The internet has no shortage of basement-dwelling commandos beating at their keyboards like chimpanzees as they forcefully insist upon one incorrect factoid or another regarding Special Operations units. All SEALs are considered Tier One, right?

No. Rangers pull security for Delta, correct? Time to throw away that scratched-up “Black Hawk Down” DVD, hero.

Since the Internet stupidity goes on and on, two of the SOFREP staff decided to team up and write a definitive article about the differences between SEALs and Rangers. This article was co-written by Brandon Webb, who served in SEAL Team Three, and Jack Murphy, who served in 3rd Ranger Battalion.

SEa Air Land. It always amazes me how many people that acronym is lost on. They think water, Navy and marine mammal.

History

The history of the modern day SEAL team dates back to the 1940s and WWII. They began as the Navy construction and demolition units (NCDUs) and then saw a transformation with Draper Kauffman (great story here) and the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT). JFK would officially welcome the first SEAL teams: SEAL team one and two in the 1960s. The U.S. military desperately needed a maritime Special Operations fighting force; the SEALs were the answer. Come from the water and fight on land or sea.

For the UDTs, the operational pace in the combat zone frequently found two of their platoons–approximately 30-men forward deployed to a particular Amphibious Personnel Destroyer (APD) for periods of six to eight weeks. Embarked UDT platoons usually ran between 10 and 20 demolition or beach reconnaissance missions while aboard the APDs; depending on weather and enemy activity. Moreover, individual UDT personnel were often away on temporary duty with other military or CIA units; usually for advisory and training duties. This included the forward-basing of small teams on islands close to the North Korean coastline, where they stood alert duty with UN Escape and Evasion organizations assisting in the recovery of downed airmen. (Source: Navy SEAL Museum)

Historic UDT Weapons and Demolitions

Individual weaponry taken by UDT men behind enemy lines was usually limited to the submachine guns, pistols, and knives found most useful for the close-quarters combat that characterized most raiding missions. Though presumably available, sound suppressors for the weapons are not known to have been used. The men used a variety of demolitions in their work, but the standard Mark-135 Demolition Pack, which contained twenty pounds of C-3 plastic explosive was foremost. (Source: Navy SEAL Museum)

The Modern-day SEAL Mission

Navy SEALs and the Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen form the operational arms of the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community, headed by the Naval Special Warfare Command. NSW acts as both the Navy’s Special Operations force as well as the Navy component of the U.S. Special Operations Command. Their roles include:

• Surveillance and reconnaissance operations to report on enemy activity or to provide a better understanding of the operational situation. These missions can include swimming ashore at night, tracking enemy units, monitoring military and civilian activity, and gathering information about beach and water conditions prior to a beach landing.
• Direct action—offensive strikes against an enemy target using tactics such as raids, ambushes, and assaults.
• Foreign Internal Defense (FID)—Training and assisting foreign counterparts to increase their capacity to respond to threats.
• VBSS (Visit, Board, Search, and Seize)—Maritime hostile ship boardings in the middle of the night on the high seas.

• Combat swimmer—Exactly what it sounds like. General Noriega’s boat didn’t blow itself up in Panama during the invasion of 1989, it was combat swimmers from SEAL Team Two. There’s some other special stuff the SDV teams do, but you’ll have to join to find out.
• Tier-one counterterrorism—This is DEVGRU’s (AKA SEAL Team 6) turf. Granted, the edge goes to the Army’s Delta Force for remaining much quieter about their jobs. Culturally, Delta does a much better job of cloaking their mission in secrecy. Several former command members in DEVGRU have apparently violated their disclosure agreements, and this has created a lot of internal strife in the community.

Modern Navy SEAL Culture

Unit culture is incredibly different from other branches of Special Operations such as the Army, USMC, and USAF. Only recently have SEAL candidates become immersed in small-unit tactics immediately following boot camp, and this is a good thing.

In times of war or uncertainty, there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our nation’s call: a common man with an uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest Special Operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life. I am that man.

 Navy SEAL Ethos

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day. My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own. I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish themission. I lead by example in all situations. I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me – my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete. We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend. Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.

The SEAL Pipeline

After their SEAL contract, the candidate goes off to boot camp. Then, they get a shot at BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training—seven months of pain and suffering. In the unlikely event a candidate makes it through BUD/S, then it’s on to the three-month long SEAL Qualification Training (SQT). Some guys don’t make it through SQT, usually for bad tactical performance. Those who do get their trident and are assigned to their SEAL team. That doesn’t mean they can rest on their laurels. My swim buddy in class 215 got canned and sent back to the fleet during his first platoon. You have to earn your trident every day in the teams.

Before naval special warfare operator (SO) was an official Navy job title (we call it a rating in the Navy), we had an alphabet soup of job titles for enlisted SEALs. I started off in the Navy as a helicopter SAR swimmer and sonar operator (AW), and then went to BUD/S with class 215.

Quick fact for potential candidates: If you want to operate, really operate, then enlist. Officers don’t get the same choice in schools or the same operational experience (sniper, race car driving, flying, stinger missile gunner, and on and on).

BUD/S

1. First Phase: The basic conditioning phase is seven weeks long and develops the class in physical training, water competency, and mental tenacity, while continuing to build teamwork. Each week, the class is expected to do more running, swimming, and calisthenics than the week before, and each man’s performance is measured by a four-mile timed run, a timed obstacle course, and a two-mile timed swim. Because of its particularly challenging requirements, many candidates begin questioning their decision to come to BUD/S during First Phase, with a significant number deciding to drop on request (DOR).
2. Second Phase: The combat diving phase lasts seven weeks. This phase introduces underwater skills that are unique to Navy SEALs. During this phase, candidates become basic combat swimmers and learn open- and closed-circuit diving. Successful Second Phase candidates demonstrate a high level of comfort in the water and the ability to perform in stressful and often uncomfortable environments. Candidates who are not completely comfortable in the water often struggle to succeed.
3. Third Phase: This phase is seven weeks long and involves basic weapons, demolitions, land navigation, patrolling, rappelling, marksmanship, and small-unit tactics. The second half of training takes place on San Clemente Island, about 60 miles from Coronado. On the island, the class practices the skills they learned in Third Phase. Men who make it to Third Phase have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to becoming SEALs. They graduate BUD/S as special warfare operators, but have a long way to go before pinning on a trident and becoming a SEAL.

SEAL Qualification Training (SQT)

SQT is designed to provide candidates with the core tactical knowledge they will need to join a SEAL platoon. Before graduation, candidates attend survival, evasion, resistance, and escape training. It is this intermediate skills course that prepares candidates for the advanced training they will receive once they arrive at a SEAL team.

SQT includes:

• Weapons training
• Small unit tactics
• Land navigation
• Demolitions
• Cold-weather training
• Medical skills
• Maritime operations

Before graduating, candidates also attend SERE training:

• Survival
• Evasion
• Resistance
• Escape

SQT training will also qualify candidates in:

• Static-line parachute operations
• Freefall parachute operations (High Altitude, Low Opening “HALO”)
• Freefall parachute operations (High Altitude, High Opening  “HAHO”)

Upon completing these requirements, trainees receive their SEAL trident, designating them as Navy SEALs. They are subsequently assigned to a SEAL team to begin preparing for their first deployment.

