U.S. Special Ops Forces Unmatched In World, Admiral William H. McRaven Says

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2011 - U.S. special operations forces are unmatched by any country in the world, said Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, who assumed command of the Tampa, Fla.,-based U.S. Special Operations Command today.

McRaven took the reins from Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson during a ceremony presided over by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta. The video of the ceremony streamed to special operations teams around the world.

McRaven had been the commander of Joint Special Operations Command and worked with then-CIA Director Panetta to find and kill Osama bin Laden. The admiral told Panetta he looks forward to working with him in his new position.

"Today's [U.S.] special operations forces are the finest the world has ever seen," McRaven said. "As demonstrated time and again, their courage, their experience, their dedication to the mission and their sense of patriotism is unparalleled in the annals of history."

McRaven, who was promoted to four-star rank earlier, also praised families of special operations personnel. "Behind every SOF warrior stands a family of equal strength and commitment," he said. "As a nation, we are blessed to have such magnificent patriots."

McRaven spoke directly to special operations personnel during his short statement upon taking command. "I look forward to serving with you," he said. "The world today is as unpredictable as ever. As such, the American people will expect us to ... answer every call to arms, to venture where other forces cannot and to win every fight no matter how tough or how long. They will expect it because we are the nation's special operations force, and I guarantee you we will not let them down."

McRaven, a Navy SEAL, has commanded at every level from SEAL platoon leader to his current position. He served during Desert Storm and was commander of Special Operations Command Europe where he also served as the first director of the NATO Special Operations Coordination Center.

Demand Will Increase For Special Ops Forces, Admiral Eric T. Olson Says

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2011 - Special operations forces will become more important in the future, said Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, who turned over the reins of U.S. Special Operations Command today.

Navy Adm. William H. McRaven succeeded Olson, who will retire from the Navy later this month.

Olson was the first Navy SEAL to become a four-star admiral, and he has been in charge of the command since July 2009. While special operations forces come from all services, they have a similar mindset, he said.

"It was with purpose and focus, agility and talent, tenacity and courage, celebration and mourning that our forces moved forward," he said during the transfer of command ceremony in Tampa, Fla. "Special operations forces by nature do not own mass or terrain. What they have is agility and speed, innovation and wisdom. They value knowledge over doctrine, experience over theory."

Special operations forces form a community of "self-starters, deep thinkers, imagineers, problem solvers, aggressive leaders and teammates to whom they can and often do trust with their lives," Olson said.

Special operations forces are a small part of the overall military, but they have become essential in two major lines of operation in Afghanistan – counterterrorism and the enduring local security force activities. Special operators also are key in training Afghan commandos and special forces.

"Their proven abilities to arrive unexpectedly, to kill those who plan to do us harm, to take precise action when required, to inspire their counterparts, all combine to make them a force in high demand," Olson said. "To be closely associated with such forces is a true privilege. To serve as their commander is the highest of honors."

The admiral said he has worked mostly with senior officers and senior noncommissioned officers during his time at the command, but he has tried to get out and speak with those on the ground at combat outposts and forward locations when possible. Roughly 85 percent of special operations deployments have been to Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm proud to note that our ranks are solid, [and] the future is bright," he said.

Special operations forces have become the solution of choice for many of America's military challenges, Olson said.

"They punch above their weight, and they absorb blows with abnormal toughness and stamina," he said. "Our nation deserves and expects to have such a force that operates without much drama or fanfare, and whose greatest heroes are among the least acknowledged. This force is it. The yin and the yang – hunting enemies and bringing value to the people and places we go, are in close harmony."

This is a force that America can and should be intensely proud of, and it is a force that America needs to face the threats of the future, the admiral said.

"Osama bin Laden is dead, but al-Qaida version 2.0 is brewing," he added. "Conflicts over natural resources, borders, ideologies and theologies will continue. Cyber war looms. The lines between terrorism and crime will become less distinct. Global friction will intensify, and special operations forces will be necessary to turn down the heat."

Olson said he is concerned about some aspects of the force, including the "conventionalization" of special operations forces and a potential decrease in support from the services because of budget pressures. He has expressed concern about the effects of persistent warfare on personnel and their families.

Walter Noble Burns: The Wild West's Premier Mythmaker

 

I love Westerns, which are generally crime stories with an American Wild West backdrop.

According to Mark Dworkin in Wild West magazine, many of the stories about the most famous Westerners are based on myths of the Wild West that came from one writer - Walter Nobel Burns.

Billy the Kid. Wyatt Earp. Joaquín Murrieta. The names of these Western characters are ingrained in America's consciousness, as are the trio's legendary deeds. But that was not the case as late as the first two decades of the 20th century. It took three books—The Saga of Billy the Kid, Tombstone: An Iliad of the Southwest and The Robin Hood of El Dorado: The Saga of Joaquín Murrieta—written by one man between 1926 and 1932, to make that happen. All three books remain in print more than three quarters of a century after their initial publication. The trilogy's author, Walter Noble Burns, deftly combined diligent research with his own skillful embellishments to rescue from obscurity these and other nearly forgotten figures central to the dramatic story of the American West.

... Sophie Poe, widow of Pat Garrett's deputy John Poe, was hired as a consultant on the King Vidor film based on Burns' Saga. Unhappy with what she deemed glorification of the Kid, she told Vidor, "Sir, I knew that little bucktoothed killer, and he wasn't the way you were making him at all." On the other hand, the romance of Saga appears to have inspired Bonnie and Clyde. Found in the back seat of their death car among shotguns, pistols, ammo and stolen license plates was a copy of The Saga of Billy the Kid.

You can read the rest of Mark Dworkin's interesting piece about Burns by via the below link:

http://www.historynet.com/walter-noble-burns-the-wild-west%e2%80%99s-premier-mythmaker.htm

The Polished Menace Of Eric Ambler

 

Shmuel Ben-Gad wrote an interesting piece about one of my favorite writers, Eric Ambler.

Ambler's The Mask of Dimitrios and Journey Into Fear are two of my favorite thrillers.

Spy stories are, at least sometimes, a secular equivalent of ghost stories, tales of mysterious menace. (Note that spies are sometimes referred to as spooks.) Eric Ambler (1909-1998) is unquestionably one of the best writers of spy stories in English. His stories are filled with mystery and menace and are distinguished by an air of realism, sophisticated plots, and polished prose.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://stkarnick.com/culture/2011/08/03/the-polished-menace-of-eric-ambler/

Cool Photo: U.S. Navy SEALs In Training

In the above photo a Navy SEAL climbs up a ladder attached to the side of a gas and oil platform during training to prepare an upcoming deployment on July 26, 2011.

The U.S. Navy photo is by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Adam Henderson.

You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

My On Crime & Security Column: Are You Prepared To Fight Back Against Credit Card Fraud?

 

The national business web site AllBusiness.com published my latest On Crime & Security column.

The column covered counterfeit credit cards.

You can read my piece via the below link:

http://www.allbusiness.com/operations/16363258-1.html

How ATF Delivered Assault Weapons To Drug Cartels

Kevin Ferris, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, wrote an interesting column about President Obama and Eric Holder, his Attorney General, and their misguided gun control policies.

... What did happen was Fast and Furious, a new operation out of the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that turned the world of fighting gun trafficking upside down.

You can read the rest of Ferris' column via the below link:

http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-31/news/29835873_1_gun-trafficking-cartels-assault-weapons

You can also read two earlier posts on Operation Fast and Furious via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2011/07/atf-agents-denounce-operation-fast-and.html

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2011/07/answers-needed-on-operation-fast-and.html