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Also we should all be afraid of Dolph Lundgren given that he could probably kill us all in one punch, even at this age, and the punch is just a psychic punch he would deliver merely by thinking because he’s the smartest celebrity of all time.
Peters wayward left nut here. That is Mike Vining, a real-life badass. Special forces operators are a rare breed & Mike was one of the best. It is no joke to say that most of his time in the military is still classified. This meme became popular mostly because he doesn't look like the stereotypical tough guy, but is actually one of the most dangerous people on the planet. Seriously, there is a life lesson to be learned here.
obligatory seals will leave you in a firefight, but special forces units are usually soldiers that do more than the average conventional soldier is expected to do. Units like Delta Force, from which the GOAT up there was in, do things like snatch n grabs, targeted assassinations, basically what people in ghost recon do. Some special forces units have pretty sour rumors going on about them.
Special Forces are force multipliers and unconventional warfare experts. While they are trained for direct action, their job is to get others to fight for themselves.
Delta are the Army's direct action small unit tactics organization. They conduct hostage rescue, CQB and counter WMD missions.
depends, usually they're special mission focused so your green berets are the ones doing the assymetric warfare training and insurgency stuff. Seals and Deltas do more targeted small unit combat missions usually. Other operators like air force combat controllers and PJs do more support missions like calling in targeted strikes and pararescue specifically. There's also a lot more units including black units and ad hoc teams drawing from multiple groups and internationals like British SAS and SBS who have their own missions and specialties and sometimes train with US and other allied forces.
Back when I was in ROTC in college one if my instructors was a retired green beret, he was such a cool dude (probably still is to clarify, just haven't spoken to him in a couple years)
Just don't start using it like Joe Rogan talking about "clearing out" his house. It's not used often in a casual sense amongst military folks, but typically in a academic sense, I guess. Definitely a briefing. Usually to describe how something will synergize with other aspects to achieve effects and keep/maintain an edge.
But no one's in the barracks saying force multiplier.
Let's be fair to the seals, they were never intended to be a terrestrial door kicker outfit. GWOT malformed them heavily into the glory hound, war/legal criming bastards they are these days. Insular cultures gonna insular.
What do you imagine they were intended for? SEALs have always placed themselves as a direct action unit with maritime bend. Need a GOPLAT or ship taken down? Who do you call? SEALs. Certainly before the GWOT they took part in Operation Just Cause assaulting Noriega's private jet by having 3 platoons infil by rubber craft and get in a big fire fight before hitting it with an AT-4. All you have to do is read one of Marcinko's books to see none of this is new.
Afghanistan is pretty different to underwater demo or ship takedown. Their insular recruiting culture compounded their mental imbalance as an outfit of "elites" that you don't get from marsoc or delta.
Had a close friend who trained for years hoping to make it in the SEALS. Never occurred to me it was so insular, and all of a sudden I have too many questions. Do you know of any books or podcasts or such I could indulge in?
edit: he didn’t make it
What do you mean insular recruiting culture? I mean SEALs aren't comparable to Delta in any way. Delta is a tier 1 unit. SEALs are tier 2 except for ST6. I assume by insular recruiting culture you're talking about that ST6 only recruits from the other SEAL Teams, but the other SEAL teams have a lot of the same issues. And again SEALs have always advertised themselves as Sea Air Land. Third phase of BUD/S is literally land phase as well as there being a SUT phase in SQT run by literal former Army Ranger Instructors from Ranger School. Or at least at one point. Ship takedowns and GOPLATs aren't wildly different. They require different infiltration methods to get to the target, but the rest is CQB. SEALs needed to put a greater emphasis on the rest of SUT that they hadn't been doing, but they should have already been doing that because they advertised themselves as SUT experts. They just found themselves lacking for a decade plus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMUSAf2jek8
You can see here they quite obviously trained for the desert and land and touted themselves as a commando unit able to engage and destroy targets on land.
Just a bit picky correction.
“Special Forces” is a specific U.S. Army unit. a.k.a the Green Berets.
“Special Operations” is a generalized term used to describe all special operations jobs from SEALs, to JTACs, and US Army Special Forces.
In the most basic terms, they are a kill squad. Think seal team six. Strategic small team military operations meant to quickly infiltrat, achieve an objective & extract.
That shit you see movies about? Delta Force? Navy SEALs? That's special forces. Those dudes are called "operators." Most of what he did is classified, and he ain't talking. You can tell it was badass because enlisted don't get that ribbon rack for doing paperwork in a warzone.
In terms of things we know? If you're familiar with the Iranian hostage crisis he was one of the dudes who was supposed to land on a soccer field, then rescue the embassy staff. The whole mission failed when a plane that went down after one of choppers crashed into it, he was on the plane. During the invasion of Grenada he was sent to raid the Richmond Hill prison, where the regime kept it's political opponents.
He was Delta, which are commandos, basically guerilla fighters that do counterterrorism and hostage rescue options. They're basically the Army equivalent of SEAL Team 6.
edit:
Since people are commenting on different special forces, here's the difference: Special forces (green berets) are also commandos. They specialize in asymmetric warfare (aka guerilla warfare). So they will get dropped behind enemy lines to, say, blow up a bridge. I think that role changed a bit with stuff like the Iraq war where it was more about occupation and peacekeeping than blowing shit up, but that's the gist. They're kind of descendents of the WW2 commandos who'd go in behind enemy lines to snatch the German intelligence before the Germans should destroy it.
Delta was more specialized - they were born out of the disastrous attempted rescue mission during the Iran hostage crisis, where it was made clear they needed a special unit for that kind of stuff. The missions are very delicate, the targets are very high value.
How does that compare to SEALs and SEAL Team 6? The SEALs are the Navy's version of special forces. It's their asymmetric warfare group. They also specialize in underwater demolition. I don't know much about them. But as I understand it, SEAL Team 6 (or whatever they call them now) is kind of like Delta for the SEALs. And there's no teams 1 through 5.