Reality of Modern SEAL Training

As Jack Murphy has pointed out before, most SEALs don’t have the basic soldiering skills that other branches of service have before showing up for SOF selection. Their candidates are usually a bit older and more mature.

You can easily make an argument for older candidates or younger ones—both have their advantages. Admittedly, there are some major advantages in fundamental training that other branches have over newly minted SEALs. In all fairness, SEALs are quick studies and relentless in the pursuit of knowledge and training, and it’s a gap that is quickly made up in certain areas. Some areas that Jack points out will never get made up; SEALs just don’t focus on certain things. I talk about this in my first book, The Red Circle.

The SEALs of 2012 (they’ve since ramped up) were way behind when it came to maritime operations. The community is catching up, but we should be leading from the front, leaning in—not playing catching up.

A few years ago Admiral McRaven rightly pointed the SEAL ship back in the right direction toward maritime operations. However, the equipment didn’t match the new training requirements. A modern SEAL team resembled a Cousteau museum when it came to diving equipment (don’t get me started on two-stroke outboard engines and clunky rubber boats).

“Some of our partners have equipment that, quite frankly, is better than ours because we spent a decade fighing ashore.” —Admiral (SEAL) Pybus

Being a career officer in Special Ops has never been easy, until the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the new Force 21 initiative opened up the doors for promotional growth. Before 9-11, most (not all) smart NSW (Naval Special Warfare) SEAL officers punched their ticket up to 0-3, hit the glass ceiling of being an operator and any chances at advancement stopped abruptly. A lot of great officers gave up their career because of this.

SEAL Equipment

Modern SEALs get some of the best equipment available despite some setbacks with regards to maritime equipment.

There’s still a do-it-yourself culture within the teams that has team members modifying their own gear to their liking, and blending off-the-shelf gear and technology with standard SOF issue. Weapons are very similar among all branches of SOF, especially since the advent of U.S. SOCOM.

A typical SEAL will carry a primary weapon (M4 or SCAR) and a secondary (Sig Sauer or HK are both popular in .45 or 9mm). Specialty weapons are carried by snipers (SCAR, SR-25, .338 Lapua), machine gunners, and breachers. Breachers often carry specialty explosive packages including breaching tools. Safe to say you’ll see a variety of pocket tools and knives as well. Emerson, Microtech, and SOG are favorites.

Night vision, laser sights, thermal, and fusion (IR and thermal) devices are all in play as well. SEALs have developed their own special blend of camo that incorporates material technology to defeat certain spectrums, but we won’t go into detail here.

SEAL Organization

The teams are organized into the following:

West Coast

• Team 3, San Diego, CA
• Team 5, San Diego, CA
• Team 7, San Diego, CA
• SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team-1  Oahu, Hawaii
• SEAL Team 17- San Diego, CA (Reserve Unit)

East Coast

• SEAL Team 2- Virginia Beach, VA
• SEAL Team 4- Virginia Beach, VA
• SEAL Team 8- Virginia Beach, VA
• SEAL Team 1o- Virginia Beach, VA
• SEAL Team 18- Virginia Beach, VA (Reserve Unit)

Rangers

Rangers History

The Rangers are arguably the oldest existing unit in our military. Rangers fought in a number of American conflicts before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, such as the French and Indian War and King Philip’s War. In the Revolutionary War, Francis Marion organized and fought in a Ranger unit against the British. Marion was known as the Swamp Fox because his men would attack and quickly disappear into the swamps to evade the British military.

Six Ranger battalions fought in the Second World War. It was during D-Day, at Omaha beach, that the Rangers came upon their unit motto. During the assault, Colonel Norman Cota asked Major Max Schneider which unit he belonged to. When someone replied that they were 5th Ranger Battalion, Cota replied, “Well, then goddammit, Rangers, lead the way!” Today, all Rangers sound off with the unit motto, “Rangers lead the way” when saluting an officer, to which any officer worth his salt responds, “All the way!”

Rangers also served in the Korean War with distinction, including 2nd Ranger Company, an all-African-American company of Rangers. For the first time, Rangers were now airborne-qualified. In the Vietnam War, there were long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) teams that executed some of the hairiest missions of the war. Penetrating deep into the jungle in their distinctive tiger-stripe uniforms to conduct reconnaissance, ambushes, and more, these men were later reorganized into Ranger companies. Despite what the press might have said, our Vietnam-era Rangers served with distinction and have plenty to be proud of.

With Rangers reformed after Vietnam in 1974, their next deployment was the failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980—known as Desert One. First and 2nd Battalion conducted a combat jump into the island nation of Grenada in 1983, where they successfully captured the Point Salines airfield and rescued the American medical students being held on the True Blue facility. Third Ranger Battalion was formed shortly after, in 1984. In 1989, the entire regiment jumped into Panama as a part of Operation Just Cause.

Alpha and Bravo Company of 1/75 played a role in Operation Desert Storm, while Bravo Company of 3/75 participated in Operation Gothic Serpent—the infamous Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia in 1993.

Since 9/11, elements of the Ranger Regiment have been continuously and constantly deployed to combat.

Ranger Mission

The 75^th Ranger Regiment is America’s premier raid force, specializing in direct action and airfield seizures. Strategic-level missions, airfield seizures are also known as forcible entry, but in this case we are talking about a forcible entry into a country—not simply a building. Also written into the 75th Ranger Regiment’s mission-essential task list (METL) is counterterrorism. While traditionally an elite light infantry unit, the 75th has been conducting extensive counterterrorism operations throughout the war on terror.

Ranger Pipeline

Prospective Rangers usually enter the Army on an Option 40 contract, which gives them a guaranteed shot at going to the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP). Note that I said it gives you a shot at it, and that’s it. These prospective Rangers will then attend basic training, their advanced individual training (specific to their job in the military i.e.: infantry, radio operator, forward observer, etc.), and then will go on to Airborne School at Fort Benning.

Upon graduating Airborne School, these trainees are then marched (or run) down the road to begin the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP). This is an eight-week course which is designed to not just select who is mentally and physically prepared for service in the Regiment, but to also provide these new Rangers with the training they will need when they are assigned to a Ranger Battalion and deployed to combat shortly thereafter.

From the U.S. Army:

RASP 1 is an 8 week selection course broken down into two phases.  Ranger candidates will learn the basics of what it takes to become a member of an elite fighting force.  Candidates are tested on their mental and physical capabilities, while learning the advanced skills all Rangers are required to know to start their career with the 75th Ranger Regiment.  Phase 1 focuses more on the critical events and skill level 1 tasks and Phase 2 focuses on training in Marksmanship, Breaching, Mobility, and Physical Fitness.

After a year or two of service in one of the three Ranger Battalions or regimental headquarters, these young Rangers are then sent to Ranger School. The “school house” as it is referred to is a completely separate entity from the Ranger Regiment. The 75th is a SOF unit assigned to USASOC while Ranger School is a training course open to most of the Army and is a part ofTRADOC. Nonetheless, Ranger School provides important lessons in leadership and tactics, so 75th members will need to graduate before they are considered for leadership roles in the Regiment.

