his service in the Spanish American War, he served in the Philippines and posts in the United States, retiring in 1909. He died in 1943. Rowans exploit to deliver a mesage form President McKinley to General Calixco y Inigues Garcia the Cuban revolutionist and a leader in the Cuban insurrection against Spain became leagendary in the annuals of self initiatve for both commerce and the military. Rowan did write his own story of this famous account entitled "How I Carried the Message To Garcia," and his tale was made public and showed what Yankee self determination often brings in Elbert Hubbards "Initiative" .

A retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.

The Ol' Ranger's addendum:
Or else they're trying to suck you into a serious ambush!

~ Murphy

SOTIC - One of the pinicale of sniper training in the U.S.United States Army Special Operations Command is the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course or (SOTIC) as it is known

Or so it goes... the history of the course starts near the end of 1983, when planning began for the creation of a Special Operations Sniper school at Fort Bragg. Early on, the name "Special Operations Target Interdictions Course" (SOTIC) was chosen to avoid conflict with the U. S. Army Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.. Ft Benning had the predilection for Army sniping although the Army didn't have sniper school at the time. For a short time just prior to SOTIC (1983 to 1985), a course called Special Forces Sniper (SFS) was operated at the Special Warfare Center. When SFS started, the Specail Warfare Center( SWC) was subordinate to Forces Command (FORSCOM) but just prior to the beginning of SOTIC planning, SWC became subordinate to Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) as was the Infantry School. While using the name sniper was not a problem when the Special Operations guys were under FORSCOM, it was not allowable under TRADOC with Benning closely guarding their turf and their right to the name. There was one other problem in using the word snipe r in the 1980s....it was a little too aggressive a term for the then kinder gentler Army then under development.

The purpose of the SOTIC is to formerly train selected personnel in the technical skills and operational procedures necessary to deliver precision rifle fire from concealed positions to selected targets in support of special operations forces. Course emphasis it to provide the force with personnel who can achieve first-round hits from a cold barrel on these high-value targets. Additionally, personnel will be able to correct for wind and determine the previous round's bullet trace to achieve second-round hits if necessary.

SOTIC is a six-week course conducted at Fort Bragg, North carolina. Students will be attached to Company D, 2d Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

SOTIC is a high-risk course... one of the most enduring of SOCOM. Students must be in top physical condition and must not be under any medication that may affect their reflexes or their judgment.

All in all, if close quarter battles are for you is 600 yards or more... SOTIC is for you trooper!

SOTIC T-Shirt

Submachine Gun Cleaning

Many folks swear by Break Free to clean the entire weapon system. Though because a gas tube is made from stainless steel, it is best cleaned using a product which does not leave a film nor residue to contaminate and foul the gas operating system.. Clean the gas tube before cleaning the rest of the weapon. Clean the weapon from the chamber side with the muzzle pointed down this will remove all the contaminates cleanly and effectively. The contaminents are defined as unburned powder residue and other fouling such as gilding material or moly coat left from the bullet.

Tethers for Combat or Tactical Swimming

When in the Ocean or other amphibious environs , a tether is nothing more than a piece of cord, rope, elastic, etc. that attaches your gear to you. If operating ala Amphibious (or anywhere that poses a high risk of equipment coming loose and eventually lost) then a tetheris essential! FOR FINS : though some promulgate he vent hole on a fin it is often better for the operatior to drill a small hole at the top of the foot pocket , close to where the strap comes from the fin.... Tether one end of t around the (through) the drilled hole of the fin. The other end gets a slip knot tied in it and slips over the wearers ankle. Now, if your fin strap should break, you still have your fin (as yes, fins do sink). Tethers work great for insuring retention of flashlights, weapons, comms etc.

Muzzle Flash Angle

When engaging a suspect in a gun battle under low light conditions, remember that muzzle flash can help you to determine the suspect's direction of fire. The longer the muzzle flash appears to you, the further away the suspect is aiming/pointing his weapon. Example: if the suspect is firing at an angle that is ninety degrees away from your position, the muzzle flash will be at its longest. At forty five degrees it will appear to be much shorter, at zero degrees (your 10 ring) it will appear to be almost circular.

Universal Light Mount-Buckle - Strap-On Light Mount

For those times when picatinny isn't available for the weapon at hand; when the picatinny and light don't match up... or maybe you just want an affordable solid piece of tactical gear which performs well!

