Trump accidentally identifies secret Navy SEAL team in video post

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For those of you that are more familiar with this life, what are your thoughts on this story?

Shortly after his first visit to US troops stationed in a war zone, President Trump posted a video on Twitter that showed him posing for pictures with service members who appear to be from SEAL Team Five in Iraq — without shielding their faces, a report said.
But during the trip, which had been shrouded in secrecy earlier Wednesday, the president apparently accidentally revealed classified information by showing the special-ops forces, Newsweek reported.

According to a pool report, details of Trump’s visit were embargoed until he finished addressing a group of 100 mostly elite members of the highly secretive unit engaged in combat operations in Iraq and Syria.

At one point, Trump paused to take a selfie with US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kyu Lee, who said he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five, which is based in Coronado, California, according to the mag.

The chaplain said the president told him: “Hey, in that case, let’s take a picture.”

After Air Force One left the country’s airspace, Trump posted a video in which Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless America” is heard as he and Melania Trump posed for pictures with the special warfare operators clad in full battle gear and night-vision goggles.

Malcolm Nance, a former US Navy intelligence specialist, told Newsweek that posting the video ran against traditional procedures that are meant to protect the identities of US special operations forces in a combat zone.

“Operational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments. The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone,” Nance said.

“Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it’s the commander-in-chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group. There would be no denying who you are and what you do.”
Trump, who had taken criticism for not visiting US forces in hot zones, traveled with the first lady to the al-Asad Airbase near Baghdad, where he mingled with troops, signed MAGA hats and defended his decision to pull out of Syria.

Source with video: https://nypost.com/2018/12/27/trump-accidentally-identifies-secret-navy-seal-team-in-video-post/
 
If it was truly so dangerous to their survival, wouldn’t the guys have just refused a picture?

It would have happened differently ten ways from Sunday. Although there are maybe some PERSEC issues, I don't think it's nearly as big a deal as all the talking heads are making it out to be.
 
I'd guess a good number of the spec ops guys have tattoos of their units pastered on them so who's secret is it when they're captured.
 
Trump can’t do a damn thing right according to the main stream. I know I’m being captain obvious here...but come on. They criticize him because he hasn’t gone to the front lines. Then they criticize him when he’s there.

I’d bet they’d criticize his stool sample if they were able to obtain one.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he builds a badass spaceship, launches him and his family on it, then fires off every nuke we’ve got as his parting shot. He’s a more tolerant man than me, putting up with all this shenaniganry.
 
have you ever actually met a SEAL that was secretive? Aren't they the Vegans of the SPECWAR community?


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It's like that old joke: "A vegan, a SEAL, and a crossfitter walk into a bar. How do you know? They all tell you."

There are a lot of great SEALs, most of whom just want to be left alone to do their job, but the silent majority is overridden by the noisy minority. That said, as a community, if they were actually as tactically proficient as they think they are, they'd be freaking amazing....most of the books about them are "how-to's" in how to NOT do something....
 
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It's like that old joke: "A vegan, a SEAL, and a crossfitter walk into a bar. How do you know? They all tell you."

There are a lot of great SEALs, most of whom just want to be left alone to do their job, but the silent majority is overridden by the noisy minority. That said, as a community, if they were actually as tactically proficient as they think they are, they'd be freaking amazing....most of the books about them are "how-to's" in how to NOT do something....
I've a close friend that was a (me thinks I have the correct titles) Marine Scout/sniper for six years, then a Ranger for 14 and currently gets to stay stateside and teaches at Bragg. He hated having to work with Seals, usually they were loud, young, braggadocios, and lacked combat experience, not the seasoned Devrgu type.
The gray man has a much better chance of getting the job done and coming home to is family.
 
Trump can’t do a damn thing right according to the main stream. I know I’m being captain obvious here...but come on. They criticize him because he hasn’t gone to the front lines. Then they criticize him when he’s there.

I’d bet they’d criticize his stool sample if they were able to obtain one.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he builds a badass spaceship, launches him and his family on it, then fires off every nuke we’ve got as his parting shot. He’s a more tolerant man than me, putting up with all this shenaniganry.

If Trump’s family invests in a company that finds a cure for cancer, he alongside the family will be criticized for putting the chemo companies out of business while enriching themselves.
 
have you ever actually met a SEAL that was secretive? Aren't they the Vegans of the SPECWAR community?


View attachment 94365

There was a guy get arrested for DWI a few years ago. Apparently he had graduated buds but quit before the second part of training so he was never an actual navy seal. That is according to his brother who picked him up, he was an actual high ranking officer. Well every other phrase was Navy Seal. I'm sure when sober he was a pretty good guy, but the little fella was a total jack wad drunk. He had a training acedemy in the Charlotte area but I have no idea of his name.
 
I've a close friend that was a (me thinks I have the correct titles) Marine Scout/sniper for six years, then a Ranger for 14 and currently gets to stay stateside and teaches at Bragg. He hated having to work with Seals, usually they were loud, young, braggadocios, and lacked combat experience, not the seasoned Devrgu type.
The gray man has a much better chance of getting the job done and coming home to is family.

For what they are good at, they are very, very good at. What they are not good at, they think they are very, very good at. They will go into an AO and set up shop irrespective to what's going on around them, and they will undo everything that other units and agencies have done. I have seen them utterly destroy all the goodwill and cooperation that Army Special Forces worked so long and so hard to achieve with the indigenous people.
 
First off Chaplains don't go on operations. And the left doesn't care either as they bring further attention to it. Where were the SEALs beards? :D

CD
 
First off Chaplains don't go on operations. And the left doesn't care either as they bring further attention to it. Where were the SEALs beards? :D

CD

Only real "operators" have beards! I always thought that an operator was somebody who answered the phone?
 
First off Chaplains don't go on operations. And the left doesn't care either as they bring further attention to it. Where were the SEALs beards? :D

CD

BEARDED SEAL...

thumb_6700_default_1600.jpg
 
It's like that old joke: "A vegan, a SEAL, and a crossfitter walk into a bar. How do you know? They all tell you."

There are a lot of great SEALs, most of whom just want to be left alone to do their job, but the silent majority is overridden by the noisy minority. That said, as a community, if they were actually as tactically proficient as they think they are, they'd be freaking amazing....most of the books about them are "how-to's" in how to NOT do something....


Just ask anyone whom is NOT a SEAL, and has ACTUALLY worked with them.
 
When I was in, Seabees early/mid ‘90s, there wasn’t much going on combat wise. So, the team guys may have had some experience here and there but nothing at all like I imagine today.

We’d set up with them to build their shoot houses, mock up scenarios, etc.

While I’m sure they were very good at what they did, the attitude towards others was annoying.

To be fair, Seabees are kind of an oddball outfit that is not typically high on military bearing...


Just ask anyone whom is NOT a SEAL, and has ACTUALLY worked with them.
 
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