Army special forces practicing a military coup?

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  • Newman
    Behind the Iron Curtain
    • Friday, November 1, 2013
    • 25814

    #1

    Army special forces practicing a military coup?

    No, I don't think so. Just another conspiracy idea belching up through the swamp, a sign of our times. But as trust evaporates, strange things look plausible.

    "Robin Sage" is the culminating exercise for aspiring Army Special Forces candidates, and according to this report in the Daily Mail, the training now includes overthrowing an "illegitimate government."

    US Army to conduct a two-week 'guerilla war' training exercise in the woods of North Carolina | Daily Mail Online

    Scary emphasis added here:
    • Special Forces candidates will participate in the two-week Robin Sage training exercises in which they will practice overthrowing illegitimate governments
    • Robin Sage places soldiers in a 'politically unstable' fictional country and uses 'unconventional guerrilla warfare' to defeat a 'numerically superior enemy'
    • Soldiers will face off against seasoned military members and specially trained civilians during the exercise, which serves as the Special Forces final exam
    • Several citizens, however, are concerned the exercise encourages soldiers to target civilians
    • News of the training exercise comes at a tense time in the US, just five days after the country celebrated the first anniversary of the Capitol riot
    • It also follows the DOJ's creation of a new 'domestic terrorism' unit as the nation faces what officials said is an 'elevated threat from domestic violent extremists'
    "Several citizens" is a tell, here, a variation of the old "some say" ruse that usually means this is the opinion of the reporter him or herself.

    Young Army soldiers will be battling 'seasoned freedom fighters' across two dozen North Carolina counties in a two-week 'guerrilla warfare exercise' where they attempt to overthrow an 'illegitimate government'.

    News of the training exercise comes just days after the anniversary of the Capitol riot and as the Justice Department announces the creation of a new 'domestic terrorism' unit to tackle what officials said is an 'elevated threat from domestic violent extremists'.

    Some questioned the close timing of the events, while others went further with fears that the Biden administration is 'preparing for American Uprising'.
    During Robin Sage training, young soldiers will face off against seasoned service members from units across Fort Bragg, acting as opposing forces and guerrilla freedom fighters, as well as 'specially trained' guerilla civilians.

    Some social media users find the exercise concerning as the 143-year-old Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law. The legislation cites military interference in civilian affairs as a threat to democracy and personal liberty.

    Others have implied the exercise is preparing soldiers to prevent an insurgence and fear it is training American troops how to fight their own people.

    The Robin Sage exercise, which serves as the final exam in Special Forces Qualification Course training, will begin January 22 at an undisclosed location on private land.

    It places soldiers in the 'politically unstable' fictional country of Pineland and forces them to conduct reconnaissance, raids, ambushes, and numerous other operations a 'numerically superior enemy'.

    'The Special Forces candidates have to meet up with and make rapport with a third-world nation guerrilla force, train them up, and then work by, with, and through that guerrilla force to conduct combat operations against a numerically superior enemy occupying force,' retired Special Forces warrant officer Steve Balestrieri, who typically runs the course, told Business Insider.

    The US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, which conducts the Robin Sage exercise, said teams are placed in a 'real world setting characterized by armed conflict' and presented with war-crime scenarios, such as a partner force wanting to execute a prisoner or destroy a village.

    The soldiers are then tasked with negotiating the situations without violating war laws or losing the support of their allies.
    "Robin Sage" is not new; it's just the name of the final exercise:

    Robin Sage Is a Tough Final Test for Army Special Forces Hopefuls (businessinsider.com)

    Every few months, several North Carolina counties host a unique special-operations event.

    Robin Sage is a four-week exercise that all Special Forces candidates must pass before they graduate and don the coveted Green Beret.

    Named after Col. Jerry Michael Sage, an Office of Strategic Services (OSS) operative who was captured by the Nazis and attempted to escape more than 12 times before succeeding, Robin Sage is the culminating exercise of the Special Forces pipeline.

    It takes place in the fictional country of Pineland, which spans about 50,000 square miles in the woods of North Carolina.

    The Army's Special Forces, known as Green Berets, mainly specialize in training and supporting foreign forces, counterterrorism, and reconnaissance, as well as carrying out its own small-scale raids and ambushes.

    Green Berets operate in 12-man detachments and work with and through partner forces. They receive extensive cultural and linguistic training that enables them to operate anywhere in the world.
    Those who successfully complete SFAS move on to the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), or Q Course.

