Bud Gibson

Jim Bolen was a highly decorated Special Forces Green Beret who served with the highly classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) during the Vietnam War. He led over 40 dangerous, top-secret missions into Laos and Cambodia, primarily targeting the Ho Chi Minh Trail and Sihanouk Trail.Bolen's expertise included infiltration, intelligence gathering, and prisoner snatch operations, often under heavy enemy fire New Interview with Jim -youtube.com/live/Bik9J3ZOH…

@MAC_VSOG I’ll definitely be getting this

So pumped to play this June 18th can’t come fast enough

@MAC_VSOG @jockowillink @SOGChronicles Terrible!! Terrible loss

Very sad to hear that a legend has passed away. This podcast with @jockowillink and @SOGChronicles is one of the best of all the SOG interviews I’ve ever seen. Cowboy was one of a kind. Please keep his family and SOG brothers in your prayers.

@HappyPunch Clift lil Lincoln is cold ass hell Tbf

Ronda Rousey just VIOLATED Khamzat Chimaev for calling her ungrateful 😳 “F*cking cleft lip Lincoln is just hating. No one gives a sh*t about his ineffectual wrestle f*ckfests. Unlike Kumquat, I have 100% finish rate.”

British SFSG (Special Forces Support Group) Operators 🇬🇧 The "Special Forces Support Group (SFSG)" is an elite force that backs up the UK's most Tier 1 units, like the SAS and SBS. Formed in 2006 to bridge the gap between standard infantry and specialized special forces, they are primarily built around the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, with additional specialists from the Royal Marines and the RAF Regiment. I interview a ROYAL MARINE this coming Tuesday - youtube.com/live/5b-5tHqjM…

@KTantoP Would love to interview you sir! I’ve been interviewing macvsog and force recon vets the last 6 years! Just finished 13hrs for the 20th time

2004,Camp Victory getting ready to jump on route Irish…again.. while with Blackwater Templar 4… Benghazi wasn’t my first rodeo y’all 🇺🇸🤙🏼

An actor who played a character so perfectly that nobody else could ever top it. GIFS ONLY.

German SEK operators inside a hospital, securing the floor while a mafia boss is being treated for gunshot wounds. The man on the bed is a target. The men around him aren’t his bodyguards. They’re the state’s insurance policy that nobody finishes what the first shooter started. SEK, Spezialeinsatzkommando, is the state level tactical unit inside German police forces. Hostage rescue, high risk arrests, fugitive takedowns, and exactly this. Standing post in a sterile corridor with full kit while a surgeon works on a man with a price on his head. The hit on a wounded mob figure in his hospital bed is one of the oldest plays in organized crime. SEK exists so the play doesn’t work.

On December 19, 1971, an OH-6A Cayuse (tail number 67-16347, call sign "White 1") carrying two crew members took off on a bomb damage assessment mission with a target area southeast of Dambe, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. During the mission, this aircraft received heavy enemy ground fire, was hit, and burst into flames. The aircraft passed over an open area and crashed into a tree line at (GC) XU 026 248. It exploded upon impact and was completely destroyed by fire. A strong enemy presence in the area turned back all attempts to search the crash site and recover crew remains. First Lieutenant Peter Charles Forame entered the U.S. Army from Virginia and was a member of the Air Cavalry Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was the co-pilot of this Cayuse when it crashed, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Today, First Lieutenant Forame is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable. DPAA

@Duggan13Jack Dang!! If you’d ever be open to speak sir, I’m starting to speak with more post Vietnam vets (less SOG and Force Recon )

@TheReconCast Also 2e REI and 6e REG, Foreign Legion infantry and engineers. I was further east, with US VII Corps.

French Special Forces operators taking Iraqi soldiers prisoner during Operation Daguet, France’s contribution to the Gulf War. The forgotten edge of a war the Americans got the spotlight for. The French deployed around 18,000 troops to the Gulf, with the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, and Commandos Marine running the SF side. Their job on the western flank was to protect the coalition’s left, race north, and seize As Salman before the Iraqi divisions there could react. They covered 150 kilometers in 100 hours. Captured thousands. Lost two men

@warjunkie777 Same here!! Glad to be following ya now

@TheReconCast All this time and I wasn’t following you

@jeanbap59962914 The French don’t get the due recognition they deserve !!!!