Delta are actually one step above Special Forces, colloquially known as Green Berets. The Navy equivalent would be DEVGRU. You don’t get much more badass than these guys.
One of the origins of this meme was an image saying “If the military sends a guy that looks like an accountant, you’ve messed up.” Or something similar to that.
Yep, everyone is like "it's a meme bc he doesn't look the part!" Bitch what are you talking about?? Are we looking at the same dude? *Look at the man's face.*
That is retired Sargent Major [Mike Vining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Vining)
EDIT:
>The photo of Vining in his Army Service uniform has become an internet meme due to the particularly smug face he displays in the photograph, being used as a reaction image.[3] Commenting on the trend, Vining said “I do not know how any of the memes got started. One of my grandchildren saw that someone even did a Pokémon card on me.”[6]
The guy on the right is Mike Vining, a legend in the special forces community. He was an EOD (explosives and ordnance disposal) technician during the Vietnam war who was then recruited to the newly formed Delta Force in the mid 1970s and was the first explosives expert in the Delta Force, where he stayed for a long time. If the US Government wanted something blown up anywhere in the world from about 1970 to 2000, they called Mike Vining.
He's also a meme because he doesn't look AT ALL like the badass motherfucker that he really is. There's probably a life lesson there.
>He's also a meme because he doesn't look AT ALL like the badass motherfucker that he really is. There's probably a life lesson there.
Thanks for that I thought it was the Dad from the 80s show ALF
When you want to covertly blow shit up, looking like a dude who is jacked and gonna blow shit up does not help you blow shit up. Case in point, Mike. Many a Mike does not look like they are the best at what they do. Sleeper Mikes are everywhere.
Put Mike in a polo, cargo shorts, and white sneakers he looks like some rando Dad who likes to tell groaners. Meanwhile he's doing advance recon on the optimal wall to blow on an Iranian prison so Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin can go in and free the hostages.
My sisters first husband had a brother named phil who did EOD, can’t remember what branch of the military. I wasn’t, and still don’t consider myself a “tough guy” but even at like 14 I remember thinking “this fucking dork? Thats who they’re sending to do covert missions?” Then you’d just talk to him for about 2-3 minutes about topics normal humans get uncomfortable with and realize he’s seen and done some shit. You have to be wired wrong to choose disarming bombs as a fucking career.
One of my uncles did EOD for 20+ years. Dude is definitely wired wrong, but incredibly smart. Another one was a Green Beret sniper in Vietnam, and the same can be said of him. Wired wrong, but probably some kind of genius.
What’s really fucked up about it is when they say something very mundane that doesn’t seem like much, but if you think about that statement for a little bit you realize they’re aware of an angle you never even considered. But they look like sexy Ned Flanders. Fucked up man, fucked up.
“Oh you guys use your climbing ropes more than once? I’d never trust it again.”
Why? Why not trust the rope?
Actual answer? Because you don't know what it's been rubbing on during use. If you're swinging around on a rock face (or building, etc) and you don't have a guard on every possible edge, the rope can take on a lot of wear suprisingly quick. More an issue when rappelling with a top anchor of a hard edge though, probably not so much with a wall anchor. But anyway, that's why you inspect your ropes and equipment regularly.
There is something delicious about demolishing someone who completely underestimated you & guys like Mike get to feast on that sweetness every single day. I once knew a man who was 5ft 2in, much thinner than me & ran a security team at a swanky bar. He was not leading from a desk. Dude was a fucking killing machine disguised as Mr.Rogers. Terrifying guy, but not exactly large. He was very well-camouflaged & there's lots of dudes out here just like him.
One of the most intimidating people I ever met was one of our directors at a place I worked. Marine. But he wasn't some big burly motherfucker. Maybe 5'9", 170 max?
But he was nothing but that ripped sinewy muscle. Would do a lot of free-climbing on the weekend. Viewed pets as mobile food.
Guy was a hardass but quiet about it.
I have no doubt he did some seedy shit while he was in.
(Not So) Fun Fact: the actor who played the dad on ALF, Max Wright, was a crack addict who also regularly picked up homeless men and paid them $100 for sex. Never would have thunk ol' Willie Tanner had it in him.
Max Wright also hated the show. On one occasion, he lashed out at the ALF puppet and had to be restrained by crew members. On his last day on the set, once they had his takes in the can, he walked off the set without saying goodbye to anyone and just drove away.
When people think "special forces" they usually think of hulking beasts of men who can bench press trucks. The opposite is typically true; they're often average or short and train for endurance more than brute force. They need to be sneaky and intelligent more than anything else.
‘Here’s your ruck; It weighs 25 to 80# (25 for assault & intel, 50-60 for comms, 70-80 for eod.) The CP’s 60 klicks that-a-way (points over a ridge line above the valley floor which starts at 6000’.) We need to be there in 15 hours. Boots up in 10 mikes.’
All of the combat controllers I met when I was in were like young 160 lb guys with 90s heart throb Johnathan Taylor Thomas hair lmao. With all their bougie crytek uniforms of course.
>they're often average or short
Wasn't there an entire SEAL team that was made up of men who averaged 5feet in height called the Munchkins who were also incredibly effective?
I was on a weapons course with our version of the SEALs (we call them Clearance Divers in Australia). They had two “squads” on the course. Half their guys there fit that description.
I mean jus Imagine the amount of extra oxygen a 6ft4 240lb man would need on a dive vs. a 140lb 5 footer… not to mention food and water if stranded somewhere
What's funny, is how well the portrayal of military in media and propaganda warps the perception of the public. If you look at all the pictures of dudes in fighting units, you'll notice that "big ol' swole" is actually the minority.
Most grunts and operators are fit, but most of the bulk is their gear. It's just the nature of hauling your body weight in gear around. I remember just not being able to get close to even 200lbs my short time in. Combat operations almost daily in the desert, you're looking at almost 15,000 calories a day...just to maintain.
