John McPhee

A Delta Operators story: Survival of the smartest

This article is published with permission of SOB Tactical

This goes way back to when even the D-FO used just regular army gear. Seriously we wore Army BDU, knee pads, M4 you name it. The only thing not Army in this pic was individual night vision goggles, Adidas assault boots and a 1911 pistol.

I feel like these times led to better training as operators. I’ve even talked to younger operators who refer to my generation as the best operators. We were asked to do extraordinary things and given almost nothing to do it with. We had to modify our own gear and tailor to each mission. We had to be better, stronger and faster than anyone else. But most importantly we had to make very smart decisions in microseconds or less.

The true story here is the Army produces the hardest, fittest, strongest. Special Forces and Rangers always say they could do everything we do if you gave them the same amount of money. Having served in every one of these units I can tell you this is not true.

Survival of the smartest

However, it’s not what set us apart. The true barrier to entry is being smart, adaptable and flexible to the point of ignorance. War is never the survival of the fittest. What does this even mean? The fastest runner lives? The guy doing the most push-ups lives?

No, I should say the survival of the smartest. Being smart on the battlefield is the major difference between the Varsity and the Junior Varsity. When I was a troop sergeant major 2006 I was in charge of 56 men’s lives every night. Hot landing zones, IEDs, fuckhead savages, you name it we encountered it. We never took a wounded or worse. What you never hear about is the successful missions that nothing happened because of meticulous planning and timely adaptable smart decisions by every operator at every level.

Let me break down some combat math for you. More bullets fired at you higher percentage you have of being shot. Fewer bullets fired at you more chance for survival. Overwhelming the enemy, timely decisions and planning for every contingency leave the enemy to “give up or die” as the options. Believe me, we killed all the dumb guys at the beginning of the war. Besides most humans will surrender. But sometimes the ones who don’t…the savages, that’s my jam.

A Delta Operators story: Jumping bundles

One of the things I always enjoyed the most was jumping bundles. Being the extreme adrenaline junkie that I am…falling to my death at terminal speed wasn’t nearly enough.

Ask any operator about this and you will see even amongst real men this draws the line between the men and the boys. Most guys didn’t want to do this. Hell, most guys didn’t even want to jump their own equipment.

Many guys would freak out mid-air and cut the bundle away or pull the parachute early. We called this “ending the nightmare.” We would tell them to sit in the classroom and “gather their emotions” and get ready for the next jump.

I have never seen this as a nightmare. This is my gear, mission essential gear that will aid in killing as many savages as possible in the shortest amount of time. The way I always figured it “I AM THE FUCKING NIGHTMARE”. So anything that could happen mid-air was child’s play and I’m not a child.

Jumping Bundles

The above photo was taken when I was an instructor candidate. When I wasn’t the Jumpmaster (whole different story) I would push bundles for fun. It was one of my favorite things to do. I even had a weird exit sequence and I did it religiously every exit. The Jumpmaster would give me the Standby (standard procedure) this is about 15 seconds to go time baby. I would push my bundle about halfway out the back of the plane or door (depending on the type of plane). I would say to myself a movie quote and the same one every time. But before the quote, I would tell myself exactly this; “this is absolutely not natural for a human being”. Followed by Chevy Chase “This is crazy, This is crazy, This is crazy”. By the time I was done running my suck, the green light would come on, Jumpmaster would tell me go. Time to get to work, the break is over and boom bitches, I’m gone!

If one was cut away on a mission, it could jeopardize everything especially if it got lost in bad guy land. So for these reasons I never found an excuse to cut one away. America is and always be bigger than my emotions. There is a reason I am here and this is filled with belt-fed love and overloaded with tiny lead seeds of Freedom.

Article courtesy of John McPhee of SOB Tactical

SOB Tactical | Trigger Jerk is a Myth and here is a test to prove it

Gunfighter University | Trigger Jerk is a Myth and here is a test to prove it

“You can hit the trigger with a ratchet and still hit where you’re aiming. Trigger jerk is a myth.” – John McPhee

About John McPhee:

John McPhee is a retired Special Operations Sargeant Major and Owner of S.O.B. Tactical He has trained countless U.S. Special Operations forces and thousands of International Tier 1 Operators around the world. He is one of the handful of operators with over a decade of combat having served in multiple theaters from Bosnia and South America to recent war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Learn more at the Gunfighter University

What Are Combat Bands?

What are combat bands actually?

Also known as riggers bands, combat bands are used to provide a fast and effective way of securing your gear to plate carriers, weapon stocks, slings and backpacks.

Most riggers bands are just larger versions of rubber bands. In my experience, they snap just like a rubber band too. Some people accept that these will just break, but when your kit is on the line I prefer knowing that everything is secure. That was the primary reason for putting the SOB Tactical name behind our combat bands.

SOB Tactical Combat Bands are made of high-temperature silicone, making them heat resistant to 600+ degrees. Great for easily securing gear to your kit, adding grip to your mags or pistol grip, preventing mag-on-mag chatter, securing your sling against the stock, & taking the wobble out of a PVS 14 mount.

