Special Forces: Delta Force

There are alot of really cool and interesting Military groups and special ops branches out there, but one of my favorites and one the most intense is definitely the Air Force Pararescue>I read more into what they do and Learning about their training gave them a whole lot more of respect from me. First off, Their motto is : "That others may Live". Probably the most selfless motto Iv'e ever heard of, and they're a tough bunch. Their Job involves parachuting or getting airlifted to evacuate injured military personnel in the heat of combat.

Because its such a high risk job and they're not neutral (meaning they will get shot at). they go through intense physical training to prepare physically and mentally for a job that ranges from evacuating injured soldiers to recovering Astronauts after water landings.

Their job is intense and starts at a training program that takes 2 years to complete. the Highlights include Combat Rescue Indoctrination Course at whichtrainees undergo Extensive Physical training such as swimming, marching, running, and other exercises designed to push people to the breaking point. Extended training day is by far the hardest. Participants go to sleep at 9:00 and are woken up at 9:30 by a siren, given two minutes to dress and are thrust into a brutal 20 hour training day where they first perform a grueling underwater course several hours long, then land training simulating exhaustion while having to lug 200 lb. dummies through swamps to a Helicopter.at this point most recruits are physically and mentally spent, yet are expected to carry two 50 pound cans of gas several miles more before going back in the pool for more water surface training.

 That's one of the hardest points in the 2-year course and the fact that they do all this no to fight, but instead to serve others is just awesome. One of their most notable modern achievements is the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia where they encountered fierce, but un-trained Somali's ranging from women and children to men who shot down 2 Black Hawk helicopters resulting in a mass panic to rescue the downed men in the choppers. Paratroopers played a great role in that battle and were sent in numerous times behind enemy lines to recover injured airmen and administer medical aid. paratroopers were also used extensively in Vietnam where they rescued injured CIA operatives and soldiers with the new use of Huey helicopters. Yes, they are one of America's Finest Warriors and should not be forgotten for the honorable service that they do for our Country.

Special Forces of The Ancient World: Warrior Monks Part 1.

One of the coolest and most versatile warriors in any given situation are without doubt Warrior Monks. Not only do they possess lethal fighting skills, superior intellect, and a true moral sense of justice, they were also fervently religious and devoted their time to God to purge evil from this world. That's just flat-out epic no matter what light you view it in, and just the thought of a holy sword-wielding warrior riding with a couple thousand monks to eradicate evil is very impressive.

 The one i think is the greatest is definitely the Order of the Knights Templar. Founded in Jerusalem 1119 by Christian Knight who had sworn to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after Jerusalem was restored by the victorious European powers after the first crusade. 

One of the most favored charity groups of the medieval era, the Templars were both warriors and guardians of Jerusalem and the surrounding ares  because although the Muslims had been conquered, there were still mass bands of rogues roaming the wilderness who often took advantage of christian pilgrims slaughtering them by the hundreds on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. This created a large problem seeing as the Knights  weren't very fond of the Muslims. to resolve this, a french knight by the name of Hugues de Payens approached king Baldwin II of Jerusalem and petitioned for a holy order of monks to protect these Pilgrims. The King and patriarch agreed and sanctioned the headquarters for the knights in the left wing of the AL-Asqua Mosque in the center of Jerusalem. This became known as Solomon's Temple. Notably, in the early years of their order, the knights were funded solely on donations and their emblem shows two knights riding on a single horse emphasizing their poverty. later on, their representative from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote persuasively on their behalf to several major churches and donations, land, and rich noble-born sons began taking on the vows of the Holy Order. Later on Pope Innocent II passed the papal Bull Stating that all Templars were not subject tot he laws of any land, allowing them to pass freely through and country, not pay taxes and be required to answer only to the pope. 