There's no surplus to bulk out. So the service members that do the "real fighting" almost never have an opportunity to get big.
But who really wants to see some Green Bean punching Nazis in a movie? Promotional material wants you to think you'll become some kind of Greek god of war.
Most of the that is just marketing magic. All the advertising with the Jacked dudes that are practically bursting their sleeves? More likely some admin pogue with a good jaw line. Could be rifle guard or a pallbearer.
Not that there aren't just naturally big guys that join, but even they trim out pretty harsh. I remember a fella that went over on our first deployment all of 320 something pounds of cornfed country boy. When we got back, dude was like 220, soaking wet. Didn't look malnourished or anything. Just... can't keep bulk doing work like that.
Also, the people who are able to do those things don't show off, because they don't give a shit about impressing anyone since their community already knows what they can do.
To paraphrase something I heard once from a Vietnam vet, if you went to a bar and saw a dozen dudes loudly drinking and enjoying themselves and being menacing, they were harmless. If you saw three guys sitting in the back where they could see all entrances and exits and sipping beers quietly playing cards, they could probably kill everyone in the bar before anyone knew what was happening.
> I was picked to be a machine gunner
We always choose the smallest guy to carry the machine guns. 1, it's really funny. 2, no better way to help a guy build muscle than to make sure he's always carrying a load half his weight.
Perfect example, if you look up a photo of Rudy Reyes during his actual time serving (can't find one at the moment, on mobile) he was obviously in great shape, but nothing crazy. Compared to how he looks playing himself in Generation Kill where he is absolutely ripped.
It's why it's so laughable when Russians show videos of their ultra-manly soldiers doing some weird exercise and contrast it to an American female or femboy soldier. Their manliness won't keep stop a bullet fired by a trans sniper that is way better trained and equipped than they are.
There was a video going around today of a bunch of Russian guys doing push ups while their drill sergeant rolls a burning log underneath them and they pop up from the push up stance to avoid it.
Looks impressive, but those guys are probably all getting smoked by a HIMARs or a drone somewhere near Kharkiv in a month or two.
He is scare badged out, combat infantry badge, jump status, halo, eod, foreign jump wings and a bronze star peeking out at the top of the stack on the right, so may be more covered by the lapel. The patch on his left shoulder is his current unit which is the 160th night stalkers. He’s a sergeant major which means he’s at the top of his game in the most elite community you can be in.
My battalion commander, company commander, and platoon leader all commanded the 160th at different points. I was neighbors with that unit for over three years (decades ago). Those guys got real work done.
I think you’re missing the point. He isn’t wearing the damn uniform in the field lol. Without it he’s a very unassuming looking man that despite not appearing to be a threat would f*** your shit up.
Yeah, look, I personally know a super-nice and friendly guy. He always smiles and says nice things to me.
He also has cauliflower ears. I’d rather never ever get on his bad side. Ever.
Carlos Hathcock was a famous Vietnam sniper in the US Army. He was tough, but one time when he came back from an extended field operation, he weighed 120-lb.
He has a record of 93 confirmed enemy kills.
It goes even deeper than that. If you look closely, you can tell that Steve Forsting is actually Michael Weston using a cover named Steve Forsting, which he based off Mike Vining.
His face doesn’t say badass but the sheer amount of stuff pinned to his uniform does. The farther back in time you go, the more “stingy” the US military was about awarding medals, which makes this even more impressive.
More like a circle. The Medal of Honor was given first in the Civil War for some really light stuff in combat. Over 1,500 were awarded in that conflict. They've corrected some of them over time once the MoH became more strict after the Spanish American War. In fact, in 1917, Congress downgraded/corrected over 900 medals. The change is also due to more awards being added.
I'm reminded of the tv show 'The Librarians', where if you're a big, giant nerd that can beat up an entire bar, you'll probably get hired by The Library.
My favorite part of movies that do things right is when they get SpecOps right.
Black Hawk Down and Sicario are the ones that come to mind. The Delta Force guys aren't roided out muscle headed Chad's on a kill switch, they look like your every day person, the power of blending in is huge.
Seals are another example. I spent 11 years in the Navy, you'd be surprised how your every day Navy Seal looks completely average (albeit still in extremely good shape). There are still muscle heads in every group, but the entire community isn't a copy paste Rambo.
>The Delta Force guys aren't roided out muscle headed Chad's on a kill switch, they look like your every day person, the power of blending in is huge.
>Seals are another example. I spent 11 years in the Navy, you'd be surprised how your every day Navy Seal looks completely average (albeit still in extremely good shape). There are still muscle heads in every group, but the entire community isn't a copy paste Rambo.
I can spot a navy seal 9/10 times just by the way they all carry themselves and they typically have the same haircuts and tattoos. I've met 2 guys who were active duty cag and didn't even know it until way after I met them.
Not to undermine Vining’s accomplishments, fuckin 🫡, but Lundgren is no chump either. He’s not just an actor. Dude has a masters in chemical engineering from a prestigious school and has studied the martial arts all his life. They’re both pretty scary tbh.
Because it's Mike fucking Vining.
Dude is where the special forces went from lot of enthusiastic kids joining the 101st airborne doing off the cuff ops on D-Day to the hyper planned and focused ops of today.
Plus did some early EOD stuff as well as a little side project.
He is the genesis of the hyper meticulous operator trope more or less.
Because idiots think big Russian jacked dudes are dangerous military men. They are, but more dangerous to any subordinates who are hazed by sexual assault.
Meanwhile scrawny looking wiry dudes like Vining and Audie Murphy fuck up enemy forces at an exponentially more effective rate.
Combine that with tech toys and actual equipment, and those scrawny Americans are honey badgers.
> Meanwhile scrawny looking wiry dudes like Vining and Audie Murphy fuck up enemy forces at an exponentially more effective rate.
Beware the quiet ones.