Combat Bands offer a simple solution to common problems and won’t break easily. Check them out for yourself

For more information and to Buy

First Look | S.O.B. Tactical FSS B-Sling

The “Sheriff of Baghdad” aka Sergeant Major (ret) John McPhee is one bad dude… in fact, I think I’d rather take a knife into a gun fight than have to be on the other side of his gun. From Bosnia to South America and Afghanistan to Iraq this dude has been there and done that and probably forgotten more about training and real-world operations than I will even learn.. so why are we talking about him? Well, we aren’t talking about him but instead, his company called S.O.B. Tactical and how great his FSS B-Sling is.

The quality is seen right out of the box.. durable, well made, and stitched really well (I’ll explain that later). My editor Scott gave me the opportunity to try the FSS B-Sling out for about a month and a half and I am thoroughly impressed by the quality and craftsmanship. The FSS is built for the gunfighter. It’s built for the “shoot first and ask questions later” door kickers in this world who don’t have a name because they don’t exist. I work in a maritime environment so it is hard to find gear that doesn’t break or get destroyed by the deteriorating effects of salt water and rust. Everything falls victim to saltwater corrosion no matter how good you clean it… it’s just a matter of time. S.O.B Tactical takes pride in their products and although I don’t think the FSS B Sling is built specifically for maritime operations, it can handle them.

I run most of my review gear through a saltwater test. My saltwater test includes a 5-gallon bucket, sea water, and a rack that will fit into the 5-gallon bucket that sits above the water line. Now obviously air moves when you’re outside but I try to make it as potent and salty as possible so that my test only lasts about 3 days which is why I close the lid when it’s soaking in the salt water. Between dumping the FSS B-Sling in salt water, drying, and more dumping, after 3 days you usually start to see saltwater build up and rust develop. The S.O.B. FSS B Sling is not necessarily rust proof or salt proof because nothing is if you leave it out long enough, but there were no signs of rust or salt water corrosion. That’s a plus in my book. Next test is to run it just how it is with the salt on it.

I was incredibly impressed that the S.O.B. Tactical FSS B-Sling lived up to the quality and craftsmanship the Sheriff of Baghdad demands in his products. No flaws, no signs of struggle. That’s just another plus in my book. Add in the fact that none of the stitching is coming undone even after I have run this sling about as much as one can in a month and a half, it can handle the salt… it can handle land operations so I ran it through the dirt.. literally. I put mud on the metal buckle, let it dry and it broke free and ran perfectly. Once again quality and craftsmanship is seen. The S.O.B. FSS B-Sling became my everyday sling about 5 days after getting it. I ran this thing as hard as I could and it shows no signs of giving up and even with a price of $80 I am thinking about buying some for the guys I work with because of the quality and durability.

Another great quality is the ability to rapidly adjust with your free hand. The quick to shoot technology is hands down the best part of this sling. You can run it on your body and then get on target in a matter of the blink of an eye. It’s incredible how fast you can get on target. My Troy industries rapid adjust sling is fast but the FSS B-Sling is faster. All in all… should you buy this sling? Should you spend $80 on a sling? Yes. This is the best sling I have ever used and I will continue to use it. Saltwater? No problem. Mud? No problem. S.O.B. Tactical doesn’t offer a lot of products, but their craftsmanship and durability are seen in the products they offer and that’s why I chose S.O.B. Tactical.

A Delta Operators Story | Desert Storm

When I was just a young private in the army. Desert Storm had come and gone like a flash. I was a private and 1st Ranger Battalion got the call to jump into Iraq. Mission: jump in, head to the border and crush Saddams missile sites. Road March to the objective and kill everything. Not a problem because I was hard as wood pecker lips.

We did in-flight rigging for a parachute jump. Man… this like every airborne cadence I had ever saying in the army…”Mission unspoken destination unknown. Don’t even know if I’m ever coming home.” Lol. Doors opened, jump master gave the winds and wtf did he just say??? 30+ knot winds. Next thing I know we got the green light and GO!

As I jump out the door and count to four my parachute opens. So I looked down I see the airfield we were supposed to land getting farther away. As I get closer to the ground, I realize there’s a lot of stuff on the ground I don’t want to hit but there’s nothing I can do. So I lower my rucksack. As I’m getting closer to the ground, it hangs up in a blown up building of concrete and rebar. As it hangs up, I get dragged through the rebar. I hit so hard I didn’t even know my name. Next I did the standard airborne check fingers, toes, knees and elbows. Houston we have a problem my left shin is sugar cookie and in sand. This was peculiar so I used my canteen to dump some water on it.

I had a compound fracture of my shin and I could see the bone sticking out. “NO BUENO.” As I laid there I realized this is a pressure dressing situation but it was too long, so I had to do two next to each other. As I bandage myself up I got up I realized I had to walk it back and make link up. So I tied the bandages extra tight to help me walk. Then I saw I was also in a minefield. I walked through the mines and jumped the fence to make link up. I told my first sergeant I think I’m fucked up. The medic cut off my bandages looked at my injury and said who patched you up? I said I did then he replied, “good job Ranger.” Threw me more stuff and said “patch your self up”. This was my first of many “welcome to the world MF” situations.

Article and photo courtesy of SOB Tactical