By way of example, a two-lane steel-girder bridge that might require a TNT charge of up to 300 lb./136 kg. to “push” it over can be dropped by “burning” the steel structural beams with less than 100 lb./45 kg. of C4. When you are asking a twelve-man Special Forces ODA team to carry on their backs for most of a week the explosive “payload” to destroy a target, it is easy to see which they prefer to use, the target allowing.
Of course, it is important to pay attention to that last point. Every target is unique, requiring a tailored approach to take it down. Special Forces weapons (18B) and engineering (18C) sergeants are skilled in assessing the quantities and types of explosives needed to “drop” a particular target. In making that assessment, these men use many of the same techniques that Air Force planners have developed to plan air strikes with precision weapons. They use builder’s blueprints, satellite reconnaissance photos, and any other available information. Nobody wants to have to hit a target twice. This is especially true of SF soldiers, for whom a failed raid or strike means a target sure to be better protected the next time around.
Special Forces engineering sergeants practice the use of plastic explosives on a steel I-beam. They are using C4 to “cut” the beam, much as they would to destroy the structural members of a bridge.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
One final consideration: While precision air strikes sometimes fail to be “precise” (as in the time a B-2 strike hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade45), SF teams can destroy their targets with absolute certainty. There are just some targets that are better destroyed by men on the ground than satellite-guided bombs. For one thing, they can eyeball a building to make sure the target is not a foreign embassy or babyfood factory.
Not all explosive jobs are as heavyweight as dropping a bridge or building. There are other times, for example, when you’re only called upon to create an opening or breach in a wall. For this kind of job, very small explosive charges can be used with greater safety and reliability than mechanical cutters or battering rams. In fact, such breaches can frequently be cut with Detonation Cord (called “Det Cord” in the field). Det Cord is a synthetic rope impregnated with explosive and has a burning speed measured in thousands of feet per second and a temperature high enough to burn through thin metal. Det Cord can cut breaches and burn thin metal, and it is frequently used as a flying fuse (i.e., an old-fashioned burning fuse such as you’ve seen in movies and cartoons) for larger explosive charges. A deployed ODA even on a “noncombat” mission will usually carry a supply of explosives and detonation gear, just in case a real-world contingency develops in their neighborhood.
Special Forces soldiers are not only skilled with conventional explosives, they are equally skilled in improvising where the situation calls for it. That is to say, they can take commonly available materials and turn them into a useful explosive charge. For example, fertilizers and diesel fuel are quite effective if mixed and placed properly (this mixture was used against the World Trade Center in New York and Federal Building in Oklahoma City). And many other explosive concoctions are possible in the field.
Nonlethal Weapons
We’ve all heard much noise in recent years about the development and deployment of nonlethal weapons systems—weapons whose effects are so precise and focused that they are capable of rendering a person or piece of equipment nonfunctional without actually destroying and/or killing them. Bleeding heart types are fond of nonlethals because they seem to make wars nicer, and they do have their uses in certain so-called “peacekeeping” missions.
As it happens, Special Forces are hardly ever involved in that kind of peacekeeping, and so nonlethals have only limited utility with Special Forces units. The commitment of an SF team to a mission—combat or just training—is a serious statement by the National Command Authorities or regional CINC. That means the only nonlethal weapons likely to be carried by Special Forces units are 40mm riot and tear gas grenades, which can be fired by the M203.
Sometime in the future this class of weapon may become useful to SF soldiers (and Special Forces Command continues to evaluate new varieties), but right now they lack the utility to make them worth packing in a rucksack.
Clothing/Body Armor
What does the well-dressed Special Forces soldier wear in the field?
The answer to this question depends on the mission and the conditions to be encountered. Because these vary far more for SF units than for other soldiers, the Special Forces are sartorially the most variable of American military forces (you’ll even find them now and again using makeup and other props to blend into a street or countryside). A core objective of SF personnel on missions is to avoid being noticed, and they work hard at maintaining their stealthy, low profile.
Battle Dress Uniforms
At home base or in the field (when the situation does not demand otherwise), the Special Forces normally wear the standard family of Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs) worn by the rest of the U.S. military. These come in several weights and fabrics (all cotton and a cotton-polyester blend), and are produced with a variety of camouflage patterns—most frequently the green, brown, beige, and black “woodland” pattern. There are also three- and six-colored desert patterns (the choice depends on the ground cover in an operating area). And finally, there are two types of urban camouflage patterns—one in black, white, and gray (for operations around light-colored buildings), and the other in shades of blue (useful around dark-painted objects or in shadows). Each set of BDUs—whatever the pattern and weight—will have pants and a blouse shirt, each festooned with an impressive array of pockets.
Along with the basic BDU come appropriate caps and boots, again the type being dependent upon the environment where they are worn. Normally, Special Forces soldiers prefer a good airborne jump boot, which can stand up to all manner of situations.