One of the main differences between the 75th Ranger Regiment and other Special Operations units like Special Forces and Delta Force is that we “grow our own,” meaning that we raise young soldiers from the time they are privates rather then getting them showing up at our doors as sergeants like those other units do.

Ranger Training

Rangers train constantly while in garrison. Typically, the attitude is that spending two or three nights out at the range is a more efficient use of time rather than driving back and forth everyday, so it isn’t uncommon to work three or four days straight before being released for a three or four day weekend. After the range, there will usually be some recovery and refit time to clean weapons, maintain equipment, and tend to administrative issues before going back out to the field.

A normal day will start with a morning formation at 0700 for accountability purposes before physical training. At times, your platoon or company may have a competition, which is often some insane combination of ruck marching, running, swimming, and land navigation, followed up by a stress shoot out on the range. On normal days, PT is squad led with your squad leader or team leader taking their privates out for whatever PT events he has planned. Ruck marches are usually conducted on Thursdays.

After PT, you could be preparing for the range and signing out weapons, or moving on to individual training. Yes, there is some admin stuff that needs to get done, but Rangers do not get tasked out for post details such as post beautification or any such nonsense. Parachute jumps are conducted as often as possible to keep all Rangers current, usually once a month or so. As a general guide, Rangers focus on the Big Five, which are: small-unit tactics, mobility, marksmanship, PT, and medical training.

Other more intensive training exercises are frequent, such as squad and platoon evaluations that test critical Ranger skills and battle drills. These evaluations also became a type of pre-deployment training that incorporates direct-action raids. Rotary-wing training is often conducted with 160th Special Operations Aviation, and fixed-wing training is also mandatory, as airfield seizures are part of the 75th Ranger Regiment’s mission-essential task list.

One of the big strengths of the Ranger Regiment is how much training and spreading of knowledge is done “in-house.” Take, for instance, the Special Forces CIF teams, which specialize in direct action. They get a fancy eight-week course called the Special Forces Advanced Reconnaissance, Target Analysis, and Exploitation Techniques Course (SFARTAETC) to teach them advanced urban-warfare techniques. Rangers don’t get that; we do all of that training in-house and we train privates to do the same breaching, room clearing, and sensitive site exploitation techniques that Special Forces reserves for senior NCOs.

Ranger Organization

The Ranger Regiment is organized as an airborne light infantry unit, and this is reflected in the Regiment’s table of organization and equipment. Each Ranger platoon consists of four squads, with 9-12 men per squad. Of those four squads, three are rifle squads and one is a weapon’s squad.

Weapon’s squad is responsible for laying down a base of fire with machine guns while the rifle squads maneuver to contact. There are four platoons in each Ranger company. Three of those platoons are rifle platoons/maneuver elements and one is a headquarters platoon.

There are three rifle companies in each Ranger battalion and one support company.  During the War on Terror, each Ranger battalion added an additional rifle company (D/co) and a support company (E/co).

The Regiment consists of three battalions, a regimental headquarters, and a regimental support battalion.

Ranger Equipment

Because it is organized as an infantry regiment, the weapons and gear found in the Ranger Regiment start with the standard issue you would find in any infantry unit, such as the M4 rifle, M249 SAW, M240B, 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm mortars, and M2HB .50-caliber machine gun, but because the Regiment is like an infantry unit on steroids, the kit significantly deviates from there by comparison to the rest of the Army.

This includes specialized optics for rifles, the latest night vision and thermal systems, and even black-side TECHINT devices which can’t be written about here.

Ranger Culture

The culture of the Ranger Regiment is built upon the Ranger Creed, which is often recited in formation, and each word is taken very seriously.

The Ranger Creed

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.

Rangers Lead The Way!!!

As implied by the term “regiment,” the 75^th is very regimented in terms of its culture. Rangers are expected to do everything 100 percent and then some. The competitiveness between Ranger squads and platoons cannot be overstated, as they are constantly trying to show that they are the best. Having seen fistfights break out during banner-day games, you can believe that Rangers take any and all types of competition seriously.

Secret Squirrel

The 75th Ranger Regiment established a small recce element to scout out Ranger objectives in 1984.  Organized into six-man recce teams, the Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment would do recon on airfields that the Ranger battalions were to jump into and seize.  Over time, RRD became RRC, the Regimental Reconnaissance Company.  Sometime around 2004, RRC was absorbed into JSOC and went on to play a big role in one of the most unique and sensitive programs in the War on Terror.

Commentary and Observations on the Rangers

Rangers are now going back to training for worldwide deployments with the war in Afghanistan winding down. Rangers are doing training rotations to Korea, participating in winter warfare training in Alaska, and conducting training in Australia. Sexy high-speed, time-sensitive counterterrorism missions may, or may not, be in the future for the Ranger Regiment.

When it comes to examining the differences between Rangers and SEALs, I think one thing you have to consider is that Rangers are infantrymen first. SEALs are sailors first. Navy basic training has absolutely nothing to do with ground combat, which partially explains why the BUD/S pipeline has to be as long as it is. It isn’t that these young men are “bad” sailors, it is just that they have to be brought up to speed on small-unit tactics and land navigation.

In the Navy, everything is big, gray, and floats. As the only real ground combat element in the Navy, SEALs are special within the entire branch of service. In the Army, Rangers are yet another type of infantry unit, although a Special Operations infantry unit.

Say what you will about the Navy though, one thing I always respected about the SEALs is that their officers seem to actually support them. SEALs seem able to get away with just about anything, no matter how ridiculous, and their chain of command supports them. Not so in Army Special Operations. Our officers are a bunch of Jesus-crazed careerists desperate to get to the top, and will bow down to the powers that be faster than you can blink an eye.

I also think that the organizational differences between one unit set up for infantry operations and the other set up for maritime operations has a bigger impact on everything from unit training to unit culture than many would think. A lot of Army SOF soldiers were shocked to see SEALs show up in Afghanistan in the early days not even knowing how to write an operations order. Things have changed a lot since then, but even the fabled Dev Group had to have operators detached to Delta so they could learn and help their unit get up to speed during those first few Afghan deployments.

Another thing I think the Regiment has gotten right is not making “Ranger” an MOS. The Regiment has had this opportunity and turned it down. Retaining the 11B (infantry) MOS for Rangers allows the unit to purge underachievers very easily. This is not the case with the SEALs, as they now have a SO rating meaning “special operator,” which is their version of a MOS. The same goes for Army Special Forces who receive an 18-series MOS upon completion of the Q-course.

Another difference is in weapons handling. I think the SEALs get a bit more training with sidearms, as they place more of an emphasis on it than Rangers do. One funny story I heard was about a former Ranger who went to vetting for the CIA’s GRS program. Despite being a former Ranger, he had never actually fired a pistol and had to learn on the fly during testing! However, SEALs don’t seem to have the same proficiency with crew-served weapons and other machine guns. One friend of mine had a SEAL armorer come into his arms room and look at a M249 SAW like he was completely baffled. He had never even seen such a weapon. Never mind mortar systems; I don’t think they are even organic to the SEAL Team’s TO&E.

