Green Beret

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Disturbing Allegations in Africa; Green Berets Enter the Fray

Human rights group says insurgents in Mozambique are beheading children

(Newser) - An insurgency in Mozambique that began in 2017 is escalating in intensity and leading to disturbing new claims from human rights groups. This week, the UK aid group Save the Children accused insurgents allied with the Islamic State of beheading children as young as 11, reports Reuters . The aid agency...

Suspect in 'Abhorrent' Bowling Alley Shooting a Green Beret

Army Sgt. 1st Class Duke Webb was in Ill. on leave from Fla.'s Eglin Air Force Base, authorities say

(Newser) - An Army Green Beret has been arrested and charged with murder after a weekend shooting at an Illinois bowling alley that left three senior citizens dead and three injured, including two teens. Police say that Sgt. 1st Class Duke Webb, an active service member who's been with the US...

Ex-Green Beret Admits He Spied for Russia

Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins pleads guilty, faces life in prison

(Newser) - The former Green Beret officer accused of spying for Russia is admitting to the crime. Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to more than a decade of conspiring with Russian intelligence officers. He confessed to joining the US Army's Special Forces because they persuaded...

US: Former Green Beret Sold Out His Country

Peter Rafael Dzibinksi Debbins is accused of sharing secrets with Russian operatives

(Newser) - A former Green Beret was collared Friday and accused of conspiring with Russian intelligence agents for over 15 years, the Hill reports. Peter Rafael Dzibinksi Debbins, 45, allegedly gave operatives of the GRU—Russia's foreign intelligence agency—sensitive information between 1996 and 2011. That included "details of his...

Ex-Green Berets Get 20 Years in Prison

Luke Denman and Airan Berry allegedly tried to help overthrow a president

(Newser) - A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro, the AP reports. Lawyers for the former Green Berets, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, said they were barred from...

Army Admits First Woman to Green Berets

National Guard becomes an engineer sergeant after a year of training

(Newser) - About 400 soldiers just successfully completed the 53-week Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg. Each of them is special, their parents would agree, but one is in a league of her own—the first woman to ever join the Army's Green Berets. "Each and every one of...

Green Beret Who Received Medal of Honor Dies at 41

Ronald Shurer II, who joined the Secret Service after the Army, had lung cancer

(Newser) - He was a Green Beret awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Afghanistan, as well as a Secret Service staffer later in his career. Now, per the Army Times , both those organizations are mourning the loss of former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, who died...

Report: First Female Green Beret Is Coming

National Guard soldier to graduate training within weeks, per 'NYT'

(Newser) - The US Army may soon have its first female Green Beret. The enlisted National Guard soldier is set to graduate from the yearlong qualification course as a Special Forces engineer sergeant in the coming weeks, reports the New York Times , which cites officials as saying her success is essentially guaranteed....

Pardons, Promotion From Trump, Despite Pentagon Pushback

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he had a 'robust discussion' with the president on this

(Newser) - President Trump has pardoned a former US Army commando set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two, the White House announced late Friday. The commander...

Green Beret 'Admitted to Murder' in Job Interview

Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn faces murder charges

(Newser) - A celebrated Green Beret admits to killing a man, but insists it wasn't murder—an impression the US Army no longer shares, NBC News reports. Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn has admitted twice to the 2010 killing of an Afghan male in Marjah, Afghanistan, insisting the victim was a dangerous...

Report: Soldier Ambushed in Niger Wasn't Captured

Investigation found Sgt. La David T Johnson fought to the end

(Newser) - An American soldier killed during an ambush in Niger with three comrades wasn't captured alive by the enemy or executed at close range, the AP has learned. A military investigation found evidence he apparently fought to the end. Dispelling a swirl of rumors about how Sgt. La David T...

Report: Green Beret Killed After Spotting SEALs' Scheme
Report: Green Beret Killed
After Spotting SEALs' Scheme
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Report: Green Beret Killed After Spotting SEALs' Scheme

Logan Melgar found cash that was supposed to go to informants, reports Daily Beast

(Newser) - A jarring story emerged last month about US special operations forces: Two Navy SEALs are under investigation in the death of an Army Green Beret in the African nation of Mali. Details on a potential motive have been scant, but the Daily Beast has talked to five special-ops sources to...

Report: Niger Militants Kidnapped US Soldier

Sergeant's body was found 2 days later

(Newser) - One of four American soldiers killed in Niger last month may have been kidnapped by ISIS-linked militants before he was executed, sources say. A village elder in northern Niger tells CBS that a battle raged for more than two hours after a group of Green Berets was ambushed by attackers...

2 Navy Seals Suspected in Green Beret's Murder

'New York Times' reports that Logan Melgar was strangled to death in Mali

(Newser) - Nearly five months after a 34-year-old Army Green Beret was strangled to death in his embassy housing in the Malian capital of Bamako, military officials say investigators are looking into whether two members of the Navy's SEAL Team 6 are involved. Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar's body was...

Nigerien Soldier: Ambushed Troops 'Ready to Fight Till End'

Meanwhile, officials and lawmakers seek answers in 'shifting narrative' of Oct. 4 attack

(Newser) - New details have emerged regarding the attack that left four US soldiers dead in Niger, labeled by some as a "massive intelligence failure." Per the New York Times , which interviewed military officers, Pentagon officials, and lawmakers, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright,...

What Are US Special Forces Doing in Niger?

Green Beret deaths bring attention to support mission in African country

(Newser) - The deaths of three Green Berets in Niger on Wednesday—along with those of several Nigerien soldiers—is raising questions about the US mission in the African country, reports the Washington Post . The incident, involving what are believed to be the first hostile-fire casualties in the country for US troops,...

3 Green Berets Killed in Africa Ambush

2 others killed in Niger attack

(Newser) - US officials say three US Army special operations commandos were killed Wednesday and two others were wounded when they came under fire in southwest Niger. The officials say the two wounded were taken to Niamey, the capital, and are in stable condition, the AP reports. The officials say the commandos,...

Heartbreaking Video Shows Army Widow's Reunion With Husband

Tara Thomas met her husband's coffin on the tarmac

(Newser) - In a moving scene, an Army wife met her husband on the airport tarmac last week—but he was in a coffin. The heartbreaking reunion between Tara and Shawn Thomas was caught on video by Lisa West Williams, who was traveling in the plane that transported Shawn Thomas' body home...

Green Beret Won't Be Discharged for Attacking Alleged Child Rapist

The Afghan official allegedly kept a boy tied to his bed as a 'sex slave'

(Newser) - The Army has decided not to discharge a Special Forces soldier who beat up an Afghan police official he believed had been raping a young boy, CNN reports. Sgt. Charles Martland and Capt. Daniel Quinn claimed in 2011 that Afghan police commander Abdul Rahman had been raping the boy repeatedly...

4-Year-Old Shoots, Kills Dad
 4-Year-Old Shoots, Kills Dad 

4-Year-Old Shoots, Kills Dad

Visit to friend's home takes tragic turn for military veteran

(Newser) - A surprise visit to a friend's home with his young son on Friday ended up being a deadly decision for Justin Stanfield Thomas. The 35-year-old Army Special Forces veteran and former Green Beret was shot dead by his 4-year-old, who police say found an unsecured gun in the living...

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