The Need:
An affordable light mount that attaches almost any police flashlight to any long arm. An assault rifle is cumbersome enough for building clearing before you add a flashlight to the offhand. And those who can permanently mount a tactical light to their weapon have disadvantaged themselves by adding unneeded weight during outdoor daylight operations. Everybody has played musical flashlights and has seen their share of flashlights duck taped to rifles.

The Answer:
The ULM, patent pending, provides an extremely durable and versatile system for mounting flashlights to your weapon or wrist. Flashlights, ranging in handle width from tiny AA battery lights, such as the Mini Mag Light, to the D cell, such as Mag Lites or Stream Lights, can be fitted without modification to the weapon. The mount secures to almost every fore grip and on most assault and hunting rifles and shotguns, the exception being those with pump action fore grips.

Features:

Strength rated nylon webbing and tapes

American name brand plastic and metal fasteners (Duraflex, ITW Nexus, ACW, etc.).

Velcro™ and Rip and Grip™ mil spec hook and loop fastener.

Edges bound by double stitched nylon Type 3 seam tape

Stress points anchored by double stitching, bar tacks, and box X's.

Get the Universal Light Mount-Buckle - $29.95!

THE RIGHT MOMENT

Are you authority oriented?

If you can’t take an order, you should definitely not be giving an order.

When you were a Tender Foot Boy Scout or going through Basic, we have all had “KP” duty thrust upon us. Did you do it (it if not cheerfully) knowing it was an integral part of insuring your fellow scouts or soldiers that hygiene in food preparation would be secured in the kitchen galley?

Or did you carry out the order begrudgingly… pissed off at having to scour a pot thinking it ridiculous where matters of soldering are concerned. Chances are, if you didn’t appreciate it, you would be more akin to give an order that is unfit and likewise never respect the other much more serious orders which will be bestowed upon you throughout the course of your career.

As simple as it seems the humble actions of George Washington as Commander in Chief, were as authority oriented as it gets in the USA.  He served as commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, as President of the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution, and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States.  As President, Washington successfully solved many problems, transforming the "plan" of the Constitution into a "working" government.

As president, he did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became the predominant Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

Washington had to be talked into a second term of office as President, and he very reluctantly agreed to it. However, after two terms Washington refused to run for a third. By refusing a third term, Washington established a firm but unwritten precedent of a maximum of two terms for a U.S. president…In his farewell address he noted: “…. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government .... Let me ... warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally .... A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume ....”

Washington – a leader who could have become king of North America for life (… had he not fully understood the responsibility of authority orientation…) Stepped down and though as a private citizen also again accepted a commission by President John Adams as General of the Armies of the US of A remained true to serving a greater good for serving his nation instead of himself.

Authority orientation is simply being able to give and take a command which is for the greater good of the force unit, mission or even country.  Not for a self serving prophecy.

It is not only directed to people commanding you, but to your own use of authority. One must be oriented to the authority above them, otherwise the opposite (being oriented to your own authority.)  Arrogance will insure that you will not be able to wield power fairly.

Humility keeps a leader self disciplined – When you have authority over people you have a great responsibility… be you the boy scout on KP to ensure the galley serves up sanitary (no where did I say healthy here!) grub.  Like George Washington stepping down as president to enforce an example to all his future countrymen that the US was formed to free us from Kings – not create them - and thus humility also keeps the leader objective. Abuse of authority is often seen with an individual’s own self interests climbing the ladder of promotion in the military for one. In the Navy its often referred to as “ticket punching,” with the first sign often being all principles of effective authority orientation being absent.

We have all known that George Washington type individual – if we think hard enough … perhaps he is that high speed, low drag instructor who should be at the tip of the spear in combat but who instead cheerfully and nobly accepts his role in an instructors cadre to churn out fighting men we can all be proud of.

Humility keeps a leader objective.

Speaking in the House of Commons in 1942, Winston Churchill said of German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel - "We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great general.”