Culturally, I think SEALs are way more laid back than Rangers. They don’t call each other by rank or place much emphasis on proper military grooming standards. This sort of stuff would never fly in the Regiment.

I think that the SEALs vs. Rangers debate is one of the most enduring rivalries (and pissing contests) within the U.S. military. When you have two units from separate branches, one focused on ground combat and another focused on maritime combat, and both of these units are pitted against each other in competition for the direct action mission within SOCOM, well it is no wonder that this rivalry exists. Since working for SOFREP, I’ve come to discover that having a rift between naval and Army SOF is by no means limited to America, either. The same rivalry exists in Italy, Denmark, and other countries as well.

But with that, we also have to remember the great cooperation that has occurred between SOF units during the War on Terror. Yeah, you will be hard pressed to find a Ranger with anything nice to say about Dev Group, but there have been times when Army SOF and Navy SOF conducted joint operations quite successfully.

The truth about SEALs and Rangers is that these units have way more in common than either would like to admit. They both pride themselves on being effective killing machines who can kick in your front door and shoot everyone inside.  This of course is exactly what leads to that rivalry I mentioned.

SEE ALSO: Top US general: There are only 'four or five' US-backed Syrian rebels fighting

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On Tuesday morning, President Obama is expected to deliver an address about his plan to fulfill his campaign promise of closing Guantanamo Bay. 

A total of 91 detainees still remain at the detention facility at the military base. The holding of the prisoners, in conjunction with operating costs, runs the US close to $180 million a year in operating costs. But beyond the debate over holding detainees at the base and the cost of the facility, life at Guantanamo is anything but perfect for the US military personnel based there.

Troops feel isolated, with no civilian cell phone towers and barely adequate bandwidth for video chat. They face severe restrictions on social media and are prohibited from talking about much of their work. It doesn't help that their work is so little understood back home.

The military offers recreation, entertainment and a lot of physical training to keep morale high. It can only do so much.

For a closer look at troop life at GTMO, check out our exclusive photos below.

SEE ALSO: See if you can spot the armed camouflaged Marine watching you

It's a 90-minute flight from Florida to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

This airstrip is where troops will land at the base, which America has operated for 110 years.

From the airstrip it's a short drive to the ferry that comes about once an hour.

These 7 snipers reached out and touched the enemy from a long way away:

SEE ALSO: Watch a US-led coalition airstrike decimate an ISIS weapons facility

1. The British sniper who nailed three 1.53-mile hits

Each shot took 6 seconds to impact. He fired five times. Two shots missed but one round ripped through the gunner’s stomach, another took out the assistant gunner, and the last one destroyed the machine gun.

2. A Canadian sniper who took out a machine gunner in Operation Anaconda

During Operation Anaconda, the bloody hunt of Afghan militants in the Shahikot Valley in Mar. 2002, Canadian Cpl. Rob Furlong was watching over a group of US troops and saw an insurgent automatic weapons team climbing a ridge 1.5 miles away.

His first two shots narrowly missed but the third broke open the gunner’s torso and left him bleeding out on the ground. The shot barely beat out Master Cpl. Arron Perry’s shot discussed below.

3. Another Canadian sniper in Operation Anaconda who took out an observer from nearly the same distance

Canadian Master Cpl. Arron Perry was also supporting US troops in Operation Anaconda when he spotted an enemy artillery observer 1.43 miles away. Perry took aim at the observer and nailed him. Perry held the record for world’s longest sniper kill for a few days before Furlong beat it.

Russia will ask permission to fly surveillance planes equipped with advanced digital cameras over American territories. And the US government may have to let them as soon as this summer.

As unnerving as this idea might sound, there's actually a good reason for this.

Both the US and Russia signed the Open Skies Treaty in 2002. That treaty allows every nation that signed it to fly cameras over the others. It may seem strange that any country would sign a treaty letting others spy on it. But the idea behind the agreement is sound and more than a little optimistic: to create a world where countries more or less know what one another are up to, and so have more trust and less suspicion. Today, 34 countries have signed onto the treaty.

But the technology Russia wants to use to watch the US is something new.

The treaty may have been signed in the 21st century, but until now, the planes involved have only used advanced film cameras— video, daylight, infrared, panoramic, and radar. Russia wants to move the treaty into the modern era, asking to use "digital electro-optical sensors"according to the Associated Press (that's just a fancy way of saying digital cameras).

American officials don't sound so hot on the idea, according to the AP report:

"The treaty has become a critical component of Russia's intelligence collection capability directed at the United States," Adm. Cecil D. Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, wrote in a letter earlier this year to Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of a House subcommittee on strategic forces.

"In addition to overflying military installations, Russian Open Skies flights can overfly and collect on Department of Defense and national security or national critical infrastructure," Haney said. "The vulnerability exposed by exploitation of this data and costs of mitigation are increasingly difficult to characterize."

At the same time, the US State Department website says the US is also planning to move its Open Skies planes into the digital age:

Technology advancements have made film cameras increasingly obsolete and, consequently, the United States is actively preparing for the transition to digital electro-optical sensors. Sensor categories may be added and capabilities improved by agreement among States Parties. All equipment used in Open Skies must be commercially available to all participants in the regime.

Once a nation submits such a request (Russia hasn't yet, formally), third-party nations like Canada and Hungary have 120 days to decide if the tech involved violates the terms of the original treaty, according to the AP report. That means that if the request arrived today, the first Russian digital cameras could glide over Indiana by June 22.

The AP suggests the US may have grounds for backing out of the agreement even if the request is approved. Russia has barred flights over some of its own territories, which US officials say violates the spirit of the deal.

One wrinkle to this news is that if Putin does get his fancy snappers in US airspace, the US Department of Defense know exactly what he sees — even if it's through your bedroom window. Open Skies surveillance gets shared with all member countries in the treaty.

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Senior Army and Pentagon strategists and planners are considering ways to fire existing weapons platforms in new ways around the globe – including the possible placement of mobile artillery units in areas of the South China Sea to, if necessary, function as air-defense weapons to knock incoming rockets and cruise missiles out of the sky.

Alongside the South China Sea, more mobile artillery weapons used for air defense could also prove useful in areas such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe, officials said.

Having mobile counter-air weapons such as the M109 Paladin, able to fire 155m precision rounds on-the-move, could prove to be an effective air-defense deterrent against Russian missiles, aircraft and rockets in Eastern Europe, a senior Army official told Scout Warrior.

Regarding the South China Sea, the US has a nuanced or complicated relationship with China involving both rivalry and cooperation; the recent Chinese move to put surface-to-air missiles on claimed territory in the South China Sea has escalated tensions and led Pentagon planners to consider various options.

Officials are clear to emphasize that no decisions have been made along these lines, yet it is one of the things being considered.

Pentagon officials have opposed further militarization of the area and emphasized that the territorial disputes in the South China Sea need to be resolved peacefully and diplomatically.

