Security

In the Peruvian Amazon, U.S. soldiers are learning how jungle terrain turns routine movement into a test of endurance, fieldcraft and small-unit tactics. by Staff Sgt. Mickey Miller, U.S. Southern Command SAUCE, Peru — The jungle has a way of making even simple things complicated. Movement slows. Equipment gets heavier. …

U.S. Marines put field-expedient charges to work at a demolition range during exercise BALTOPS 26. by A.R. Fomenko VIENNA BUREAU — The steel beam lay twisted in the mud outside Skrunda, Latvia, its center torn open by an expedient cratering charge. Moments earlier, it had served as a target during a …

by “Sol Prendido” One of the most influential capos in Mexico’s history met a tragic end – and so did his doctors. One of the most powerful drug lords in Mexico was Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who was born in Navolato, Sinaloa, in 1956. El Señor de los Cielos (Lord of …

Smuggling networks led by fixers like Oleg move men through checkpoints, vehicles, and terrain, turning border enforcement into a market for escape. by A.R. Fomenko VIENNA BUREAU – Oleg did not ask many questions when the calls came in. He listened, noted what mattered, and moved on to the next name …

by Susan Katz Keating “The Taliban are behind my door.” The whispered words came through the phone in the pitch of night, hours after Kabul fell on August 15, 2021. My friend “Hakim,” a man I had been trying from afar to help leave Afghanistan, called me from inside his …

by A.R. Fomenko Hidden beneath the border, sophisticated tunnel networks have turned Ceuta into one of Europe’s most enduring corridors for organized cross-border smuggling. VIENNA BUREAU – It was the kind of pursuit that runs slow and cold. Spanish authorities hunted in vain for years to uncover a smuggling tunnel between …

by Susan Katz Keating Wave of drone attacks continue to light up targets deep inside Russian territory and beyond. But the notion of drones doing the killing isn’t as new as it might seem. The history of drones is long, strange, and full of surprises. The roots run deep into …

by A.R. Fomenko VIENNA BUREAU – A massive wildfire inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone revived scrutiny of the radioactive timber trade, wartime disruption, and the shadow economy investigators say has operated inside the contaminated forest for decades. Flames vaulted across the tree tops, carried by wind gusts that whipped through the …

Years after his death, sworn testimony alleged that Mitchell WerBell III didn’t die of a heart attack after all; he’d been poisoned. The allegation remains one of the most curious episodes connected to the legacy of the legendary OSS veteran and firearms designer. by Jose Campos Mitchell WerBell III had …

by Jose Campos In the shadow of Japan’s Mount Fuji, Marine explosive ordnance disposal technicians trained with live ordnance, refining the precision stand-off techniques used to safely neutralize dangerous munitions. The rocket motor lay on the range at Camp Fuji, waiting to be destroyed. Marine explosive ordnance disposal technicians regarded …