@TheReconCast On a effectivement peu parlé de la contribution essentielle des forces françaises dans cette guerre!

@PitaFajita1775 Recently watched a FFL documentary and he was in at the ending of it! Amazing work

@TheReconCast Lies. The FRENCH FOREIGN legion LOVED Schwarzkopf. they awarded him one of their highest combat medals & made him an honorary legionnaire for life.AND GAVE a special card to show their appreciation to Norman few have. m.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPVvI…

@PilPol75 @Billblogy The U.S. didn’t surrender to anyone. French jokes get out off hand but let’s keep it historical here

@Billblogy @TheReconCast It’s funny coming from a guy whose country’s army surrendered to those animals. Nice try.

Only modern “wars” we’ve “lost” were politically ruined back in Washington . The GWOT and Vietnam, depending on what “authority” you ask Korea .., Considering the rest of the major wars and smaller battles I do say it’s the reason the U.S. is still a superpower Revolutionary War War of 1812 Indian Wars Mexican War Civil War Spanish-American War World War I World War Il Korean War Vietnam War Persian Gulf War Global War on Terror

@Billblogy @TheReconCast quelles guerres les americains ont-ils gagné ?

⚔️⚡️⚔️ A Co (Gator), 2-327 IN (No Slack),101st ABN near the Pakistani border youtu.be/r4kT6iwQUWQ?si… via @YouTube

@MarioNawfal Nice judo throw but he got lazy and let the suspect get top control. All cops need either judo or jiu jitsu training MANDATORY

🇺🇸 A Tennessee cop got punched in the head mid-arrest of a suspect, when a random bystander jumped in to help him finish the job. Most people would've just filmed it. Greatly done.

Just set up this Interview next Monday ⚔️⚡️ Mr. Romero is a Retired Colonel with 26 years of service from Air National Guard. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Flight School and U.S.A.F Flight School (both fixed wing and rotary wing rated). He has flown UH-1, OH-6, KC-135, RF-101C and RF-4C military aircraft. He is a Vietnam Veteran with over 1100 hours of combat time and total military flight time in excess of 4000 hours. He received several military awards and decorations, namely, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, 33 Air Medals, Purple Heart, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal. He was a member of the 9th Air Force battle staff in charge of all reconnaissance assets assigned to CENTCOM for sic years leading up to Gulf war I Desert Shield Desert Storm. He was later employed by American Airlines as a pilot for 38 years and was a captain for 33 years. He flew B-727, B-737, Airbus 310/320/321/330 with a total civilian flying time in excess of 30,000 hours. He is a former president of Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, member of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Association, member of the Daedalians Association and Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association.  Link to our interview next week - youtube.com/live/kmweZtMl6…

@ChuckPfarrer Fantastic sir

@TheReconCast Thanks Bud-- I’ll be in touch.

The GIGN brought revolvers to an AK-47 gunfight. And won. Christmas Eve, 1994. On Air France Flight 8969, everything seemed routine, as the passengers watched four men in police uniforms walk through the cabin, checking passports. Until the uniforms suddenly came off, and they pulled out AK-47s, screaming in Arabic. The terrorists grabbed a Vietnamese diplomat and dragged him to the front of the plane and executed him, his body thrown onto the runway for all to see. For two days, the 229 passengers sat in that cabin not knowing if they’d see Christmas morning. Two more passengers were executed, but this wouldn’t be the end of it: The hijackers had demanded 27 tons of fuel for a flight to Paris, more than double what was needed. French intelligence understood: They were going to crash the aircraft into the Eiffel Tower, turning the famous landmark into an image the world would never forget. While negotiations dragged on, 30 GIGN operators flew to Marseille aboard an Airbus A300. The plane was identical to the hijacked one, so they could spend every minute rehearsing the rescue. When the hijacked plane landed for refueling, the elite unit was already waiting, planting listening devices to pinpoint the hijackers. But hours into the standoff, the militants suddenly opened fire on the control tower. The French knew they needed to act now, and gave the green light for an immediate assault. Thierry Prungnaud was first through the door. While AK-47 rounds tore through the cabin around him, he raised his Manurhin MR73, a six-shot .357 Magnum revolver. In seconds, he neutralized three of the four hijackers. He took seven AK-47 rounds but kept fighting, clearing the way for his team mates behind him. 17 minutes later, it was over. All four hijackers neutralized, 173 passengers rescued alive, and nine GIGN operators wounded, none fatally. The assault broadcasted live on TV. The MR73 revolver that Prungnaud had used was tested with 170,000 full-power rounds before the testers gave up. Every GIGN operator trains with 150 rounds through their revolver, every day. Their philosophy is simple: Six rounds means you don’t miss. The GIGN didn’t.