At the same time, Pentagon officials have publicly stated the US will continue “freedom of navigation” exercises wherein Navy ships sail within 12 miles of territory claimed by the Chinese – and tensions are clearly on the rise.  In addition to these activities, it is entirely possible the US could also find ways to deploy more offensive and defensive weapons to the region.

Naturally, a move of this kind would need to involve close coordination with US allies in the region, as the US claims no territory in the South China Sea. However, this would involve the deployment of a weapons system which has historically been used for offensive attacks on land. The effort could use an M777 Howitzer or Paladin, weapons able to fire 155m rounds.

“We could use existing Howitzers and that type of munition (155m shells) to knock out incoming threats when people try to hit us from the air at long ranges using rockets and cruise missiles,” a senior Army official said.

Howitzers or Paladins could be used as a mobile, direct countermeasures to incoming rockets, he said.  A key advantage to using a Paladin is that it is a mobile platform which could adjust to moving or fast-changing approaching enemy fire.

“A Howitzer can go where it has to go. It is a way of changing an offensive weapon and using it in dual capacity,” the official explained. “This opens the door to opportunities and options we have not had before with mobile defensive platforms and offensive capabilities.

Mobile air defenses such as an Army M777 or Paladin Howitzer weapon could use precision rounds and advancing fire-control technology to destroy threatening air assets such as enemy aircraft, drones or incoming artillery fire.

They would bring a mobile tactical advantage to existing Army air defenses such as the Patriot and Theater High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which primarily function as fixed-defense locations, the senior Army officials said.

The M777 artillery weapon, often used over the years in Iraq and Afghanistan, can fire the precision GPS-guided Excalibur artillery round able to destroy targets within one meter from up to 30-kilometers or more away.  Naturally, given this technology, it could potentially be applied as an air-defense weapon as well.

Using a Howitzer or Paladin could also decrease expenses, officials said.

“Can a munition itself be cheaper so we are not making million dollar missiles to shoot down $100,000 dollar incoming weapons,” The Army official said.

While Pentagon officials did not formally confirm the prospect of working with allies to place weapons, such as Howitzers, in the South China Sea, they did say the US was stepping up its coordination with allies in the region.

“We continue work with our partners and allies to develop their maritime security capabilities,” Cmdr. Bill Urban, Pentagon spokesman, told Scout Warrior.

Strategic Capabilities Office

The potential use of existing weapons in new ways is entirely consistent with an existing Pentagon office which was, for the first time, recently announced publically.  It is called the Strategic Capabilities Office, or SCO, stood up to look at integrating innovating technologies with existing weapons platforms – or simply adapting or modifying existing weapons for a wider range of applications.

“I created the SCO in 2012 when I was deputy secretary of defense to help us to re-imagine existing DOD and intelligence community and commercial systems by giving them new roles and game-changing capabilities to confound potential enemies — the emphasis here was on rapidity of fielding, not 10 and 15-year programs.  Getting stuff in the field quickly,” Carter said.

Senior Army officials say the SCO office is a key part of what provides the conceptual framework for the ongoing considerations of placing new weaponry in different locations throughout the Pacific theater.  An Army consideration to place Paladin artillery weapons in the South China Sea would be one example of how to execute this strategic framework.

In fact, the Pentagon is vigorously stepping up its support to allies in the Pacific theater. A 2016 defense law, called the Southeast Asia Maritme Security Initiative, provides new funding to authorize a Department of Defense effort to train, equip, and provide other support to the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, Urban explained.

“The Secretary (Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter) has committed $425M over Fiscal Years 2016-2020 for MSI (Maritime Security Initiative), with an initial investment of $50M available in fiscal year 2016 toward this effort,” Urban said.

Army Rebalance to the Pacific

While the Army is naturally immersed in activities with NATO to deter Russian movements in Eastern Europe and maintaining missions in Iraq and Afghanistan – the service has not forsaken its commitment to pursuing a substantial Army component to the Pentagon’s Pacific rebalance.

Among other things, this involves stepped up military-to-military activities with allies in the region, coordinating with other leaders and land armies, and efforts to move or re-posture some weapons in the area.“The re-balance to the Pacific is more than military, it is an economic question. the Army has its hands full with the Middle East and with Europe and is dealing with a resurgent problem in Europe and North Africa,” an Army official said. “We have been able to cycle multiple units through different countries,” the senior official said.

Also, the pentagon has made the Commander of Army Pacific a 4-star General, a move which enables him to have direct one-to-one correspondence with his Chinese counterpart and other leaders in the region, he added.

As of several years ago, the Army had 18,500 Soldier stationed in Korea, 2,400 in Japan, 2,000 in Guam, 480 in the Philippines, 22,300 in Hawaii and 13,500 in Alaska. The service continues to support the national defense strategy by strengthening partnerships with existing allies in the region and conduction numerous joint exercises, service officials said.

“The ground element of the Pacific rebalance is important to ensure the stability in the region,” senior officials have said. Many of the world’s largest ground armies are based in the Pacific.

Also, in recent years Army documents have emphasized the need for the service to increase fire power in the Pacific to increased fielding of THAAD, Patriot and the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS in the Pacific region. ATACMS is a technology which delivers precision fires against stationary or slow-moving targets at ranges up to 300 km., Army officials have said. In 2013, the Army did deploy THAAD missile systems to Guam.

Army officials have also called for the development of a land-based anti-ship ballistic missile, directed energy capability, and additional land-based anti-ship fires capabilities such as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.

Army officials have also said man support a potential adaptation of the RGM-84 Harpoon and calls for the development of boost-glide entry warheads able to deploy “to hold adversary shipping at risk all without ever striking targets inland.

Boost-glide weapons use rocket-boosted payload delivery vehicles that glide at hypersonic speeds in the atmosphere. An increase in the Army’s investment in boost-glide technology now could fast track the Army’s impact in the Air-Sea Battle fight in the near term, Army papers have stated.

SEE ALSO: 7 charts that show why the tit for tat over crumbs in the South China Sea isn't for nothing

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NOW WATCH: Meet THAAD: America’s answer to North Korean threats

Russia filed a request Monday to fly a spy plane carrying advanced digital cameras over the United States.

The move presents the United States with a dilemma: How does Washington respond at a time when Moscow and Washington are at odds over Syria and Ukraine and senior US defense officials have identified Russia as the No. 1 existential threat to America?

It would be complicated for the United States to block Russia's request.

Both countries are required to do so as members of the Treaty on Open Skies, which was first approved in 1992 and went into effect in 2002.

It allow signatories to fly unarmed aircraft carrying video and still cameras, infrared scanning devices and certain forms of radar over the territory of other treaty members. Inspections are carried out to make sure the cameras used meet the terms of treaty and are not too powerful.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday that the treaty, which was ratified by the Senate, helps prevent any misinterpretation of military action that could lead to armed conflict.

"We have to remember that while we have pretty good intelligence on a lot of the world, a lot of other countries don't necessarily have that great of intelligence on us," Davis said.

"So, in the interest of transparency and [avoiding] miscalculation on their part, sometimes it's worthwhile to allow them to have a look at what you're doing or what you're not doing."

