Change is a way of life for military members, and on rare occasions, for military equipment. In this case, the equipment is the MC-130P, a.k.a. Combat Shadow, a troop carrying aircraft soon to be replaced with the MC-130J. TSgt Scott Olguin reports.

Imagine what the movie might look like though…working with a Special Forces Operational Detachment –Alpha (a bunch of Green Berets) and local Afghans running counterinsurgency missions in the heart of Taliban country. Sgt. Rodriguez-Torres, playing himself of course, is the head cook, in charge of preparing three daily feasts for at least 50 hungry warriors at a time (using anything available; turning it into a gourmet meal). On a fairly regular basis, however, he must also deal with Taliban fighters outside the perimeter, attempting to overrun the base and claim it as their own. The enemy is well equipped, with AK-47s, PKM machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and 107mm rockets.

USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) completed its participation in exercise Jackal Stone (JS10) 2010, ending the 10-day joint military operation off the coast of Lithuania and Poland Sept. 26.

Helicopter-to-ship boarding training was given to special operations forces (SOF) from seven countries aboard USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) during exercise Jackal Stone (JS10) 2010, Sept. 19.

Special operations forces (SOF) from seven nations worked together to conduct several training exercises aboard USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) Sept. 19.

601st Czech SOF’s multiple deployments they were embedded with our own Special Forces

Briefly, the piece describes how Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, commander of the Allied Sixth Army, brilliantly advanced through France to Strasbourg and found himself on the verge of breaking  through an undefended German border slightly more than three weeks before the Battle of the Bulge began (he arrived in Strasbourg on Nov. 24 actually).  The author writes that had Eisenhower allowed Devers to cross the Rhine and continue his march onto German soil that the Allies could have crushed the Germans and effectively ended the war without the great bloodshed experienced three weeks later.

Two weeks ago, I jumped on a flight headed for Croatia to participate in special operations forces (SOF) Exercise Jackal Stone 2009. Although the name sounds strange (you’ve got to love how the military often throws two completely unrelated words together to name training exercises), the purpose of the exercise is quite ambitious: to promote cooperation and interoperability between the 11 participating nations.  Significant is the fact that the Croatian government is hosting its first major military exercise since accession as a NATO member nation earlier this year, and that they chose to host a special operations exercise.  To me, it shows the importance that the Croatians place on special operations and the value they place on increasing international military partnerships.