    There have been almost 30 different versions of Q Course during its nearly 60-year history. Until recently, it was close to two years long. However, the course was revamped in 2019 and now lasts about six months. It is broken into four major phases: Small Unit Tactics, Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE), Military Occupational Specialty training, and Robin Sage.

    After several months of training, students come together for Robin Sage and work as a team using the different skills they have learned.
    This training is not new, and I have no reason to think overthrowing an "illegimate government" is a new component.

    In the fictional scenario of Robin Sage, Special Forces candidates must help a guerrilla force, which is usually led by retired Green Berets, overthrow the illegitimate government of Pineland.
    In ordinary times I'd dismiss this Daily Mail report as conspiracy porn, and I hope it is.

    But what gives conspiracies currency is distrust and plausibility, and at the moment distrust is through the roof.

    • "I'm a hell of a lot smarter than most of you guys." — Joe Biden, at Jesse Jackson's funeral, March 2026.​
    • "That's all I do in my life. I make deals. I'm really good at it." — President Donald Trump, Oct. 13, 2025.
    • “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out,” — David Horowitz.
    • "We [Democrats] are all willing to work with anyone who is serious about doing the work of censoring the American people, and advancing progress."​ — Ayanna Pressley, explaining progressives.
    • ​​"Florida is where Woke goes to die." — Ron DeSantis.
    • "No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence." — Nancy Pelosi, explaining Lawfare.
    • “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”​— Ben Franklin, who got it right.
    • "The way I see it, there's always, c'mon, there's always money. It's there." — Elizabeth Warren, explaining socialism.
    • "The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn't originally a climate thing at all.... We really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." — Saikat Chakrabarti, then AOC's Chief of Staff.
  • scott
    Go-to Guru
    • Tuesday, October 1, 2013
    • 15799

    #2
    • News of the training exercise comes at a tense time in the US, just five days after the country celebrated the first anniversary of the Capitol riot
    Looks like they're still celebrating the talking point.


    These exercises are nothing new. I participated in two of them back in the early 1990s. The fictional country was called Pineland both time back then too.
    "Faith is nothing but a firm assent of the mind : which, if it be regulated, as is our duty, cannot be afforded to anything but upon good reason, and so cannot be opposite to it."
    -John Locke

    "It's all been melded together into one giant, authoritarian, leftist scream."
    -Newman

    "Grievance groups are playing King of the Hill."
    -Newman

    Comment

    • Celeste Chalfonte
      apostate
      • Saturday, October 5, 2013
      • 27897

      #3
      Originally posted by scott View Post

      Looks like they're still celebrating the talking point.


      These exercises are nothing new. I participated in two of them back in the early 1990s. The fictional country was called Pineland both time back then too.
      That was my thought. Weren't the Green Berets training like this back during Vietnam? What the hell was that war (and pretty much all of them since) besides "[helping] overthrow the illegitimate government?" OK, technically, in Vietnam, we were supposedly helping keep the "illegitimate government" from taking over in the first place, but regardless of your perspective on the validity of the goal, it was the same type of mission. That's what Special Forces do. Not local crowd control in the US.
      "Since the historic ruling, the Lovings have become icons for equality. Mildred released a statement on the 40th anniversary of the ruling in 2007: 'I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, Black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.'." - Mildred Loving (Loving v. Virginia)

      Comment

      • Newman
        Behind the Iron Curtain
        • Friday, November 1, 2013
        • 25814

        #4
        I think the Daily Mail "jumped the shark" on this one, as people used to say. It may just be the imagination of "several citizens," who likely are Daily Mail employees.

        But there is a lot of ominous stuff drifting about, which makes politicizing "Robin Sage" not a far stretch.

        AG Merrick Garland, who is a fascist pure and simple, is politicizing the DoJ, which doesn't take a lot of effort. He never rescinded the infamous October memo, even after it appears the administration itself requested the letter from the Nat'l School Boards Aaaocisation that prompted Garland's promise to use the DoJ "authority and resources" to make those angry birds behave.

        Miguel Cardona asked for school board 'domestic terror' letter (nypost.com)

        A newly released email indicates Education Secretary Miguel Cardona solicited last September’s letter from the National School Boards Association which compared parents protesting at school board meetings to domestic terrorists.

        In an Oct. 6 message to NSBA board member Marnie Maraldo, Secretary-Treasurer Kristi Swett said then-interim CEO Chip Slaven had told his fellow officers “he was writing a letter to provide information to the White House, from a request by Secretary Cardona.”

