6 miles. A handful of U.S. Special Forces soldiers will be stationed just 6 miles from mainland China. The United Daily News in Taiwan is reporting U.S. Army Green Berets will deploy to a couple of amphibious camps, acting as consultants, to further train Taiwan's own special forces. The self-governing main island of Taiwan is about 100 miles from mainland China, but it also controls Pengu, about 30 miles to the west and Kinmen, which is just 6 miles from China, well within range of any number of weapons like missiles and artillery. Special operators from the U.S. military have been helping train Taiwan's military force some time now, in anticipation of a potential invasion from China, which sees Taiwan as a break-off region to be reunited by force if necessary. But in those previous trainings, U.S. forces were more or less visiting. 2023's National Defense Authorization Act set aside funds, though, under the Special Operations Forces liaison element, to station troops at Kinmen and Pengu permanently. Since last year, a large portion of the training focused on teaching Taiwan's special operators how to use the Black Hornet Nano, a micro UAV designed to help Special Forces gather intelligence. A report on Black Nannos before, when the U.S. sent some over to Ukraine, you can find that story at saen.com. The Director of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research told reporters the Green Berets are a defensive type of special forces, and are being employed to help counteract enemy infiltration. On the whole, U.S. forces are on track for a busy year in the Pacific. The United States and Thailand are continuing their 43-year tradition of co-sponsored military training events, with Cobra Gold currently underway. It's the largest joint exercise in mainland Asia, and the longest-running international exercise in the world. Thirty partner nations, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, have troops at this year's Cobra Gold. South Korea is also hosting U.S. troops for its Freedom Shield exercises. The 11-day event is designed to help prepare South Korean troops in the event North Korea, launches a nuclear weapon. A lot of the drill involves work in the cyber domain, but some field exercises are also expected. And U.S. Marines are getting plenty of field exercise in Okinawa. Marines and ground soldiers from Japan's self-defense force are practicing island defense and island recapture for this year's Iron Fist exercise. The force on force simulation pits the allies against each other in various jungle combat scenarios, skills which will need to be sharp if China does indeed decide to try and take Taiwan by force.