The Skills and Knowledge that Templars were equipped with made them the elite fighting force of Europe at this time period. Much of their records were destroyed by the invading Turks in later centuries but we know enough to understand that their training was vigorous, as you would expect. the climate of Israel is very Arid, and miserably hot. Riding and fighting in heavy chain mail and plate armor would take severe endurance and physical strength. Generally, the Templars used Spears, Swords, daggers and shields. Many were already knights when they joined so they had been brought up mastering these weapons as well, making them even more efficient. Their abilities were noted in the second crusade where their fighting surpassed all the other European knights during that war. Templars were the equivalent of the modern day tank with heavy armor, a powerful horse, and charged into battle flanked by a sergeant and a squire, in turn flanked by two mercenary bowmen. Knights Broke the formations with their heavy lances while his men protected his flanks. this squadron formation was crucial in battles and gave the Templars an edge far above most other soldiers, which was probably the reason for which they were forbidden to compete in any tournaments or melees, they were just too good.

In Later centuries, the  Muslims reunited under Warlords such as Saladin, who led successful campaigns against the Christians,  Who were already suffering from internal conflicts such as their bitter rivalry with a branch-off the the Templars, the Hospitaler Order. Sadly, they were ousted, and though they regained control of Jerusalem for a short period of time, they were forced out again by the Turks. Now with their military mission compromised, the order began to slowly dwindle. 

The Final Crusades

However the freedoms the Pope had granted them made them successful businessmen and gave them freedom to establish other abbeys elsewhere in Europe. when the Templars and Hospitalers were faced with the option of merging together, king Phillip, who was deeply in debt to the Templars  used this situation to his own ways accusing the Templars. On Friday the 13th of October 1307, King Phillip ordered mass arrests of all Templars under numerous false charges such as corruption, heresy, idolatry, murder, secrecy, etc. Using Rigged trials many Templars were forced under torture to admit to committing heretical acts and even thought they recanted the confessions later, king Phillip had hundreds burned at the stake. One notable trial of the grand master Jacques De Mollay, Recanted His confessions remained defiant to the end asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the notre dame cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer. While burning, He called out from the flames that Phillip and Pope Clement would soon meet them before God. His actual words were recorded as: "God Knows who is wrong and who has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death. Ironically Pope Clement died a month later, and king Phillip perished in a hunting accident before the year was over. Though officially disbanded, the Templars still exist tothis day in private or secret order throughout the earth pursuing different goals now, but history will always remember the Knights of The Templar who were skilled in the sword and in the Word of God.

Special forces: Ancient to Modern

This week were gonna cover the next special forces group not in Europe, but in Japan. The ninjas were a highly secretive group of individuals that evolved during the feudal ages of medieval Japan when ruthless warlords roamed the country sides with large armies each seeking to destroy his enemy and gain power. Contrary to poplar belief, ninjas were not the samurai's mortal enemy, in fact several samurai were secretly ninjas. In reality, ninjas were worked as mercenaries and sell-swords for the highest bidder while dually striving to further the goals and ambitions of their own clans. In feudal Japan this was important because Japanese culture was centered around samurai who were extremely overt and pompous in their battles and military displays while following a strict code of honor that made them incapable of doing "evil" instead to get around this they would hire a ninja to poison a rival, sneak into his castle and open the gates or do any other manner of secretive things whisper the samurai code wrote off as despicable, and dishonorable. to this day their irradicable, but mysterious history is only beginning to be revealed and sheds some light on the mystique of the ninja.

The Training of a ninja to this day is not fully documented, but we have enough evidence to prove that it was extremely difficult especially in today's world of combat training. Rigorous physical exercises that strengthened the entire body involved running for hours at a time, climbing mountains bare handed with near vertical inclines, Martial arts was the core of their training learning everything from lethal hand to hand combat, to the naginata, the sword, spear, sickle and all manners of lethal weaponry. They were trained to walk in complete silence and spend hours meditating in order to clam their minds in preparation for a mission. Spying was one of their key uses so their sense ps were heightened as well. From birth to about 18-20 they were trained as spies and assassins so by the time they reached those ages they were lethal killing machines being brought up In a society of assassins. Most of their history has been erased from record or simply jot recorded which is good for them, bad for us because although most historians believe ninjas were behind major power upheavals in Japan, we have no proof because they were simply too good at what they did.