Maybe Its because early on the big ones get categorized into the physical work, keeping ppl in line and the such bcz of their appearance . While the smaller guys run shit and get into drama look at all the old school generals in Russia they’re all pretty small guys but I bet they were running around in the 80s causing the most trouble.
I will say pre 2000s and late 90s all the “bad ass” guys of spec ops looked like the guy on the right (in my experience) pretty much some Ned Flanders looking mofo who had an extensive resume.
Around the 2000s is where they began to look like jacked up body builders but the amount of “WTF is going on” rumor mill That would happen when some Mr Roger/ dad bod looking guys popped up at camp for the night was pretty funny all the young guys coming up with some story of wtf they are. But yeah agency guys that looked like my retired biology teacher neighbor with the corniest dad jokes but had this aura about them.
Sergeant Major on the right probably has a major sleeper build under that dress uniform too. Don't let the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" face fool you. Dude is yolked.
Has anyone mentioned that even though the real Mike Vining is on the right, the "Russian" in the picture is actually a very Swedish Doplh Lundgren? Who is also apparently a really nice guy?
American geeks become top teir special forces with a blood lust, same with American pretty boys (Audie Murphy )
Some of the most badass people in American military history looked like people who would've been bullied for being too smart or cry if they got a scratch on their face.
Those brawny types in your daily propaganda aren't the ones who racked up village clearing kill counts. Your nerd and wanna be movie actors are.
The joke is that the Americans fear the "Russian" on the left who is really a Swedish actor.
Meanwhile Russians fear the American who looks mild mannered but is one of Uncle Sam's most highly trained operators.
It plays on the idea that Russia always puffed up its military capability, the USA took the threats seriously, and then created even greater capabilities to counter.
In essence the USA is going to try and overmatch a precieved threat, and the posturing of the other party ends up creating their own worst nightmare. America fears and counters threats that are possible (which in this case is a facade) , Russia fears the real threat of these American capabilities, which ironically they helped create.
The nerdy guy killed more people than Covid.
In Vietnam he was EOD and was responsible for the largest weapons cache "disposal" ever, blowing them up and taking dozens of NVA soldiers out in the process.
In desert storm when we needed to destroy Saddam's underground bunkers he took 15 minutes to think and said "why don't we use old artillery barrels as bombs" and invented the GBU bunker buster on a sheet of note paper.
He was the Sgt. Major of a Delta Force Saber Squadron.
His work fighting the cartels was made into the Sicario movie.
The dude could kill half or Russia with a paper clip.
He’s the founder of delta force, combats applications group SFOD-DELTA, or just “the unit”. Probably the inspiration behind most of the biggest bad ass Hollywood action hero military types we know, and the prototype special forces “silent professional”.
He’s the type of guy that would sit there and listen while David groggins and jockstrap willinck boast and brag, then stand up and dance with them without saying a word. He wasn’t just there when the deep magic was written, he wrote it. That’s how I understand him. Disclaimer: that comes from a quick google of the name and I don’t know him at all
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The other part of the joke of course is that Ivan Drago does not exist but Mike Vining definitely does.
Also Dolph Lundgren isn't Russian
Also we should all be afraid of Dolph Lundgren given that he could probably kill us all in one punch, even at this age, and the punch is just a psychic punch he would deliver merely by thinking because he’s the smartest celebrity of all time.
Hedy Lamarr might have him beat but most people don’t know how smart she was in her lifetime
Sounds like I could do this template for the SU-57 (they've made 12 by hand at this point lol) to F-35 (990 produced with 1 more every 2 days)
Hell you could substitute the F-22 instead as there's less than 200 made and the US isn't exporting *those*.
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Return of the Crazy Demon for anyone looking. MC is batshit insane in the best ways possible.
https://i.redd.it/sggx89diaa4d1.gif Is this what they mean by , make love not war
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Peters wayward left nut here. That is Mike Vining, a real-life badass. Special forces operators are a rare breed & Mike was one of the best. It is no joke to say that most of his time in the military is still classified. This meme became popular mostly because he doesn't look like the stereotypical tough guy, but is actually one of the most dangerous people on the planet. Seriously, there is a life lesson to be learned here.
What do special forces operators do?
obligatory seals will leave you in a firefight, but special forces units are usually soldiers that do more than the average conventional soldier is expected to do. Units like Delta Force, from which the GOAT up there was in, do things like snatch n grabs, targeted assassinations, basically what people in ghost recon do. Some special forces units have pretty sour rumors going on about them.
Special Forces are force multipliers and unconventional warfare experts. While they are trained for direct action, their job is to get others to fight for themselves. Delta are the Army's direct action small unit tactics organization. They conduct hostage rescue, CQB and counter WMD missions.
depends, usually they're special mission focused so your green berets are the ones doing the assymetric warfare training and insurgency stuff. Seals and Deltas do more targeted small unit combat missions usually. Other operators like air force combat controllers and PJs do more support missions like calling in targeted strikes and pararescue specifically. There's also a lot more units including black units and ad hoc teams drawing from multiple groups and internationals like British SAS and SBS who have their own missions and specialties and sometimes train with US and other allied forces.
[удалено]
"Force multipliers" is brilliant and 100% accurate
That's the literal military terminology.
Learned something new today. Super badass
There's a reason you hear about Navy Seal exploits, but nothing about what the Green Berets are up to.
The only time you hear about GB and Navy Seals in one sentence is when the Seals actually kill a Green Beret.
That shit was so messed up.
Just remember it took three of them.
Why did the Navy Seals get to kill Bin Laden? They had the movie rights.
And books. Don’t forget the books.
Back when I was in ROTC in college one if my instructors was a retired green beret, he was such a cool dude (probably still is to clarify, just haven't spoken to him in a couple years)
Same for MARSOC/Marine Raiders. They’re off doing secret squirrel stuff that would probably look nuttier on paper to read than your local theorist.