        The email was obtained through a public records request by the group Parents Defending Education and shared with The Post. It is the first piece of evidence to suggest Cardona’s specific involvement in the NSBA letter.
        Meanwhile, the focus of the military top brass has been discussed here and elsewhere,

        Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election - Not Everything is Political (notpolitical.info)

        Opinion | Retired generals: The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection - The Washington Post

        And shrill voices demonizing conservatives are growing more frequent and more harsh.

        LA Times: It's necessary to mock the deaths of the unvaccinated – HotAir

        (The column behind this headline, by Michael Hiltzik, was dutifully reprinted in our local Hate-Trump newspaper, under the more anodyne headline, "How should we respond to anti-vaxxer deaths?")

        These shrill voices are competing in a game of leapfrog, vying to be the MOST concerned, yada yada. But they're dangerous if only because they normalize extremist ideas. Now mocking someone's death serves a higher purpose, sez Hiltzik, so it's acceptable, even necessary.

        This is a call, plain and simple, to accept blood and loss of life for the cause. That never ends well.
        Last edited by Newman; Wednesday, January 12, 2022, 1:12 PM.
        • "I'm a hell of a lot smarter than most of you guys." — Joe Biden, at Jesse Jackson's funeral, March 2026.​
        • "That's all I do in my life. I make deals. I'm really good at it." — President Donald Trump, Oct. 13, 2025.
        • “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out,” — David Horowitz.
        • "We [Democrats] are all willing to work with anyone who is serious about doing the work of censoring the American people, and advancing progress."​ — Ayanna Pressley, explaining progressives.
        • ​​"Florida is where Woke goes to die." — Ron DeSantis.
        • "No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence." — Nancy Pelosi, explaining Lawfare.
        • “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”​— Ben Franklin, who got it right.
        • "The way I see it, there's always, c'mon, there's always money. It's there." — Elizabeth Warren, explaining socialism.
        • "The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn't originally a climate thing at all.... We really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." — Saikat Chakrabarti, then AOC's Chief of Staff.

        Comment

        • scott
          Go-to Guru
          • Tuesday, October 1, 2013
          • 15799

          #5
          Originally posted by Newman View Post
          I think the Daily Mail "jumped the shark" on this one, as people used to say. It may just be the imagination of "several citizens," who likely are Daily Mail employees.

          But there is a lot of ominous stuff drifting about, which makes politicizing "Robin Sage" not a far stretch.

          AG Merrick Garland, who is a fascist pure and simple, is politicizing the DoJ, which doesn't take a lot of effort. He never rescinded the infamous October memo, even after it appears the administration itself requested the letter from the Nat'l School Boards Aaaocisation that prompted Garland's promise to use the DoJ "authority and resources" to make those angry birds behave.

          Miguel Cardona asked for school board 'domestic terror' letter (nypost.com)



          Meanwhile, the focus of the military top brass has been discussed here and elsewhere,

          Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election - Not Everything is Political (notpolitical.info)

          Opinion | Retired generals: The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection - The Washington Post

          And shrill voices demonizing conservatives are growing more frequent and more harsh.

          LA Times: It's necessary to mock the deaths of the unvaccinated – HotAir

          (The column behind this headline, by Michael Hiltzik, was dutifully reprinted in our local Hate-Trump newspaper, under the more anodyne headline, "How should we respond to anti-vaxxer deaths?")

          These shrill voices are competing in a game of leapfrog, vying to be the MOST concerned, yada yada. But they're dangerous if only because they normalize extremist ideas. Now mocking someone's death serves a higher purpose, sez Hiltzik, so it's acceptable, even necessary.

          This is a call, plain and simple, to accept blood and loss of life for the cause. That never ends well.
          The crazies on the left are getting louder and certainly have more sway with Democrats, true.

          I disagree with your description of "military top brass" for the hyperventilated bullshit about a coup and other nonsense. These are a few - out of thousands - of RETIRED military officers. They really don't have any influence on current military actions and policy at all.
          "Faith is nothing but a firm assent of the mind : which, if it be regulated, as is our duty, cannot be afforded to anything but upon good reason, and so cannot be opposite to it."
          -John Locke

          "It's all been melded together into one giant, authoritarian, leftist scream."
          -Newman

          "Grievance groups are playing King of the Hill."
          -Newman

          Comment

          • Adam
            The way to a woman's heart is through her taste buds.
            • Tuesday, October 1, 2013
            • 16885

            #6
            WW not shit.jpg
            It's been ten years since that lonely day I left you
            In the morning rain, smoking gun in hand
            Ten lonely years but how my heart, it still remembers
            Pray for me, momma, I'm a gypsy now

            Comment

            • Newman
              Behind the Iron Curtain
              • Friday, November 1, 2013
              • 25814

              #7
              Originally posted by scott View Post

              The crazies on the left are getting louder and certainly have more sway with Democrats, true.