Cold Weather Garments
Given a choice, most SF soldiers that I know prefer hot to cold climates. Wet clothing that has been exposed to cold wind is a wick for body heat, and hypothermia is just about the deadliest environmental condition soldiers deal with. For this reason, the Army has devoted considerable money and resources to providing troops with cold-weather gear, which they call the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS). This family of cold weather clothing is based on basic BDU patterns, but uses Gor-Tex to provide the insulation and water-resistant qualities needed for operating in extremely cold climates.
Like basic BDUs, ECWCS clothing comes in two weights, depending on the conditions, and normally a pair of heavy BDUs is worn under the ECWCS pants and jacket, which has a hood sized to allow a helmet to be worn underneath. ECWCS pants and parkas are extremely fine and well-designed garments, and have become quite popular around the world. The ECWCS jacket is particularly prized by sportsmen, who treasure its excellent Gor-Tex insulation and waterproofing.
HelmetBody Armor
Helmets and body armor are hot and heavy, and so Special Forces soldiers hate to wear them, preferring that their training provide them with the protection needed to get in and out of tough situations. (But they will drop such inhibitions when facing a significant threat of return fire.)
In spite of their reluctance, the Army makes sure they are given an appropriate issue of Kevlar helmets and flak jackets to protect against small arms fire and artillery fragments. The Personal Armor System, Ground Troops (PASGT) provides protection for the head and torso against enemy fire up to 7.62mm. While admittedly heavy and hot (Kevlar is a superior insulator, especially in hot and humid conditions), the PASGT family of body armor and helmets is among the best in the world; and in recent years improved Kevlar formulations have considerably reduced weight and bulk. The basic PASGT helmet now only weighs 3 lb./1.36 kg., a significant reduction from the early PASGT helmets of the 1980s.
Meanwhile, a whole family of new body armor is on the way, with new battlefield and lightweight flak jackets and helmets due for introduction early in the twenty-first century.
Mufti
Mo
st professional soldiers would tell you that the best camouflage in the world is to dress in native garb (“Mufti”) and behave like the locals, and very often you’ll find Special Forces guys (armed with their excellent language skills and cultural sensitivities) doing just that, even when they are visiting friendly host nations. When “going native” proves impossible, SF guys might then buy European or other foreign-made clothes, so they can pose as anything but American. Given the risks for military personnel of overseas exposure these days, this makes a lot of sense. As always, flexibility is the key to their actions.
Sleeping Gear
A sleeping bag is not always a necessary item in an SF rucksack, for many reconnaissance and raid missions require neither shelter nor sleeping gear. But there are times that you just can’t survive without them. This kind of gear is constantly being improved (check the REI or L. L. Bean Web sites for commercial examples), and the U.S. military (not to be outdone) has introduced a new family of Gor-Tex lined intermediate and extreme cold weather sleeping bags, along with several water-resistant “bivy” covers (which eliminate the need to carry a tent or ground cover—and their weight).
Food and Water
An army travels on its stomach.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Except for the actual “payloads” (weapons, explosives, radio gear, sensors, etc.) needed for their mission, SF soldiers carry in their rucksacks nothing more important—or heavier and bulkier—than the food and drink that keeps them going. And it is here, more than in any other logistical area, that the Army fails to provide for the unique requirements of the Special Forces.
The Army tends to view all soldiers alike. But the requirements of the Special Forces are vastly different from those of “normal” soldiers. Because Army units can usually expect daily resupplies of food and water, weight, volume, and the waste generated are only minor concerns. Such issues are far from minor to Special Forces.
The good news is that the Army has finally taken the complaints of field units to heart, and is about to issue more new kinds of packaged field rations than at any time since World War II.
Meals Ready to Eat (MREs)
It’s hard to find lovers of Meals Ready to Eat (MREs—the Army’s standard field rations). Despite improvements in quality and variety during the past decade, they still represent a notable compromise solution to the problem of giving soldiers a nutritious, tasty meal in the field.
For those not familiar with them, MREs are heavy—about 1.2 lb./.54 kg. each, most of which is water and packaging. Each MRE is packaged in a nearly indestructible plastic bag (bring a knife or multitool to get it open), enclosing yet more plastic foil packaging for the food (an entrée, starch, drinks, dessert, and some form of bread or biscuit). These foods are stabilized or sterilized either by heat or radiation, giving them a long shelf life.
What remains when soldiers are done with them also has a long life. That is to say there’s a lot of “wet” trash, and thus used packaging must be buried or carried to avoid leaving evidence behind (wet trash is quite “noseable” to bloodhounds and other tracking canines).