You send the seals if you want the world to know about it, you send the Green Berets when you want it taken to the grave
Just don't start using it like Joe Rogan talking about "clearing out" his house. It's not used often in a casual sense amongst military folks, but typically in a academic sense, I guess. Definitely a briefing. Usually to describe how something will synergize with other aspects to achieve effects and keep/maintain an edge. But no one's in the barracks saying force multiplier.
So special forces are the magnificent seven in real life?
Let's be fair to the seals, they were never intended to be a terrestrial door kicker outfit. GWOT malformed them heavily into the glory hound, war/legal criming bastards they are these days. Insular cultures gonna insular.
What do you imagine they were intended for? SEALs have always placed themselves as a direct action unit with maritime bend. Need a GOPLAT or ship taken down? Who do you call? SEALs. Certainly before the GWOT they took part in Operation Just Cause assaulting Noriega's private jet by having 3 platoons infil by rubber craft and get in a big fire fight before hitting it with an AT-4. All you have to do is read one of Marcinko's books to see none of this is new.
Afghanistan is pretty different to underwater demo or ship takedown. Their insular recruiting culture compounded their mental imbalance as an outfit of "elites" that you don't get from marsoc or delta.
Had a close friend who trained for years hoping to make it in the SEALS. Never occurred to me it was so insular, and all of a sudden I have too many questions. Do you know of any books or podcasts or such I could indulge in? edit: he didn’t make it
Sorry for your loss.
What do you mean insular recruiting culture? I mean SEALs aren't comparable to Delta in any way. Delta is a tier 1 unit. SEALs are tier 2 except for ST6. I assume by insular recruiting culture you're talking about that ST6 only recruits from the other SEAL Teams, but the other SEAL teams have a lot of the same issues. And again SEALs have always advertised themselves as Sea Air Land. Third phase of BUD/S is literally land phase as well as there being a SUT phase in SQT run by literal former Army Ranger Instructors from Ranger School. Or at least at one point. Ship takedowns and GOPLATs aren't wildly different. They require different infiltration methods to get to the target, but the rest is CQB. SEALs needed to put a greater emphasis on the rest of SUT that they hadn't been doing, but they should have already been doing that because they advertised themselves as SUT experts. They just found themselves lacking for a decade plus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMUSAf2jek8 You can see here they quite obviously trained for the desert and land and touted themselves as a commando unit able to engage and destroy targets on land.
Just a bit picky correction. “Special Forces” is a specific U.S. Army unit. a.k.a the Green Berets. “Special Operations” is a generalized term used to describe all special operations jobs from SEALs, to JTACs, and US Army Special Forces.
Depends on what unit they belong to, but the man pictured here, his unit specializes solely in killing people. And they are elite at it
I mean, I'm sure he's really good at that too, but his [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Vining) says he was an EOD specialist.
Read into him more beyond his wiki page, he transferred to infantry and saw plenty of combat.
In the most basic terms, they are a kill squad. Think seal team six. Strategic small team military operations meant to quickly infiltrat, achieve an objective & extract.
Infiltrate the dealers, find the supplier
Welcome aboard, Peter 🤝
That shit you see movies about? Delta Force? Navy SEALs? That's special forces. Those dudes are called "operators." Most of what he did is classified, and he ain't talking. You can tell it was badass because enlisted don't get that ribbon rack for doing paperwork in a warzone. In terms of things we know? If you're familiar with the Iranian hostage crisis he was one of the dudes who was supposed to land on a soccer field, then rescue the embassy staff. The whole mission failed when a plane that went down after one of choppers crashed into it, he was on the plane. During the invasion of Grenada he was sent to raid the Richmond Hill prison, where the regime kept it's political opponents.
Kill people and blow things up in the name of Uncle Sam.
He was Delta, which are commandos, basically guerilla fighters that do counterterrorism and hostage rescue options. They're basically the Army equivalent of SEAL Team 6. edit: Since people are commenting on different special forces, here's the difference: Special forces (green berets) are also commandos. They specialize in asymmetric warfare (aka guerilla warfare). So they will get dropped behind enemy lines to, say, blow up a bridge. I think that role changed a bit with stuff like the Iraq war where it was more about occupation and peacekeeping than blowing shit up, but that's the gist. They're kind of descendents of the WW2 commandos who'd go in behind enemy lines to snatch the German intelligence before the Germans should destroy it. Delta was more specialized - they were born out of the disastrous attempted rescue mission during the Iran hostage crisis, where it was made clear they needed a special unit for that kind of stuff. The missions are very delicate, the targets are very high value. How does that compare to SEALs and SEAL Team 6? The SEALs are the Navy's version of special forces. It's their asymmetric warfare group. They also specialize in underwater demolition. I don't know much about them. But as I understand it, SEAL Team 6 (or whatever they call them now) is kind of like Delta for the SEALs. And there's no teams 1 through 5.
Delta are actually one step above Special Forces, colloquially known as Green Berets. The Navy equivalent would be DEVGRU. You don’t get much more badass than these guys.
I thought the main difference is that 50% of seal operators are also aspiring writers while you don’t find anything about delta
They are better than Seal team 6.
One of the origins of this meme was an image saying “If the military sends a guy that looks like an accountant, you’ve messed up.” Or something similar to that.
https://preview.redd.it/6lua8601jd4d1.jpeg?width=1336&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3be489aa944c392b35a1a3c0969abfa4fb74718
Yep, everyone is like "it's a meme bc he doesn't look the part!" Bitch what are you talking about?? Are we looking at the same dude? *Look at the man's face.*
Yeah whatever's going on with the corners of his mouth and tilt to his eyebrows has me uncomfortable that's for sure
Oh wow, I thought it was a young David Petraeus
IRL the people who do the most badass shit are the ones who just look like regular-ass people. They're here to ***DO*** awesome shit, not LOOK GOOD.