Martin Blumenson’s chapter on "Field Marshal Erwin Rommel," In Blumenson’s Hitler's Generals Sums it up like this:

“…His[Rommel’s] sense of valor and chivalry were the stuff of King Arthur's knights, but it was his "boldness, use of surprise, readiness to accept risks" and above all his "intuitive sense of the battlefield" that made Rommel one of the greatest generals in military history. "Brilliantly successful in attack, and remarkably resourceful in defense," the "Desert Fox" raced his armies through France in 1940 and then repeatedly outwitted the British in North Africa…Throughout the 1930s, Rommel develops a close working relationship with Hitler, whom he initially comes to admire for progressively thwarting the Versailles Treaty and restoring Germany's strength. He is seen more and more by Hitler side. He accompanies Hitler into the Sudetenland in October 1938 and then into Prague in March 1939. But Rommel is anything but a Nazi. In fact, early on he starts to harbor "serious reservations" about the Nazi regime.”

“…[Rommel’s] devotion to the profession of arms was in the best tradition of the gentleman. In a total war fought savagely and brutally, he inspired admiration for his treatment of prisoners. He was not tainted by Nazism....With his troops he enjoyed a deep rapport. He cared for them, and although he demanded their best and more, he never squandered them. Without pretension, modest, he tackled all his tasks with clarity, energy, and common sense."

General Patton knowing Rommel was a shrewd, discliplined warrior, insured he never let his guard down or the focus off the objective of Allied forces beating Rommel on the deserts of North Africa. Patton (unlike Rommel who was indeed oriented to the survival of the German nation, but NOT Hitlers skewed view of it Power Lusting leaders) and Rommel were oreiented to the authority above them : The Allied command who relied on his pit bull tactics to defeat the Nazis and all free men of the world.

So lets look at the contrasting foes: self servitude versus humility. Power lust as it is rightfully called.

Power lust always produces an obsession. It leads to controlling the thought process of others, inordinate ambition and competition that disregards authority requires constant stimulation. Stimulation becomes a priority over all other aspects of life. It demands ardent admirers and supporters to feed lust. Fear of losing power will cause to control and manipulate people. A person in power lust has to deceive people by their actions and intent. To continue to keep the myth alive doing anything – even revising history to justify and maintain their power and control.

We also know the opposites: the Fidel Castros – Che Gueveras Hitlers and Goebbels of the world who kill and maim and cheat and steal to take advantage of their people in the name of a collective good and for their own self serving principles yet who are afraid to allow any opposing opinion or force to counter their will.

Rommel however was the great Werhmacht soldier he was; again was far from a power lusting Nazi.

Rommel is often remembered not only for his remarkable military prowess, but also for his chivalry towards his adversaries - being one of the German commanders who disobeyed the commando order (The Commando Order was a top secret order issued by Adolf Hitler on October 18, 1942 stating that all commandos captured in Europe and Africa (but excluding seamen), should be immediately executed even if they attempted to surrender. Any man or small group of men with the uniform of commando or a similar unit, or any man undertaking miltary actions while not in uniform, would be turned over to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD or Nazi security service) for summary execution.) Rommel in his heart knew the aims of his superiors were evil in intent .By the beginning of 1943, Rommel's faith in Germany's ability to win the war was crumbling, as was his estimation of Hitler. Touring Germany, Rommel was appalled at the devastation of the Allied bombing raids and the erosion of the peoples' morale. He also learned for the first time of the death camps, slave labor, the extermination of the Jews and the other atrocities of the Nazi regime. Rommel became convinced that victory for Germany was a lost cause and that prolonging the war would lead only to his homeland's devastation. He came in contact with members of a growing conspiracy dedicated to ousting Hitler and establishing a separate peace with the western allies.

In the meantime, after the failed July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler a major crackdown was conducted throughout the Wehrmacht. As the investigation proceeded, numerous connections started appearing that tied Rommel with the conspiracy, in which many of his closest aides were deeply involved. At the same time, local Nazi party officials reported on Rommel's extensive and scornful criticism of Nazi leadership during the time he was hospitalized.

On October 14th, 1944 Rommel was at his home continuing to convalesce from an attempt on his life three months earlier. The family was aware that Rommel was under suspicion of treason and that his chief of staff and his commanding officer had both been executed. Breakfasting with his son he told him it would be a peoples court of Command against the Soviets which he commented that - 'My dear boy, our enemy in the East is so terrible that every other consideration has to give way before it. If he succeeds in overrunning Europe, even only temporarily, it will be the end of everything which has made life appear worth living. Of course I would go.'