Here is a list however Of The specialities in which ninjas would branch off and train at after receiving their standard training:
Angou: Signaling
Bajutsu: Horsemanship art
Bōjutsu: Staff art
Boryaku: Military strategy
Chimon: Geography
Choho: Espionage
Gokui atemi sakkatsuho zukai: Secret killing strikes art
Goton-no-jutsu: Five elements escape methods
Hensōjutsu: Camouflage art
Hichojutsu: Jumping art
Hojōjutsu: Rope tying art
Hojutsu: Gunpowder and fire art
Kusarigamajutsu: Kusarigama art
Kyushojutsu: Vital points art
Iaijutsu: Sword drawing art
Intonjutsu: Escaping and concealment art
Jōjutsu: Short staff art
Jouhou kaishuu: Information gathering
Karumijutsu: Body lightening art
Kenjutsu: Sword art
Kukushi bukijutsu: Hidden weapons art
Kyuba: Mounted archery
Kyujutsu: Archery art
Naginatajutsu: Naginata art
Shinobi-iri: Stealth and entering methods art
Seishinteki kyōyō: Spiritual refinement
Shurikenjutsu: Throwing weapon art
Sojutsu: Spear art
Suijutsu: Swimming art
Suirenjutsu: Water survival art
Taihenjutsu: Body moving art
Taijutsu: Body fighting art
Tenmon: Meteorology
Zanshin: Clear mental awareness
taijutsu unarmed combat

Most trained and specialized in about 3-4 of these making them highly useful and expensive agents of destruction although more myth than truth surrounds the ninjas, we can still safely assume that they are among the most elite group of assassins and warriors to ever come into history.

Special Forces: Ancient to Modern

This week I've decided to do something different and go on a different but relevant topic. the evolution of special forces in the military from Medieval times to the modern-day Heralds of death we have nowadays.

I will be splitting up this discussion into Several sections each covering a specific warrior or time period. 

 Lets begin with one of the most known Elite Warriors of the ancient world, The Spartan. Popularized and romanticized in modern entertainment, the spartan was one of the most RESILIENT, feared and skilled warriors proving their worth time and time again both on the battlefield and in the state. Because they were so widely known, Spartans had a strong reputation to keep which they solidified literally from birth. when a boy spartan was born, he was bathed in wine by his mother to see if he was strong enough to survive. if he did  he was the brought to his father to be examined and then to the priests. if either of them deemed the infant unfit, weak, or EXPENDABLE, he was then thrown off the chasm of Mount Taigetos and left to die. As harsh as this seemed, this was a necessary measure to ensure that the military state stayed strong because there was no room for weakness.

Many Spartan Boys were cast off into the wild to fend for themselves for a long period  of time
this helped solidify survival instincts and the need to fend for himself

At age 7, boys were taken away from their mothers and sent to live in a system known as Agoge  in this system, they were taught and made physically tough, disciplined and educated to an extent. they lived in barracks where they were expected to maintain themselves and keep order and were fed a very minimal amount of food in order to discourage sluggishness. this type of harsh lifestyle physically and mentally prepared these boys for a life of Hardship and war. being treated as sub-humans with little privilege also gave them the thick skin needed to live in a harsh military state.

A Somewhat dramaticized  painting of a spartan warrior.

Throughout this time period of youth, Spartans were taught all that was needed to know on the battlefield. Because they functioned as a unit Spartans were taught a great emphasis on unity and Structure. learning to fight with a spear and a shield were some of the most vital points of a young spartan as well as swordsmanship. They were also taught to become masters of Pancration, one of the most lethal and effective martial arts to this day, also the precursor to today's mixed martial arts.Structured on both  Boxing and wrestling, it introduced life or death situations that Spartans would be facing if unarmed on the battlefield. by the time they were twenty, they would have already been considered an elite warrior in almost any other army at that time. At age 20, they were considered a man, and were thus drafted into the military.