Davis said the United States carries out Open Skies flights regularly, and Russia "has done it many times before," as well. In 2014, for example, US pilots described flying Open Skies missions over Russia from Yokota Air Base in Japan.

But concerns have been raised about allowing Russia to carry out more Open Skies flights. In a letter from Adm. Cecil Haney to Rep. Mike Rogers (R.-Ala.) obtained by The Associated Press, the admiral said that the treaty has become a critical component of Russia's collection of intelligence against the United States.

"In addition to overflying military installations, Russian Open Skies flights can overfly and collect on Department of Defense and national security or national critical infrastructure," wrote Haney, the chief of US Strategic Command. "The vulnerability exposed by exploitation of this data and costs of mitigation are increasingly difficult to characterize."

Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, the military's top intelligence officer, said during a House Armed Services Committee last year that he "very concerned" about how Russia was using the Open Skies treaty to observe the United States, but declined to elaborate in an open, unclassified hearing.

"The Open Skies construct was designed for a different era," Stewart said, adding that he would "love" to talk about it in a session closed to the public.

Treaty members have examined how to modernize the agreement to account for digital cameras, rather than "wet film" devices that were widely used when the treaty was adopted.

The new Russian request comes as Turkey and Russia argue over planned Russian Open Skies flights over southern Turkey that was planned for this month. Russian officials said the requests were denied by the government in Ankara in open violation of the treaty and "testifies to the desire of the Turkish side to hide some activity probably taking place in areas that the Russian plane was to have flown over," according to the Tass Russian news agency.

Turkey dismissed the allegations, saying in a statement that observation flights are performed when both parties reach an agreement on a mission plan. Russia and Turkey have exchanged a series of tense messages since Nov. 24, when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber near Turkey's border.

SEE ALSO: The US military may put more weapons in the South China Sea

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NOW WATCH: Russia's military is more advanced than people thought

China's deployment of missiles and radars and its building of runways on reefs in the South China Sea are "changing the operational landscape" there, the head of the US Pacific Command said on Tuesday.

China was "clearly militarizing the South China (Sea)," Admiral Harry Harris told the US Senate Armed Services Committee, adding: "You'd have to believe in a flat earth to think otherwise."

Speaking ahead of a meeting in Washington between China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry, Harris said China was continuing to escalate the situation in the South China Sea with new deployments.

"I think China's SSMs - surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island ... Its new radars on Cuarteron Reef ... The 10,000-foot runway on Subi Reef ... and on Fiery Cross Reef and other places; these are actions that are changing in my opinion the operational landscape in the South China Sea," he said.

Responding to a question, Harris said Chinese DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship missiles could pose a threat to US aircraft carriers, but said the vessels were resilient and that the United States had "the capability to do what has to be done if it comes to that."

A US think tank reported on Monday that China may be installing a high-frequency radar system on the Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly Islands that could significantly boost its ability to control the disputed South China Sea.

The Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies cited recent satellite images and also pointed to "probable" radars at Gaven, Hughes and Johnson South Reefs in the Spratlys as well as helipads and possible gun emplacements.

On Thursday, the United States accused China of raising tensions in the area by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel island chain.

China's has also built military-length airstrips on artificial islands in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, Kerry said in congressional testimony that militarization of facilities in the South China Sea did not help efforts to resolve rival maritime claims and Washington was encouraging peaceful resolution of such disputes.

China's Foreign Ministry said ahead of Wang's visit Beijing's military deployments in the South China Sea were no different from US deployments on Hawaii.

China's Ministry of Defence said on its microblog on Tuesday China had established "necessary defensive facilities" that were "legal and appropriate".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had every right to build on its own territory and deploy "limited" defensive means there.

SEE ALSO: China may be installing advanced radars on disputed South China Sea outposts

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NOW WATCH: A Chinese bus crashed and a man flew out the window — landing totally unharmed

On Tuesday, President Obama announced his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. 

Closing the facility would save the US an estimated $180 million annually. Such a move would also require the moving of the remaining 91 detainees still detained there. The following photos show what life is like inside the facility for the detainees. 

SEE ALSO: President Obama is unveiling his plan to close Guantanamo Bay — here's what it's like for US troops stationed there

The front gate of Camp Delta, September 4, 2007.

A holding pen used to transfer prisoners and materials is seen in an an unoccupied communal cell block at Camp VI, March 5, 2013.

The interior of an unoccupied cell showing standard issue clothing given to prisoners is seen at Camp VI, March 5, 2013.

Belarus has partially converted the S-200 surface-to-air missile site at Polatsk to support the highly capable S-300 system, commercial satellite imagery reveals.

As NATO beefs up contingency planning for the Baltic States in order to deter any potential aggression, plans for a Joint Regional Air Defense system between Belarus and Russia continue to show signs of progress.

DigitalGlobe space snapshots from 2015 show new “C” shaped drive-through revetments and a raised berm for a mobile engagement radar at the S-200 site at Polatsk. The conversion of the SAM site’s northern launch area has been ongoing since 2014, according to historical imagery. The south launch area, not pictured, still had all six 5P72 semi-fixed rail launcher in place with two 5V28 missiles loaded. A single 5N62 Square Pair radar remained at the nearby bunker complex.

Russia has said for the past several years that it was ready to send close allies like Belarus additional S-300 systems. Kazakhstan was also reported in December to have received further batteries. Recent satellite imagery however offers the first tangible signs that the resurgent power may be following through with statements that echo as far back as 2011.

The site at Polatsk joins two others at Brest and Grodno whose new revetments will probably support the advanced missile defense system. But, unlike those sites, which showed no units in residence, imagery from April 2015 showed a battalion of four TELs parked in a support area along with several bermed missile reloads. It’s likely, given the date of the imagery, that the system is fully deployed in the newly prepared firing positions. In total, new construction activity over the last two years suggests Belarus could add up to four battalion, corresponding with media reports.

That said, we don’t know if the Polatsk unit is a recently delivered S-300 battalion from Russia, or if this is a jumped Belarusian S-300 system. We currently haven’t acquired a full set of imagery of all current S-300 units deployed in Belarus.

Regardless, the new S-300 position at Polatsk, located approximately 80 kilometers from the Latvian border, will help increase overlapping fields of fire with existing S-300 deployed north and northeast of Minsk. Those battalions were in residence as of October 2015.

SEE ALSO: Russia wants to fly more spy planes over the US, and the Pentagon can’t stop it

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The US Office of the Secretary of the Defense has released its annual report to Congress on North Korea's military, and the findings are chilling. Included in the report are the following three maps, which outline North Korea's military might.

North Korea's ground forces make up the primary thrust of the rogue nation's military. Nearly 70% of its ground forces are forward deployed to within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the South Korean border.

The ground forces are a mix of infantry corps, which are predominantly comprised of regular and light-infantry units. In general, these forces are housed in fortified underground facilities facing toward South Korea.

In addition to infantry, the ground corps also has large armor and artillery corps. Although corps make use of old technology, their forward-deployed nature remains a threat to South Korea. North Korea's artillery, in particular, is worrisome as the long-range cannons and rockets are capable of hitting South Korea's capital, Seoul, from over the border in the event of a war.