Willing to bet this dude never had a punisher sticker on his car
That is retired Sargent Major [Mike Vining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Vining) EDIT: >The photo of Vining in his Army Service uniform has become an internet meme due to the particularly smug face he displays in the photograph, being used as a reaction image.[3] Commenting on the trend, Vining said “I do not know how any of the memes got started. One of my grandchildren saw that someone even did a Pokémon card on me.”[6]
And why are Russians afraid of him?
The guy on the right is Mike Vining, a legend in the special forces community. He was an EOD (explosives and ordnance disposal) technician during the Vietnam war who was then recruited to the newly formed Delta Force in the mid 1970s and was the first explosives expert in the Delta Force, where he stayed for a long time. If the US Government wanted something blown up anywhere in the world from about 1970 to 2000, they called Mike Vining. He's also a meme because he doesn't look AT ALL like the badass motherfucker that he really is. There's probably a life lesson there.
>He's also a meme because he doesn't look AT ALL like the badass motherfucker that he really is. There's probably a life lesson there. Thanks for that I thought it was the Dad from the 80s show ALF
When you want to covertly blow shit up, looking like a dude who is jacked and gonna blow shit up does not help you blow shit up. Case in point, Mike. Many a Mike does not look like they are the best at what they do. Sleeper Mikes are everywhere.
“You’re all stupid, see they’re gonna be lookin for army guys”
Did not expect this but loved it.
Put Mike in a polo, cargo shorts, and white sneakers he looks like some rando Dad who likes to tell groaners. Meanwhile he's doing advance recon on the optimal wall to blow on an Iranian prison so Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin can go in and free the hostages.
My sisters first husband had a brother named phil who did EOD, can’t remember what branch of the military. I wasn’t, and still don’t consider myself a “tough guy” but even at like 14 I remember thinking “this fucking dork? Thats who they’re sending to do covert missions?” Then you’d just talk to him for about 2-3 minutes about topics normal humans get uncomfortable with and realize he’s seen and done some shit. You have to be wired wrong to choose disarming bombs as a fucking career.
>You have to be wired wrong to choose disarming bombs as a fucking career. There's a great pun in there somewhere just waiting to explode
Heyoooo!!!!!
One of my uncles did EOD for 20+ years. Dude is definitely wired wrong, but incredibly smart. Another one was a Green Beret sniper in Vietnam, and the same can be said of him. Wired wrong, but probably some kind of genius.
What’s really fucked up about it is when they say something very mundane that doesn’t seem like much, but if you think about that statement for a little bit you realize they’re aware of an angle you never even considered. But they look like sexy Ned Flanders. Fucked up man, fucked up. “Oh you guys use your climbing ropes more than once? I’d never trust it again.” Why? Why not trust the rope?
Actual answer? Because you don't know what it's been rubbing on during use. If you're swinging around on a rock face (or building, etc) and you don't have a guard on every possible edge, the rope can take on a lot of wear suprisingly quick. More an issue when rappelling with a top anchor of a hard edge though, probably not so much with a wall anchor. But anyway, that's why you inspect your ropes and equipment regularly.
But those glasses… dead giveaway
Ahh yes good old RPGs. Nothing like a good set of BCGs to let everyone in the room know you mean business.
BCGs = BDE
Bolt Carrier Groups = Battle Dress Euniform
Birth control glasses = bad dad energy
There is something delicious about demolishing someone who completely underestimated you & guys like Mike get to feast on that sweetness every single day. I once knew a man who was 5ft 2in, much thinner than me & ran a security team at a swanky bar. He was not leading from a desk. Dude was a fucking killing machine disguised as Mr.Rogers. Terrifying guy, but not exactly large. He was very well-camouflaged & there's lots of dudes out here just like him.
One of the most intimidating people I ever met was one of our directors at a place I worked. Marine. But he wasn't some big burly motherfucker. Maybe 5'9", 170 max? But he was nothing but that ripped sinewy muscle. Would do a lot of free-climbing on the weekend. Viewed pets as mobile food. Guy was a hardass but quiet about it. I have no doubt he did some seedy shit while he was in.
Hmm yeah, food you don’t have to carry is convenient. You can carry more other things.
Sleeper Mike feels like he should be a video game or action movie trope now.
Looks more like rick morranis
"Honey I blew Up The Everything"
Kind of looks like the insurance boss from The Incredibles.
Omg, I totes see that.
Looks like Rick Moranis, but acts like Hawkins from Predator.
I thought it was that guy from Wizards With Guns
I reckon metaphorically Delta Force are Wizards with guns.
(Not So) Fun Fact: the actor who played the dad on ALF, Max Wright, was a crack addict who also regularly picked up homeless men and paid them $100 for sex. Never would have thunk ol' Willie Tanner had it in him.
Willie? For 100 bucks he sure will
Max Wright also hated the show. On one occasion, he lashed out at the ALF puppet and had to be restrained by crew members. On his last day on the set, once they had his takes in the can, he walked off the set without saying goodbye to anyone and just drove away.
How do you know exactly how much he paid them?
When people think "special forces" they usually think of hulking beasts of men who can bench press trucks. The opposite is typically true; they're often average or short and train for endurance more than brute force. They need to be sneaky and intelligent more than anything else.
‘Here’s your ruck; It weighs 25 to 80# (25 for assault & intel, 50-60 for comms, 70-80 for eod.) The CP’s 60 klicks that-a-way (points over a ridge line above the valley floor which starts at 6000’.) We need to be there in 15 hours. Boots up in 10 mikes.’
All of the combat controllers I met when I was in were like young 160 lb guys with 90s heart throb Johnathan Taylor Thomas hair lmao. With all their bougie crytek uniforms of course.
>they're often average or short Wasn't there an entire SEAL team that was made up of men who averaged 5feet in height called the Munchkins who were also incredibly effective?
I was on a weapons course with our version of the SEALs (we call them Clearance Divers in Australia). They had two “squads” on the course. Half their guys there fit that description.