King Leonidas as Depicted in the film "300" 

The actual military proved it's worth several times throughout history repelling hordes of Persian empire (the greatest in the world at the time) who sought to invade and conquer the Greeks. Most notably was the battle of Thermopylae, where king Leonidas and three hundred Spartans repelled wave after wave of elite Persian forces. Until they were betrayed and cut down by flight after flight of heavy arrows. their skill and courage inspired the rest of Greece to stand and fight back sending 10,000 Spartans and 30,000 free Greeks against the Persians in the glorious battle of Plataea, crushing Xerxes and his Horde and erasing the Persian Threat for several centuries. In this way, the Spartans were the most feared group of warriors striking terror into every foreign invader's heart while instilling the first seeds of democracy.

Now The Spartans were brilliant on the Battlefield and viciously effective when it came to war, but what about covert operations? When you needed to assassinate a warlord or slip past enemy lines unnoticed? The answer in feudal japan was the ninja. Next entry, we shall be discussing several more ancient spec ops groups as I got carried away in this entry. Stay tuned if you want to hear more awesomeness.

The Battle of Stalingrad

This is one of my favorite subjects, and I'm so intrigued with the immense effort the Russians heaved into the war. Stalin really showed himself as a man of steel with a forceful willpower that drove the war in his favor and eventually led to the demise of Nazi Germany. What happened at Stalingrad changed the rest of the war and had the Germans on the retreat. The battle took place between August 23, 1942 and February 2, 1943, and was know for close quater combat and the kill count that followed with thousands of soldiers AND civilians dead.its is known as one of the bloodiest battles of history and an estimated 2 million people were deemed killed in that battle.

The German offensive to take this vital key point consisted of hundreds of heavy Luftwaffe bombings over Stalingrad in an attempt to soften up the city. the bombings were successful and rendered what had once been the great capital of the soviets union, a pile of crushed rubbled and broken bodies. The Nazi commanders were very confident of a victory, and they seemed unable to get rid of the last few defenders struggling and pressed against the Volga river. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, a two forked attack that would smash through the weaker Hungarian and Romanian forces that protected the Germans 6th division flanks. After fierce fighting, the Russians were able to destroy both flanks and surround both flanks In a cunning counterattack that threw the Germans off guard. Just as this happened, The Russian winter, which had saved the Russians from defeat time and time again struck back particularly harsh that winter and made life a frozen hell for the Germans. The Russians had a good enough warning at this point to ship all their grains, castles and resources out of the surrounding areas, or they implemented the scorched earth policy, which left the Germans starving and desperate with weak supply lines sorely extended. German military doctrine was based on the principle of combined-arms teams and close cooperation between tanks, infantry, engineers, artillery and ground-attack aircraft. To counterattack this, the Russians used hugging tactics making their front as close as possible to the Germans as possible.this resulted in little damage to the Russians from air or artillery which were unable to get any good shots at the Russians without damaging the german infantry.
The rudimentary soviet strategy was to pack every house overseeing important streets and squares resulting in every strategic house and building bristling with snipers, machine guns, mortar crews,mortars, mines, barbed wire, and 5-10 man units all condensed into large unbreachable strongholds.

The result was close-quarters combat with front lines dissolving and Germans encountering fierce resistance in every room, or as one German bitterly joked that you could capture the kitchen, but still have to capture the living room, master bedroom, and lose the kitchen and several men in the process. The battled descended into the sewers as well with a labyrinth of vicious firefights, and rose up into the tall (heavily damaged) towers with snipers killing off any German foolish enough to show his head.The 13th Guards Rifle Division, assigned to retake Mamayev Kurgan and Railway Station No 13 suffered particularly heavy losses being reduced to 320 out of the original 10000, and the railway station changing hands every several hours.In another part of the city, a Soviet platoon under the command of Yakov Pavlov fortified an apartment building that oversaw a square in the city center, and reinforced it with mines, and machine gun positions. They were not relieved for two months and no matter how many Germans were sent to breach the house, the soviets were able to kick them out, and at intermissions the soviets had to run out and kick down the piles of bodies for the tanks to have a clear vision of the square.