But aside from North Korea's special forces, its ground forces are generally underfed, ill-equipped, and poorly trained.

North Korea's second-largest military branch is its air force. Like Pyongyang's ground forces, these airframes are largely based against the South — 50% of North Korea's air force is within 62 miles of the South Korean border.

Although North Korea maintains a large air force, its fleet is estimated at having 1,300 aircraft, consisting almost entirely of legacy Soviet airframes. Pyongyang's most capable aircraft are MiG-29s that were likely procured in the late 1980s from the Soviet Union.

The hermit kingdom also has a few US-made MD-500 helicopters that were obtained in the 1980s by circumventing export controls that are capable of ground-attack missions. But the majority of North Korea's air assets are aging and the country has taken the route of improving its ground forces and hardening the country against air strikes than trying to modernize its air force.

The smallest of the military branches, Pyongyang's navy is also largely based against South Korea, with 50% of the navy's assets within 62 miles of the border. The navy is largely comprised of aging patrol boats, submarines, and air-cushioned hovercraft and amphibious vessels.

Of these assets, North Korea's submarine fleet is the most potentially dangerous. Although extremely old, the fleet of an estimated 70 submarines are capable of hiding around the Korean coast and harassing or possibly sinking South Korean vessels.

Additionally, in 2015 North Korea debuted a new submarine that it said was domestically built and capable of firing a ballistic missile.

But the three maps do not show North Korea's continued drive to create a nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile program. The following chart highlights the known number of missiles in North Korea's missile forces.

The largest confirmed threat that North Korea is known to possess is the KN-08 missile.

It would be able to target portions of the West Coast of the continental US. Additionally, the missile is believed to be able to carry miniaturized nuclear warheads, should Pyongyang develop such a capability, and it's road mobile, making it difficult for the US to track.

You can read the full report here »

SEE ALSO: Here's the kind of damage North Korea could do if it went to war

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NOW WATCH: Meet THAAD: America’s answer to North Korean threats

While there may not be a lot of downtime at sea, sailors and Marines make the most of their time off with "swim calls." During these events, they are given permission to swim near the US vessel while onlookers keep an eye out for sharks. We've collected 21 photos showing that the US Navy and US Marine Corps have the best diving boards and swimming pools.

SEE ALSO: 19 photos of the Marine Corps' pursuit of perfection

A sailor from the USS Mobile Bay jumps into the Pacific Ocean.

Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey swim in the Philippine Sea.

Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Essex run into the Celebes Sea.

US-led coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) on February 15 destroyed a barracks and vehicle checkpoint near Abu Kamal, Syria.

The strike was just one of 30 carried out by the Combined Joint Task Force's Operation Inherent Resolve on February 15, 2016. The double-tap bombing with precision munitions is typical of OIR strikes.

Recently, the coalition's airstrikes have wreaked havoc on ISIS' ability to fund their operations and pay their workers, as multiple strikes earlier this month destroyed cash storage and tax collection facilities.

"The destruction of Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct operations," the Combined Joint Task Force wrote about the video.

The Footage below shows just one of more than 9,000 air strikes the coalition has carried out since beginning the operation in October of 2014.

SEE ALSO: Watch a US-led coalition airstrike decimate an ISIS weapons facility

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NOW WATCH: EX-PENTAGON CHIEF: These are the 2 main reasons ISIS was born

China’s airstrip construction at Fiery Cross, Mischief, and Subi reefs, and more recently developments in the Paracel Islands, have dominated the South China Sea discussion.

But capabilities being developed at its smaller Spratly Island outposts—Gaven, Hughes, Johnson South, and especially Cuarteron reefs—will prove equally important to Beijing’s long-term strategy.

This month’s deployment of HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the Paracels, while notable, does not alter the military balance in the South China Sea. New radar facilities being developed in the Spratlys, on the other hand, could significantly change the operational landscape in the South China Sea.

And when along with the development of new runways and air defense capabilities, they speak to a long-term anti-access strategy by China—one that would see it establish effective control over the sea and airspace throughout the South China Sea.

Developments at Cuarteron Reef, the southernmost of China’s occupied features in the South China Sea, are particularly important. Construction of facilities at Cuarteron seems nearly complete and the artificial island now covers about 52 acres (211,500 square meters).

Two probable radar towers have been built on the northern portion of the feature, and a number of 65-foot (20-meter) poles have been erected across a large section of the southern portion. These poles could be a high-frequency radar installation, which would significantly bolster China’s ability to monitor surface and air traffic across the southern portion of the South China Sea.

In addition to these radar facilities, China has constructed a buried bunker and lighthouse on the northern portion of the feature, a number of buildings and a helipad in its center, communications equipment to the south, and a quay with a loading crane on the western end of the outpost.

SEE ALSO: Satellite photos reveal China's military installations in the South China Sea nearing completion

China’s artificial island on Cuarteron Reef, as of January 24, 2016.

The southern section of China’s outpost on Cuarteron Reef, as of January 24, 2016.

The northern section of China’s outpost on Cuarteron Reef, as of January 24, 2016.

China already has significant radar coverage of the northern half of the South China Sea given its facilities on the mainland and in the Paracel Islands. And while it might have some coverage of areas further south courtesy of over-the-horizon radar on the mainland, placement of a high frequency radar on Cuarteron Reef would significantly bolster China’s ability to monitor surface and air traffic coming north from the Malacca Straits and other strategically important channels (how much would depend on the specifics of the radar positioned there).

Improved radar coverage is an important piece of the puzzle—along with improved air defenses and greater reach for Chinese aircraft—toward China’s goals of establishing effective control over the sea and airspace throughout the nine-dash line.

It's no surprise that America's Marines have some of the coolest gear in the world. 

And that gear makes for some of the most amazing night photography imaginable. Below, we have selected some of our favorite photos of the Corps at night that look like they could have been plucked straight from a video game.

SEE ALSO: See if you can spot the armed camouflaged Marine watching you

LAV-25 Light Armored Vehicles from Charlie Company fire on fixed targets as part of a combined arms engagement range during sustainment training in D'Arta Plage, Djibouti.

An AV-8B Harrier with Marine Attack Squadron 311 lands on the USS Essex.

A Marine from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, provides cover fire during a platoon assault exercise at Arta Range, Djibouti.

For the last decade, the Marine Corps' special operations command (MARSOC) has trained top operators at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 

Since February 24, 2006, Marines have spent an average of 11 months of grueling training in order to join the elite tier of the Corps'.

Some of the physical assessments include a 300 yard swim in cammies and a brutal 12-mile timed rucksack run carrying 45 pounds of gear.

In honor of the tenth birthday of MARSOC, come along and see what the training is like.

SEE ALSO: Surreal photos of Marine night operations that look straight out of a video game

MARSOC training begins with Phase One, a 10 week long course that focuses on basic skills that all operators will need to master.

These skills include general fitness ...

... And significantly more advanced swimming skills.

The Cold War was an interesting time for America.

Any idea which gave the U.S. an edge over the Soviet Union, real or perceived, tangible or psychological, was considered a viable field of study.