@ChuckPfarrer Would really like to speak with you one day sir!!! I sent you my contact details btw

@TheReconCast Worked with GIGN a few times. Note that they are rocking S&W 686 .357 wheel guns. While the rest of the CT outfits in Europe, UK, NATO and the US were using Mp-5s, France conducted CQB with pistols. With exceptional proficiency.

@tacticalalive Easily . Not hard when the CIA is security and transportation lol

@TheReconCast biggest drug dealer in Laos.

French officers had quickly taken to Vang Pao, a squat, five-foot-five-inch man with an oval face, high cheekbones, and skin pocked with blot-like birthmarks. He maintained a wisp of a mustache and, sometimes, a small, rectangular strip of a goatee right under the middle of his bottom lip; it would have looked hip to an urbanite in the 2010s, but the goatee came mostly from Vang Paos impatience with taking the time to shave. In addition, he seemed willing to lead his men into bloody encounters. As the historian Mai Na M. Lee notes, other Hmong leaders, such as the more urbane Touby Lyfoung, the older Hmong man who originally served as Vang Pao's mentor, somehow seemed to avoid battles in the French Indochina War that involved much shooting; they stuck to politics. Vang Pao, she writes in her book Dreams of the Hmong Kingdom: The Quest for Legitimation in French Indochina, 1850-1960, was the right man for a bloody campaign. Vang Pao wore his black, wiry hair in a military-style cut that made it stick almost straight up, and though his moon-shaped face could break out into a wide grin, his normal look was one of fierce concen-tration, as if he might let out a scream at any moment. He dressed in a Loose, green, army officer-style collared shirt mostly unadorned with medals or trinkets. His hands and forearms bore the scars of smacking through brush and trees on long marches. He always kept his favorite combat knife, a long dagger with the blade curved just at the tip, in a pouch on his belt. He was rarely without a gun strapped to his body in either a shoulder holster or a waist holster. Vang Pao won a reputation with the French and the Hmong for his forceful command, his fierceness, and his boundless energy. His mentor Touby Lyfoung, a rich, Francophile Hmong leader from one of the most powerful clans, believed that the young man was a kind of military prodigy-someone who could do little other than fight but who had enormous innate skills in this area. "He is a pure military officer," Touby Lyfoung said of Vang Pao. (Touby Lyfoung's and Vang Pao's relationship later would become more acrimonious, as the protégé gained more and more power.) Vang Pao loved to walk and rarely sat even for meetings. He could not hold a conversation without interrupting and interjecting ideas nearly every sentence. One CIA officer who dealt with him, Stuart Methven, remembered that Vang Pao "had a reservoir of restless energy and was constantly shifting back and forth on the balls of his feet as he talked."39 "The young Hmong officer ... doesn't eat much and almost never sleeps," said Max Mesnier, a French officer who commanded Vang Pao. "His arms often crossed... he is actually a tiger ready to attack " Vang Pao had several other qualities that made him attractive as an ally. He was from a modest background: He hailed from one of the less powerful Hmong clans, which theoretically might make it easier to work with him. Unlike many Hmong, Vang Pao expressed his loyalty to the Laotian king, Sisavang Vong, though he did not worship Laotian royalty. Still, Vang Pao believed in Laos as a country and would fight the communists not just for the Hmong but for all of Laos.* "My men died for the king, I sacrificed men I loved [fighting] for the king," Vang Pao said later. "I believed we Hmong ... could be integrated into the Laotian nation." When CIA agents and aid workers came to the Hmong regions of Laos, Vang Pao advised them not to learn Hmong but instead to learn the Lao language. "Vang Pao said explicitly, 'Don't speak Hmong. This is Laos," recalled Win McKeithen, a former aid worker in Laos Picture 3 is one of my favorite VP photos because it has the LEGENDARY TONY POE and good friend and SOG vet LTC(ret) Dave Carr with TP and VP and the super secret Phitts Camp 603 , which was a 46th Co and CIA base used to train fighters to put into the field not only in Laos but Cambodia and Thailand