              I disagree with your description of "military top brass" for the hyperventilated bullshit about a coup and other nonsense. These are a few - out of thousands - of RETIRED military officers. They really don't have any influence on current military actions and policy at all.
              I lost so much respect for our military leadership after the Afghanistan Faceplant of All Time, you can't imagine. The abject, immoral idiocy displayed, coupled with the complete lack of consequences—those who didn't resign should've been ignominiously cashiered—and the absence of any introspection (what we got instead was Orwellian descriptions of their heroic war-ending), shamed me as an American and embittered me toward the barrel-chested turds bedecked with party favors.

              I've always admired military leadership, including modern stand-outs like David Petreaus and Colin Powell.

              No more. I'm starting from scratch. None of the top brass I see are worth a warm cup of spittle.

              • "I'm a hell of a lot smarter than most of you guys." — Joe Biden, at Jesse Jackson's funeral, March 2026.​
              • "That's all I do in my life. I make deals. I'm really good at it." — President Donald Trump, Oct. 13, 2025.
              • “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out,” — David Horowitz.
              • "We [Democrats] are all willing to work with anyone who is serious about doing the work of censoring the American people, and advancing progress."​ — Ayanna Pressley, explaining progressives.
              • ​​"Florida is where Woke goes to die." — Ron DeSantis.
              • "No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence." — Nancy Pelosi, explaining Lawfare.
              • “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”​— Ben Franklin, who got it right.
              • "The way I see it, there's always, c'mon, there's always money. It's there." — Elizabeth Warren, explaining socialism.
              • "The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn't originally a climate thing at all.... We really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." — Saikat Chakrabarti, then AOC's Chief of Staff.

              Comment

              • Hondo
                Memento Homo
                • Sunday, October 6, 2013
                • 2473

                #8
                Meh. It’s what Green Berets do.

                Comment

                • Newman
                  Behind the Iron Curtain
                  • Friday, November 1, 2013
                  • 25814

                  #9
                  Meh.

                  OIP.Ar7wxW0BP2YBWcv_1g4s2wHaFT?pid=ImgDet&rs=1.jpg

                  May 4, 1970, the January 6 of its moment.
                  • "I'm a hell of a lot smarter than most of you guys." — Joe Biden, at Jesse Jackson's funeral, March 2026.​
                  • "That's all I do in my life. I make deals. I'm really good at it." — President Donald Trump, Oct. 13, 2025.
                  • “Inside every progressive is a totalitarian screaming to get out,” — David Horowitz.
                  • "We [Democrats] are all willing to work with anyone who is serious about doing the work of censoring the American people, and advancing progress."​ — Ayanna Pressley, explaining progressives.
                  • ​​"Florida is where Woke goes to die." — Ron DeSantis.
                  • "No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence." — Nancy Pelosi, explaining Lawfare.
                  • “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”​— Ben Franklin, who got it right.
                  • "The way I see it, there's always, c'mon, there's always money. It's there." — Elizabeth Warren, explaining socialism.
                  • "The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn't originally a climate thing at all.... We really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing." — Saikat Chakrabarti, then AOC's Chief of Staff.

                  Comment

                  • Celeste Chalfonte
                    apostate
                    • Saturday, October 5, 2013
                    • 27897

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Newman View Post
                    Meh.

                    OIP.Ar7wxW0BP2YBWcv_1g4s2wHaFT?pid=ImgDet&rs=1.jpg

                    May 4, 1970, the January 6 of its moment.
                    Edit: Didn't see your comment until the quote panel. Ignore this.
                    Last edited by Celeste Chalfonte; Friday, January 14, 2022, 9:49 AM.
                    "Since the historic ruling, the Lovings have become icons for equality. Mildred released a statement on the 40th anniversary of the ruling in 2007: 'I am proud that Richard’s and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, Black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.'." - Mildred Loving (Loving v. Virginia)

                    Comment

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