Within a Quarter Hour Rommel’s house and family were surrounded By S.S. Men with the ultimatum he surrender and commit a forced suicide or have his family killed.

Rommel explained to his family the options and the duty he had to them and Germany by taking his own life, saved his family... or did he.

The Power Lust upon Nazi Germany was so great by that time that all Germans will suffer an eternity attempting to forget the “ilk’ which were once there countrymen – Rommel knew by returning home a nation I ruins , run by criminal (nazi) minds that were tolerated by the citizens showed him how Power Lust catered to deviations in order to gain support, approval admiration and maintain or gain power…Which his Nazi Superiors so badly needed to stay there course

Yet What Rommel did for the greater good – Albeit too late and a few dollars short -- by joining the plot to stop the power lust above him , perhaps helped shortened the affects evil had on the greater good of his countrymen.

 On July 17, 1944 Rommel's staff car was strafed by an RCAF Spitfire, and he was hospitalized with major head injuries. In the meantime, after the failed July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler a major crackdown was conducted throughout the Wehrmacht. As the investigation proceeded, numerous connections started appearing that tied Rommel with the conspiracy, in which many of his closest aides were deeply involved. At the same time, local Nazi party officials reported on Rommel's extensive and scornful criticism of Nazi leadership during the time he was hospitalized. Bormann was certain of Rommel's involvement, Goebbels was not.

 The true extent of Rommel's knowledge of, or involvement with, the plot is still unclear. After the war, however, his wife maintained that Rommel had been against the plot as it was carried out. It has been stated that Rommel wanted to avoid giving future generations of Germans the perception that the war was lost because of a backstab, the infamous DolchstoBlegende, as it was commonly believed by some Germans following WWI. Instead, he favored a coup where Hitler would be taken alive and made to stand trial before the public.

Due to Rommel's popularity with the German people, Hitler gave him an option to commit suicide with cyanide or face a humiliating sham trial before Roland Freisler's "People's Court" and the murder of his family and staff. Rommel ended his own life on October 14, 1944, and was buried with full military honors.

Note, that while not all Boyscouts on KP will be turned into George Washington or the high speed low drag quiet professional instructor who serves his unit and nation well; very few Castros or Hitlers no matter how much their supporters make them( read that HIM) look like great and noble men, will ever be forgotten as the power lusting monsters they are… And admidst their regimes and under such circumstances do very few Erwin Rommels posess a sense of duty and calling and military brilliance, and humilty to lay on their sword to shorten the tides they assisted to create.

If so where are the Rommel’s under the Bin Ladens the Kim ill Jungs the new Iranian Presidents and Castro? The answer is in authority orientation, and is hopefully waiting for the right moment.

Irregardless of the above, we all need to learn to take orders, because one day we may have to give orders… however selfless those orders may be.

Thank you and hearty "Hoohahs",
   Dave

Universal Light Mount-Buckle - Strap-On Light Mount

For those times when picatinny isn't available for the weapon at hand; when the picatinny and light don't match up... or maybe you just want an affordable solid piece of tactical gear which performs well!

The Need:
An affordable light mount that attaches almost any police flashlight to any long arm. An assault rifle is cumbersome enough for building clearing before you add a flashlight to the offhand. And those who can permanently mount a tactical light to their weapon have disadvantaged themselves by adding unneeded weight during outdoor daylight operations. Everybody has played musical flashlights and has seen their share of flashlights duck taped to rifles.

The Answer:
The ULM, patent pending, provides an extremely durable and versatile system for mounting flashlights to your weapon or wrist. Flashlights, ranging in handle width from tiny AA battery lights, such as the Mini Mag Light, to the D cell, such as Mag Lites or Stream Lights, can be fitted without modification to the weapon. The mount secures to almost every fore grip and on most assault and hunting rifles and shotguns, the exception being those with pump action fore grips.

Universal Light Mount-Buckle - $29.95!

Features:

• Strength rated nylon webbing and tapes
• American name brand plastic and metal fasteners (Duraflex, ITW Nexus, ACW, etc.).
• Velcro™ and Rip and Grip™ mil spec hook and loop fastener.
• Edges bound by double stitched nylon Type 3 seam tape
• Stress points anchored by double stitching, bar tacks, and box X's.