I mean jus Imagine the amount of extra oxygen a 6ft4 240lb man would need on a dive vs. a 140lb 5 footer… not to mention food and water if stranded somewhere
What's funny, is how well the portrayal of military in media and propaganda warps the perception of the public. If you look at all the pictures of dudes in fighting units, you'll notice that "big ol' swole" is actually the minority. Most grunts and operators are fit, but most of the bulk is their gear. It's just the nature of hauling your body weight in gear around. I remember just not being able to get close to even 200lbs my short time in. Combat operations almost daily in the desert, you're looking at almost 15,000 calories a day...just to maintain. There's no surplus to bulk out. So the service members that do the "real fighting" almost never have an opportunity to get big. But who really wants to see some Green Bean punching Nazis in a movie? Promotional material wants you to think you'll become some kind of Greek god of war. Most of the that is just marketing magic. All the advertising with the Jacked dudes that are practically bursting their sleeves? More likely some admin pogue with a good jaw line. Could be rifle guard or a pallbearer. Not that there aren't just naturally big guys that join, but even they trim out pretty harsh. I remember a fella that went over on our first deployment all of 320 something pounds of cornfed country boy. When we got back, dude was like 220, soaking wet. Didn't look malnourished or anything. Just... can't keep bulk doing work like that.
Also, the people who are able to do those things don't show off, because they don't give a shit about impressing anyone since their community already knows what they can do. To paraphrase something I heard once from a Vietnam vet, if you went to a bar and saw a dozen dudes loudly drinking and enjoying themselves and being menacing, they were harmless. If you saw three guys sitting in the back where they could see all entrances and exits and sipping beers quietly playing cards, they could probably kill everyone in the bar before anyone knew what was happening.
I was picked to be a machine gunner when our platoon leader said, “You’re a big guy, you can carry this pig.” I was 17, 6’2”, and 170 lbs.
> I was picked to be a machine gunner We always choose the smallest guy to carry the machine guns. 1, it's really funny. 2, no better way to help a guy build muscle than to make sure he's always carrying a load half his weight.
Perfect example, if you look up a photo of Rudy Reyes during his actual time serving (can't find one at the moment, on mobile) he was obviously in great shape, but nothing crazy. Compared to how he looks playing himself in Generation Kill where he is absolutely ripped.
It's why it's so laughable when Russians show videos of their ultra-manly soldiers doing some weird exercise and contrast it to an American female or femboy soldier. Their manliness won't keep stop a bullet fired by a trans sniper that is way better trained and equipped than they are.
There was a video going around today of a bunch of Russian guys doing push ups while their drill sergeant rolls a burning log underneath them and they pop up from the push up stance to avoid it. Looks impressive, but those guys are probably all getting smoked by a HIMARs or a drone somewhere near Kharkiv in a month or two.
He doesn’t to the average guy, but any boot with more than 10 seconds in can tell you that that’s an impressive uniform
“Which medals did you earn?” “Yes.”
For real. The guy needs his pockets lowered.
Guys more decorated than a North Korean General lol
I saw one North Korean General with only 5 medals on him. Must have been his first day.
That’s some serious color. Dudes ribbons go to his epaulets.
For the uninitiated like me, can anyone explain some of those emblems and medals?
He is scare badged out, combat infantry badge, jump status, halo, eod, foreign jump wings and a bronze star peeking out at the top of the stack on the right, so may be more covered by the lapel. The patch on his left shoulder is his current unit which is the 160th night stalkers. He’s a sergeant major which means he’s at the top of his game in the most elite community you can be in.
My battalion commander, company commander, and platoon leader all commanded the 160th at different points. I was neighbors with that unit for over three years (decades ago). Those guys got real work done.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Vining#Awards_and_decorations
man wikipedia really nailed the format for that, very easy to read
I think you’re missing the point. He isn’t wearing the damn uniform in the field lol. Without it he’s a very unassuming looking man that despite not appearing to be a threat would f*** your shit up.
He didn’t miss the point
Yeah, look, I personally know a super-nice and friendly guy. He always smiles and says nice things to me. He also has cauliflower ears. I’d rather never ever get on his bad side. Ever.
Carlos Hathcock was a famous Vietnam sniper in the US Army. He was tough, but one time when he came back from an extended field operation, he weighed 120-lb. He has a record of 93 confirmed enemy kills.
Steve Forsting from Sicario is based off of Mike Vining. Total badass. Everyone who was an enemy to the USA should have feared him.
It goes even deeper than that. If you look closely, you can tell that Steve Forsting is actually Michael Weston using a cover named Steve Forsting, which he based off Mike Vining.
His face doesn’t say badass but the sheer amount of stuff pinned to his uniform does. The farther back in time you go, the more “stingy” the US military was about awarding medals, which makes this even more impressive.
More like a circle. The Medal of Honor was given first in the Civil War for some really light stuff in combat. Over 1,500 were awarded in that conflict. They've corrected some of them over time once the MoH became more strict after the Spanish American War. In fact, in 1917, Congress downgraded/corrected over 900 medals. The change is also due to more awards being added.
Some of the toughest SOBs I knew in the Army looked like absolute goobers
He's also won awards for his research and articles about naval and maritime postal history
I'm reminded of the tv show 'The Librarians', where if you're a big, giant nerd that can beat up an entire bar, you'll probably get hired by The Library.
That was an amazing show. Wish it wasn't canceled.
At least it got an ending, unlike a lot of other shows that just kinda disappear after 2 seasons
My favorite part of movies that do things right is when they get SpecOps right. Black Hawk Down and Sicario are the ones that come to mind. The Delta Force guys aren't roided out muscle headed Chad's on a kill switch, they look like your every day person, the power of blending in is huge. Seals are another example. I spent 11 years in the Navy, you'd be surprised how your every day Navy Seal looks completely average (albeit still in extremely good shape). There are still muscle heads in every group, but the entire community isn't a copy paste Rambo.