Special Forces guys, always improvising, have done what they can to adapt MREs to Special Forces operations. They start by taking their loads of MREs apart, and removing every piece of nonessential packaging. They then select only the foods they need and want to eat, and stuff them back into the original heavy plastic bags. In this way, a discriminating eater can pack three meals into the volume usually required by one, and reduce the weight by half. By carefully rationing their stripped-down MREs, a week’s worth of food can weigh no more than just 12 lb./5.4 kg. Still, this is a lot of weight and bulk to have to lug around in a rucksack, and not an optimal food source while out on patrols and missions. For instance, the high caloric and vitamin content of MREs tends to make for pungent urine discharges (attractive to dogs and electronic “sniffer” sensors).46
As a final shortcoming, each MRE carton contains twelve different meals (there are over two dozen varieties of MREs), making it difficult to use MREs for community eating or sharing. This limits their utility in coalition or insurgency operations like those demonstrated during Robin Sage.
If the Special Forces have anything good to say about MREs, it is that they are relatively cheap and easily available worldwide. They cost only a few dollars per meal, millions are produced every year, and the U.S. not only sells them to allies but also pre-positions them in mass depots and aboard ships stationed around the globe.
Meal Cold Weather (MCW)/Long Range Patrol (LRP) Rations
While MREs have their virtues, the cons outweigh the pros in the minds of SF units, and you hear a lot of wishes for a “patrol” ration, which would be lighter and more concentrated, and would not generate so much trash.
Interestingly, the Army has had such a ration in its inventory for some years, though its issue has been limited to units with cold weather and mountain warfare missions. The Meal Cold Weather (MCW)/Long Range Patrol (LRP) family of rations is essentially the same high-quality freeze-dried food you can buy at any camping supplier or outfitter. Though MCW/LRP rations are packaged in the same kind of plastic bags as MREs, because they are totally freeze-dried, they are much lighter (by half) than MREs, are immune to freezing, and are considered much better tasting (twelve different menus are now available). Each package contains two meals, water-free and vacuum packed.
Prototypes of the Army’s new Performance-Enhancing Ration Components. The ERGO Drink is designed to support long marches and operations in high-temperature environments, while the HOOAH! Bars provide a march ration for between-meal energy boosting.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
To eat, add water. No problem ... except that for years the Army only contracted for a small number of cold weather rations, compared with the tens of millions of MREs it procures every year. However, production is being increased to accommodate the growing demand of SOF units and other U.S. military formations. The one downside is cost, which is about three times that of an MRE per meal.
Performance-Enhancing Ration Components (PERCs)
For years, athletes and other physically active people have known the benefits of performance-enhancement products, like sports drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, etc.) and so-called “sports nutrition” bars (like PowerBars and Clif Bars).
SF soldiers (who certainly qualify as physically active) have long used such commercial products as “patrol rations” (frequently bought at personal expense).
The Army, recognizing this need, has developed what are known as Performance-Enhancing Ration Components (PERCs). But the Army PERCs will have real differences from their commercial counterparts. The PERCs are not only formulated to provide energy and delay fatigue, they will also improve situational awareness and other mental facilities during times of high stress. To this end, much of the sugar, starch, coloring, and other flavor-oriented ingredients found in commercial products are being deleted and replaced with more useful components.
The first two PERC products are hitting the inventory right now, and include:• ERGO Drink—Mixed with water, the ERGO Drink will provide replacement of minerals, vitamins, and other needed nutrients. Sized in packets that make a quart/ liter of drink at a time (fitting a standard canteen), ERGO has proved very popular with soldiers in early tests.
• HOOAH! Bar—HOOAH! is a bar-sized ration, packaged like a commercial nutrition bar, and can be consumed on the run to give a burst of energy and nutrition under tactical situations.Both ERGO and HOOAH! are being formulated in a variety of flavors, and will have mass distribution in 2000.
Shelf Stable Pouch Bread
Although fresh bread is one of the most perfect foods, leavened bread products rapidly deteriorate. Scientists have for a long time tried to discover ways to remedy this situation; and in fact attempts to sterilize bread with radiation have shown promise (though yielding shelf lives that only marginally improve on what is currently normal).
Army labs and food contractors have spent
considerable time and money developing bread and pastry products that can stay fresh for up to three years; and with the Shelf Stable Pouch Bread product, they seem to have found a winner. (They accomplish this feat by carefully monitoring water content during production and oxygen level during packaging.) They will soon issue a bun-sized loaf of fresh bread in MREs and other field rations.
Mobility-Enhancing Ration Components (MERCs)
The Mobility-Enhancing Ration Components (MERCs) family of food products is an outgrowth of the Shelf Stable Pouch Bread program. MERCs are designed to fulfill the Special Forces dream of a small, lightweight ration with the characteristics of a sandwich, but packaged in the form of a large candy bar or pastry. Indeed, MERCs look very much like “pocket pastries” filled with meat, cheese, vegetables, and other foods, but are jammed with nutrients to help keep a SF soldier on the go during a mission. Early fillings ranged from barbecue beef to ham and eggs.
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