We at Special Forces Gear knows how the US NAVY is no slouch in special ops on the sea, in the air and on the shore.

Did you know that the Last time that US sailor heard the order "prepare to repel boarders!" was during a collision of a Nazi U boat and a USN Destroyer, after a full out ship-to-sub surface deck gun battle in the WWII North Atlantic? The Specialness of the Forces in that operation was that theGerman sailors were determined to defend their honor by any means including the desperation of a throwing lines up onto the US Destroyer; but more imprtantly the US Destroyers Skipper's decision to belay that now legendary order whiich included issuing his sailors with Cutlasses and small arms and to defend the ship from being over run by their countered Kreigsmarine boarders charge. Guess the Krauts never heard about how Marines would feel after coming home from a liberty drinking with sailors!

Get Your "The Sea is Ours" T-shirt Today!

Camillus Deluxe Boot Knife - Regularly $32.95 On Sale for $29.95!

Everybody Needs a Boot Knife!

Regularly $32.95 - On Sale Now for $29.95

Boot knives come in handy, regardless if you are a jumpmaster, rigger, hunter, or camper.

Our Camillus Deluxe Boot Knife is 7" long and comes with a durable Kydex® sheath.

Camillus Deluxe Boot Knife - NOW ONLY $29.95!

Super Mitylite LMX - CLOSE OUT CLEARANCE $8.99!

Super Mitylite LMX

Regularly $14.99 - Now just $8.99

Water Proof! A Pelican Products Technology. Makes a great back-up and more cost effective compact stream light without the expensive batteries!

LASER SPOT© XENON FLASHLIGHT (Batteries Included!)

Watertight to 500 feet. Removable shroud. Made of unbreakable space age "Xenoy"® resin.

Focused beam that is 600% brighter than ordinary pocket lights. FM, CSA , AUS and CENELEC approved non- incendive. INCLUDES: Shirt clip, split key ring, Litebender, Xenon lamp module, and 2 AAA-cell Energize® alkaline batteries. COLORS: Black, Yellow. LTH: 45/8" DIA.: 5/8"

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Saved by 'sand' poured into the wounds

DETECTIVE Danny Johnson was on patrol outside Tampa, Florida, when a report came through of a possible shooting in a junkyard three blocks away. Arriving on the scene, he found an elderly man sitting on a tractor, with a large hole in his leg that was bleeding profusely.

SOCOM Transforming to Lead Global War on Terrorism

WASHINGTON, D.C. (American Forces Press Service, Mar. 15, 2006) U.S. Special Operations Command is transforming to meet changing needs as it leads the fight in the global war on terrorism, the command's leader said here today.

The threat the United States faces today has no borders or boundaries, Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, SOCOM's commander, told the audience at the 17th Annual National Defense Industrial Association Special Operations/Low-intensity Conflict Symposium and Exhibition.

Special Forces Soldier killed in Afghanistan

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Mar. 2, 2006) An Army Special Forces Soldier died Feb. 28 north of Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan when an Improvised Explosive Device detonated near his Ground Mobility Vehicle during a reconnaissance patrol.

Master Sgt. Emigdio E. Elizarraras, 37, a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C., was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Harper mum on Canadian special forces role in freeing Iraq hostages

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't confirm or deny reports that Canada's elite JTF-2 special forces helped rescue two kidnapped Canadian aid workers in Baghdad.

"At every phase of these particular events of this hostage taking, Canadian government officials, the government of Canada, was fully engaged," Harper said Thursday. "Anything beyond that, I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. These are issues of national security."

Minister for Defence visits Special Forces in Afghanistan

The Minister for Defence, Dr Brendan Nelson, and the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, visited Australian troops deployed to the Middle East in early March 2006.

During the fourth day of their Middle East programme, the Minister and CDF visited Australian Special Forces located in Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper -- Australia's contribution to the international coalition against terrorism.

Some Marines Declining Extra Body Armor

HUSAYBAH, Iraq - Extra body armor the lack of which caused a political storm in the United States has flooded in to Iraq, but many Marines here promptly stuck it in lockers or under bunks. Too heavy and cumbersome, many say.

Marines already carry loads as heavy as 70 pounds when they patrol the dangerous streets in towns and villages in restive Anbar province. The new armor plates, while only about five pounds per set, are not worth carrying for the additional safety they are said to provide, some say.

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