Soviet artillery on the other side of the Volga wasted no time in mercilessly shelling the Germans, rendering their tanks and artillery useless amid heaps of rubble. Snipers on both sides used the ruins to inflict heavy casualties. The most famous Soviet sniper in Stalingrad was Vasily Zaytsev with 225 confirmed kills during the battle and a decorated war hero who is the main character of the film: enemy on the front.

On 19 November 1942, the Red Army unleashed Operation Uranus. Under command of General Nikolay Vatutin, the 1st guards army, 5th tank army,and 21st army. They fell upon the Romanian 3rd army which died quickly from lack of supplies and badly needed reinforcements. And swept around successfully surrounding the About 265,000 German, Romanian, Italian soldiers,[31][page needed] the 369th (Croatian) Reinforced Infantry Regiment, and other volunteer subsidiary troops including some 40,000 Soviet volunteers. Successfully surrounded, 210,000 Germans, 10,000 remained to fight on, 105,000 surrendered, 35,000 left by air and the remaining 60,000 died, committed suicide in the 11 weeks after being encircled or were unable to surrender when the end was there. Air support to relieve and evacuate the doomed nazis was futile, due to heavy antiaircraft fire, poor weather conditions and the sheer size of the force that needed to be evacuated, the Germans lost 488 aircraft.

The Germans now closed the gap where the now sick, starving, and soundly beaten Germans were, and general Paulus, against Hitler's will, surrendered to the Russian demands thus ending the battle of Stalingrad, and showing a lenient side to the soviet military who were characterized by executing the prisoners they were able to capture.

What we can learn from this is another story of determination. While not the best role model, Stalin had a will of steel and was determined to gain back his city no matter how many lives it cost. And at a heavy price of 2 million, he won, changing the tides of war permanently in favor of the allies who now swept forward in a two front war that led the the death of the third reich.

St. Patrick's Day Special

Since its St.Patrick's Day I've  decided to do something more interesting, Irish history is very intriguing and is very bloody at certain points. Easter rising was one of the bloodiest events, which made a turning point point in Irish nationalism. Also known as the Easter rebellion, this was and armed uprising that happened in Ireland during Easter weekend in 1916. Aimed at destroying British authority and supremacy over the Irish (who had been oppressed for hundreds of years) it was the largest uprising since The rebellion of 1798.It was put together by six prominent members of the IRA military council and began on Easter Monday April 24, and lasted for 6 days. volunteers led by Patrick Pearse Joined by 200 members of Cumman na mBan, and a smaller militia took control of strategic locations inside of Dublin, and Declared The republic of Ireland to be Liberated from the United Kingdom. Suppressed after 6 Bloody days of fighting, it not only symbolized  their deep resentment towards British rule and so-called supremacy, it also succeeded in bringing back Physical force Republicanism to the Irish nationalists who were getting tired of being stepped on.

The entire uprising consisted of seizing strategic points, but several key points such as Trinity College and Dublin Castle were unable to be taken and set things back. However the Rebels Did take the City Hall under control with  Four Courts and other areas where they began to barricade themselves in and resupply with ammunition for a  long stake out. the British were taken completely off guard,which was shown through their frantic and uncoordinated methods of restoring the peace. Besides 425 people being arrested for looting, not that much skirmishes took place on that Day.
                   Because they weer enable to take the railways from British control, thousands of reinforcements were shipped in.  as a result 16,000 men stood ready to oppose the Irish, with additional long range artillery to bombard them with.   little actual combat took place early on as the British decided to just bomb them, until they tried to send units into the city, where Violent fighting broke out. at the end of the week the British had seized only a few of the union buildings  at the last fighting scene, after 11 dead and 28 wounded the troops broke through the Stafford shire barricades and angrily shot and stabbed 15 male civilians accused of being Militia. at this point , the IRA was eventually surrounded and forced to surrender though many chose to die. England Executed all 7 leaders and settled back into an  uneasy rule, that was not long to last. eventually through terror tactics and skirmishes throughout the years, Ireland would finally be able to have their independence and become a free country.  so another lesson on determination, just try not use acts of terror and blow up things as I'm pretty sure the IRA also started modern terrorism....so definitely not the best role models.
 Well im supposed to have a 250 word count this week as well as two vocab words so to Paraphrase this event, And uprising led by Irish rebels tried to take Dublin, the British shelled the are a and then moved in until the Irish surrendered, the ominous signs of Irish resentment lasted much longer than anticipated and eventually not even the SAS could put them down so that is how we have the independent country of Ireland today. subscribe to my blog to hear more later this week adios.

