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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Stavros Atlamazoglou - 3 legendary leaders who made America's special-operations units into the elite forces they are today |
| 2020-11-13 |
| [BI] An unconventional visionary: Col. Charles "Chargin' Charlie" Beckwith Charlie Beckwith commissioned in the Army in 1952, volunteering for Special Forcers a few years later. In 1960, he deployed to Laos as part of a covert special-operations program to harass the North Vietnamese. Following that tour, Beckwith was an exchange officer with the British Special Air Service (SAS). He was given command of an SAS troop (about 15 operators) and deployed to Malaya, where the British were fighting a Communist insurgency. That deployment had a profound impact on "Charlie Blister," as the British called him. About the author: Managing Editor. Greek Army veteran (National service with 575th Marines Battalion and Army HQ). Johns Hopkins University. You will usually find him on the top of a mountain admiring the view and wondering how he got there. You can reach him at Stavros@sofrep.com. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 Major General Robert T. Frederick -- commander of the First Special Services Force in WWII. Despite rocky starts, the unit was trained in parachuting, skiing, amphibious landings, and received extra training in hand-to-hand combat. The US Army itself recognized the unit's contributions to the concept of special operations forces by adopting a green beret for future special forces units, based on the FSSF's red berets -- themselves inspired by the Canadian portion of the unit's issued headgear. Geoffrey Pyke -- the stereotypical British mad genius who inspired the formation of the FSSF with his plan to drop a small unit into Norway to destroy their heavy water and power generation facilities. There was, eventually, a unit of saboteurs sent to Norway, but without the "snow machines" he wanted them to have, and in smaller numbers. Also known for being the mind behind Project Habbakuk, a giant aircraft carrier made of "Pykrete" -- ice embedded with wood fiber. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-11-13 11:56 |
| #1 Yia mas! |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-11-13 11:40 |