This spirit of innovation as many benefits as it did questionable plans. For example, as the the U.S. planned to put a man on the moon, the U.S. had been planning to nuke the moon for at least a decade.

The biggest outcome of the crazy innovation of the Cold War has to be “I can’t believe they tried something so crazy” stories on the Internet, like the one you’re currently reading.

In 1959, the Navy submarine Barbero, had a Post Office branch onboard. Before leaving Norfolk, the office took on 3,000 postal covers (envelopes with special stamps, all canceled, designed especially to be collectors items) addressed to government figures, among them President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Barbero was also loaded with a special Regulus cruise missile. It’s nuclear warhead was removed and replaced with two post office mail containers.

The target was the Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Mayport. 22 minutes after launch, the Regulus hit its target.

Excited and overly optimistic Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield declared the delivery was “of historic significance to the peoples of the entire world.

This peacetime employment of a guided missile for the important and practical purpose of carrying mail is the first known official use of missiles by any Post Office Department of any nation… before man reaches the moon, mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail.”

We weren’t really, but isn’t it great to have a Postmaster General who is that excited about delivering the mail in a timely way?

By this time, air mail allowed for mail to cross the ocean in a day, so the need for such high speed, costly, and non-reusable delivery services were not really destined for widespread use. In a nod to the idea of missile mail, one of the earliest major free email services on the Internet was called Rocket Mail.

SEE ALSO: 9 weapon systems that troops absolutely love

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NOW WATCH: Watch the Swiss Postal Service test drone deliveries

Have you ever seen a 60-ton tank drift on ice? These tanks are sliding around corners as part of a joint training called Exercise Cold Response 2016, to train US Marines how to navigate tanks in freezing temperatures.

Produced by Rob Ludacer. Original Reporting by Paul Szoldra.

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A series of troubling reports have been coming out from the US military asserting that decades of US military supremacy has eroded in the face of a resurgent Russia and a booming China, but the US Navy has conceived of some new technologies that they say can restore the US to its former glory.

“We face competitors who are challenging us in the open ocean, and we need to balance investment in those capabilities — advanced capabilities — in a way that we haven't had to do for quite a while,” Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a statement.

As it is, Russia and China can effectively deny US forces access to militarily significant areas, like Eastern Europe and the South China Sea. 

In response, the US Navy ran a "rigorous program of analytics and wargaming," and came up with a bold new strategy to turn the tables on these rising powers— distributed lethality.

Simply put, distributed lethality means giving every ship, from the smallest to the biggest, a range of advanced weapons that can destroy targets dependably, accurately, and without interference from enemy missile defense.

In the future, ships "will be equipped with the weapons and advanced capabilities that it will need to deter any aggressor and to make any aggressor who isn’t deterred very much regret their decision to take us on,” Carter said.

In the slides below, see the new munitions the US Navy wants to put aggressive authoritarian regimes in check.

SEE ALSO: 'China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea and you’d have to believe in the flat Earth to think otherwise'

The Block IV anti-ship Tomahawk missile.

The Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM) missile has been around since the 70s, and has seen use in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, but a new anti-ship version of the missile with a 1,000 nautical mile range could be deployed onboard Navy ships of all types within a decade. 

In February of 2015, the USS Kidd fired a Block IV anti-ship Tomahawk variant that successfully hit a moving target at sea from long range, immediately drawing praise from top naval brass.

“This is potentially a game changing capability for not a lot of cost. It’s a 1000 mile anti-ship cruise missile,"said Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work after the successful testing. “It can be used by practically by our entire surface and submarine fleet," Work added.

Length: 20 feet long

Weight: 3,000 pounds

Range: 1,000 nautical miles

Speed: subsonic

Navy plans to acquire: 4,000 Tomahawks over five years for $2 billion

Source

Watch the successful test of the newly improved Tomahawk missile. Keep in mind that to keep the cost of testing down, the missile was not meant to sink the ship.

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“[Along with] our surface brothers and sisters, we got to get the long-range missile so we’re not held out by that A2/AD (anti-access/area denial) bubble and we have the stick to hit inside,” said Vice Adm. Joseph Tofalo, commander, Naval Submarine Forces said.

The SM-6 Dual I

The SM-6 interceptor may be the first missile capable of intercepting both ballistic missiles, which fall from the sky, and cruise missiles, which fly along the surface of earth, sometimes even snaking through mountains.

In the past, these two distinct types of missiles, ballistic and cruise, have required different missiles to stop them, but the SM-6's advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities make it a useful defense against both types.

Length: 21 feet long

Weight: 3,300 pounds

Range: unspecified

Speed: supersonic

Role in 2017 budget plan: $501 million to acquire 125 SM-6s

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While hiding in a fortified two-level 3,000-square-foot underground bunker, one of history's most brutal tyrants promised the world that his empire would last 1,000 years.

Hitler's Third Reich lasted 12, officially ending on April 30, 1945, when the Führer committed suicide in his bunker with his new wife after learning that Allied forces had surrounded Berlin.

Before retreating to the Führerbunker, Hitler and top Nazi officials enjoyed lavish compounds in Berchtesgaden, a resort village in the Bavarian Alps.

These are the best surviving photographs of Allied troops reveling in the spoils of war at Hitler's private residence.

SEE ALSO: Hitler's secret Nazi war machines of World War II

Easy Company after taking the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's former residence.

A paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division enjoys the view and a cognac while lounging on the terrace of Hitler's retreat at Berchtesgaden after the end of the war in 1945.

Maj. Dick Winters, Lewis Nixon, Harry Welsh, and two other battalion staff members, celebrate VE-Day in Berchtesgaden, Germany.

Since the establishment of modern China following World War II, both China and Taiwan have claimed nearly the entirety of the South China Sea as their own. 

The countries established such a claim with a Nine Dash Line throughout the region that, Beijing and Taipei assert, show how the entirety of the South China Sea belongs to them.

Whether the Nine Dash Line has any basis in international law or not, it is far from the most ridiculous basis for a claim that China has over the sea. 

Instead, Chinese Vice Admiral Yuan Yubai was responsible for the most ridiculous claim for why all of the South China Sea belongs to Beijing. 

Speaking at a defense conference in London on September 14, 2015, Yuan said that “the South China Sea, as the name indicates, is a sea area that belongs to China."

"And the sea from the Han dynasty a long time ago where the Chinese people have been working and producing from the sea," Yuan continued. 

Yuan's remarks came following a comment at the conference by Japanese Vice Admiral Umio Otsuka, who said that deterrence was becoming increasingly important throughout East and South Asia. To back up his views, Otsuka pointed at China's expansionism throughout both regions. 

After Yuan responded to Otsuka that the region belonged to China due to the sea bearing China's name, Yuan took a slightly more conciliatory measure by saying that "the real situation in the South China Sea at present is safety and freedom of navigation."

Currently, the various islands and atolls in the South China Sea are claimed and disputed by a mix of countries, principally by Taiwan, Vietnam, China, the Philippines.

SEE ALSO: These are the advanced missiles China sent to militarize the South China Sea

SEE ALSO: 7 charts that show why the tit for tat over crumbs in the South China Sea isn't for nothing

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