Alexander the Great And The Siege of Tyre

Lets start off with something I find very interesting: The Siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great. This is considered one of the greatest militaristic feats of the Ancient World, and it shows exactly how far Alexander would go to expand his already powerful empire.
Founded as early as the third  millennium B.C., Tyre was a very prominent port city. In fact it was sort of an island City just off the coast of modern day Lebanon.. Even back then, Tyre was considered a Large city, it profited off of the trades and markets that passed though it. Because of it's general security being and island, man wealthy merchants stored their goods, and profits in Tyrian warehouses. This often prompted many ancient rulers to assail the city for profit, but even up to Alexander's's era, none had been able to breach the walls of the city.



That All Changed as Soon as Alexander Saw the benefits of Tyre  He was on a winning streak at this point winning and conquering city after city and steadily expanding ancient Macedonia, and so he reasoned if he wanted to conquer the world, he'd better do it right. The only problem was how to do so. he would first try to negotiate with the Tyrians for a win-win, because a siege against the un-impenetrable city would be very costly. their defense system was very impressive. consisting of Sturdy walls reaching up to 160 ft. built dropping directly into the water, which posed an immense challenge for Alexander. then Alexander's engineers came up with a brilliant idea. they would build a land bridge with wooden beams stones and dirt reaching out to the city.

Typical Macedonian Hoplite

Macedonian Phalanx 

Eventually, as building progressed, the Macedonians encountered fierce resistance form the Tyrians  who were now in catapult range, as well as their naval fleet, which continually harassed the invaders.Alexanders solution was to build two large siege towers with heavy catapults to repel the ships. As A response, Tyrians sent a large fire ship with the stern weighted, The Conflagration was able to successfully destroy both towers, leaving the bridge defenseless. Alexander then reinforced the bridge with breakwaters  which did the trick. at this point the Tyrians were very nervous because of the fact that the most powerful army at that age was right on their walls. although they were still able to rely on their walls, Alexander had now at this time set up torsion catapults that kept the defenders occupied with keeping their heads down by continually sending a storm of rocks and bolts at the walls.

  
     
 (Artist's Depiction of The latter stages of the invasion)

 This Forced the Tyrians to split their defenses between the between both locations, now realizing that surrender would not save their lives. they used wooden towers on their walls, using long bladed poles to sever siege ropes, poured hot sand and used nets to slow the attackers.  According to historians, the effort that Tyrians put into defending their city was so fierce Alexander even considered ending the siege because of the physical and economical costs it took. However, the sheer determination of the conqueror was what triumphed in the end. Eventually, a gap in the outer wall of the city (unable to be repaired) opened and Alexander took advantage of it. He drove his troops through the gap and into the city. At this point there were few forces that could hold their own against the well disciplined and vicious war machine that Alexander wielded and the city quickly fell.

                                          

What I've learned through this illustrative Story is how Sheer willpower and determination can overcome even the impossible. While Alexander was in the early stages of his bridge, the defenders mocked him from the walls for his ludicrous ideas, but he never gave up, when the Tyrians set fire to his siege towers and killed number of his men, he never gave up, and after seven months of dragging out the invasion, even when his war advisers told him to to quit, he never gave up. He had the determination of a conqueror and that is one of the reasons why he was able to dominate most of the known world.