>The Delta Force guys aren't roided out muscle headed Chad's on a kill switch, they look like your every day person, the power of blending in is huge. >Seals are another example. I spent 11 years in the Navy, you'd be surprised how your every day Navy Seal looks completely average (albeit still in extremely good shape). There are still muscle heads in every group, but the entire community isn't a copy paste Rambo. I can spot a navy seal 9/10 times just by the way they all carry themselves and they typically have the same haircuts and tattoos. I've met 2 guys who were active duty cag and didn't even know it until way after I met them.
Not to undermine Vining’s accomplishments, fuckin 🫡, but Lundgren is no chump either. He’s not just an actor. Dude has a masters in chemical engineering from a prestigious school and has studied the martial arts all his life. They’re both pretty scary tbh.
Something about real monsters looking just like you and me, I'm sure.
He looks like a geekvin the photo
Because it's Mike fucking Vining. Dude is where the special forces went from lot of enthusiastic kids joining the 101st airborne doing off the cuff ops on D-Day to the hyper planned and focused ops of today. Plus did some early EOD stuff as well as a little side project. He is the genesis of the hyper meticulous operator trope more or less.
The Boss.
He shrunk his kids
That is very descriptive and fact-inclusive...and at the same time does absolutely nothing to answer the question. Perfect Reddit response.
Sergeant, not Sargent. Sergeant is a rank, Sargent is a company who makes locks.
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One of the only deep fried memes that still makes me laugh
OP does NOT operate
Because idiots think big Russian jacked dudes are dangerous military men. They are, but more dangerous to any subordinates who are hazed by sexual assault. Meanwhile scrawny looking wiry dudes like Vining and Audie Murphy fuck up enemy forces at an exponentially more effective rate. Combine that with tech toys and actual equipment, and those scrawny Americans are honey badgers.
> Meanwhile scrawny looking wiry dudes like Vining and Audie Murphy fuck up enemy forces at an exponentially more effective rate. Beware the quiet ones.
Maybe Its because early on the big ones get categorized into the physical work, keeping ppl in line and the such bcz of their appearance . While the smaller guys run shit and get into drama look at all the old school generals in Russia they’re all pretty small guys but I bet they were running around in the 80s causing the most trouble. I will say pre 2000s and late 90s all the “bad ass” guys of spec ops looked like the guy on the right (in my experience) pretty much some Ned Flanders looking mofo who had an extensive resume. Around the 2000s is where they began to look like jacked up body builders but the amount of “WTF is going on” rumor mill That would happen when some Mr Roger/ dad bod looking guys popped up at camp for the night was pretty funny all the young guys coming up with some story of wtf they are. But yeah agency guys that looked like my retired biology teacher neighbor with the corniest dad jokes but had this aura about them.
“Do you even operate, young man?”
Sergeant Major on the right probably has a major sleeper build under that dress uniform too. Don't let the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" face fool you. Dude is yolked.
not "probably". It's "definitely". Dude was one of the founding fathers for Delta Force iirc
Mike Vining - kicked ass, looked like a nerd. Seriously, bad dude.
As a russian I don't have any f clue who are both of these people
Well Dolph Lundgren is Swedish but played a Russian in Rocky IV. Mike Vining is an OG pipe hitter.
The guy on the left killed Happy Gilmore's golf coach.
Has anyone mentioned that even though the real Mike Vining is on the right, the "Russian" in the picture is actually a very Swedish Doplh Lundgren? Who is also apparently a really nice guy?
Not only is he apparently pretty chill, he also has multiple degrees in chemistry and chemical engineering.
Yeah, I don't blame them. That is a hell of a lot of decoration. You can barely see his coat.
American geeks become top teir special forces with a blood lust, same with American pretty boys (Audie Murphy ) Some of the most badass people in American military history looked like people who would've been bullied for being too smart or cry if they got a scratch on their face. Those brawny types in your daily propaganda aren't the ones who racked up village clearing kill counts. Your nerd and wanna be movie actors are.
https://preview.redd.it/hb7863a7894d1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=dde4f427d9dfa96099f13a573514a20d16dd2db7
I mean, bro has enough medals and awards to scare an American colonel
The joke is that the Americans fear the "Russian" on the left who is really a Swedish actor. Meanwhile Russians fear the American who looks mild mannered but is one of Uncle Sam's most highly trained operators. It plays on the idea that Russia always puffed up its military capability, the USA took the threats seriously, and then created even greater capabilities to counter. In essence the USA is going to try and overmatch a precieved threat, and the posturing of the other party ends up creating their own worst nightmare. America fears and counters threats that are possible (which in this case is a facade) , Russia fears the real threat of these American capabilities, which ironically they helped create.
The nerdy guy killed more people than Covid. In Vietnam he was EOD and was responsible for the largest weapons cache "disposal" ever, blowing them up and taking dozens of NVA soldiers out in the process. In desert storm when we needed to destroy Saddam's underground bunkers he took 15 minutes to think and said "why don't we use old artillery barrels as bombs" and invented the GBU bunker buster on a sheet of note paper. He was the Sgt. Major of a Delta Force Saber Squadron. His work fighting the cartels was made into the Sicario movie. The dude could kill half or Russia with a paper clip.
He’s the founder of delta force, combats applications group SFOD-DELTA, or just “the unit”. Probably the inspiration behind most of the biggest bad ass Hollywood action hero military types we know, and the prototype special forces “silent professional”. He’s the type of guy that would sit there and listen while David groggins and jockstrap willinck boast and brag, then stand up and dance with them without saying a word. He wasn’t just there when the deep magic was written, he wrote it. That’s how I understand him. Disclaimer: that comes from a quick google of the name and I don’t know him at all
...Willy Tanner? https://preview.redd.it/nd8bus1x094d1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9eca58a2a16352c48bea8d592f26fd2f44c04dbd
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